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176-714: Over the course of its history, the convention has been known as the Big Apple Convention , the Big Apple Comic Book Art, and Toy Show , and the Big Apple Comic Book, Art, Toy & Sci-Fi Expo ; with the larger three-day November shows known as the National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo , the National Comic Book, Art, and Sci-Fi Expo , and the National Comic Book, Comic Art, and Fantasy Convention . In 2014,

352-407: A Lehman Brothers analyst said that Vornado officials were considering replacing the hotel with a 50- to 60-story tower. Through the 2000s, the hotel remained popular enough that its managers trademarked the slogan "World's Most Popular Hotel" in 2002. However, the hotel had become noticeably rundown, and guests reported bedbug infestations, darkened windows, and dirty carpets, among other things. By

528-505: A society at a given point in time. As celebrities online identities are extremely important in order to create a brand to line-up sponsorships, jobs, and opportunities. As influencers , micro-celebrities, and users constantly need to find new ways to be unique or stay updated with trends, in order to maintain followers, views, and likes. For example, Ellen DeGeneres has created her own personal branding through her talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show . As she developed her brand we can see

704-617: A broad spectrum of the public. Important contemporary contributions to understanding what popular culture means have been given by the German researcher Ronald Daus , who studies the impact of extra-European cultures in North America , Asia , and especially in Latin America . Within the realm of popular culture, there exists an organizational culture. From its beginning, popular culture has revolved around classes in society and

880-470: A central space flanked on either side by a terrace measuring 18 inches (46 cm) high. At the end of each terrace was a colonnade of four columns. Both the wall base and door trim were made of terracotta , while the walls were artificial limestone . The beamed ceiling had various carvings in the Italian and French Renaissance styles, and the ceiling itself was painted to increase the perceived height of

1056-659: A combined $ 10 million in damages from the New York Hotel Statler Company Inc. and Ellsworth Statler's estate. Matchette claimed that Statler had given excessive salaries to himself and his family members and that Statler had mismanaged the hotel's construction. Matchette filed four lawsuits in the New York Supreme Court in 1930, seeking $ 17.5 million in damages from Statler's estate, the Hotel Statler Company, and

1232-504: A commercial, trailer, or other content not serving as attraction for viewership). Television programs may be fictional (as in comedies and dramas ), or non-fictional (as in documentary , light entertainment , news and reality television ). They may be topical (as in the case of a local newscast and some made-for-television movies), or historical (as in the case of many documentaries and fictional series). They can be primarily instructional or educational , or entertaining as

1408-462: A commodity reinforced by capitalist corporations complicit in imperialism and patriarchy. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky critiqued the mass media in their 1988 work Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media . They argue that mass media is controlled by a powerful hegemonic elite who are motivated by their own interests that determine and manipulate what information

1584-558: A controlling interest in all 17 of Statler Hotels' properties, including the Hotel Statler. Hilton paid an estimated $ 76 million for the controlling stake. At the time, Hilton already owned multiple large hotels in New York City. Hilton was installing air conditioners in all of the hotel's guestrooms by early 1956. The hotel became The Statler Hilton in 1958. Over the years, the hotel was reduced to 1,592 rooms. Many of

1760-521: A delay in the demolition of the hotel because it was financially infeasible to do so at the moment. Steven Roth said in March 2013 that he wanted to renovate the hotel instead of demolishing it. By 2014, Vornado was again looking to develop a skyscraper on the Hotel Pennsylvania's site. Due to uncertainty over the site's future, Roth opted not to renovate the hotel during the mid-2010s. In

1936-614: A fixture of the New Yorker Hotel, the BACC has hosted 5 events beginning March 26, 2022, an annual "Christmas Con" in December (in 2024 called "Holiday Con"), and (along with promoter Laz Rivero) the first Big Apple Trading Card Show, held on January 29, 2022, at the New Yorker Hotel. The trading card show featured baseball , football , basketball , Pokémon , Magic: The Gathering cards, and more. Comics creator Evan Dorkin

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2112-430: A florist shop, telegraph office, public telephones, and check rooms at ground level. There were three floor levels below the street. The first basement contained main and auxiliary kitchens, grill room, lunch room, barber shop, and bathroom. The grill room was designed to resemble an Italian garden with bright colors; its columns and walls contained sgraffito decorations. The sub-basement mezzanine only covered part of

2288-464: A form separate from mass-produced popular culture, propagating by word of mouth rather than via mass media, e.g. in the form of jokes or urban legends . With the widespread use of the Internet from the 1990s, the distinction between mass media and word-of-mouth has become blurred. Although the folkloric element of popular culture engages heavily with the commercial element, communities amongst

2464-426: A known massive influencer to popular culture yet not all films create a movement that contributes enough to be part of the popular culture that starts movements. The content must resonate to most of the public so the knowledge in the material connects with the majority. Popular culture is a set of beliefs in trends and entail to change a person's set of ideologies and create social transformation. The beliefs are still

2640-530: A landmark designation. Three months later, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected the landmark request. 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

2816-470: A nearby plant on 32nd Street, and the subbasement also contained a 500-kilowatt (670 hp) steam-driven generator. The hotel also received alternating current from a PRR substation in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens . Cables carried power from the substation to a room in the hotel's basement, which contained five banks of transformers . Two of the banks of transformers supplied

2992-650: A newspaper called The Pennsylvania Register in 1921, which according to The Christian Science Monitor was "said to be the only daily newspaper published in a hotel". In 1922, the Pennsylvania became the first hotel on the East Coast of the United States to receive radio telegraph service. The Pennsylvania remained the world's largest hotel until the late 1920s, when the New Yorker Hotel

3168-771: A person or commodity must conform to the hegemonic groups that determine what makes up a phenomenon." According to John M. MacKenzie , many products of popular culture have been designed to promote imperialist ideologies and to glorify the British upper classes rather than present a democratic view of the world. Although there are many films which do not contain such propaganda, there have been many films that promote racism and militarist imperialism. bell hooks , an influential feminist, argues that commercial commodities and celebrities cannot be symbols of progressiveness when they collaborate with imperialist capitalism and promote ideals of beauty; hooks uses Beyoncé as an example of

3344-452: A plaza in front of the hotel's entrance. The plaza had been intended as a forecourt for the original Penn Station, though the hotel's height blunted this effect. When the PRR had leased the site to the hotel's original operators, the lease agreement included a clause that prevented the hotel's operators from constructing any structure, except for an entrance portico, on the westernmost 15 feet of

3520-410: 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. In May 2010, the hotel was again in danger of demolition. Manhattan borough president Scott Stringer gave a conditional approval overruling Manhattan Community Board 5 . The LPC reviewed the hotel's Cafe Rouge for landmark status based on a request by

3696-609: A refurbishment of the lobby. By the early 1990s, celebrities no longer frequented the Ramada Pennsylvania, which tried to attract guests by offering discounts for guests' pets. A Sports Authority store at the hotel's base was announced in 1993, and it opened the following year, within the hotel's former bar and mezzanine. The board of directors of the Best Western hotel chain voted in November 1993 to rename

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3872-486: A revival in tourism in New York City , as well as demand for office space in Penn Plaza. The hotel's renovation was expected to cost about $ 200 million. Vornado would operate about 400,000 square feet (37,000 m ) of commercial and office space at the hotel. The planned conversion did not happen, as Planet Hollywood suffered major financial losses in the late 1990s. Vornado bought out Ong's 40 percent stake in

4048-469: A set of practices , beliefs , artistic output (also known as popular art [cf. pop art ] or mass art , sometimes contrasted with fine art ) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a society at a given point in time. Popular culture also encompasses the activities and feelings produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects. The primary driving forces behind popular culture, especially when speaking of Western popular cultures, are

4224-492: A sovereignty to consumers that they do not really have. In Baudrillard's understanding, the products of capitalist popular culture can only give the illusion of rebellion, since they are still produced by a system controlled by the powerful. Baudrillard stated in an interview, critiquing the content and production of The Matrix : The Matrix paints the picture of a monopolistic superpower, like we see today, and then collaborates in its refraction. Basically, its dissemination on

