LAST SERVICE AT BATARD
Eater reports that Bâtard will officially close on May 20 it what can only be called the end of a Tribeca era. More soon when I speak to Drew Nieporent this week, but for now: this is the first time since Montrachet opened in that spot in 1985 that Nieporent will not be involved in the restaurant there. Instead, he has passed it on to the chef Chip Smith and his wife, Tina Vaughn, who for nine years until May 2022 had The Simone on the Upper East Side. More TK.

CONGESTION PRICING IS ONE STEP CLOSER
The Times covers the news that the Federal Highway Administration tentatively approved a report on equity in the congestion pricing plan, putting the MTA a step closer to coming up with rates, etc.

And Tribecan Charlie Komanoff has a plan in Streetsblog that would give drivers a once-a-month freebie: “Even though congestion pricing will be a balm for the city and beneficial even for most of the drivers who resist it, perhaps it’s time for an easy layup to jumpstart the conversation: let’s give every household in the 12-county MTA region a single untolled trip per month into the congestion zone.”

MUELLER PROSECUTOR BUYS N. MOORE CONDO
Crain’s reports that “prosecutor Andrew Weissman, who helped convict nearly two dozen executives in the Enron scandal and then years later brought down Trump associates in the 2016 election investigation, …bought the top-floor condo at 39 N. Moore St. for $7.5 million, records show.” The four-bedroom duplex combined two apartments.

SUEING TO STOP A FIDI CONVERSION
The Real Deal reports that a lawsuit was filed last month to stop Silverstein Properties and Metro Loft Management’s office-to-residential conversion of 55 Broad Street, claiming it would be a violates an office lease. Plans were unveiled plans last summer to convert the office building into a 571-unit residential property, with work expected to begin soon and continue for at least two years.