Under Cover

Harry’s is back

Harry’s at Hanover Square is open for business again. The iconic steakhouse will reopen its doors May 12, ending a three-year hiatus. The original Harry’s — once a famous watering hole for Wall Street traders — closed in 2003 when owner Harry Poulakakos’s wife, Adrienne, died of cancer. The Harry’s comeback has been in the works since last spring, when Poulakakos told Downtown Express that the bar, which once boasted one of the city’s biggest wine cellars, would soon return to the Downtown landscape. Harry’s will return to the same location — 1 Hanover Square — but with a different Poulakakos at the helm. Harry’s son, Peter, will take the reins and give the old standard a new look. Harry’s Café will cater to the casual, sophisticated crowd and serve burgers, pasta and Kobe beef hotdogs. The traditional Harry’s Steak will serve steaks and the winemaking monk murals from the original Harry’s will grace the walls. The Poulakokos family also owns Bayard’s upstairs and co-owns Ulysses, a nearby bar on Stone St.

Where’s Gerson?

Alan Gerson might have missed 33 percent of City Council meetings in 2005, but it was not because he was at Lower Manhattan Development Corp. meetings, the City Councilmember insists. A New York Post article recently reported that Gerson had missed meetings to attend L.M.D.C. meetings, but Gerson said the paper got it wrong. He was attending a wide array of meetings about the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan, he said. “I was at a range of any number of meetings depending on the particular day or particular time,” he told UnderCover. “It could have been meetings on the release of the ground zero plans or with the police commissioner pertaining to parking in Chinatown.”

Gerson’s attendance record is 13 percent poorer than the City Hall average, a statistic the councilmember disputes. Councilmembers missed an average of 20 percent of the meetings in 2005.

“There was a lot that was incorrect in that article,” Gerson said. “The only thing that was correct was that they didn’t list me in the top five [attendance offenders.]”

Bow-line tie event

Downtown’s glitterati shined last Friday night at the New York Harbor Sailing Foundation’s annual Sailors Ball at the Down Town Association — the stately club building with the largest men’s room in Lower Manhattan, if not the world. Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh hosted the black tie event that drew James Cavanaugh, president of the Battery Park City Authority, world-class sailor Bruce Schwab and a slightly-underdressed Councilmember Alan Gerson, who came in a light-colored suit and tie and joked about his tux-less appearance.

Costly living

Move over 90210, here comes 10013. Tribeca’s tony zip code is the 12th most expensive in the country, according to Forbes Magazine. Think you got off easy because you’re in southern Tribeca or Battery Park City? Not so fast — 10007 is ranked 19th.

Downtown sweeps

Three Downtown developments were tapped for a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award. The Battery Maritime Building, which was restored by the city, Historic Front Street, a residential renovation and conversion by developer Frank Sciame, and 90 West Street, a residential conversion overlooking the World Trade Center site, will all be honored — along with five other projects — at the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s 15th annual award ceremony.