| Hotel Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
| 7th Avenue entrance of Hotel Pennsylvania | |
| Location | 401 Seventh Avenue, (15 Penn Plaza) New York City |
| Opening date | 1919 |
| Developer | Pennsylvania Railroad |
| Architect | McKim, Mead & White |
| Owner | Vornado Realty Trust |
| Rooms | 2200 at opening, 1700 in 2008 |
| Floors | 22 |
| Website | http://www.hotelpenn.com |
The Hotel Pennsylvania is a hotel located at 401 7th Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City.
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The Hotel Pennsylvania was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and operated by Ellsworth Statler. It opened on January 25, 1919[1] and was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White, which also designed the original columned version of Pennsylvania Station located across the street. (The old Pennsylvania Station was razed in 1963 to make room for Madison Square Garden and the redeveloped below-ground station in use today.)
Statler Hotels, which had managed the Pennsylvania since its construction, acquired the property outright in 1948[2] and renamed it the Hotel Statler. Following the sale of all 17 Statler hotels to Conrad Hilton in 1954, the hotel became The Statler Hilton. It operated under this name until the early 1980s, when Hilton sold the hotel. It was renamed The New York Statler for a brief period and was operated by Dunfey hotels, a division of Aer Lingus. It was then purchased in 1984 by the Penta Hotels chain, a joint-venture of British Airways, Lufthansa and Swissair, becoming The New York Penta. In 1992 Penta went out of business and the hotel returned to its original name, Hotel Pennsylvania.
The threat of the Hotel Pennsylvania's demolition was first introduced in 1997 when Vornado Realty Trust bought the hotel.[3] Vornado announced in 2007 that the hotel was to be demolished to make way for a new office building with Merrill Lynch as its anchor tenant.[4] Owner Vornado Realty Trust intended to build a 2,500,000-square-foot (230,000 m2) building by 2011.[5][6]
In 2007 the Save Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation was created.
Shortly after the announcement of Vornado's plans, the staff of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, a magazine which sponsors biennial HOPE hacker conventions at the hotel, began investigating possible ways to save the hotel from demolition.[7] They were joined by the new Save the Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation, whose members included a number of city organizations and politicians to aid in the landmarking of the hotel, including The Historic District Council, Manhattan Community Board 5, and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried.[8] In November 2007, Manhattan Community Board 5 voted 21-8 to have New York City Council landmark the historic hotel.[9] However in February 2008 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission denied the request for landmarking.[10]
Preservation efforts have proven difficult. Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 noted that while people overseas expressed concern over the fate of the hotel, "New Yorkers might not care enough to get involved. The hotel was old; the rooms weren’t as big and luxurious as other more modern facilities; and New Yorkers simply weren’t in a position to grasp the importance of such a place since they normally don’t need cheap and easily accessible hotels if they already live here."[11]
In May 2010 the hotel was again in danger of demolition.[12] Borough president for Manhattan Scott Stringer gave a conditional approval[13][14] overruling Manhattan Community Board 5.[15]
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is currently in the process of reviewing the hotel's Cafe Rouge for landmarking status.[16] The evaluation papers were sent in by the Save Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation
On July 14, 2010 the New York City Department of City Planning voted unanimously in favor of the construction of the tower.[17]
On August 23, 2010 the NYC Council voted to approve the proposed ULURP submitted by the building owners.[18][19]
On October 22, 2010 the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission declined the request for landmarking of the Cafe Rouge[20]
On December 14, 2011 Vornado proposed to no longer destroy the Hotel but instead had plans for renovation. [21][22]
The hotel has the distinction of having the New York phone number in longest continuous use. The number, Pennsylvania 6-5000, is the inspiration for the Jerry Gray composition of the same name (with lyrics later added by Carl Sigman). The most popular version was performed by Glenn Miller with the Andrews Sisters' version not far behind. Many big band names played in the hotel's Main Dining Room, The Cafe Rouge, including the Dorsey Brothers, Woody Herman, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. One evening in November 1939 while in the midst of a steady long-term engagement at the Cafe Rouge, bandleader Artie Shaw left the bandstand between sets and decided he had enough of the band business and all the hype of having become a major celebrity in the year and a half leading up to that point; he and his band having been thrust into the position of being most popular big band in the country at that time. Shaw did not return to the bandstand and essentially quit his own band on the spot; the act getting such great notice in the press that even the New York Times felt obliged to offer an editorial upon the situation and did. From 1940-42 Glenn Miller's band also had repeated long-term steady bookings in the room during the three years of Miller's great popularity as a major bandleader of the Swing Era. The aforementioned Jerry Gray had been Shaw's principal orchestrator from 1937–39 and he was immediately hired by Miller as a staff arranger when Shaw deserted his band; it was during Miller's 1940 engagement at the hotel that Gray wrote the popular instrumental tune that immortalized the Hotel's telephone number.
Contrary to common floor numbering practice, there is a 13th floor. The hotel states it has 22 floors from street level to the roof, plus three additional levels in the penthouse. The highest penthouse level is numbered as the 21st floor. The discrepancy in floor numbering is due to several mezzanine-type levels that carry names such as "lobby mezzanine" instead of floor numbers.