4400-444: A trend that change more rapidly in the modern age that carries a continuation of outpouring media and more specifically films. The trend does not last but it also carries a different effect based on individuals that can be grouped to generalized groups based on age and education. The creation of culture by films is seen in fandoms, religions, ideologies, and movements. The culture of film is more evident through social media. Social media

4576-400: A two-color steel-and-glass skylight , designed by G. Rae & Co. Above the skylight were reflectors, which provided gold-tinted illumination; workers replaced the reflectors using a set of trolley tracks. The lobby was flanked by a promenade to the north and south. By the early 21st century, the skylight had been removed and the columns had been reclad multiple times, but the floor

4752-420: A vacuum system that collected dust from 487 openings throughout the hotel. The hotel received water from the city's water supply system , which supplied ice machines, faucets, and mechanical equipment. The water-drainage system included sewers to the city's sewage system, as well as sump pumps that drained water from the basements. As built, there were two banks of six passenger elevators, which all ran from

4928-410: A world scale is complicit with the film itself. On this point it is worth recalling Marshall McLuhan: the medium is the message. The message of The Matrix is its own diffusion by an uncontrollable and proliferating contamination. With the invention of the printing press in the sixteenth century, mass-produced, cheap books, pamphlets and periodicals became widely available to the public. With this,

5104-545: Is also defined as the culture that is "leftover" when we have decided what high culture is. However, many works straddle the boundaries, e.g., William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens , Leo Tolstoy , and George Orwell . A third definition equates pop culture with "mass culture" and ideas. This is seen as a commercial culture, mass-produced for mass consumption by mass media . From a Western European perspective, this may be compared to American culture . Alternatively, "pop culture" can be defined as an "authentic" culture of

5280-452: Is an instant source of feedback and creates discussion on films. A repeating event that has been set in modern culture within the trend setting phase is the creation of movements in social media platforms to defend a featured subject on a film. Popular culture or mass culture, is reached easily with films which are easily shared and reached worldwide. A television program is a segment of audiovisual content intended for broadcast (other than

5456-407: Is artificially reinforced by transnational media corporations. Globalized pop culture can contribute to the homogenization of cultural identities, erasing or diluting diverse local traditions and practices in favor of standardized, marketable forms of entertainment and consumption. Jack Zipes , a professor of German and literature, critiqued the mass commercialization and corporate hegemony behind

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5632-479: Is constantly evolving and occurs uniquely in place and time . It forms currents and eddies, and represents a complex of mutually interdependent perspectives and values that influence society and its institutions in various ways. For example, certain currents of pop culture may originate from, (or diverge into) a subculture , representing perspectives with which the mainstream popular culture has only limited familiarity. Items of popular culture most typically appeal to

5808-644: Is intimate and conveniently located near mass transit. The small staff of volunteers kept up with the demand. The vendors I spoke with at the end said they had a good show (made money)." Dan Rovira, also on the BACC Facebook in 2019: "I have been going to the Big Apple Con for some 9 years and I have always found it to be terrific . . . the guest artists for comics are superb. I am looking forward this March to attend. I highly recommend this outstanding convention." Tidarut Hansub-Udom in 2021 wrote: "It

5984-524: Is massive and systematic: not only are choices for publicity and suppression comprehensible in terms of system advantage, but the modes of handling favored and inconvenient materials (placement, tone, context, fullness of treatment) differ in ways that serve political ends. According to the postmodern sociologist Jean Baudrillard , the individual is trained into the duty of seeking the relentless maximization of pleasure lest he or she become asocial. Therefore, "enjoyment" and "fun" become indistinguishable from

6160-419: Is narrower. Pop is specific to something containing qualities of mass appeal, while "popular" refers to what has gained popularity, regardless of its style. According to author John Storey, there are various definitions of popular culture. The quantitative definition of culture has the problem that too much " high culture " (e.g., television dramatizations of Jane Austen ) is also "popular". "Pop culture"

6336-583: Is not used in face-to-face conversations, thus, adding to a persona users create through the screens of technology. For example, some individuals respond to situations with a hashtag or emojis. Social media influencers have become trendsetters through their direct engagement with large audiences, upending conventional marketing and advertising techniques. Consumer purchase choices have been impacted by fashion partnerships, sponsored material and outfit ideas offered by influencers. Social media has also made fashion more accessible by fostering uniqueness, expanding

6512-413: Is present in the mainstream. The mass media is therefore a system of propaganda. In sum, a propaganda approach to media coverage suggests a systematic and highly political dichotomization in news coverage based on serviceability to important domestic power interests. This should be observable in dichotomized choices of story and in the volume and quality of coverage... such dichotomization in the mass media

6688-541: Is significant in recent times because there is an influx of sport history to keep track of, as sports journalists produce quality pieces, more sports museums are developed, and there are various radio, film, and television documentaries. Sport history has embraced popular culture as it has expanded its horizons on elite athletes and governing bodies, to the study of every day activities. It has broadened its perspective by connecting sports and athletes with class, gender, ethnicity, and disability. Sports are becoming more popular in

6864-532: Is something that can be defined in a variety of conflicting ways by different people across different contexts. It is generally viewed in contrast to other forms of culture such as folk culture , working-class culture , or high culture , and also from different academic perspectives such as psychoanalysis , structuralism , postmodernism , and more. The common pop-culture categories are entertainment (such as film , music , television , literature and video games ), sports , news (as in people / places in

7040-433: Is something that designers are actively pursuing as well. Connolly, a British menswear brand, is just one example of the many who are challenging designers and stylists to revamp and upcycle pieces of clothing from past collections. Further, the past few decades have seen the reintroduction of old designs, which have been revitalized and improvised to fit the current market needs. Additionally, celebrities and influencers are at

7216-403: Is the case in situation comedy and game shows . Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry . These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training . It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional or "folk" music . Art music was historically disseminated through

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7392-701: The Commodore Hotel near Grand Central Terminal , as well as attract business travelers and professional conventions. The PRR hired the George A. Fuller Company as the hotel's general contractor in March 1916; the Fuller Company constructed the Pennsylvania and the Commodore simultaneously. The PRR also hired Post & McCord as the steel contractor. The hotel's cost had increased to $ 11 million by that April; this cost included $ 7.5 million for

7568-546: The Frankfurt School during the twentieth century. Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer analyzed the dangers of the culture industry in their influential work the Dialectic of Enlightenment by drawing upon the works of Kant , Marx , Nietzsche and others. Capitalist popular culture, as Adorno argued, was not an authentic culture of the people but a system of homogenous and standardized products manufactured in

7744-476: The Harry Potter franchise . He argued that the commodities of the culture industry are "popular" because they are homogenous and obey standard conventions; the media then influences the tastes of children. In his analysis of Harry Potter's global brand, Zipes wrote, "It must conform to the standards of exception set by the mass media and promoted by the culture industry in general. To be a phenomenon means that

7920-665: The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center . (Great Eastern also ran shows in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.) Other companies, including Dynamic Forces, held New York City conventions, but all were on a smaller scale than the Seuling shows. Changes in the industry, popular culture, and the resurgent city itself since the troubled 1960s and '70s made large-scale comic-book conventions difficult to hold profitably. Jonah Weiland of ComicBookResources.com also noted that "... dealing with

8096-662: The New York Comic Book Marketplace which ran annually through 2014. Though not branded as a "Big Apple Convention" and not affiliated with Wizard World, some might consider the next iteration of the Big Apple Comic Con to have been held on March 31, 2012, at the Penn Plaza Pavilion. It was Michael Carbonaro's third New York Comic Book Marketplace, and (prematurely) announced as Carbonaro's final convention. The guest of honor

