Good morning. Today we’ll look at a trademark dispute involving Carnegie Hall, political infighting in New Jersey and the potential for a baby boom in New York.
Carnegie Hall and the Carnegie Diner & Café, neighbors on West 57th Street in Manhattan, have settled their what’s-in-a-name spat. Amicably, they say.
Last year, Carnegie Hall, claiming trademark infringement, sued the diner, which has a mural-size photograph taken from the back of the hall’s famous stage, looking out at the empty house, with a grand piano in position and the red seats and balconies fanning out in the background. From the piano bench in the diner, the restaurant’s bathrooms are stage left and right.
Carnegie Hall objected to what it saw as the restaurant’s attempt to tie itself to the famed venue’s recognizable look, its resonant sound and its name. The first item in a long list of burgers on the diner’s menu is the Carnegie Classic — before the Central Park, the Columbus Circle and the Times Square — with tomatoes, lettuce, pickles and a homemade sauce, for $18.95.
There are other Carnegies in the neighborhood, like the Carnegie Hall Tower office building next to the music hall and Carnegie House, a white-brick apartment building from the 1960s at the other end of the block. For generations, there was the Carnegie Deli, a couple of blocks down Seventh Avenue from Carnegie Hall.
And there have been other disputes about similar names. In Ed Sullivan v. Ed Sullivan Radio & TV in the 1950s, a famous television host tangled with the Ed Sullivan who owned a shop in Buffalo that sold and repaired the sets that people watched the host’s show on. And Donald J. Trump of the Trump Organization once moved to stop two other real estate developers named Trump — and their company, the Trump Group — from using the name they had all been born with.
In court papers, Carnegie Hall’s lawyers appeared concerned about the Carnegie Diner & Café’s expansion beyond the immediate area. Carnegie Hospitality, the company that owns the restaurant, has opened several other Carnegie Diners & Cafés, including one on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, one in Secaucus, N.J., and one in Vienna, Va. Carnegie Hall’s lawyers claimed that there were “wall-size images” of Carnegie Hall in each.
The music hall’s lawyers also quoted Stathis Antonakopoulos, the chief executive of Carnegie Hospitality, as saying that he had signed a nationwide franchise contract. “One location in every state — that’s our goal over five years,” he was quoted as saying. He also mentioned opening franchises of the Carnegie Diner & Café around the world, beginning in Greece.
“Consumer confusion” would result, Carnegie Hall’s lawyers said. The lawyer for Carnegie Hospitality, Eleni Melekou, disagreed. No one goes to any Carnegie Hall Diners & Café “anticipating service of a hamburger in a grand concert hall,” she wrote in a letter to the court. She said that Carnegie was a “common term” used by other businesses in the neighborhood and that the music hall had provided the high-resolution photograph and given permission to display it.
Last week, Shanti Sadtler Conway, a lawyer for Carnegie Hall, wrote to the judge overseeing the case, saying that a settlement had been reached. She provided no details. Neither did a spokeswoman for Carnegie Hall, who said that the two sides had resolved the dispute “in a manner that protects Carnegie Hall’s trademark rights and ensures that consumers will not be confused or misled.”
Antonakopoulos would not say whether he was going to replace the wall-size images or change the names of the restaurants. “My lawyers advised me to say it has been settled amicably,” he told me.
Weather
Expect a sunny day with temperatures around 22. Tonight will be mostly clear with a low around 15.
ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING
In effect until Feb. 12 (Lincoln’s Birthday).
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I want to welcome him — and want to tell him that a piece of him also lives around him.” — Harpreet Sohal, referring to Mayor Zohran Mamdani now that he has moved into Gracie Mansion, a few blocks from Punjabi Junction, a grocery store that Sohal runs with her husband, Balbir Sohal.
The latest Metro news
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Campaign-style mailers: Matthew J. Platkin, New Jersey’s departing attorney general, above, is being targeted by campaign-style mailers bearing no return address and no “paid for by” disclaimers. The anonymous ad is a reminder of the hurdles still faced by those seeking to fundamentally shift the state’s political paradigm.
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Could Mamdani’s plan encourage a baby boomlet?: Some New Yorkers are optimistic that raising a child could become more affordable, thanks to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plans for free child care and preschool. The new “2-Care” program is expected to start this fall with 2,000 seats in several neighborhoods.
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Inauguration Day for Mikie Sherrill: A former Navy helicopter pilot who was elected to the House four times, she beat a Republican endorsed by President Trump in the New Jersey gubernatorial election in November.
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An architecture firm is accused of illegally ousting employees: A federal labor regulator said Snohetta, a prominent New York firm, dismissed eight employees in retaliation for trying to unionize.
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Sneaker technology for ballet dancers: They are athletes as much as they are artists, but there are more footwear options for runners. A new ballet shoe designed by Seth Orza, a former member of the New York City Ballet, uses shock-absorbing sneaker technology.
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“Phantom” reimagined: An immersive recreation of the masquerade ball scene from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit Broadway musical “The Phantom of the Opera” plunges audiences into the macabre world of the musical. The adaptation, titled “Masquerade,” has seen some people return a dozen times since it began performances last summer.
METROPOLITAN diary
Thanksgiving pie
Dear Diary:
I was crossing the street on the Upper East Side when a woman on the corner spoke to me softly. She had a gold guardian angel pin on her coat.
Can you help me? she asked. I’m saving for a pie. An apple pie or a pumpkin or maybe blueberry. They told me to bring a pie to the church in Brooklyn. They’re going to have turkey and maybe macaroni and cheese, and I need to bring a pie.
I happened to have a $10 bill, which I offered her. She thanked me and thought out loud as she looked up and down the street: Now I have $16. I’m going to have to save more money to buy a pie.
I continued down the street, her words grinding in my head. How long would it take her to save for her pie?
I turned around.
Come with me, I said as we crossed the street to a grocery store with large and small pies.
I need a big pie, the woman said. There will be lots of people.
She held up a blueberry pie.
Isn’t this beautiful? she said. Doesn’t this look delicious?
I paid for it.
She held the pie lovingly with two firm hands.
Thank you, she said. You made my Thanksgiving!
You made my Thanksgiving, I wished I had replied. Blueberry pie was my father’s favorite. Why didn’t I tell her that? I didn’t even ask her name.
— Gloria Wilson
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here.
Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B.
Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
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James Barron writes the New York Today newsletter, a morning roundup of what’s happening in the city.
The post The Neighbors Fighting Over Having the Same Name appeared first on New York Times.
