November 21, 2025 • 10 mins
Steve talks about the transformation of the former American Embassy in London into The Chancery, a stunning high-end hotel. Steve shares insights on how rooftops are creatively utilized in some Manhattan office buildings. They also discuss how commercial real estate in NYC generates enormous revenue for the city's economy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, Steve Cuzell, the great New York Post column there's
nobody better on restaurants, the real estate. Now New York
stuff is columns. You can read them all. They're in
the New York Post website. Steve Cuzoh, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm great, Mark. Thanks. It's hard to live up to
that doing. I'll try those.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You'll do it, you'll do Hey. Yeah, you're just back
from London.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Uh yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
All them on Instagram? Great pictures. But were there any
English speaking people left in London?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well that's the thing I tell friends who haven't been
to London a long time. I say, I tell them
English is widely spoken. Now that's supposed to be a joke,
because it is, after all, wonder it's England, you know.
So yes, English is still widely spoken, but not universally.
No like New York. What was it?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
But all the great old London places they're not. They've
been overtaken by all kinds of new places. What's what's
good over there?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well? So what to do? Oh? So many great restaurants.
But the most interesting single thing, in my view is
the American Embassy in Grove Most Square, which had been
there for I don't know, that was our embassy there
for a million years. The embassy moved away about ten
years ago to a new location. The building was a
giant brutalist style kind of a hulking building. It was
(01:18):
never well loved, but then Katari Fund bought it and
converted the whole property. God knows how much it might
must have cost into a spectacular new Rosewood managed hotel.
Uh you know, Rosewood was one of the premier hotel
(01:40):
companies in the world, the Carlisle, New York, and I
mean they uperate the Carlisle and it's called the Chancery.
That's the end of the new hotel. And when you
go into the building, you can't believe that this was
once this miserable, you know interior where people would line
up for, you know, to get their passports nude. They
(02:01):
created a they carved out an atrium. It's it's all
soft and warm, unlike the you know, the kind of
still brooding exterior. The interior is all warmth and light
and they have five restaurants, including a carbone from New York.
I didn't eat there, but we did eat at a
wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in the hotel called Sarah, And they
(02:25):
have a rooftop lounge called the Eagle or the Eagle
because it's got the giant gold eagle that was there
during the years that the building was the Embassy. And
apparently this giant eagle is made out of the fifty
two parts and it's a lounge and it's like it's
(02:45):
a rooftop lounge like the ones that we have that
so many of in New York and all together it's
a must see for people in visiting London who haven't
been there for a couple of years. The hotel opened
only a few months ago.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, the chance. Hey, you know, it's fascinating. The rooftop
of every office building was the water tower, the AC system,
what they call the mechanicals. It wasn't untill like two
thousand and two that anybody figured out put the restaurant
on the rooftop, put the bar on the rooftop, and.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Put the bars up there. It's incredible. New York City
and Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and even a few
parts of Queens in Flushing have rooftop this in that
just a space that previously was used for nothing mechanical
uses or whatever. And one of the first transformations my
(03:37):
late friend Steve Greenberg created I think it's two thirty
fifth Avenue and I think it was called two thirty
fifth Rooftop and since then there are a gazillion of them.
And I was amused in London because our British friends
there were absolutely flabbergasted at the views from the roof
of the you know, the eagle on top of the
(03:59):
Chance Hotel. And it's a nice view, but nothing compared
to the ones we have in New York. There's one
hotel I don't remember the name of it. It's the
Canal Street and the Bowery that has a rooftop lounge
that is simply not to be believed, that facing both
Brooklyn and Manhattan. Nothing like it in the world. So
(04:20):
it's all good time stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, Hey, Steve, Keys were talking about this yesterday. Masa
the Japanese restaurant Time Warner Center, nine hundred dollars a
person got wiped out more than that, more than that
twelve hundred with tax and tips and all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Usually perhead, yeah, not per couple, but perhead.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
So there's another one now, like seven point fifty ahead.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Micheline Story, Sushiz or something, So what's happened is that
Masa had three Micheline stars since it opened in two
thousand and nine, when the building was known as Time
Warner Center.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Now it's Delutsche Bank Center Masa, which is a very
small restaurant only twenty six seats are the best seats
of which are at the chef's counter. Carried It's three
Micheline stars all that time. And a couple of things
happened during that time. The competition grew enormously for omakassi
(05:20):
style Japanese dining, where the chef sets the menu from
it changes nightly. Many many courses usually built around sushi,
but not always. I was at Masulunton I had Kobe
beef which was extraordinary, or rogu beef from Japan. But
there's much more competition now and however, and so they
(05:44):
know they lost the star. I don't believe a word
Micheline says about anything, but if you're in business, in
the restaurant business, it matters enormously to you. Because many
many New Yorkers don't care that much about micheline stars.