8272-596: The New York Penta . Anna Quindlen of The New York Times Magazine wrote: "Real New Yorkers, who will be damned if they will call Sixth Avenue Avenue of the Americas, still call it the Statler." The owners renovated the facade and the public spaces, creating two restaurant spaces within the hotel. They also refurbished its 1,705 guestrooms, combining some of the rooms to create larger suites. The project

8448-589: The World Financial Center in January 2008, in part because of the firm's financial troubles. At a conference call in June 2008, Vornado chairman Steven Roth said he was considering downsizing his planned development or renovating the Hotel Pennsylvania. The redevelopment plans prompted the staff of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly , a magazine that sponsored biennial HOPE hacker conventions at

8624-405: The commercial . Films and cinema are highly influential to popular culture, as films as an art form are what people seem to respond to the most. With moving pictures being first captured by Eadweard Muybridge in 1877, films have evolved into elements that can be cast into different digital formats, spreading to different cultures. The impact of films and cinema are most evident when analyzing in

8800-490: The mass media , mass appeal, marketing and capitalism ; and it is produced by what philosopher Theodor Adorno refers to as the " culture industry ". Heavily influenced in modern times by mass media, this collection of ideas permeates the everyday lives of people in a given society. Therefore, popular culture has a way of influencing an individual's attitudes towards certain topics. However, there are various ways to define pop culture. Because of this, popular culture

8976-417: The 1900s fashion began to take a more individualistic tone. Primarily marked by the turbulence of the 1960s and momentous social change, younger generations started to develop their own sense of style. Catapulting influences of things like different prints or patterns that can still be seen in the present day. The future of fashion is promising and is significantly inspired by past trends. Despite that influence,

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9152-640: The 1930s, including ping-pong matches, home equipment exhibitions, National Board of Review conferences, and architects' conventions. Molony managed the hotel until January 1937, when Duggan replaced him. James H. McCabe became the hotel's manager that June after Duggan was promoted to a vice president within Statler Hotels. Statler Hotels agreed to buy the property outright from the Pennsylvania Railroad on June 30, 1948. Statler Hotels president Arthur F. Douglas officially took over

9328-589: The 1950s as a reaction and a counter to traditional and high-class art by including common and well-known images and references. Artists known during this movement include  Eduardo Paolozzi , Richard Hamilton , Larry Rivers ,  Robert Rauschenberg  and  Andy Warhol . Pop music is a wide-ranging genre of music whose characteristics include styles and tones that have a wider and more massive appeal to all kinds of consumers. Oftentimes, many examples of these music contain influences from other pre-existing works. The origins of popular music began in

9504-424: The 2010 Big Apple Comic Con for October 7–10, the exact same dates as the previously scheduled 2010 New York Comic Con , run by Reed Exhibitions . After a public outcry, Wizard later moved the dates of its 2010 New York convention to October 1–3. Wizard held a new "Wizard World New York City Experience" show on June 28–30, 2013. In 2009, Michael Carbonaro established his own independent one-day convention known as

9680-399: The BACC, offers a good idea of the excitement, fun, and intimate atmosphere of a comic convention that caters to contact and really having time to meet the guests. 82% of fan responses on the shows Facebook page are positive. Roland Edwards writing on the BACC Facebook page in 2019: "I was impressed by how well big name guests like William Shatner and Kathleen Turner were treated...The venue

9856-543: The Big Apple Comic Con included Dave Kaler 's Academy Con , which ran annually from 1965 to 1967; Phil Seuling 's Comic Art Convention , which ran annually from 1968 to 1983 (Seuling died in 1984); and the large annual Creation conventions, usually taking place over the weekend following Thanksgiving from 1971 to 1987. (Creation sometimes put on as many as a half-dozen smaller New York City shows per year). From 1993 to 1995, promoter Frederic Greenberg began hosting Great Eastern Conventions shows annually at venues including

10032-628: The Big Apple Comic Con often features previews of upcoming films, and such evening events as the costume contest hosted b y "Captain Zorikh" Lequidre. The convention regularly hosts hundreds of artists, exhibitors, and film and television personalities in a huge floorspace for exhibitors. The show includes autograph and photo op opportunities with all of the guests, as well as the Artists' Alley where comics artists can sign autographs and sell their work. Major comic book conventions in New York City prior to

10208-405: The Big Apple Comic Con," Jim Steranko a regular guest at the show since the days of St Paul's Church: "It is my favorite real comic con." 40°45′02″N 73°59′34″W  /  40.750634°N 73.992703°W  / 40.750634; -73.992703 Popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture ) is generally recognized by members of a society as

10384-512: The City Planning Commission to develop 15 Penn Plaza on the Hotel Pennsylvania's site. In an April 2018 letter to investors, Roth mentioned the demolition and 15 Penn skyscraper plan as a continued option, but also described Vornado as being at "a tipping point" with regard to redeveloping the Pennsylvania into a "giant convention/entertainment hotel". In June 2019, Vornado unsuccessfully tried to lure Facebook to rent space in

10560-601: The Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society successfully negotiated with the owners to salvage an 8-foot (2.4 m) section of original staircase railing from the rear entrance lobby. This side lobby had a three story staircase leading to the former grand ballroom. By October 2023, the entire above ground structure was gone. The site remains a vacant lot. The Hotel Pennsylvania was designed by William Symmes Richardson of McKim, Mead & White. The hotel measured 22 stories high, including

10736-612: The Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society, but on October 22, 2010, the LPC declined to designate the cafe as a landmark. On July 14, 2010, the New York City Department of City Planning voted unanimously in favor of the construction of the tower. On August 23, 2010, the NYC Council voted to approve the proposed Uniform Land Use Review Procedure submitted by the building owners. In December 2011, Vornado announced

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10912-428: The Hotel Pennsylvania several times before finally shuttering it in 2020. The Hotel Pennsylvania was designed by McKim, Mead & White . It was 22 stories high, including the street level and the rooftop; there was also a three-story penthouse . The first four stories occupied nearly the entire site and had an Indiana Limestone facade. Above the fourth story, the facade was made of buff -colored and gray brick, and

11088-488: The New York Hotel Statler Company, which issued stock to finance the hotel's construction. Both men initially had a 50 percent stake in the company, but Matchette turned over a 25 percent stake to Statler shortly after the company was established. The PRR announced in December 1916 that the hotel would be named the Hotel Pennsylvania and that construction of the hotel's foundations would commence

11264-476: The PRR announced that it would build a 1,000-room hotel on the Seventh Avenue site for about $ 9 million; the hotel itself would cost $ 5 million, while the furnishings and land would cost $ 4 million. The hotel was to be designed by McKim, Mead & White , which had also designed the original Pennsylvania Station. The planned hotel was cited as being either ten or twelve stories. The PRR hoped that

11440-479: The PRR had acquired all lots on the eastern side of Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, directly east of the station, though the railroad did not initially develop the sites. The northern site, which became the Hotel Pennsylvania, measured 400 feet (120 m) long on 32nd and 33rd Streets and 197.5 feet (60.2 m) long on Seventh Avenue. The southern site was sold in 1921 to Equitable Holdings , which developed 11 Penn Plaza there. In January 1916,

11616-663: The Penta chain exited the venture. Hampton Hotels Co. took over the hotel's operation in 1993. The hotel remained the third-largest in New York City, after the New York Hilton Midtown and the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel . Hampton Hotels spent $ 15 million on renovations over the next two years. In advance of the 1992 Democratic National Convention , the hotel's owners spent $ 4 million to $ 6 million on renovations, including

11792-459: The Rieses' lease and acquire several buildings that the family owned nearby. Vornado and Ong finalized their acquisition on September 25, 1997, with plans to convert the Pennsylvania into Planet Hollywood's first Official All Star Hotel . Vornado and Ong would each own a 40 percent stake in the hotel, while Planet Hollywood would own 20 percent. The Official All Star Hotel plan was announced amid

