100-677: Row NYC Hotel is a hotel at 700 Eighth Avenue , between 44th and 45th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The hotel is 27 stories tall with 1,331 rooms. Designed by Schwartz & Gross , with Herbert J. Krapp as consulting architect, it was developed by brothers Henry and Irwin Chanin and opened on February 1, 1928, as the Hotel Lincoln . The hotel largely retains its original brick-and-terracotta facade. The interior spaces, which originally included
200-682: A $ 25 million purchase of multiple properties. The following month, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company lent $ 3.8 million to the Lincoln's owners. Among the hotel's early events were meetings of the Theatrical Stock Managers' Association; meetings for John F. Hylan 's 1929 mayoral campaign; and awards ceremonies for farmers. In addition, one of the storefronts was leased as a drugstore in 1930. The United Cigar Stores Company acquired
300-634: A $ 255 million mortgage for the land, was looking to sell the mortgage for as little as $ 50 million. The hotel was forced to close temporarily in 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City . Werner began falling behind on mortgage payments in May 2020. The Paramount Group , which had lent $ 80 million to Thor Equities for the Row NYC's commercial condominium, foreclosed on
400-489: A 20-story hotel on Eighth Avenue and three theaters on the side streets. In March 1926, Krapp filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for the hotel and theaters, which were projected to cost $ 4.5 million. The total site, including land, was expected to cost $ 10 million. The brownstones on the site were razed starting in May, and the site was cleared by the next month. That July,
500-513: A bus terminal. As built, the hotel had four basements, which housed the mechanical equipment, including a laundry plant that could wash more than 10,000 people's clothes per day. When it was planned, the Lincoln Hotel had 1,400 rooms on its upper stories, each with its own bathroom. When the hotel opened, guests could rent radios; signals were transmitted to each room using the girders of the hotel's steel frame, rather than using wires. After
600-592: A button at his Albany office to illuminate the hotel's rooftop sign. Irwin Chanin initially rented out rooms for $ 3 to $ 5 per night. The Eighth Avenue Association gave the Chanin brothers a plaque in March 1928 to celebrate the hotel's completion. That October, radio station WGBS opened an auxiliary studio atop the Hotel Lincoln. The Cigar Stores Realty Company bought the Hotel Lincoln in January 1929 as part of
700-478: A center of the city's gay community, with bars and restaurants catering to gay men. New York City's annual gay pride parade takes place along the Greenwich Village section of Eighth Avenue. Also, along with Times Square , the portion of Eighth Avenue from 42nd Street to 50th Street was an informal red-light district in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s before it was controversially renovated into
800-507: A concierge who could speak eight languages. By January 1958, all 1,400 rooms had been opened, but the Playbill Restaurant was not complete. Kridel said at the time that the hotel had accommodated over 150,000 guests, 25 college and professional football teams, and 23 conventions since its reopening. Although Webb and Knapp initially contemplated hiring a band to play at the hotel, Kridel ultimately decided against it, saying that
900-459: A health club and made plans for a fitness center. The hotel also installed a currency exchange in its lobby. The Milford Plaza became a franchisee of the Ramada hotel chain in 1994, although the franchise agreement expired in 2000. The Milstein family was involved in an acrimonious family dispute in the early 2000s. Paul Milstein's brother Seymour claimed that Paul's son Howard was mismanaging
1000-482: A lobby and various restaurants on the first three stories, have been redesigned substantially over the years. The Chanin brothers had acquired the site in May 1925 and developed it along with the neighboring John Golden , Bernard B. Jacobs , and Majestic theaters. The Chanins resold the hotel in 1927 to Irving I. Lewine and the United Cigar Stores Company, but the brothers continued to lease
1100-504: A lower rate than other hotels in New York City that were sold around the same time. Rockpoint and Highgate partially reopened the hotel in November 2010. Rockpoint and Highgate said they wished to convert "a two-star, tour-and-travel hotel with no amenities into a three-and-a-half-star lifestyle hotel". Consequently, they began an extensive $ 140 million renovation. As part of the renovation, Rockpoint and Highgate added 62 rooms, bringing
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#17327878511711200-461: A more family friendly environment under the first mayoral administration of Rudolph Giuliani . The Midtown section of Eighth Avenue was frequented by tourists by the 21st century, and the sidewalks in Midtown were widened to accommodate increased crowds. However, that section of the avenue also experienced cleanliness issues, and homeless and mentally ill people were prevalent. In addition, due to
1300-468: Is 27 stories high, although it was originally described as being 30 stories high. Its facade was variously described as being designed in the Byzantine or Italianate style. The ground floor is clad in rusticated blocks of terracotta , and the upper stories contain gold-colored, bonded Roman brick. The brick facade was designed to relate to the adjacent theaters. In contrast to the neighboring theaters,
