••• “Peter Poulakakos, whose family operates Harry’s Cafe and Steak and several other restaurants near Wall Street, was selected as the best candidate for a lease on Pier A at the edge of Battery Park, he and other people with knowledge of the decision said Monday. The directors of the Battery Park City Authority are scheduled to vote on his bid on Tuesday night, a spokeswoman for the authority said. ‘I would do several good things for Lower Manhattan,’ Mr. Poulakakos said on Monday. But the usually extroverted Mr. Poulakakos said he would not discuss his plans for the pier until after the board had voted. […] But how the decision will be received in Lower Manhattan is a mystery because the authority has been so secretive about the selection process. Several community leaders said they had inquired about the plans for Pier A but had been rebuffed by officials of the authority.” Word! More photos of Pier A—including inside—are here. (New York Times)

••• New York Times: “Danny Meyer’s venture in Battery Park City, to open around the end of the year, will be called North End Grill, and will be an informal American-style bar and grill. ‘This fits in with my casual restaurants, like Union Square Cafe, the tavern at Gramercy Tavern, Maialino, and the Bar Room at the Modern,’ Mr. Meyer said. ‘I don’t see this as a special-occasion place.’ He confirmed that Floyd Cardoz, formerly of Tabla, which closed at the end of 2010, will be the chef, with a menu dominated by seafood. A dining counter will face an open kitchen and there will be a bar for drinks, not food.”

••• “Developers of 1 World Trade Center have abruptly scratched plans for a Windows on the World–type restaurant on the top floors of the iconic, 1,776-foot-tall tower now rising downtown. Plans for the eatery [Argh! Hate that word! —Ed.]—which had been part of the project since it was first called the Freedom Tower—were shelved due to concerns about design and construction costs and the difficulty of finding a restaurateur willing to run a likely money-losing operation, sources said.” (New York Post)

••• Battery Park City schools are getting rid of Styrofoam in their cafeterias. (Broadsheet Daily)