11968-474: The Victorian equivalent of video games, The Guardian in 2016 described penny fiction as "Britain's first taste of mass-produced popular culture for the young". A growing consumer culture and an increased capacity for travel via the newly invented railway (the first public railway, Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in north-east England in 1825) created both a market for cheap popular literature and

12144-426: The ability for its distribution on a large scale. The first penny serials were published in the 1830s to meet the growing demand. The stress on the distinction from "official culture" became more pronounced towards the end of the 19th century, a usage that became established by the interbellum period. From the end of World War II , following major cultural and social changes brought by mass media innovations,

12320-580: The actual hotel, $ 2.5 million for the land, and $ 1 million for furnishings. The PRR filed plans for a 20-story hotel in May 1916, to be designed by McKim, Mead & White. Initially, the PRR leased the hotel to Franklin J. Matchette for 21 years. In December 1916, Ellsworth M. Statler of the Statler Hotels chain purchased a controlling interest in Matchette's lease. Matchette and Statler formed

12496-402: The assumption that New York wants a first-class hotel where the ratio between the minimum and maximum rates will be nearer together than is usually the case." The Hotel Pennsylvania was formally dedicated on January 25, 1919. On that day, 3,000 spectators viewed the hotel, and 2,000 people ate in the main dining room. The Pennsylvania's 2,200 guest rooms and baths made it the largest hotel in

12672-527: The audience becomes accustomed to these formulaic conventions, making intellectual contemplation impossible. Adorno's work has had a considerable influence on culture studies, philosophy, and the New Left . Writing in the New Yorker in 2014, music critic Alex Ross , argued that Adorno's work has a renewed importance in the digital age: "The pop hegemony is all but complete, its superstars dominating

12848-493: The average man, but its vocabulary...is always familiar. It is tempting to confuse pop music with popular music . The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , the musicologist 's ultimate reference resource, identifies popular music as the music since industrialization in the 1800s that is most in line with the tastes and interests of the urban middle class. This would include an extremely wide range of music from vaudeville and minstrel shows to heavy metal . Pop music, on

13024-418: The basement to the roof. The elevators could be configured so that one bank only served the upper floors and the lobby, while the other bank only served the lower floors. The southeast corner of the hotel contained two elevators which connected the lobby to the subway and railroad stations. Closer to 33rd Street, two elevators ran from ground level to the ballrooms 25 feet (7.6 m) above. Three elevators, at

13200-622: The basement, and a conveyor belt connected with a baggage storage area on the mezzanine. At the extreme east end was a driveway for the adjacent Gimbels store, which contained elevators and a loading platform. Between the Gimbels store and the Pennsylvania Hotel was a shopping arcade, which was built in 1919. Originally known as the Pennsylvania Arcade, it was known as Gallery 34 by the 1990s. The ballroom floor, above

13376-434: The branches she created to extend her fan base such as Ellen clothing, socks, pet beds, and more. Social media is interactive computer -mediated technologies that facilitate the creation or sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. Social media platforms such as Instagram , Facebook , Twitter , YouTube , Pinterest , TikTok and Snapchat are

13552-413: The center of the Seventh Avenue facade was a portico of six Ionic columns marking the main entrance. This portico protruded 6 feet (1.8 m) from the facade, although it remained well within the property line. When the entrance was widened in the hotel's later years, four of the columns were truncated to make way for a marquee. The fourth story was faced in plain ashlar . Above the fourth story,

13728-476: The city, only larger; it is surely a better-quality example from its period [...] Even if you're a hardcore preservationist, your energies might be better spent elsewhere." The author and former landmarks commission member Roberta Gratz said, "If anyone thinks that another office tower is more useful than a creatively repurposed hotel as big and beautiful as the Pennsylvania, I don't know what to say." In late 2021, International Content Liquidations finished selling

13904-491: The classical baggy and oversized pieces to trendy and slim-fit clothes for both males and females. Fashion trends and what has been considered popular have been directly influenced and affected by the environment and the state of the world. Dating back to the First and Second World Wars, clothing was designed for functionality as well as to be made in the cheapest way possible. This was due to collective preparation efforts through

14080-519: The conservation of materials. This trend can also be seen throughout the 1930s, or the Great Depression era of history. Due to the state of the economy, clothing yet again faced fundamental changes in shape and function. The term utility clothing was coined, meaning that fashion had taken a turn to more reserved silhouettes. For efficiency, handmade clothing became encouraged through government-backed campaigns. Post-war and continuing throughout

14256-472: The construction cost each year. One architectural critic wrote that the hotel's completion "marked a great step forward in hotel efficiency", as it had an efficient design that was not overly ornate. In the hotel's early years, it hosted such events as a charity event for the Jewish Federations of North America , a meeting for veterans, and a showcase of radio equipment. Employees established

14432-453: The consumption may arise from an active choice, the choice is still the consequence of a social conditioning that the individual is unconscious of. Baudrillard says, "One is permanently governed by a code whose rules and meaning—constraints—like those of language—are, for the most part, beyond the grasp of individuals". Jean Baudrillard argued that the vague conception "Public Opinion" is a subjective and inaccurate illusion, for it attributes

14608-715: The convention from Wizard in 2014. The first show after regaining the BACC name, dubbed the "20th Anniversary Return of the Big Apple Convention," was held March 7, 2015, at the Penn Plaza Pavilion. In December of 2015, BACC partnered with Frank Patz to produce the New York Winter Comic & Sci-Fi Expo , was held at the Resorts World Casino New York in Jamaica, New York . With the holiday-themed December 2019 iteration of

14784-422: The current Pennsylvania Station were built in the late 20th century. The hotel also contained direct subway entrances from the street to the platform, though these entrances had deteriorated significantly by the early 1990s. The two-story main lobby was accessible from the main entrance on Seventh Avenue and from one entrance each on 32nd and 33rd Streets. The lobby, measuring 70 by 133 feet (21 by 41 m),

14960-399: The decorations to be changed between different seasons. The second-westernmost wing contained an outdoor lounge, connected to the restaurant by a wide bridge. When the hotel opened, the roofs of the two eastern wings were left undeveloped. The hotel received electricity from three sources: a power generator in the building and two power stations outside of it. The hotel received steam from

15136-667: The depiction of trends, and facilitating the rise of niche influencers. The influencer-driven fashion industry, nevertheless, has also come under fire for encouraging excessive consumerism, inflated beauty ideals, and labour exploitation. The fashion industry has witnessed tremendous, rapid, and applaudable changes over the years, culminating in the production of masterpieces unimaginable in the past decades. This dynamic trend has compelled renowned clothing lines such as Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Balenciaga to intensify research and creative imagination to develop appealing designs that are outstanding and fascinating. Fashion has changed from

15312-417: The directors of the hotel company. PRR received a $ 5 million mortgage loan from Prudential Insurance in 1933, replacing two loans that the hotel had received in 1917 and 1923. The Automobile Club of New York moved its headquarters to the hotel in 1933, and the hotel's Madhattan Room, decorated with cartoons depicting life in New York City, opened the same year. The hotel continued to host large events in

15488-678: The distinction between high and popular culture". Storey claims that popular culture emerged from the urbanization of the Industrial Revolution . Studies of Shakespeare (by Weimann, Barber, or Bristol, for example) locate much of the characteristic vitality of his drama in its participation in Renaissance popular culture, while contemporary practitioners like Dario Fo and John McGrath use popular culture in its Gramscian sense that includes ancient folk traditions (the commedia dell'arte for example). Popular culture

15664-581: The eastern end of the hotel, ran from the basement to the kitchen on the first mezzanine level, stopping at the driveway. There were also eight service elevators and six dumbwaiters. One of the service elevators operated at a slightly slower speed than the remaining service elevators and all of the passenger elevators. The public rooms were largely on the lower floors. The ground level was largely designed in an Italian style. The hotel also had 24,000 square feet (2,200 m ) for exhibitions and 58,000 square feet (5,400 m ) of ballrooms. Large portions of

