“Is there any news on the progress of the Pier 26 restaurant?” emailed John. I was about to respond that any chance of it opening this season seemed unlikely, since there’s been no sign of interior construction yet, when I realized I should probably seek official confirmation.

“Alas, not this year,” said Hudson River Park Trust’s Madelyn Wils. “Hope to have more news soon.”

Last June, representatives from the Hudson River Park Trust told Community Board 1’s Tribeca Committee that the deal was more or less done. From the Unofficial Minutes: “The Trust has basically chosen someone to operate it, but the details are still being finalized and the announcement won’t happen till next month. (‘He has a great operation […] geared to the community.’) It’s not opening till April or May, and that depends on the buildout and permits.”

I didn’t press Wils on what the hold-up is, because I was pretty sure I had gotten what I was going to get. My guess is that the agreement with the restaurateur broke down, and the Trust moved on to the next likely contender (or the one after that). I recall—but can’t locate the item—that there were only a handful of responses to the RFP. But if the Trust had to start the RFP process all over again, surely we’d have heard about it.

Whoever does end up opening a restaurant there will be responsible for building it out. If you see construction happening inside, by all means let me know.