1400-658: Is also known as Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The avenue ends north of 155th Street , and merges into the Harlem River Drive . The New York City Subway 's IND Eighth Avenue Line , serving the A , C , and E trains in Lower Manhattan and the A , B , C , and D trains in the Upper West Side, runs under Eighth Avenue. MTA Regional Bus Operations primarily operates
1500-587: The Al Hirschfeld Theatre to the west, Music Box Theatre and Imperial Theatre to the northeast, and the Hayes Theater and the St. James Theatre to the southeast. The surrounding area is part of the largest concentration of Broadway theaters on a single block. The adjacent block of 45th Street is also known as George Abbott Way , and foot traffic on the street increases box-office totals for
1600-673: The Chanin Building in midtown. They also developed the Lincoln Hotel (now Row NYC Hotel), the Beacon Hotel and Theater , and the World Apparel Center. Chanin was also known for developing the "Green Acres" section of Valley Stream, New York . Ground broke in 1936 but only Phase I (known as the "old section") was completed before World War II. After the war construction resumed and the "new section"
1700-703: The Chanin Building . They then built and operated a number of theaters and other structures related to the entertainment industry, including the Roxy Theatre . By October 1926, the Chanins had decided to construct and operate a theatrical franchise "in New York and half a dozen other large cities in the United States". The Chanin brothers had acquired the Claman site in May 1925. The Chanins planned to build
1800-462: The Harlem River at the Harlem River Drive around West 159th Street. While Central Park West has its own address system , address numbers on Frederick Douglass Boulevard continue as if Central Park West had used Eighth Avenue's numbering system. The corridor along Frederick Douglass Boulevard was rezoned in 2003, allowing for larger residential buildings of greater density, and resulting in
1900-621: The Manhattan Hotel . Frank Kridel, who had managed the Lincoln in the 1930s, was rehired as the Manhattan's manager in December 1956. The hotel was almost entirely rebuilt, retaining only the original foundation, steel structure, and facade. As part of the project, the lowest three stories were almost entirely demolished, and new restaurants, offices, and ballrooms were constructed there. On the upper stories, workers patched and repaired
2000-692: The New-York Historical Society and the American Museum of Natural History . The area from 61st to 97th Streets is included in the Central Park West Historic District . The building located at 55 Central Park West is the infamous "Spook Central" from the movie Ghostbusters . The famed New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green is located off Central Park West, at 66th Street , within
2100-598: The Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The land lot is rectangular and covers 19,982 square feet (1,856.4 m), with a frontage of approximately 200 feet (61 m) on Eighth Avenue and 100 feet (30 m) on either side street. The Row NYC adjoins seven Broadway theaters clockwise from north: the John Golden , Bernard B. Jacobs , Gerald Schoenfeld , Booth , Shubert , Broadhurst , and Majestic . Other nearby structures include
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#17327878511712200-546: The Upper East Side . Several notable residences on Central Park West include: According to The New York Times ' s architecture critic Paul Goldberger , the street's buildings, both the new ones like 15 Central Park West and the old ones such as The Century , "fit together the same way the ones in that hypothetical Main Street do, and for the same reason. For more than a hundred years, their architects honor
2300-674: The West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square (where Hudson Street becomes Eighth Avenue at an intersection with Bleecker Street ) and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea , the Garment District , Hell's Kitchen 's east end, Midtown and the Broadway theater district in the eponymous neighborhood , before it finally enters Columbus Circle at 59th Street and becomes Central Park West. North of Frederick Douglass Circle , it resumes its Eighth Avenue designation, but
2400-465: The early 1980s recession . However, the recession caused the occupancy rate to decline during early 1981, and Paul Milstein estimated that he lost $ 5 million as a result. One year after the hotel reopened, the Chicago Tribune wrote that the hotel had become "popular for glittering post-theater parties". According to The New York Times , some observers credited the hotel with helping spur
2500-651: The $ 10,000 weekly cost of hiring a band was prohibitively high. In late 1960, Zeckendorf contemplated selling his leases of the Astor , Commodore , and Manhattan hotels to raise money for the Freedomland U.S.A. amusement park in the Bronx , in which Zeckendorf also owned a majority stake. This plan was approved in June 1961, and Freedomland U.S.A., assumed the leases on the three hotels. After Kridel died in 1961, Erwin O. Schel
