City developers are duking it out over the name “Bryant.”
Developers Phil Pilevsky, Raymond Gindi and Joseph Chehebar, who own The Bryant Park Hotel, on Thursday sued Ziel Feldman’s HFZ Capital over its plans to open a hotel and residences called “The Bryant” just steps away.
HFZ Capital should be stopped from using the Bryant name, the suit claims. It also seeks damages of more than $50 million.
To make matters stickier, Feldman and Pilevsky are partners in Miami’s trendy Shore Club. One of its towers was designed by David Chipperfield, who also designed the interior of The Bryant Park Hotel.
Feldman also hired Chipperfield for his project at 16 W. 40th St.
The Bryant Park Hotel owners, who also own the trademark for “The Bryant Park,” are weighing offering condos for sale using their trademarks, the lawsuit reveals. It does not specify a location for the possible condos.
When The Bryant Park Hotel opened in early 2001 at 40 W. 40th St. — in the landmarked black-and-gold tower designed by Raymond Hood — it was a pioneering location for a hotel. After 9/11, the hotel housed refugees from the World Trade Center attack without charge at a time when tourists avoided the city.
Bryant Park, sitting behind the New York Public Library, had once been favored by the homeless and junkies but for decades now has been a favorite spot for a tamer crowd of city denizens and area workers.
The parties either declined comment or did not return calls for comment.
