They Told Me Not to Take that Job: Tumult, Betrayal, Heroics, and the Transformation of Lincoln Center (29 page)

After they had spent seventeen years at Bryant Park, even taking into account growing complaints about that venue, it was still necessary to overcome a naturally strong desire on the part of some fashion designers to stay put. Many recognized that needed runways and adjacent spaces were much larger than Bryant Park could accommodate. Others were aware that tempers often flared between the “landlord,” in the person of Dan Biederman, the president of the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, and the firm IMG, which ran Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. Nonetheless, moving “uptown” and west seemed disorienting to many.

For others, though, the physically transformed Lincoln Center was more than one step up in glamour and comfort. The many venues and
restaurant options in close proximity to the fashion tents were a designer’s and party planner’s dream.

Lincoln Center could offer a 25 percent larger footprint than Bryant Park for both runway and support services and an elegant entryway through one of New York City’s most iconic and beloved public spaces, Josie Robertson Plaza, adorned by a brand-new Charles Revson Fountain. We provided plenty of space for generous signage, fixed and dynamic. Within the tent structure, there could be commodious areas for meetings and presentations. No area of the city of New York is better served by mass transportation, subways, buses, and taxicabs. And no public space anywhere is more secure in an already extraordinarily safe city.

Within easy walking distance of Lincoln Center, dozens of restaurants offering all kinds of cuisine at every conceivable price point are available. On the Lincoln Center campus itself, there are no fewer than five dining establishments. Plenty of green spaces have been created for relaxation outdoors, and many indoor spaces as well now have comfortable seating for individuals and groups to relax before and after fashion shows—all in a totally Wi-Fi’d environment.

Even more, Lincoln Center offered many ancillary spaces—for fashion presentations, for press conferences, for social gatherings—in venues like Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the David H. Koch Theater, the Stanley Kaplan Penthouse, the Metropolitan Opera House, the David Rubenstein Atrium, and the Library for the Performing Arts.

Lincoln Center thought of design and fashion as a key element on the creative spectrum of which the performing arts is an integral part. Lincoln Center, as a prominent civic institution, wished to come to the aid of what was once a thriving garment industry in New York City. The rag trade had seen better days. Even so, according to the New York City Economic Development Corporation, it accounted for a total of 165,000 jobs, generating about $2 billion in tax revenue and $9 billion in annual wages.

Perhaps by elevating the visibility and prestige of its centerpiece show twice a year, in February and September, Lincoln Center could help grow these numbers and strengthen the place of design and fashion in New York City’s economy. Besides, the rental fee for a five-year relationship with IMG, beginning in September 2010 and running through September 2015, not just for the use of public spaces, but also for designer use of many Lincoln Center indoor venues, was substantial, approaching and perhaps exceeding $20 million. That sum would help to defray the annual operating and capital costs of securing, cleaning, and lighting Damrosch Park as well as maintaining its trees, plants, shrubbery, and adjacent spaces at far less constituent expense than would otherwise be the case.

The most prominent performing arts campus in the world: Lincoln Center.
Photo by John Meloy

The reinvented Alice Tully Hall, inside and out.
Photos by Iwan Baan

The liberation of Josie Robertson Plaza saw the removal of the mandated concrete blocks and the vivid introduction of sculpture.
Photos by James Ewing/Otto (top) and Tom Powel (bottom)

The author in a rare moment of serenity.
© Joshua Bright

Lincoln Center welcomes all to its public spaces, free of charge.
Photos by Kevin Yatarola (top) and Mark Bussell (bottom)

A performance of Eiko + Koma in the Paul Millstein Pool and Terrace, adjacent to the Henry Moore Sculpture.
© Kevin Yatarola