But it's a different story in Europe and Asia. There
are people with a lot of money from Europe and
Asia who come to New York and when they decide
(06:07):
where they're going to eat, before they even come, they
just look at what's got three stars and they make
their selections on that basis. And so friends in the
industry told me that a restaurant, high end restaurant that
lose that's cut from three stars to two, as Masa
happened to Masa, it can cost them a twenty five
(06:27):
percent of their revenue, not immediately, not overnight, because you
know they're booked far in advance, but over time, and
you know when the current reservations run out, it's going
to hurt them. And it's a small restaurant. Masa unlike
some other restaurants that lost the star and they could
they could weather it because there were large restaurants and
(06:48):
they were part of big companies. Masa is not. So
you know, they've got a tough time to hand them.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Why do you have your doubts about these Michelin reviewers?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I have my I never believed the only reviews of
or ratings and restaurants I ever believed Mark or my own,
the ones that I've written for The New York Post.
I never believed Zagat ratings. I never believed Micheline ratings.
I never believed in New York Times ratings and U
so I'm a skeptic. The only one I do believe
(07:20):
is the three stars for Laberna Dam, which in my
view is you know, the greatest restaurants in the world,
and retained its three stars. But even they cannot afford
to let their guard down because all it takes, you know,
Michelin likes to upset the Every year. Micheline likes to
(07:40):
come up with one, you know, reduction in the star
because otherwise nobody would pay attention. So they've got to
knock somebody down every year. So this year it was
poor Masa. But in terms of in terms of quality,
I don't believe the word of it. I've been to
plenty of Micheline star, one star, two star restaurants that
(08:01):
I thought absolutely stinky.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Good point, now, before we run out of time, Uh,
what are all the real estate guys, all the restaurant guys,
what are they saying to you about the coming Mondanni era?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Well, I do the commercial side, as you know, not residential,
but for the most part, but all the commercial people say,
don't worry, you know, We're bigger than any you know,
our industry is bigger than any political change. And they're
probably right. That doesn't mean that there isn't going to
be an effect on something in New York City. You know,
(08:37):
Mamdanie talks about uh, you know, residential rent control wants
to freeze rents and stabilize the ponds, but he doesn't
say anything like that about commercial. Commercial real estate pays
provides generates more tax revenue for the City of New
(08:57):
York and the state than any other industry, more than
Wall Street. I don't remember the exact numbers, it doesn't matter.
Anyone can look them up. And so, you know, commercial
real estate industry, which has been fortunately dramatically revived over
the last two years. It's extraordinary. What's happened is really
(09:18):
the driver of the New York City economy. And even
a you know, a communistic guy like Mamdani would be
a fool to tamper with that.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, we got through Deblasio for eight years, We'll get
through this for four exactly. Yeah, all right, Well, everybody
reads Steve Cuzo's excellent columns in the New York Post.
If you go to The New York Post, website. All
of his columns are up there. You can read them all.
Just go to the New York Post website and just
type in Steve Cuzo. Steve Cuzo, thanks for being with us.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Thank you, Mark always fun.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
All right, take care, they don't forget coming up at noon,
Buck and Clay, we will be here at noon today. Now,
if you can hear the show live, this show, you
can listen to the podcast anytime you want, day or night.
You can go get the podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
And remember on the weekends there's a bonus segment, like
an additional show that wasn't on the air if you're
(10:13):
a podcast listener. So wherever you get your podcasts, or
you go to seven ten wor dot com.
