Waldorf Astoria New York
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel is a famous luxury hotel in mid-town Manhattan, New York City. It has had two landmark buildings. The first was on the Fifth Avenue site of the Empire State Building. The present building at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan is a 47 floor, 625 feet (191 m) Art Deco landmark, designed by architects Schultze and Weaver and dating from 1931. The Waldorf Astoria New York is a member of Hilton's Luxury and Lifestyle Brands with Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Denizen Hotels. The Waldorf Astoria brand is made up of the Waldorf Astoria in New York and The Waldorf Astoria Orlando.
| Waldorf Astoria New York | |
|---|---|
 | |
 The hotel from the north; you can see St. Bart's in the foreground. | |
  | |
| General information | |
| Location | 301 Park Avenue Manhattan, New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°45′23″N 73°58′27″W / 40.75639°N 73.97417°W |
| Opening | 1893 (Waldorf Hotel) 1897 (Astoria Hotel) 1931 (Waldorf-Astoria Hotel) |
| Closed | 2017 (temporarily for renovations) |
| Owner | Anbang Insurance Group |
| Management | Hilton Worldwide |
| Height | 625 ft (191 m) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 47 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Schultze & Weaver |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 1,413 |
| Number of restaurants | Peacock Alley Bull and Bear Steakhouse 'La Chine |
| Website | |
| Official hotel website | |
| [1][2][3] | |
The modern hotel has three American and classic European restaurants, and a beauty parlor off the main lobby. Several shops surround the lobby, which has won awards for its original period character. An even more luxurious "hotel within a hotel" in its upper section is known as The Waldorf Towers operated by Conrad Hotels & Resorts.
The hotel has its own railway platform as part of Grand Central Terminal, used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, and Douglas MacArthur, among others. People could go to the platform by using an elevator large enough for Franklin D. Roosevelt's car.[4]
Notable residents
change
- Hossein-Gholi Noori
- Herbert Hoover
- Paris Hilton
- Douglas MacArthur
- Nikola Tesla
- The Duke of Windsor and Duchess of Windsor
- Frank Costello, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel and Charles "Lucky" Luciano
- Cole Porter and Linda Lee Thomas had an apartment in the Waldorf Towers, where she died in 1954.
- Marilyn Monroe
- The official residence of the United States' Permanent Representative to the United Nations is in the Waldorf Towers.[5]
Notable events
change- The investigation into the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 was held at the Waldorf-Astoria.
- After a New York ticker-tape parade in his honor for winning four Olympic gold medals, Jesse Owens had to ride the freight elevator to attend a reception for him at the Waldorf-Astoria due to his being African-American because only white people could ride in the main elevators.[6]
- From 1960 until 1978, Guy Lombardo and The Royal Canadians televised their annual New Year's Eve show live (in the Eastern and Central time zones) from the Grand Ballroom.
- The NASCAR Sprint Cup end-of-season awards banquet has been held at the Waldorf-Astoria every year since 1981.
- The annual International Debutante Ball at the Waldorf-Astoria is held to formally introduce young high society women to New York society.
- The Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant High School, Xaverian High School and Syosset High School hold their Senior Proms in the Grand Ballroom of the hotel. Regis High School and Hunter College High School in Manhattan and Pelham Memorial High School have also held their prom in the Starlight Ballroom.[7][8]
- Since 2006, Russian Children's Welfare Society (RCWS) hosts black tie gala - the "Petroushka Ball" - to raise funds to support orphaned and disabled children in Russia.[9]
- St. John's University holds its annual President's Dinner in the grand ballroom.
Related pages
changeReferences
change- ↑ Waldorf Astoria New York at Emporis
- ↑ "Waldorf Astoria New York". SkyscraperPage.
- ↑ Waldorf Astoria New York at Structurae
- ↑ "Waldorf-Astoria's private rail platform forever closed". NewYorkology. 2006-02-07. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- ↑ ""United States Mission to the United Nations"" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ↑ As quoted in "Owens pierced a myth" by Larry Schwartz in ESPN SportsCentury. (2005)
- ↑ "Senior Class of 2008 News: Prom Information". The Bronx High School of Science. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ↑ Salamone, Gina (2008-05-28). "The $1,000 prom night: New Yorkers dropping average of $1K on big event". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ↑ "RCWS.org | the Petroushka Ball". Archived from the original on 2008-06-08. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
Other websites
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- "The Waldorf Astoria - Host To The World", DVD-2008[permanent dead link]
- "The Passing of the Old Hotel", 1931
- "Boomer Takes Command", 1931
- "A New Waldorf Against the Sky", 1931
- Waldorf Towers Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
- "It's De Limit" Archived 2009-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Forbes article by Finn-Olaf Jones on Waldof-Astoria architects Schultze and Weaver, April 24, 2006
- Ward Morehouse III, Life at the Top and The Waldorf-Astoria Archived 2018-05-31 at the Wayback Machine