2600-576: The 57,897 people living along and around Eighth were black, down from 74 percent in 2000. The share of whites jumped to 12.4 percent from 2.3 percent. Median household income rose 28 percent, to $ 34,694. Notes Irwin Chanin Irwin Salmon Chanin ( / tʃ æ n ˈ ɪ n / CHAN -in ) (October 29, 1891 – February 24, 1988) was an American architect and real estate developer, best known for designing several Art Deco towers and Broadway theaters . Irwin Chanin
2700-472: The Chanin brothers received a $ 7.5 million loan for the four developments from S. W. Straus & Co. The three theaters were all named in December 1926; from largest to smallest, they were the Majestic, Royale, and Masque. The Chanins announced the same month that the hotel was to be known as the Lincoln. The brothers were also attempting to sell the hotel and lease it back for 21 years. Excavation for
2800-638: The Chanin brothers' lease of the hotel in 1931. The hotel was losing $ 350,000 annually by the next year. The hotel became part of the Reliance Property Management chain in February 1933, and the Irving Trust Company appointed Frank W. Kridel as the hotel's operator that June. The same month, the hotel received a permit to sell alcoholic beverages after Prohibition in the United States was repealed. Between 1930 and 1937,
2900-409: The Hotel Lincoln began on August 7, 1926, and the hotel's foundation was constructed starting on November 1, 1926. Krapp's original plans had called for a Spanish-style design, but Irwin Chanin subsequently hired Schwartz & Gross to redesign the hotel. Chanin, an engineer by trade, was heavily involved in the hotel's design process, creating sketches of furniture that he wanted. Workers began erecting
3000-663: The Lincoln Inc., the company that legally owned the building. Under Kramer's ownership, Consolidated Radio Artists received exclusive rights to perform in the hotel's grill room. The hotel's Blue Room became a popular venue for name bands, competing with nightclubs for business, and Variety magazine cited the Lincoln as "an important danceband outlet". The Blue Room was shuttered at the beginning of January 1942 but reopened that March. The Blue Room's performers included jazz pianist Count Basie ; trumpeter Erskine Hawkins ; and clarinetist Artie Shaw . In particular, Basie's band had been
3100-662: The Lincoln and relinquished the Hotel Edison to her stepsons. The hotel was still three-fourths occupied as late as 1952. The Veterans of Foreign Wars opened a veterans' canteen at the hotel in October 1952, but the canteen closed in February 1954 due to a lack of funds. At the beginning of November 1955, the city government alleged that the Lincoln Hotel contained several violations of city building codes, including defective exit doors, "dirty and unsanitary" furnishings, and missing lights. The New York City Department of Housing said
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3200-544: The Lincoln was rebuilt as the Manhattan Hotel in 1957, Lessman redecorated the rooms in either blue, green, gray, or gold. Each room was also outfitted with a television and a radio. Following another renovation in 1980, the Milford Plaza Hotel had 1,310 rooms, which were decorated in black and burgundy. The rooms were designed by Marilynn Motto, with lighting by Howard Brandston. As late as the 1980s,
3300-465: The Manhattan Hotel. Grand Metropolitan bought the Manhattan for $ 10 million in January 1969. The property title passed to Grand Metropolitan subsidiary Grandmet, and Grand Metropolitan assumed a $ 7.5 million mortgage that had been placed on the property. The hotel was immediately renamed the Royal Manhattan , reflecting the buyer's British heritage. Grand Metropolitan largely advertised
3400-465: The Masses". By contrast, George S. Chappell , writing for The New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", wrote that the hotel was "very big without being especially impressive". Another New Yorker article stated of the interior: "Some will say that the modernity here exemplified is confusing; some will miss the uniformity of effect that a Georgian interior, for example, presents. But one feels that in
3500-574: The Milford Plaza was delayed by one year, but brokers were about to sell the hotel by the end of 2002. The family ultimately agreed to a settlement in April 2003, and they canceled the sale of the Milford Plaza and several other properties. The Milsteins announced in September 2009 that the Milford Plaza was to undergo a renovation that would take 18 to 21 months. In preparation for the renovation,
3600-532: The Milford Plaza, along with the nearby New Amsterdam Theatre , ranked among the "imposing, traditional Times Square buildings with classical features". Conversely, a reviewer for Zagat wrote of the hotel in the late 1980s: "I'd rather camp out in the Port Authority ," referring to the nearby bus terminal. A writer for the Los Angeles Times said in 1985 that, although the rooms were cheap,
3700-475: The Milstein family, purchased the hotel for $ 2.5 million in 1978, with plans to renovate the hotel into an apartment building. The development was to have either 512 or 565 apartments, consisting of studios , one-bedroom apartments, and two-bedroom apartments. Sisix Corp. began looking for financing for the project. At the time, several large developments were being planned around Times Square. By early 1979,
3800-466: The Milsteins had still not received a mortgage; because of high demand for hotel rooms around Times Square, they were considering reopening the hotel instead of converting it into apartments. The next year, the New York City government's Industrial Commercial Incentive Board voted to grant a tax abatement for the redevelopment. After the hotel reopened, the family would pay reduced taxes for 20 years, and
