Tavern on the Green bidding light

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NEW YORK, May 19 (UPI) -- Some of the restaurant world's biggest names say they backed away from submitting bids for one of the highest-grossing U.S. restaurants.

To qualify for bidding on a 20-year lease for New York's Tavern on the Green, restaurateurs were required to submit a proposal and a $50,000 certified check to the city by Monday, The New York Times reported.

But noteworthy potential bidders Donald Trump, Danny Meyer, the Cipriani family and David Liederman reviewed their options and decided not to bid, the New York Post reported Tuesday.

"I ran the numbers with my accountants, and there was no way to make this work in the middle of a depression," said Lieberman, who used to run Chez Louis in New York.

More than 100 potential bidders toured the restaurant, but only a handful of bidders came through with checks and proposals, the Post said.

One of the bids was submitted by the LeRoy family, which currently operates the restaurant.

Seth Greenberg, who owns two Manhattan restaurants, submitted a bid, as did Dean Poll, who runs the Central Park Boathouse restaurant,

"I'm in the park, and I know just how to run Tavern," Poll said.