15840-446: The effects and influences of pop culture in society and history. Ray B. Browne is one of the first academicians to conduct courses on the studies about pop culture. Pop Culture–although big, mercurial, and slippery to define—is really an umbrella term that covers anything currently in fashion, all or most of whose ingredients are familiar to the public-at-large. The new dances are a perfect example... Pop Art itself may mean little to

16016-555: The eyes of society, and impacting human culture as they get more invested in the game, and perhaps even play the sports themselves in their neighborhoods. Museums also show sports as popular culture, such as Stuart Clarke’s “The Homes of Football” photographic collection in the National Football Museum. Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services. Personal branding includes

16192-420: The facade was made of buff -colored and gray brick. Over the years, the windows on the upper stories were replaced in a piecemeal fashion, and numerous signs were installed on the facade. Near the end of the hotel's existence, the upper stories contained aluminum windows of various designs. The top three stories contained a colonnade of pilasters, above which was a cornice made of terracotta . Sometime during

16368-418: The fashion industry is moving towards a goal of sustainability. This is due to past actions of intense consumerism and fast fashion usage, as well as increasing environmental threats. The state of the economy continues to have a great effect on fashion, as consumers will be looking to make more of an investment in the items that they purchase, rather than participating in a constant cycle of buying. Sustainability

16544-433: The forefront of setting fashion trends through various platforms. Clothing will continue to act as an area for personal expression no matter the trends, constantly shaped by the world around us. Pop culture has had a lasting influence to the products being released in their time. Many examples of art, books, films and others, have been inspired by pop culture. These include: Pop art is an art movement that first emerged in

16720-515: The grand ballroom. The hotel was sold again in August 1983 for $ 46 million. A half-interest in the hotel was acquired by Abelco, an investment group consisting of developers Elie Hirschfeld , Abraham Hirschfeld , and Arthur G. Cohen , and the other half was bought by the Penta Hotels chain, a joint venture of British Airways , Lufthansa , and Swissair . The new owners renamed the hotel

16896-541: The hotel New York's Hotel Pennsylvania , pending an inspection of the hotel's quality. The Image Group leased the hotel's ballrooms in February 1995 for twenty years, converting the seldom-used ballrooms into television studios. Best Western also added a business center to the hotel the same year, equipped with fax machines, computers, and televisions. At that point, the Pennsylvania no longer had any restaurants, and guest-service directories instead listed restaurants near

17072-486: The hotel building was divided into four wings that faced south toward 32nd Street. The public rooms were largely on the lower floors and included a ground-level lobby, a restaurant called the Cafe Rouge , and a ballroom level. The hotel originally had 2,200 guestrooms, which started at the fifth story. The Hotel Pennsylvania used the prominent and memorable telephone number, PEnnsylvania 6-5000 (736–5000), which inspired

17248-469: The hotel for $ 159 million. Vornado and Ong sought to convert the Pennsylvania to a sports-themed hotel operated by Planet Hollywood (in which Ong held a large stake), citing the hotel's proximity to Madison Square Garden. The plans were complicated by the fact that the Riese family held a long-term lease on commercial space at the Pennsylvania. At the end of June 1997, Vornado paid $ 75 million to terminate

17424-490: The hotel had 1,756 rooms. Hilton completed its sale in May 1979, recording an estimated after-tax profit of $ 8.8 million. The hotel was renamed the New York Statler and was operated by Dunfey Hotels , a division of Aer Lingus . Dunfey Hotels sought to market the hotel to business travelers and conventions. During April 1981, the hotel was affected by two fires in as many weeks; the second fire caused damage to

17600-499: The hotel in early 1998 for $ 70 million, paying $ 22 million in cash and taking on $ 48 million in debt. When Ong decided to sell his stake, many Asian companies were selling off real estate in New York City. Vornado Realty Trust transferred the hotel's management to a subsidiary, Vornado Operating Company, in October 1998 because of regulations concerning non-real-estate holdings of real estate investment trusts . Vornado then acquired

17776-466: The hotel that August, paying approximately $ 13 million. The Statler chain renovated the hotel's main dining room, the Cafe Rouge , that year. The Pennsylvania was renamed the Hotel Statler on January 1, 1949. The hotel's managers had supported the name change because the Pennsylvania had hosted Statler Hotels' main offices for many years. Statler Hotels spent $ 200,000 on replacing items with

17952-411: The hotel the largest such facilities in the country at the time. In the mid-1990s, part of the mezzanine became a Sports Authority store. The Men's Cafe was just south of the main entrance and could also be accessed directly from the street. It contained a chestnut-paneled ceiling, tiled floors, Georgian and Flemish-inspired light fixtures, as well as a fireplace and grill on one wall. Just north of

18128-443: The hotel was operated by Dunfey Hotels and renamed the New York Statler . The hotel was sold again in 1983 to a joint venture, renamed the New York Penta , and renovated extensively. The hostelry was renamed several times in the 1990s, eventually becoming the Hotel Pennsylvania. Vornado Realty Trust and Ong Beng Seng bought the hotel in 1997, although Vornado later bought out Ong's stake. Vornado considered closing and demolishing

18304-596: The hotel's construction would spur development in the surrounding area, particularly after the Interborough Rapid Transit Company 's 34th Street–Penn Station subway station opened in two years. In addition, the site was near several major attractions, including multiple Broadway theaters , department stores, and hotels. The PRR wished to compete with the New York Central Railroad , which was concurrently constructing

18480-469: The hotel's contents in preparation for demolition. Items for sale included chandeliers and lighting, ornate staircase railings, guest room furniture, unused mattresses and linens, televisions, the entirety of the hotel's fitness center and commercial kitchens, banquet tables and chairs, and the original guest room doors. Some artifacts were salvaged by the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society during this time. The hotel's demolition began in January 2022, and

18656-446: The hotel's existence, a half-story penthouse was installed above part of the cornice. Above the westernmost wing was a roof garden with a restaurant, which was topped by the elevator penthouse. The roof restaurant had a simple design, with a plaster vaulted ceiling supported by a colonnade, which formed a central hall with aisles. The walls were of plaster above a tile wainscoting, and the restaurant had simple details, which allowed

18832-498: The hotel's final years, the mezzanine levels above the lobby were operated as a separate business, the Penn Plaza Pavilion , a series of raw spaces used as function facilities. They were the site of numerous trade shows and conventions, including the annual Big Apple Comic Con . The guestrooms were frequented by students and shoppers who sought discounted room rates. In March 2018, Vornado renewed special permits from

19008-441: The hotel's lighting system, while the other three banks supplied a set of rotary converters . The lights were operated from three sets of circuits, allowing some parts of the hotel to remain illuminated even if a blackout affected the entire hotel. The ventilation system contained 27 motors, which powered fans that ventilated the air from all of the hotel's bathrooms. In addition, a pair of 20-horsepower (15 kW) motors powered

19184-413: The hotel's old name or initial, including nearly 800,000 pieces of linen, 127,000 pieces of china, and 134,000 pieces of silver. The hotel also replaced signs in subway stations and sent notices to 300,000 people who held Statler-branded credit cards. The hotel was branded as the "Hotel Statler, formerly the Hotel Pennsylvania" for two years after the name change. In August 1954, Conrad Hilton acquired

19360-419: The hotel's space to small businesses during the 2000s, and the T. R. Engle Group gradually renovated the hotel's lobby and rooms during this decade. As part of the planning process for the 7 Subway Extension , in 2003, city and state officials determined that the Hotel Pennsylvania was eligible for official landmark protections on the city, state, and national levels. With the redevelopment of west Midtown in

19536-764: The hotel, began investigating possible ways to save the hotel from demolition. They were joined by the new Save the Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation (later the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society), whose members included a number of city organizations and politicians to aid in designating the hotel as a landmark, including the Historic Districts Council , Manhattan Community Board 5 , and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried . In November 2007, Manhattan Community Board 5 voted 21–8 in support of