3900-408: The Milsteins laid off 350 employees and closed the hotel that December. The Milstein family decided to suspend their renovation plan indefinitely in early 2010 due to an economic downturn. In September 2010, Rockpoint Group and hotel operator Highgate Holdings announced that they would purchase the hotel from the Milstein family for $ 200 million. This amounted to approximately $ 154,000 per room,
4000-435: The Milsteins' decision to convert the Milford Plaza back to a hotel "reflected the improvement in hotel occupancy". In the first three months after the hotel's reopening, the Milford Plaza's resident manager Gregory Rizzi said the hotel "has been running at full occupancy, and I would say that between 65 and 70 percent of our volume is foreign tourists." Even at the end of 1980, the hotel was still 90 percent occupied, in spite of
4100-492: The Row NYC Hotel to house migrants as part of an agreement valued at $ 40 million. By the beginning of 2023, hotel workers had raised safety concerns because migrants sometimes violated quarantine requirements, would not let staff into their rooms, and cooked in their rooms despite a ban on electronic cooking devices at the hotel. When the hotel opened, W. Parker Chase described the hotel as serving "the better element of
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4200-421: The Row NYC's facade is sparsely detailed. The hotel's public rooms were originally designed in a red, green, and blue color scheme, with carvings and chandeliers that evoked the designs of skyscrapers. There was originally 25,000 square feet (2,300 m) of commercial space, consisting of 16 showrooms and storefronts. The first story contained the lobby, shops, and restaurants. Irwin Chanin had planned to furnish
4300-423: The base of the Milford Plaza in 1988 and operated until 1994. Mamma Leone's parent company Restaurant Associates also operated the hotel's room service during this time. The Milford Plaza underwent another renovation in 1994 at a cost of $ 10 million; the hotel was financially successful by then, even though its room rates had increased to $ 120 per night. Around the same time, the Milford Plaza's operators opened
4400-453: The condominium in April 2022. At the time, the condominium was valued as $ 45 million, about 30 percent less than the price Thor had paid in 2014. Wells Fargo moved to foreclose on Werner's loan in September 2022. Following an influx of asylum seekers to New York City in mid-2022, city officials considered converting part of the Row NYC into temporary housing for 700 asylum seekers that year. The city government agreed that October to use
4500-421: The construction of condominiums, rental buildings, restaurants, and cafes. Formerly described as having urban blight , it is now gentrified , especially in the restaurants along its route, giving it the nickname "Restaurant Row". This gentrification is partly due to massive city investment. According to The New York Times the demographic too has changed: A 2007–2011 census survey estimated that 61 percent of
4600-508: The corner of Eighth Avenue and 45th Street. The New York Times reported at the time that real estate values on Eighth Avenue between 42nd Street and Columbus Circle had increased by 200 percent over the preceding decade. The hotel's owners rented out three storefronts in August 1927. Later that year, additional storefronts were rented out to a shirt store and a barber shop. In January 1928, eighty-one truckloads of furniture were delivered to
4700-597: The eastern boundary of the Upper West Side . It runs 51 blocks from Columbus Circle (at 59th Street , or Central Park South ) to Frederick Douglass Circle (at 110th Street , or Cathedral Parkway). The gates into Central Park along its western edge are: Merchants Gate at 59th Street, Women's Gate at 72nd, Naturalists Gate at 77th, Hunters Gate at 81st, Mariners Gate at 85th, Gate of All Saints at 96th, Boys Gate at 100th, and Strangers Gate at 106th. Central Park West's expensive housing rivals that of Fifth Avenue on
4800-480: The first nonwhite band to perform at the Blue Room in 1943. The Lincoln's Blue Room closed for renovations in 1946, but the room was damaged by a flood just before it was to reopen; as a result, the room did not reopen until early 1947. After Maria Kramer's husband Max died in 1946, Kramer and her stepsons became involved in a legal dispute over who owned the hotel. In January 1949, Kramer took over full ownership of
4900-466: The first of six theaters they built on Broadway. This was followed by the Biltmore (Samuel J. Friedman) , Majestic , Mansfield (Brooks Atkinson, Lena Horne) , Masque (Golden) , and Royale (Bernard B. Jacobs) . The Chanins also built two apartment buildings on Central Park West: a twin-towered housing cooperative skyscraper named The Majestic in 1930 and The Century in 1931. The brothers developed
5000-405: The floor slabs and plaster walls, but everything else was replaced, including the wires, plumbing, windows, doors, and roof. Five hundred workers were employed on the project at its peak. Webb and Knapp started leasing out the hotel's storefronts in April 1957, and Harold Kelley was appointed as the Manhattan's resident manager the same month. Webb and Knapp had originally planned to formally reopen