Well, Steve Cuzell, the great New York Post column there's
nobody better on restaurants, the real estate. Now New York
stuff is columns. You can read them all. They're in
the New York Post website. Steve Cuzoh, how you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
I'm great, Mark. Thanks. It's hard to live up to
that doing. I'll try those.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
You'll do it, you'll do Hey. Yeah, you're just back
from London.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Uh yeah?
Speaker 1 (00:22):
All them on Instagram? Great pictures. But were there any
English speaking people left in London?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well that's the thing I tell friends who haven't been
to London a long time. I say, I tell them
English is widely spoken. Now that's supposed to be a joke,
because it is, after all, wonder it's England, you know.
So yes, English is still widely spoken, but not universally.
No like New York. What was it?
Speaker 1 (00:46):
But all the great old London places they're not. They've
been overtaken by all kinds of new places. What's what's
good over there?
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Well? So what to do? Oh? So many great restaurants.
But the most interesting single thing, in my view is
the American Embassy in Grove Most Square, which had been
there for I don't know, that was our embassy there
for a million years. The embassy moved away about ten
years ago to a new location. The building was a
giant brutalist style kind of a hulking building. It was
(01:18):
never well loved, but then Katari Fund bought it and
converted the whole property. God knows how much it might
must have cost into a spectacular new Rosewood managed hotel.
Uh you know, Rosewood was one of the premier hotel
(01:40):
companies in the world, the Carlisle, New York, and I
mean they uperate the Carlisle and it's called the Chancery.
That's the end of the new hotel. And when you
go into the building, you can't believe that this was
once this miserable, you know interior where people would line
up for, you know, to get their passports nude. They
(02:01):
created a they carved out an atrium. It's it's all
soft and warm, unlike the you know, the kind of
still brooding exterior. The interior is all warmth and light
and they have five restaurants, including a carbone from New York.
I didn't eat there, but we did eat at a
wonderful Mediterranean restaurant in the hotel called Sarah, And they
(02:25):
have a rooftop lounge called the Eagle or the Eagle
because it's got the giant gold eagle that was there
during the years that the building was the Embassy. And
apparently this giant eagle is made out of the fifty
two parts and it's a lounge and it's like it's
(02:45):
a rooftop lounge like the ones that we have that
so many of in New York and all together it's
a must see for people in visiting London who haven't
been there for a couple of years. The hotel opened
only a few months ago.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, the chance. Hey, you know, it's fascinating. The rooftop
of every office building was the water tower, the AC system,
what they call the mechanicals. It wasn't untill like two
thousand and two that anybody figured out put the restaurant
on the rooftop, put the bar on the rooftop, and.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Put the bars up there. It's incredible. New York City
and Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and even a few
parts of Queens in Flushing have rooftop this in that
just a space that previously was used for nothing mechanical
uses or whatever. And one of the first transformations my
(03:37):
late friend Steve Greenberg created I think it's two thirty
fifth Avenue and I think it was called two thirty
fifth Rooftop and since then there are a gazillion of them.
And I was amused in London because our British friends
there were absolutely flabbergasted at the views from the roof
of the you know, the eagle on top of the
(03:59):
Chance Hotel. And it's a nice view, but nothing compared
to the ones we have in New York. There's one
hotel I don't remember the name of it. It's the
Canal Street and the Bowery that has a rooftop lounge
that is simply not to be believed, that facing both
Brooklyn and Manhattan. Nothing like it in the world. So
(04:20):
it's all good time stuff.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Yeah, Hey, Steve, Keys were talking about this yesterday. Masa
the Japanese restaurant Time Warner Center, nine hundred dollars a
person got wiped out more than that, more than that
twelve hundred with tax and tips and all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Usually perhead, yeah, not per couple, but perhead.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
So there's another one now, like seven point fifty ahead.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Micheline Story, Sushiz or something, So what's happened is that
Masa had three Micheline stars since it opened in two
thousand and nine, when the building was known as Time
Warner Center.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Now it's Delutsche Bank Center Masa, which is a very
small restaurant only twenty six seats are the best seats
of which are at the chef's counter. Carried It's three
Micheline stars all that time. And a couple of things
happened during that time. The competition grew enormously for omakassi
(05:20):
style Japanese dining, where the chef sets the menu from
it changes nightly. Many many courses usually built around sushi,
but not always. I was at Masulunton I had Kobe
beef which was extraordinary, or rogu beef from Japan. But
there's much more competition now and however, and so they
(05:44):
know they lost the star. I don't believe a word
Micheline says about anything, but if you're in business, in
the restaurant business, it matters enormously to you. Because many
many New Yorkers don't care that much about micheline stars.
