Row NYC Hotel

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Row NYC Hotel
Milford Plaza Hotel.jpg
The hotel in 2008 with the neon "M" on top, since removed.
General information
Location700 8th Avenue
New York, New York
United States
Coordinates40°45′31″N 73°59′18″W / 40.7587°N 73.9883°W / 40.7587; -73.9883Coordinates: 40°45′31″N 73°59′18″W / 40.7587°N 73.9883°W / 40.7587; -73.9883
Opening1928
Other information
Number of rooms1,331
Number of restaurants1
Website
www.rownyc.com

Row NYC Hotel is a hotel in New York City. At 27 stories and 1,331 rooms, it was the largest hotel in Manhattan when it opened on February 13, 1928, as the Hotel Lincoln, one day after the 119th anniversary of the birth of its namesake, Abraham Lincoln. It featured a towering mast on top with neon lettering reading "HOTEL LINCOLN" which was lit on opening day by Governor Al Smith, who pressed a button in Albany to illuminate it. It was originally owned by the Kramer family and then by Maria Kramer, a dancer once married to Max Kramer, until the 1950s.

History[]

It was purchased by prominent American real estate developer William Zeckendorf in September 1957, remodeled, and renamed the Manhattan Hotel. The existing Hotel Lincoln sign was removed and in 1958 a sign was added to replace it—an enormous letter "M," 31 feet wide and 12 feet deep. Zeckendorf ran the Manhattan until 1964 when it was sold to the English [which?] and became the Royal Manhattan.

American jazz pianist and bandleader Count Basie, as well as jazz saxophonist Lester Young and bandleader and clarinetist Artie Shaw, played in the Blue Room nightclub of the hotel.

In the 1960s, things started going downhill for Manhattan. By the late 1970s, the hotel was boarded up. In 1978, the Milstein family purchased the hotel and reopened it in 1980. They named it the Milford Plaza Hotel because they did not want to change the huge neon "M" sign on the roof. In 2001, Seymour Milstein prepared to auction off the hotel, fueling a feud with his brother Paul. They eventually settled their differences, keeping the hotel in the family.

The Milford Plaza used the song "Lullaby of Broadway" in television advertisements for many years..[1]

In September 2009, it was announced that the Milford Plaza was to undergo a renovation that would be completed by 2011. On December 12, 2009, 350 employees were laid off, and the hotel was closed.[2][3] The next February the Seymour Milstein family decided to suspend its renovation plan indefinitely due to an economic downturn.[4] Rockpoint Group and hotel operator Highgate Holdings purchased the hotel in 2010 for $200 million[5][6] and began an extensive $140 million renovation.[7] In February 2013, the new owners indicated that they would divide the hotel into three ownership units—the land, the 1,331-room hotel and the 26,000-square-foot retail unit—and sell for a combined value of $650 million.[8][9] David Werner, in partnership with Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management’s real estate investment business, purchased the land parcel the next month for $325 million.[10][11]

As part of the renovation, the hotel was briefly renamed The Milford New York Hotel before being renamed in 2014 as Row NYC. Included in the renovation were makeovers of all 1,331 guest rooms and guest suites, renovation of the lobby (including a unique three-story, glass-enclosed lobby design and illuminated grand staircase flanked by see-through guest elevators) and public areas, the International Gift Shop, and District M – a European express cafe by day, a Neapolitan pizza bar and cocktail lounge by night.

In popular culture[]

The hotel is seen during the musical number "I'm a Brass Band" in the film Sweet Charity (1969). The former "Hotel Manhattan" sign with the giant neon "M" is visible behind Shirley MacLaine, as Charity Valentine, as she dances with the drummers during a scene shot on the New York Port Authority Bus Terminal's rooftop parking lot on the corner of West 42nd Street and 8th Avenue.

The restaurant in the Royal Manhattan Hotel was featured in the American erotic film Barbara Broadcast (1977), directed by Radley Metzger.[12][13][14]

The November 19, 1987 episode of Late Night with David Letterman was filmed in a suite at the hotel when it was still known as the Milford Plaza.

Gallery[]

  • Row NYC Hotel

  • Row NYC front entrance

  • The hotel from the rear, 2013

  • The hotel in 2005

References[]

  1. ^ "Milford Plaza Commercial Lullaby of Broadway New York City Hotel 80s" – via www.youtube.com.
  2. ^ McGeehan, Patrick (September 15, 2009). "Milford Plaza Will Close for Renovation". City Room. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  3. ^ "Milford Plaza closing for renovations - ABC7 New York - ABC7 New York". ABC7 New York. November 23, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "Milford Plaza renovation put on hold". Crain's New York Business. March 12, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "Milstein Family to Sell Milford Plaza for $200M". GlobeSt. September 27, 2010. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  6. ^ Wei, Lingling (September 27, 2010). "New Song for Milford Plaza Hotel". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "New owners plan renovation of NYC's Milford Plaza". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  8. ^ "Milford Hotel $325M deal reflects growing appeal of hotel investments". The Real Deal New York. March 25, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  9. ^ "Divide and Conquer in Manhattan". Wall Street Journal. February 19, 2013. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  10. ^ "Sale of Milford Hotel land fetches $325M". Real Estate Weekly. March 13, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  11. ^ Melouney, Carmel (March 25, 2013). "Short Stays, Strong Returns". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  12. ^ "Barbara Broadcast (1977)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  13. ^ Drain, Heather (October 21, 2016). "Radley Metzger's Barbara Broadcast - Notes From The Backroom". Paracinema.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  14. ^ Staff (2016). "Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) - DadaBase Search Results - Radley Metzger". Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Retrieved October 22, 2019.

External links[]

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