5100-413: The following bus routes on the avenue. All routes are uptown unless specified below: The southernmost section is known solely as Eighth Avenue between Abingdon Square and Columbus Circle. This portion of Eighth Avenue has carried traffic one-way northbound since June 6, 1954. Since the 1990s, the stretch of Eighth Avenue that runs through Greenwich Village and its adjacent Chelsea neighborhood has been
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#17327878511715200-559: The following month. The hotel, which cost $ 5.5 million to renovate, was advertised as the first new luxury hotel in Manhattan since the Waldorf Astoria New York opened in 1931. Kridel wanted to advertise the Manhattan Hotel to athletes, fashion-industry buyers, businesspeople, tourists, and theatergoers. However, he did not want to attract trade shows, which he believed would damage the hotel both physically and in reputation. To cater to foreign guests, Zeckendorf hired
5300-547: The ground floor. Seven blocks of imported marble were installed inside the lobby. When the hotel was rebuilt in 1957, there was a main ballroom capable of accommodating 500 guests, as well as a lower-lobby ballroom with space for 200 guests. In addition, the lobby adjoined three restaurants: a luxury restaurant called the Playbill, a bar called the Manhattan Bar, and a cafe. Jac Lessman designed these dining rooms. In 1980,
5400-559: The grounds of Central Park. In 1899, while exiting a streetcar, Henry Bliss was run over by a taxi at CPW and West 74th Street , becoming the first person to be run down and killed by a motor car in the Americas. North of Frederick Douglass Circle at 110th Street in Harlem , it is Frederick Douglass Boulevard , though sometimes still unofficially referred to as Eighth Avenue. Frederick Douglass Boulevard eventually terminates near
5500-562: The guestrooms did not have fire-safety systems such as sprinklers. In the 2010s, Gensler and Gabellini Sheppard redecorated the rooms, expanding the hotel to 1,331 rooms. The hotel also included a Penthouse Paparazzi suite, which covered 1,000 square feet (93 m) and was marketed for $ 2,520 per night when the Row NYC was renovated in 2014. Irwin Chanin was an American architect and real estate developer who designed several Art Deco towers and Broadway theaters. He and his brother Henry designed their first Manhattan buildings in 1924, including
5600-513: The hotel also hired big-name bands to play in the Blue Room for $ 2,500 a week. The hotel also hosted events such as a 1936 exhibition of Lincoln-related memorabilia. Kridel continued to manage the Lincoln Hotel until 1937 or 1938. United Cigar Stores continued to own the hotel until May 1938, when it sold the Lincoln to Maria Kramer, owner of the Hotel Edison , for $ 7 million. United Cigars received $ 360,000 in cash and sold Kramer stock in
5700-501: The hotel but struggled to find a buyer. The Royal Manhattan was one of three shuttered hostelries on Eighth Avenue in Midtown that were having trouble attracting buyers; the others were the New Yorker Hotel and the 51st Street YWCA . The New York City government scheduled a foreclosure auction for the hotel in November 1975. Although the hotel was offered for $ 1.8 million, the auction did not attract any bids. The terms of
5800-505: The hotel had a "bare minimum" of amenities in its bathrooms. Lewis Grizzard of The Atlanta Constitution wrote an especially negative review of the Milford Plaza in 1990, in which he wrote: "For 50 bucks you can stay in the Milford Plaza [...] any hotel in Manhattan that would offer you a room at that meager cost might also offer you the risk of catching Lyme disease." This review prompted the Milsteins to sue Grizzard for defamation in 1991. A writer for New York magazine wrote: "Truthfully,
5900-525: The hotel in 1978, and it reopened in 1980 as the Milford Plaza Hotel . Rockpoint Group and hotel operator Highgate Holdings bought the hotel in 2011 and renamed it the Row NYC in 2014. Following an influx of asylum seekers to New York City, the hotel began housing asylum seekers in 2023. The Row NYC Hotel is on 700 Eighth Avenue , on the eastern sidewalk between 44th and 45th Streets, in
6000-578: The hotel on October 15, 1957. The managers decided to open 750 of the hotel's 1,400 rooms two weeks early to accommodate baseball fans attending the World Series . The Manhattan Hotel opened on September 30, 1957, with actress Nancy Kelly as the hotel's first individual guest, although the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team had stayed at the Manhattan over the weekend prior to its reopening. Workers completed additional guestrooms during
6100-611: The hotel the same year. In preparation for the planned apartment conversion, the hotel's owners began auctioning off its furnishings in July 1976; the auction was expected to last several months. Flatto-Sharon's group opted to sell the Royal Manhattan after failing to obtain financing for the development. Homeless people frequented the boarded-up hotel. Its restaurant was featured in the 1977 erotic film Barbara Broadcast , directed by Radley Metzger . Sisix Corporation, representing
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#17327878511716200-492: The hotel to 1,331 rooms. The hotel was also planned to include a food hall covering 4,000 square feet (370 m), within the Mama Leone's space, as well as a fitness center covering 4,900 square feet (460 m). The renovation was completed in March 2014. Highgate proposed dividing the hotel into three ownership units in 2012: the land, the 1,331 guestrooms, and the 26,000-square-foot retail unit. The owners predicted that
