http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/arts/music/bid-for-new-york-city-operas-assets-wins-its-boards-support-.html 2014-12-06 00:34:41 Bid for New York City Opera’s Assets Wins Support of Its Board In selecting a group led by Michael Capasso, the board of the bankrupt opera passed over proposals including those by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Purchase College. === The board of the bankrupt Its proposal, which would need approval from a federal bankruptcy court judge, calls for selling the company’s assets to a group led by Michael Capasso, the founder and general director of the Dicapo Opera Theater. Dicapo, a small New York company, has mounted In choosing the group led by Mr. Capasso — which said that it had won pledges of $2.6 million to restart the opera company, which it hopes to bring back to Lincoln Center — the board passed over proposals from other suitors including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Purchase College and Gene Kaufman, an architect who sought to force a sale in court. The move to sell City Opera’s few remaining assets took on new urgency this week when Judge Sean H. Lane of United States Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan issued a ruling that sets the stage for a possible auction before the court. The ruling ordered the bankrupt company to file a motion by Dec. 18 seeking the court’s approval for a sale, subject to higher and better offers. Big questions remain about whether the other suitors will make their own offers in court, and what will happen to all of the people and groups owed money by City Opera. The company’s most valuable asset — the estimated $4.5 million remaining in its endowment fund — is not part of the proposed deal. The New York State attorney general’s office, which oversees charities, said in court papers that the donor-restricted gifts made to the endowment fund were not part of the company’s federal bankruptcy case, and should be distributed later by a state court “to one or more charitable not-for-profit corporations that the court determines will most effectively accomplish the gift’s purpose and the donor’s intent.” City Opera, which filed for bankruptcy last year on the eve of its 70th anniversary, still owes money to people who bought tickets to its canceled productions. Its thrift store on East 23rd Street is now one of its most valuable assets. The company, which helped propel the careers of Beverly Sills and Plácido Domingo, The group favored by the board, and led by Mr. Capasso, is called NYCO Renaissance. It said in a statement that Roy G. Niederhoffer, an investment manager and former City Opera board member, had pledged more than $1 million toward the effort and would be chairman of its board, and that Jeffrey Laikind, another former board member, would serve as the new board’s president. The musicians’ union, which has sparred in the past with Mr. Capasso’s old company to make sure musicians were paid, praised the development. Tino Gagliardi, the president of Local 802, said in a statement that “the musicians of the New York City Opera are an important part of the cultural landscape of New York City, and having them play once more at this beloved company would be a truly wonderful thing for fans of opera around the world, and for our city.”