Glitz and Glamor

An overnight train layover in New York City necessitated the finding of a hotel walking distance from Penn Station. A quick google map search showed several hotels in the area, the Fairfield Inn had great reviews…….perfect! We opened their website, put in our dates expecting a few very expensive options. Instead we got a ‘Sorry, there are no rooms available, please try different dates’. Assuming I had typed something wrong, I tried again…same result (turns out the Westminster Dog Show was in town). Hmmm…this isn’t going to be as easy as I thought. Another quick search showed several hotels nearby with questionable ratings, damn what are we going to do…we have very high standards as you all know😂. What’s this, wait…The New Yorker. Close to Penn Station, decent reviews and, glory be, availability at a reasonable NYC rate. Hallelujah we are saved! Okay, enough drama.

The New Yorker Hotel is one of the grand dames of NYC. She was built in the Art Deco Era much like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. Opening in 1930 and costing 22 million dollars to construct, she boasted 2,500 rooms, a ballroom, private dining rooms, a radio in every room with the choice of 4 stations and the snappiest looking bellboys in all of NYC. Over the years, she has hosted such notables as Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Fidal Castro and the Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey Bands. Her most notable guest was Nikola Tesla who spent the last 10 years of his life on the 33rd floor, spending the majority of his time feeding pigeons. He passed away in 1943.

After years of glory she fell onto hard times passing from owner to owner until she was sadly shuttered in 1972. Three years later the Unification Church of the United States bought and began restoring the old hotel, investing millions. On her 75th Anniversary, the iconic sign was relit after being dim for 38 years. It was to that beacon we trudged last night in the pouring rain seeking shelter and warmth just like the notables of old, perhaps with a bit more emphasis on comfort food and hot showers and less on the glitz and glamor from the Glory Days gone by.

Tidbit: We were so soggy and vagabond looking, with our backpacks and disposable Xfinity bag, that the doorman didn’t want to let us in. We had to convince him that we were actually guests at the hotel🤣