6300-401: The hotel toward foreign tourists. The Eastern College Athletic Conference was headquartered at the Royal Manhattan, and the hotel also hosted events such as British antiques shows. By the early 1970s, the hotel was losing $ 1 million per year, prompting Grand Metropolitan Inc. to announce in November 1974 that they would close the hotel. The owners claimed that they could not afford to pay
6400-508: The hotel until 1931, when United Cigars acquired their lease. Maria Kramer bought the hotel in 1938 before reselling it in 1956 to Webb and Knapp , operated by real estate developer William Zeckendorf , which extensively renovated the hotel and renamed it the Hotel Manhattan . British firm Grand Metropolitan Inc. bought the hotel in 1969, and it operated as the Royal Manhattan until it was closed in 1974. The Milstein family purchased
6500-496: The hotel's finances. Seymour filed to dissolve his family's company in March 2001, asking a New York state judge to auction off the Milford Plaza and other buildings that the family owned. In response, Paul accused Seymour of trying to sell the building behind his back. Seymour Milstein died later that year, while the dispute was ongoing. Business declined significantly following the September 11 attacks in 2001. The proposed sale of
6600-636: The hotel's main entrance faced the Broadway theaters on 45th Street, and advertisements for Broadway shows were placed on the Eighth Avenue facade. The Broadway League branded the Milford Plaza as the "Official Broadway Theater Hotel". The Milstein family wished to open the hotel by mid-1980 in advance of the 1980 Democratic National Convention . Milford Plaza reopened on August 1, 1980. It offered moderately priced rooms for between $ 39 and $ 49. The Milsteins could only afford such low room rates because of
6700-452: The hotel's main entrance was relocated to 45th Street to cater to people visiting Broadway theaters nearby. The reopened hotel included two lounges and a "brasserie-style" restaurant; these spaces were named after Broadway theaters. The design of the Row NYC's lobby dates to a 2014 renovation by Gabellini Sheppard Associates . As part of the renovation, the lobby was converted into a 24-foot-high (7.3 m) space, and an illuminated staircase
6800-418: The hotel's taxes, which amounted to $ 625,000 per year. At the time, many non-luxury hotels in New York City were suffering financially. In addition, the surrounding neighborhood had declined significantly, and the nearby Times Square had become associated with prostitution and high crime. The hotel closed on December 7, 1974; by then, the hotel was valued at just $ 4 million. Grand Metropolitan tried to sell
6900-421: The hotel. After Werner purchased the land, other investors expressed interest in buying the rooms and retail space as part of a commercial mortgage-backed security deal. Thor Equities , led by Joseph Sitt , agreed to buy the Milford Plaza's commercial condominium in 2013. The sale was finalized in April 2014, when Thor paid $ 64 million. Thor Equities subsequently received a $ 50 million mortgage loan for
7000-518: The lobby in the Louis XIV style , but Chanin changed his plans because he believed that the flappers of the 1920s would look out of place in the hotel. At the 45th Street end of the lobby was a lounge with a red, blue, green, and silver ceiling, adjacent to which was a library with 3,000 volumes. The restaurants consisted of a 50-seat basement café, a 250-seat grill room, and a 400-seat main dining room. The grill room had wooden beams on its ceiling and
7100-426: The lobby of the new hotel, a vivid contemporary dramatization of New York has been achieved." In 1980, a Newsday critic said that "the three-decker, red-and-velvet, glass-and-brass velvet lobby is blinding, but rooms are tasteful." The Chicago Tribune wrote in 1981 that the "rooms are spacious and pleasant" and that the hotel benefited from its proximity to Broadway theaters. Another writer for Newsday said that
7200-411: The next year, Lincoln Associates took over operation of the Manhattan. The owners appointed Joseph Hanfling as the hotel's general manager in 1966. In October 1968, Abraham Kamber of Lincoln Associates said his firm was selling the hotel, although he did not know the names of the buyers. Around the same time, Maxwell Joseph of British firm Grand Metropolitan said his firm was almost certain to acquire
7300-498: The original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, though today the name changes twice: At 59th Street/ Columbus Circle , it becomes Central Park West , where it forms the western boundary of Central Park , and north of 110th Street/Frederick Douglass Circle, it is known as Frederick Douglass Boulevard before merging onto Harlem River Drive north of 155th Street. Eighth Avenue begins in
7400-491: The primary lease on the Manhattan Hotel and subleased it to Webb and Knapp, started paying the hotel's salaries and other operating expenses that May. Zeckendorf was trying to buy Manastor at the time but was unable to complete the purchase. The 91468 Corporation, a subsidiary of Webb and Knapp that operated the Manhattan, filed for bankruptcy protection in August 1964, with about $ 6.4 million in liabilities and about $ 5.7 million in assets. After Webb and Knapp went bankrupt