19712-558: The hotel. Hirschfeld rebranded the hotel as the Hotel Pennsylvania in 1995, and he placed the hotel for sale in April 1996 for $ 150 million. Hirschfeld had installed Lover's Bench , a bronze sculpture depicting a nude couple and a partly clothed woman, outside the Pennsylvania's entrance. The sculpture was ultimately removed in 1997. In June 1997, Vornado Realty Trust and Singaporean developer Ong Beng Seng agreed to buy

19888-467: The interiors were clad in Mycenaean marble, including corridors, stairways, and elevator lobbies. Prior to the hotel's demolition, most of the interior spaces were substantially altered. At ground level were the main lobby, office, dining room, tea room, men's cafe, bar, and main serving pantry. There were various shops that could be accessed both from the street and from inside the hotel, as well as

20064-533: The last five years", and the benefits of continuing to operate the hotel were outweighed by the drawbacks of maintenance, taxes, and lack of demand. Several groups, such as the Hotel Trades Council, supported the plans for redeveloping the Pennsylvania's site. By then, the hotel had been neglected for several years. Christopher Bonanos of Curbed wrote: "Architecturally, it is like a lot of early-20th-century midsize hotels and office buildings around

20240-518: The late 1800s with the inventions of Edison’s phonograph and Berliner’s gramophone, both of which allowed for music to be available for purchase to the public rather than access to just the elites. Due to the almost nonexistent copyright laws, the early 1900s flourished with composers and publishers aiming to make and sell as much music as they could. The hub for this activity was a small area of New York known as Tin Pan Alley, which quickly became one of

20416-401: The lobby's mezzanine, contained a flexible entertainment area with a grand foyer and ballroom, two large parlors, banquet room and foyer, and three smaller dining rooms. The ballrooms had their own stair and elevator from 33rd Street, which led to a grand foyer flanked by parlors. The ballroom facilities covered 40,000 square feet (3,700 m ) and were 30 feet (9.1 m) high. Each of

20592-475: The lyrics and title of the song " Pennsylvania 6-5000 ". In the late 19th century, the site around the Hotel Pennsylvania was mostly residential, with three- and four-story row houses and four- and five-story tenements. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) had completed the original Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan , New York City, in 1910. In conjunction with the railroad station's opening,

20768-568: The main entrance was a Tuscan-style bar, which had wood paneling, stone walls and ceiling and a mosaic tile floor. Later known as the Penn Bar, the space had become a storefront by the mid-1990s. East of the main lobby was the Tea Room, designed in the Adam style with arches and murals on the wall, as well as mirrored panels, Chinese-style carpets, and a decorative plaster ceiling. The Tea Room

20944-441: The main entrance was converted to a turnstile for demolition workers. The Pennsylvania caught fire on February 7, 2022, while it was being demolished. By the middle of that year, demolition of the hotel had resumed; the hotel had been deconstructed to the 12th floor by March 2023. The hotel was supposed to have been completely demolished by July 2023, but was still partially standing by that August. In July 2023, Steven Lepore of

21120-427: The major spots for popular music as the demand grew intensely. Technological advances in the 1940s only furthered the success and popularity of the genre. The reel-to-tape recorder was groundbreaking in terms of innovation and served as the baseline for many more transformations this genre and the music industry as a whole will endure. Along with the continued innovation of popular music, multiple subset genres emerged as

21296-413: The meaning of "popular culture" began to overlap with the connotations of "mass culture", " media culture ", " image culture ", " consumer culture ", and "culture for mass consumption ". The abbreviated form "pop" for "popular", as in " pop music ", dates from the late 1950s. Although the terms "pop" and "popular" are in some cases used interchangeably, and their meaning partially overlap, the term "pop"

21472-417: The media and wielding the economic might of tycoons...Culture appears more monolithic than ever, with a few gigantic corporations—Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon—presiding over unprecedented monopolies". There is much scholarship on how Western entertainment industries strengthen transnational capitalism and reinforce Western cultural dominance. Hence, rather than being a local culture, commercial entertainment

21648-407: The mid-2000s, Vornado officials said the hotel was merely "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot". Observer described the hotel as having "devolved into a cheap, decrepit tourist trap more commonly associated with reported bedbug attacks than big-band nostalgia". The hotel was divided into two sections by then: the main hotel and the more upscale Penn 5000 Club. Vornado also rented out some of

21824-413: The mid-2000s, the Hotel Pennsylvania was again being considered as a prime site for redevelopment. In early 2007, Vornado announced plans to demolish the hotel and develop the 15 Penn Plaza skyscraper there, as part of a redevelopment of the area around Penn Station. Vornado intended to complete the 2,500,000-square-foot (230,000 m ) building by 2011, marketing the tower to financial tenants. At

22000-401: The most popular applications used on a daily basis by younger generations. Social media tends to be implemented into the daily routine of individuals in our current society. Social media is a vital part of our culture as it continues to impact the forms of communication used to connect with those in our communities, families, or friend groups. We often see that terms or slang are used online that

22176-695: The name "Big Apple Comic Con" was revived by Mr. Carbonaro for its March 2015 show. In 2018 the Big Apple Comic Con moved from the decaying Penn Plaza (last show 2018) to the recently renewed 1929 Art Deco masterpiece New Yorker Hotel (now the Wyndham hotel). Though it primarily focuses on comic books, the convention features a large range of pop culture elements, such as graphic novels, cinema, science fiction /fantasy, television, animation , anime , manga , toys, horror , collectible card games , video games, webcomics , and fantasy novels. Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with comic book professionals,

22352-485: The need to consume. Whereas the Frankfurt School believed consumers were passive, Baudrillard argued that consumers were trained to consume products in the form of active labor in order to achieve upward social mobility. Thus, consumers under capitalism are trained to purchase products such as pop albums and consumable fiction in order to signal their devotion to social trends, fashions, and subcultures. Although

22528-549: The new faces of popular music, all with the foundation of jazz and blues. Some of those genres include Rock and Roll, Punk, and Hip Hop. Due to the increasing mainstream success of popular music, artists of the genre grew in fame and popularity. A few of the major singers and musicians of this genre include Michael Jackson , Madonna , Britney Spears , Justin Bieber , Elvis Presley , Beatles , Beyonce and Taylor Swift . Popular music will continue to be shaped by, and evolve to fit

22704-409: The news), politics , fashion , technology , and slang . In the past, folk culture functioned analogously to the popular culture of the masses and of the nations. The phrase "popular culture" was coined in the 19th century or earlier. Traditionally, popular culture was associated with poor education and with the lower classes , as opposed to the "official culture" and higher education of

22880-544: The next month. Matchette's firm, the Servidor Company, also provided the hotel's original equipment and furnishings including the doors for each guestroom. The hotel's construction required over 18,000 short tons (16,000 long tons; 16,000 t) of steel and nine million bricks, although some of these materials were difficult to obtain because of World War I restrictions. During construction, in July 1917, one worker

23056-745: The other being the Axa Equitable Center . The Penta's owners hired James Parry Inc. as the hotel's marketing agency. When James Parry Inc. shuttered in 1988, the hotel's partners hired Kirshenbaum & Bond as the Penta Hotel's new agency. In 1991, the Hirschfelds acquired the Penta Hotels chain's stake in the hotel. The hostelry was renamed the Ramada Pennsylvania Hotel in April 1991, two weeks after

23232-408: The other hand, has primarily come into usage to describe music that evolved out of the rock 'n roll revolution of the mid-1950s and continues in a definable path to today. Penn Plaza Pavilion The Hotel Pennsylvania was a hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Midtown Manhattan , New York City, across from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden . Opened in 1919, it

23408-459: The people, but this can be problematic as there are many ways of defining the "people". Storey argued that there is a political dimension to popular culture; neo-Gramscian hegemony theory "sees popular culture as a site of struggle between the 'resistance' of subordinate groups in society and the forces of 'incorporation' operating in the interests of dominant groups in society". A postmodernist approach to popular culture would "no longer recognize