But it's a different story in Europe and Asia. There
are people with a lot of money from Europe and
Asia who come to New York and when they decide
(06:07):
where they're going to eat, before they even come, they
just look at what's got three stars and they make
their selections on that basis. And so friends in the
industry told me that a restaurant, high end restaurant that
lose that's cut from three stars to two, as Masa
happened to Masa, it can cost them a twenty five
(06:27):
percent of their revenue, not immediately, not overnight, because you
know they're booked far in advance, but over time, and
you know when the current reservations run out, it's going
to hurt them. And it's a small restaurant. Masa unlike
some other restaurants that lost the star and they could
they could weather it because there were large restaurants and
(06:48):
they were part of big companies. Masa is not. So
you know, they've got a tough time to hand them.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Why do you have your doubts about these Michelin reviewers?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I have my I never believed the only reviews of
or ratings and restaurants I ever believed Mark or my own,
the ones that I've written for The New York Post.
I never believed Zagat ratings. I never believed Micheline ratings.
I never believed in New York Times ratings and U
so I'm a skeptic. The only one I do believe
(07:20):
is the three stars for Laberna Dam, which in my
view is you know, the greatest restaurants in the world,
and retained its three stars. But even they cannot afford
to let their guard down because all it takes, you know,
Michelin likes to upset the Every year. Micheline likes to
(07:40):
come up with one, you know, reduction in the star
because otherwise nobody would pay attention. So they've got to
knock somebody down every year. So this year it was
poor Masa. But in terms of in terms of quality,
I don't believe the word of it. I've been to
plenty of Micheline star, one star, two star restaurants that
(08:01):
I thought absolutely stinky.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Good point, now, before we run out of time, Uh,
what are all the real estate guys, all the restaurant guys,
what are they saying to you about the coming Mondanni era?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Well, I do the commercial side, as you know, not residential,
but for the most part, but all the commercial people say,
don't worry, you know, We're bigger than any you know,
our industry is bigger than any political change. And they're
probably right. That doesn't mean that there isn't going to
be an effect on something in New York City. You know,
(08:37):
Mamdanie talks about uh, you know, residential rent control wants
to freeze rents and stabilize the ponds, but he doesn't
say anything like that about commercial. Commercial real estate pays
provides generates more tax revenue for the City of New
(08:57):
York and the state than any other industry, more than
Wall Street. I don't remember the exact numbers, it doesn't matter.
Anyone can look them up. And so, you know, commercial
real estate industry, which has been fortunately dramatically revived over
the last two years. It's extraordinary. What's happened is really
(09:18):
the driver of the New York City economy. And even
a you know, a communistic guy like Mamdani would be
a fool to tamper with that.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Well, we got through Deblasio for eight years, We'll get
through this for four exactly. Yeah, all right, Well, everybody
reads Steve Cuzo's excellent columns in the New York Post.
If you go to The New York Post, website. All
of his columns are up there. You can read them all.
Just go to the New York Post website and just
type in Steve Cuzo. Steve Cuzo, thanks for being with us.
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Thank you, Mark always fun.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
All right, take care, they don't forget coming up at noon,
Buck and Clay, we will be here at noon today. Now,
if you can hear the show live, this show, you
can listen to the podcast anytime you want, day or night.
You can go get the podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
And remember on the weekends there's a bonus segment, like
an additional show that wasn't on the air if you're
(10:13):
a podcast listener. So wherever you get your podcasts, or
you go to seven ten wor dot com.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.