7500-532: The proceeds of the sale for a renovation of the hotel, which was budgeted at $ 3 million to $ 4 million. Webb and Knapp planned to renovate all 1,339 rooms and clean the facade. Zeckendorf had evicted most tenants by July 1956, but there were 21 holdouts who refused to leave. Many of the holdouts were long-term residents who had consistently lived in the hotel since 1949 and were thus protected by state rent regulation laws . Thirteen tenants asked for buyouts of between $ 7,000 and $ 10,000 each, although Zeckendorf
7600-408: The reason most people stay here is location; its proximity to the city's brightest marquees ensures theatergoers can be in bed shortly after the curtain drops. Otherwise, the 1,300 rooms are slightly antiquated." Eighth Avenue (Manhattan) Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of
7700-419: The revitalization of Times Square. As part of a publicity campaign, Cinema Projects produced a TV advertisement for the hotel called "Lullabuy of Broadway," which first aired on June 21, 1982. The advertisement, which used the song " Lullaby of Broadway ", became widely known; Paul Milstein later described it as the first "national advertising gimmick for a non-chain hotel". The Mamma Leone's restaurant opened at
7800-399: The sale, which one real estate analyst described as "severe", required potential buyers to make mortgage payments for at least five years. The F. & N. Refrigeration and Cabinet Corporation, a shell corporation representing a syndicate of foreign investors, bought the hotel in December 1975. The buyers paid about $ 500,000, plus $ 175,000 in back taxes. Despite the low sale price, the hotel
7900-422: The sidewalk-widening projects, parts of Eighth Avenue narrow to two lanes in Midtown. North of Columbus Circle, the roadway becomes Central Park West (abbreviated to CPW ). Unlike many Manhattan avenues, CPW has traffic running in two directions, and its address numbering system is different from that of the rest of Eighth Avenue. As its name indicates, CPW forms the western edge of Central Park . It also forms
8000-436: The site from Goldman Sachs . The City Kitchen food court opened at the base of the Row NYC in March 2015, and Thor placed the commercial condominium for sale that June, with an asking price of $ 100 million. In February 2019, Highgate and Rockpoint placed the final piece of the property for sale, the hotel rooms, for $ 220 million. By the following year, Colony Credit Real Estate, whose predecessor NorthStar had provided
8100-466: The site, and the owners announced the hotel's opening date. James T. Clyde was hired as the Lincoln's first managing director that month, operating the hotel on behalf of the Chanin brothers. Upon its completion, the Lincoln was the tallest residential building around Times Square, as well as the tallest hotel in Manhattan west of Broadway. The hotel informally opened on January 31, 1928, when it started offering meal service to guests. The first recorded guest
8200-416: The steel frame on February 15, 1927. The hotel was topped out on May 17, 1927, when Irwin and Henry Chanin drilled two golden rivets at the top of the hotel's steel frame. The structure had taken only ten months to erect. The Chanin brothers resold the hotel in June 1927 to Irving I. Lewine and the United Cigar Stores Company. The Chanin brothers leased back the hotel for 63 years, except for the storefront at
8300-442: The tax abatement would be reduced by 5 percent each year. The Milsteins planned to spend $ 14.5 million on renovations, but the project ultimately cost an estimated $ 15 million to $ 20 million. The family announced in April 1980 that the hotel would be called the Milford Plaza, and they hired Charles Waterman as the hotel's manager. The Milsteins wanted to attract guests who were visiting nearby Broadway theaters. As such,
8400-512: The tax abatement. The hotel was one of several in Midtown Manhattan to be completed during the early 1980s, amid an increase in tourism in New York City . When the Milford Plaza opened, Manhattan Community Board 5 gave the Milsteins an award "for the courageous reopening of a hotel on Eighth Avenue". Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that the hotel rooms were "badly needed", and Alan S. Oser of The New York Times said
8500-498: The theaters there. The hotel is also approximately 100 yards (91 m) west of Shubert Alley , which separates the seven adjacent theaters from One Astor Plaza and the Minskoff Theatre . The Majestic, Masque (Golden), and Royale (Jacobs) theaters and the Lincoln Hotel (Row NYC Hotel) had all been developed concurrently. The site of all four buildings had previously been occupied by twenty brownstone residences . The site
8600-417: The three ownership units would sell for a combined $ 650 million. David Werner , in partnership with Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management's real estate investment business, purchased the land parcel the next month for $ 325 million, about 30 percent more than what Rockpoint and Highgate had paid for the entire hotel three years earlier. Meridian Capital Group provided a $ 275 million mortgage for
8700-426: The unspoken agreement to work together, to line their buildings up with each other and to work in a consistent scale with materials that are compatible." Most of these housing cooperatives were built around 1930, replacing late-19th century hotels with the same names. Some, including The Century, The San Remo, The Majestic, and The El Dorado, are twin towers. Other landmarks and institutions along its length include