23584-593: The performances of written music , although since the beginning of the recording industry , it is also disseminated through recordings . Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences. Sports include all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organized participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators. The connection between sports and popular culture

23760-514: The proposed office building, with a new design done by Rafael Viñoly . The hotel was forced to close in April 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City . Seeing an opportunity to redevelop the site, Steven Roth again contemplated closing the hotel permanently. Roth announced plans in April 2021 to replace the hotel with a skyscraper, now known as Penn15. According to Roth, "the hotel math has deteriorated significantly over

23936-487: The public have their own tastes and they may not always embrace every cultural or subcultural item sold. Moreover, certain beliefs and opinions about the products of commercial culture may spread by word-of-mouth, and become modified in the process and in the same manner that folklore evolves. Popular culture in the West has been critiqued for being a system of commercialism that privileges products selected and mass-marketed by

24112-454: The push-back between them. Within popular culture, there are two levels that have emerged, high and low. High culture can be described as art and works considered of superior value, historically, aesthetically and socially. Low culture is regarded by some as that of the lower classes, historically. Adaptations based on traditional folklore provide a source of popular culture. This early layer of cultural mainstream still persists today, in

24288-558: The railroad station at 32nd and 33rd Streets; these underpasses were outside of the subway station's fare control area . Under 33rd Street was a connection to the Gimbels passageway , which opened in 1920 and was shuttered in 1986. The Gimbels passageway led east to the 34th Street–Herald Square station and to the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (later PATH)'s 33rd Street station . Further connections to Madison Square Garden and

24464-406: The remaining 20 percent stake from Planet Hollywood in August 1999 for $ 42 million, paying $ 18 million in cash and assuming $ 24 million in debt. Vornado thus obtained full ownership of the hotel. The Planet Hollywood transaction valued the hotel at $ 216 million. By late 1999, to attract business travelers, the Hotel Pennsylvania was advertising rooms at $ 150 to $ 300 per night. As early as 2001,

24640-419: The room. The east end of the cafe had a large floor-to-ceiling fountain. A bandstand was located on the central floor of the room on the exterior wall. The easternmost 50 feet (15 m) of the first floor, under the eastern light court, contained two parallel driveways, as well as a service driveway with loading platforms. Elevators led to workshops on the upper floors and the storage rooms and kitchen in

24816-508: The scheduled Great Eastern Show. Thus was born the Big Apple Comic Con, thereafter produced by Mr. Carbonaro. After the success of the initial 1996 show, Big Apple scheduled six separate conventions in 1997. In 1998, Big Apple held three conventions, in March, April, and October. In November 1999, (after a typical March show held at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle), Big Apple inaugurated

24992-459: The search of what the films aim to portray. Films are used to seek acceptance and understanding of many subjects because of the influence the films carry—an example of an early representation of this can be seen in Casablanca (1942): the film introduced war subjects to the public after the United States entered World War II, and it meant to increase pro-war sentiment for the allies. Films are

25168-494: The service of capitalist domination by the elite. The consumer demand for Hollywood films , pop tunes, and consumable books is influenced by capitalist industries like Hollywood and the elite who decide which commodities are to be promoted in the media, including television and print journalism. Adorno wrote, "The industry bows to the vote it has itself rigged". It is the elite who commodify products in accordance with their narrow ideological values and criteria, and Adorno argues that

25344-492: The show, the Big Apple Comic Con moved locations to the New Yorker Hotel . The 2020 show, scheduled for April 4–5, was canceled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic . On July, 17th 2021 the BACC "25th Anniversary Prequel" was the first in-person comic convention held in New York City as it reopened after the pandemic, and September 25–26, the Big Apple Comic Con held its Silver Anniversary show; Since post Covid 2012, now

25520-571: The site and contained the hotel's workshops, service dining rooms, and locker rooms. The sub-basement contained laundry rooms for staff and guests; refrigerating, pumping, and filtering plants; and machine rooms. The first basement level also contained a direct entrance to the 34th Street–Penn Station on the New York City Subway 's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (later serving the 1 , ​ 2 , and ​ 3 trains). In addition, there were underpasses leading to

25696-438: The site for twenty-one years. Three light courts on the southern facade, each measuring 40 feet (12 m) wide, divided the hotel into four wings that faced south. Each wing measured 54 feet (16 m) wide. There was another light court facing eastward toward the former Gimbels department store (now Manhattan Mall ), which measured 50 feet (15 m) wide. The two western wings collectively contained 1,000 rooms, while

25872-480: The smaller rooms had been combined to create larger suites with alcoves for businessmen. In 1960, Hilton renovated the hotel at a cost of $ 1 million. The work included the reduction of the original two-story lobby to one story, to add more meeting space. In January 1979, Hilton Hotels agreed to sell the New York Statler Hilton to developer William Zeckendorf Jr. for $ 24 million. At the time,

26048-588: The spur of the moment, comic book retailers Michael Carbonaro, Vince Gulla, and Vincent Zurzuolo, all of whom had planned to sell their wares at the Great Eastern show, mounted a substitute convention in the basement of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle . The gathering — dubbed "ChurchCon," " Hallelujah Con," or "The Show Must Go On" Con — attracted over 4,000 attendees, most of whom had been planning to attend

26224-504: The street level and the rooftop; there was also a three-story penthouse . The hotel's design was intended not only to complement that of the original Penn Station, which was demolished in 1963, but also that of the General Post Office one block west, which still exists. The first four stories occupied nearly the entire site. The hotel was set back 15 feet (4.6 m) from the property line on Seventh Avenue, creating

26400-641: The tastes and preferences of the public. Pop culture fiction is a genre in books , comics , films , shows , and many other story-telling media that depicts stories that are purposely filled with easter eggs and references to pop culture. The genre often overlaps with satire and parody , but the most-well known are considered to be more serious works of literature . Writers of this genre include Ernest Cline , Bret Easton Ellis , Bryan Lee O'Malley , and Louis Bulaong . Pop culture studies are researches thesis , and other academic works that analyzes various trends of pop and mass culture, pop icons , or

26576-675: The three-day "National Expo", held at the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th Street in Manhattan. The National Expo brought "together the National Comic Book, Comic Art and Fantasy Convention and the New York Toy, Sci-Fi and Collectible Show;" the larger annual National shows were held every year from 1999 until 2008; other shows (until 2004) continued to be held at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle. Over

26752-427: The time, there was little interest in protecting the hotel as a landmark. Investment firm Merrill Lynch & Co. announced plans to relocate from lower Manhattan to the skyscraper that October. Had the hotel been demolished at that time, Vornado would have been required to maintain a "museum-quality" exhibit of the Hotel Pennsylvania's history in the new building's lobby. Ultimately, Merrill Lynch opted to move to

26928-476: The top of the plaster ceiling, which contained molded centerpieces that represented 16th-century printers' marks . From the mezzanine's gallery, a short flight of steps led to the ballroom floor. The upper level of the two-story lobby was severed from the room by Hilton in 1960, during major renovations, which reduced the lobby to one story. The mezzanine level floor was extended over the lobby, creating 30,000 sq ft of new exhibition space for conventions, giving

27104-427: The transmission of common knowledge and ideas was possible. In the 1890s, Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi created the radiotelegraph , allowing for the modern radio to be born. This led to the radio being able to influence a more "listened-to" culture, with individuals being able to feel like they have a more direct impact. This radio culture is vital, because it was imperative to advertising, and it introduced

27280-492: The two eastern wings collectively contained 1,200 rooms. The Indiana Limestone facade of the lower stories was intentionally designed to closely mirror the architecture of the station. A colonnade of Ionic -style pilasters divided the lowest three stories vertically into bays , with lightly rusticated walls between each set of pilasters. Over the years, the first three stories were modified significantly, and storefronts with various signs and awnings were installed. In

27456-404: The upper classes. With the rise of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Britain experienced social changes that resulted in increased literacy rates, and with the rise of capitalism and industrialization , people began to spend more money on entertainment, such as (commercialised) public houses and sports. Reading also gained traction. Labeling penny dreadfuls

