Biden Taps Battery Park City Authority Chief as Ambassador to Greece

Battery Park City Authority Chairman George Tsunis was at the center of controversy over the siting of the Essential Workers Monument in the neighborhood. Here he responds to critics of the plan at a meeting in July of Community Board 1's Battery City Committee. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib

President Biden has nominated Battery Park City Authority Chairman George Tsunis to be the U.S. Ambassador to Greece.

Tsunis, a lawyer, hotel magnate and major Democratic fundraiser who supported Biden early in his election campaign, is the son of first generation Greek-American immigrants and speaks Greek. 

Former Gov. Cuomo appointed Tsunis to the Authority board in June 2017 and he was elected chairman a year later. He became best known locally during the uproar this summer over Cuomo’s decision to site a monument to essential workers in the neighborhood’s Rockefeller Park. Tsunis initially supported the decision, but protests quickly led to a change of heart and his apology, calling the site a “mistake.” But the Authority’s alternative also was roundly rejected and Cuomo, apparently at Tsunis’s urging, agreed to enlarge the monument planning commission to include community members. (The issue appears to be on the back burner following Cuomo’s resignation.)

Through it all, Tsunis made himself available to the plan’s critics and seemed personally liked by many of them.

Tsunis, who lives on Long Island, is chairman of Chartwell Hospitality, which owns, develops and manages a string of Hilton, Marriott and InterContinental Hotels. Also a philanthropist, he received the Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award from Long Island Cares in 2003.

Reuters reported that Tsunis’s nomination has drawn criticism due to his lack of diplomatic experience. Greece has not had a non-career appointee in nearly 30 years, the news service said. Appointed ambassador to Norway by President Obama in 2014, he withdrew his nomination following a widely criticized confirmation hearing performance. Through fundraising and donations, Tsunis contributed nearly $1 million to Obama’s election campaign, according to published reports.

Tsunis declined to be interviewed for this article. In a statement, he said, “I am honored and humbled by the nomination, and if confirmed I look forward to promoting American interests and values in the bilateral relationship—as well as to deepening and strengthening an already strong relationship.”