8800-407: The violations dated to 1948 and recommended that Kramer be fined $ 500 and jailed for 30 days. By then, only 200 rooms on the lowest floors were in use, and the third through 27th floors were closed off completely. According to The New York Times , the hotel's upper floors had been in a state of disrepair for years. Kramer was ultimately fined $ 250, and she announced at the end of November 1955 that she
8900-459: Was a businessman from Houston , Texas. Governor Al Smith and mayor Jimmy Walker both sent the Chanins congratulatory telegrams after the Lincoln opened. The hotel's formal opening ceremony took place on February 13, 1928, coinciding with the observance of the Lincoln's Birthday holiday. At the official opening ceremony, a portrait of Lincoln was dedicated in the hotel's lobby, and Smith pressed
9000-450: Was allowed to continue living in the Lincoln rent-free for 100 years. The sale of the two hotels was supposed to be finalized in May 1956 but was delayed by two months. Immediately after acquiring the Lincoln, Zeckendorf sold the hotel for $ 8.5 million to an unidentified investor and immediately leased back the property. Zeckendorf's lease ran for 21 years, but he had options to renew the lease ten times for 21 years each. Zeckendorf used
9100-508: Was appointed as the Manhattan's general manager. Harold V. Varr was appointed as the hotel's general manager at the beginning of 1964, after Schel was promoted to a vice president within Zeckendorf's company. Webb and Knapp were deeply in debt by 1964. Lincoln Associates, which owned the land under the Manhattan, had taken over the hotel's finances, though Zeckendorf was still in charge of day-to-day operation. Manastor Associates, which held
9200-517: Was born to a Jewish family, the son of an immigrant from Poland and an immigrant from Poltava , Ukraine. In 1915, he graduated from Cooper Union with a degree in civil engineering . At Cooper Union he was noted as a founder of Alpha Mu Sigma , a fraternity for Jewish men. In 1919, Chanin and his brother Henry founded the Chanin Construction Company. In 1925, they built the 46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theatre ,
9300-783: Was completed by 1959. This section included the balance of the residential homes, the Forest Road Elementary School, the Green Acres Mall , and the Green Acres Garden Apartments. He was President of Chanin Theatres Corporation, and his brother Henry I. Chanin was Treasurer. In 1981, Cooper Union renamed its school of architecture after him. Near the end of Chanin's life, several of his developments were protected as New York City designated landmarks , including
9400-413: Was designed in an English style. The second floor was supposed to be a ballroom and banking hall; as built, it had a lounge and two private dining rooms. In addition, there were offices on the second story. In the 1950s, the first three stories were gutted to make way for a triple-height lobby. The main section of the lobby included a marble registration desk on the second floor, accessed by escalators from
9500-446: Was only willing to pay $ 3,000 per tenant. The hotel began selling off furnishings and furniture at the beginning of August 1956, excluding items in the apartments that were still occupied. Within four days, all of the items in the building had been sold. Shortly afterward, the last rent-controlled tenants, including a woman who had lived there since 1929, agreed to move in exchange for a buyout of $ 3,000 each. The existing Hotel Lincoln sign
9600-453: Was part of the Astor family estate from 1803 to 1922, when it was sold to Henry Claman. The plots collectively measured 200 feet (61 m) wide along Eighth Avenue, 240 feet (73 m) along 44th Street, and 250 feet (76 m) along 45th Street. The Lincoln Hotel was designed by Schwartz & Gross , with Herbert J. Krapp as consulting architect. It was constructed by the Chanin Construction Company, headed by Irwin Chanin . The hotel
9700-482: Was placed in the lobby. Local artist Yorgo Alexopoulos designed two light sculptures, one on either side of the reception area. The lobby also includes a restaurant called District M. The hotel was also to contain three basement levels. Part of one basement level was to contain an entrance to the New York City Subway 's 42nd Street station , while the two other basement levels were supposed to contain
9800-405: Was removed on August 17, 1956, and workers began demolishing part of the hotel's interior. The last tenant moved out on August 22, 1956, although some homeless people remained in the building past that date. New York City's fire commissioner threatened to halt the demolition process in late August 1956, claiming that the building contained numerous fire hazards. The next month, the hotel was renamed
9900-527: Was selling the hotel. In March 1956, Webb and Knapp , operated by real estate developer William Zeckendorf , purchased the Lincoln Hotel from Kramer, along with the Roosevelt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Zeckendorf said he had acquired the two hotels "because of the potential inherent in the properties". The deal involved $ 10 million in cash. Kramer negotiated a clause in the sale in which she
10000-404: Was still valued at $ 8.5 million at the time, although the city government revised the hotel's valuation to $ 4.5 million in 1976. Investors began to express interest in converting hotels to apartment buildings after the New York City government amended its J-51 tax abatement program in early 1976. Among them were a group of Europeans led by Israeli investor Shmuel Flatto-Sharon , who bought
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