The Pennsylvania Hotel is one of the most popular hotels in New York, and is located in Manhattan. The name of the hotel comes from the fact that it is across the street from Pennsylvania Station. The hotel has a unique place in history, and has been the home of some of the world’s most famous people since it opened in 1919.
When the location first opened, it was the home of more than 2,200 different rooms. However, since the hotel’s grand opening, it has downsized quite a bit and currently has around 1,700 rooms that are available for guests.
The 22 floor building was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The building was designed by the firm McKim, Mead and White, and was designed to look similar to and complement to design of the Pennsylvania Station.
Statler Hotels has been in charge of managing the hotel since it was first built. After nearly 20 years of managing the premises, they purchased the location in 1948 from the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was during this time that the hotel was renamed the Hotel Statler. Statler Hotels would eventually end up selling more than 17 of their locations to Conrad Hilton, and the location eventually became known as the Statler Hilton in 1954. Hilton held onto the Pennsylvania Hotel for thirty years, before selling it in 1984. Pennsylvania Hotel is also known for having the New York phone number with the longest continued use.
In the 1990s, the first whispers of demolition started to make their way around regarding the Pennsylvania Hotel. The Vornado Realty Trust had purchased the hotel, and finally made an announcement in 2007 that they were planning on demolishing the location to make room for a new office building that would be the home of Merrill Lynch. Of course, this idea was met by staunch criticism and protests around the city.
Soon after the announcement of impending demolition was given, a number of organizations banded together to find a way to keep the location from being torn down. They enlisted the help of some of the most prominent politicians in the city to help make the location an official Landmark of New York. In November 2007, the Manhattan Community Board voted 21-8 to make the location an official landmark of the city, officially ending the demolition plans of the Vornado Realty Trust.
Even today there are plans in motion to tear down one of the most popular hotels in the city, the Pennsylvania Hotel. Scott Stringer, who worked as the Borough president for Manhattan eventually voted to overrule the approval of making the Pennsylvania Hotel a landmark, and started the process of approving the demotion. As you can imagine, a number of organizations have banded together to fight the process. It could take years before the fight is over and the location is permanently torn down, but it appears to be heading in that direction.
The Pennsylvania Hotel is a treasure to New York City. It has been home to some of the most revered people in the history of the world, and has the longest continually used phone number in the history of New York City. It would be an absolute shame to see it torn down.