27632-520: The upper-class capitalist elite; such criticisms are most notable in many Marxist theorists such as Herbert Marcuse , Theodor Adorno , Max Horkheimer , bell hooks , Antonio Gramsci , Guy Debord , Fredric Jameson , Terry Eagleton , as well as certain postmodern philosophers such as Jean-François Lyotard , who has written about the commercialisation of information under capitalism, and Jean Baudrillard , as well as others. The most influential critiques of popular culture came from Marxist theorists of

27808-467: The use of social media to promotion to brands and topics to further good repute among professionals in a given field, produce an iconic relationship between a professional, a brand and its audience that extends networks past the conventional lines established by the mainstream and to enhance personal visibility. Popular culture: is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of the practices , beliefs , and objects that are dominant or prevalent in

27984-473: The various convention unions made it difficult for most groups to get a show off the ground." On February 29, 1996, just two days before it was to start, Fred Greenberg cancelled what had been advertised as a larger-than-usual Great Eastern show, scheduled for March 2–3 at the New York Coliseum , which the fan press had suggested might herald a successor to the 1968–1983 Comic Art Convention . On

28160-426: The venue, also singled out the cramped space of the venue, in particular Artist's Alley, which he speculated may have constituted a fire hazard . Similarly, journalist Heidi MacDonald criticized the Penn Plaza Pavilion location as "eight pounds of sh-t in a five-pound bag." Journalist Rich Johnston said the conventions held there were "a little cramped and hot, but I still thoroughly enjoyed [them]." Dorkin

28336-466: The world at the time; it was slightly larger than the Commodore, which opened a few days later on January 28. However, only 1,200 rooms were available when the hotel opened, and some of the public rooms were still incomplete. Thirty days after the hotel opened, Statler Hotels started paying $ 200,000 in annual rent for the site; this amounted to five percent of the hotel building's assessed value of $ 4 million. In addition, Statler would pay six percent of

28512-466: The years, the Big Apple con attracted many comics creators and pop culture figures. By 2004 (which saw four separate shows), the convention had moved to the Penn Plaza Pavilion at the Hotel Pennsylvania . Big Apple Comic Con was characterized as being in "growth mode" in 2005–2006, with five shows per year and an average attendance of about 8,000 guests per show. In 2009, the Big Apple Comic Con

28688-472: Was Stan Lee ; other guests included George Pérez , Joe Sinnott , Dick Ayers , Carmine Infantino , Jim Steranko , Irwin Hasen , Mike Royer , Arthur Suydam , Bob McLeod , Rich Buckler , and Johnny Brennan , and Captain Zorikh's costume contest. Mr. Carbonaro held another NYCBM at the Hotel Pennsylvania on April 13, 2013. Mr. Carbonaro, as front person for the newly formed Big Apple CC Corp reacquired

28864-522: Was a critic of the Big Apple Con. He singled out the November 2008 show in particular as "the worst convention I've ever had the displeasure to sit through", for the lackluster celebrity guests, the lack of floor plan guides for attendees, inconsistently-functioning restrooms, elevator, and escalators, the poorly performing volunteer staff, and an overall seedy, flea market atmosphere of rude dealers, creators inattentive to fans, and attendees who were disproportionately male. Dorkin, who vowed never to return to

29040-554: Was constructed. E. M. Statler managed the hotel until January 1928, when Frank A. Duggan took over as the hotel's manager. After Duggan left for the Hotel McAlpin that April, Statler again became the hotel's manager, although Statler died two weeks later. Following Statler's death, Leo Molony was appointed as the hotel's manager. In 1929, Matchette filed two lawsuits in the New York Surrogate's Court , seeking

29216-539: Was described by the New-York Tribune as the largest in the city. It was surrounded by 16 fluted columns , designed in the Doric order. Both the columns and the lobby's walls were made of Botticino marble . In addition, the lobby originally contained multicolored carpets and walnut furniture, including a walnut registration desk near 32nd Street. The lobby's ceiling measured 35 feet (11 m) high and had

29392-493: Was describing his personal experience at an event in 2008, before the sale of the Big Apple Comic Convention to Wizard. Ms. MacDonald who is a great friend of the BACC, and a guest at the 2024 event, was describing the convention space, and how it was choking the potential of the show. Mr. Carbonaro, who apologized to Mr. Dorkin at the time, has said that one of the key reasons for the sale to Wizard World

29568-489: Was expected to cost $ 23 million and was timed to coincide with the completion of Javits Center on the west side of Manhattan. Despite the cost of the renovation, the Abelco/Penta partnership planned to retain the hotel's $ 100 nightly room rates. A grand reopening celebration for the Penta was held from December 7 to 10, 1985. It was one of two major structures to open on the west side of Midtown Manhattan that month,

29744-414: Was extant. At the mezzanine level was a gallery that surrounded the lobby. The mezzanine also contained the lounging and writing rooms, a library, a large exhibition space, a hairdresser's shop, and the maitre d'hotel 's office. The writing room, opening off the southern side of the mezzanine, was designed in a Jacobean style and was paneled in oak. The writing room's bookshelves extended nearly to

29920-491: Was formally dedicated on January 25, 1919, and was originally managed by Ellsworth M. Statler of the Statler Hotels chain. Statler Hotels agreed to buy the property in 1948, and the Pennsylvania was renamed the Hotel Statler . The hotel became The Statler Hilton in 1958, four years after Hilton Hotels & Resorts acquired it. The developer William Zeckendorf Jr. bought the Statler Hilton in 1979, after which

30096-447: Was killed by a falling steel girder. In addition, the hotel's dynamo room caught fire and then exploded in April 1918, damaging the facade and a sidewalk shed around the hotel. That June, Statler Hotels issued $ 3 million in bonds to finance the hotel's construction. Roy Carruthers was hired as the hotel's first general manager in late 1918. Statler planned to rent rooms within a relatively narrow price range, saying: "I am working on

30272-470: Was my first time going and I had a lot of fun. Great vendors, artists, guests, panels and gaming area. Everyone is very friendly, which makes the environment more accepting for all attendees." BACC's move to the New Yorker was a sea change for the event. Spacious, but intimate, scrupulously (Wyndham) clean the response from guests and audience has been overwhelmingly positive. Ming Chen, "I just love

30448-452: Was once the largest hotel in the world. It remained the city's fourth-largest until it closed permanently on April 1, 2020. After years of unsuccessful preservation battles, it was demolished in 2023. The hotel is to be replaced by 15 Penn Plaza , a 68-story tower. The Pennsylvania Railroad announced the construction of a hotel on Seventh Avenue in 1916, six years after completing the original New York Penn Station . The Hotel Pennsylvania

30624-600: Was purchased by Gareb Shamus of Wizard Entertainment ; Michael Carbonaro was retained as a senior adviser. The first show under Wizard was held October 2009 at Pier 94 in Manhattan. The acquisition of Big Apple Comic Con was part of a concerted push by Wizard's CEO Gareb Shamus to dominate the North American convention circuit, including acquiring the Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon . As part of that strategy, Wizard initially scheduled

30800-400: Was surrounded by an extension of the lobby's promenade, which contained Caen stone walls and Italian furniture. The main restaurant, most famously known later on as the Cafe Rouge , was a double-height space to the south of the tea room. The Cafe Rouge measured approximately 60 by 140 feet (18 by 43 m), with a ceiling height of approximately 20 feet (6.1 m). It consisted of

30976-492: Was the lack of quality space available for comic book conventions in NYC, and issues with the management of the Penn Plaza.The return of the newly reformed BACC to the Penn Plaza in 2015 included the 18th floor of the Pennsylvania Hotel and a revamped relationship with Penn management. Still unsatisfied, the BACC had its first show in the New Yorker in 2017 and moved out of the Penn Plaza definitively in 2018. Fans positive response to

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