AUGUST 18, 1950 ~THE COMMODORE HOTEL~ NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. ... ADVERTISING CORRESPONDENCE CARD ... WITH "THE COMMODORE" TRADEMARK LOGO!
(Approximate dimensions: 5 1/2" x 3 3/8").
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Hyatt Grand Central New York | |
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Hyatt Grand Central New York as seen from the southeast, at Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street | |
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap Interactive map highlighting the hotel's location | |
Hotel chain | Hyatt Hotels |
General information | |
Location | Manhattan , New York, US |
Address | 109 East 42nd Street |
Coordinates | 40°45′08″N 73°58′35″W |
Opening | January 28, 1919 |
Renovated | September 25, 1980 |
Demolished | 2023 (expected) |
Owner | Hyatt |
Management | Hyatt |
Height | 295 ft (90 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 26 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Warren & Wetmore |
Renovating team | |
Architect(s) | Gruzen Samton |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 1306 |
Website | |
[link removed by eBay] |
The Hyatt Grand Central New York is a hotel located at 109 East 42nd Street , adjoining Grand Central Terminal , in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . It operated as the 2,000-room Commodore Hotel between 1919 and 1976, before hotel chain Hyatt and real estate developer Donald Trump converted the hotel to the 1,400-room Grand Hyatt New York between 1978 and 1980. As of 2019, the hotel is planned to be replaced with a skyscraper named Project Commodore after 2023.
The New York Central Railroad had acquired the site in 1910 and started constructing the hotel in October 1916. The Commodore was designed by Warren & Wetmore , with the Fuller Company as the hotel's general contractor. The hotel was 295 feet (90 m), with up to 28 stories, and had an H-shaped floor plan and a brick-and-terracotta facade. It contained a large lobby designed in a manner resembling an Italian courtyard, as well as various dining rooms and ballrooms. The Commodore opened on January 28, 1919, and was originally operated by Bowman-Biltmore Hotels . Zeckendorf Hotels took over the Commodore's operation in 1958 before handing it to New York Central subsidiary Realty Hotels in 1966. Due to declining profits, the Commodore closed on May 18, 1976.
Trump and Hyatt offered in 1975 to take over the Commodore and renovate it into the Grand Hyatt. After the city government granted a tax abatement for the renovation, Trump and Hyatt completely remodeled the hotel from June 1978 to September 1980, spending $100 million and removing almost all of the Commodore's original decorations. The renovated hotel includes a glass facade, a three-story atrium, a restaurant cantilevered over a sidewalk, and the Commodore's original ballroom. With the deteriorating partnership between Trump and Hyatt, the Pritzker family , which operated the Grand Hyatt, acquired Trump's stake in the hotel in 1996. The Project Commodore skyscraper was announced for the site in 2019, and the Grand Hyatt temporarily closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City . The hotel reopened in 2021 as the Hyatt Grand Central, although the hotel is scheduled to close permanently after 2023.
The Hyatt Grand Central New York is at 109 East 42nd Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City .[1] It occupies a rectangular site on the northwestern corner of Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street , near Pershing Square Plaza , and abuts the Park Avenue Viaduct to the west.[2] [3] The land lot covers about 57,282 sq ft (5,321.7 m2),[2] with a frontage of 200.83 ft (61.21 m) on Lexington Avenue and 275 ft (84 m) on 42nd Street.[4] [5]
The hotel shares the city block with Grand Central Terminal to the west, the MetLife Building to the northwest, and the Graybar Building and 450 Lexington Avenue to the north. Other nearby buildings include the Pershing Square Building and Bowery Savings Bank Building to the southwest, the Chanin Building to the south, the Socony–Mobil Building to the southeast, and the Chrysler Building to the east.[2] The New York City Subway 's Grand Central–42nd Street station , serving the 4 , 5 , 6 , <6> , 7 , <7> , and S trains, is located directly underneath the Hyatt Grand Central,[6] [7] and the Lexington Avenue Line platforms cut diagonally underneath the hotel.[3] A subway entrance, with a stair and an elevator, is at the base of the hotel on Lexington Avenue.[8] [9]
The site was formerly occupied by the Hospital for Crippled Children.[10] Before the hotel opened, the site occupied an entire city block, which was bounded by Depew Place to the west and 43rd Street to the north.[11] The New York Central Railroad acquired the site in November 1910 as part of the construction of Grand Central Terminal .[10]
The Hyatt Grand Central New York was originally known as the Commodore and was designed by Warren & Wetmore .[1] [12] The Fuller Company was the hotel's general contractor,[12] although the project also involved numerous other contractors and engineers.[13] Donald Trump and Hyatt renovated the hotel in the 1970s to designs by Gruzen & Partners and Der Scutt .[14] [15]
When the Commodore opened, it contained 2,000 rooms and was either 26[3] [16] or 28 stories high,[12] [17] as well as five basement stories.[3] [12] Because of superstition surrounding the number 13 , the hotel did not have a thirteenth floor , nor did it have any rooms, mailboxes, elevators, or other fixtures with the number 13.[18] [19] The Commodore's facade was largely made of buff-colored brick with architectural terracotta trim; the first three stories were clad in Indiana Limestone . The hotel's lowest three stories occupied the entire site, while the floors above were shaped like a "H", with light courts to the north and south.[17] At the top of the facade was a cornice with copper faces.[20] The design of the nearby 245 Park Avenue was intended to complement not only the Commodore's original facade but also that of the nearby New York Biltmore Hotel ,[21] which was internally demolished in the early 1980s.[22]
The hotel contained large amounts of materials, including 16,000 short tons (14,000 long tons; 15,000 t) of steel,[18] [23] 4.256 million bricks, 1.653 million terracotta blocks, and 1.035×10 6 sq ft (96,200 m2) of fireproof floor arches.[17] The hotel's heating system included 4,400 radiators, supplied by a pair of 1,400 hp (1,000 kW) boilers in the basement. The ventilation system contained 17 fans that were capable of supplying 845,000 cu ft (23,900 m3) of air per minute. The Commodore contained ten passenger elevators, eight service elevators,[a] one freight elevator, and two dumbwaiters .[24] The hotel received water from the city's water supply system , with two intakes from 42nd Street and one from Lexington Avenue. The water-drainage system included two sewers to 42nd Street and one to Lexington Avenue, as well as sump pumps that drained water from the basements into the city's sewage system. The Commodore also contained a telautograph system with 75 stations, in addition to a fire alarm system , which at the time of the hotel's opening was an uncommon feature.[25]
The hotel's main entrance was at 42nd Street, just east of Grand Central Terminal.[26] At ground level was a vestibule, consisting of a central hallway flanked by wide stairways that ascended to the lobby.[17] [18] [27] The central hallway continued to the grill room and to the Commodore Passageway at the rear of the ground level.[18] [27] The grill room was at the rear of the vestibule and was used for supper and dancing;[17] it was also known as the supper room.[28] The grill room's entrance was on a terrace with stone walls and columns and a tiled floor.[17] A short flight of steps descended to the main part of the grill room, which had chestnut walls with alcoves and leaded windows. On the ceiling were large beams painted by John B. Smeraldi , consisting of heraldic designs taken from illuminated manuscripts.[17] [28] The center of the grill room contained a dance floor measuring 45 by 25 ft (13.7 by 7.6 m).[28]
At the north end of the ground story was the Commodore Passage, which still exists but was renamed the Lexington Passage after the Commodore closed.[29] The passage leads directly to Grand Central Terminal and also connects to Lexington Avenue.[29] [30] This passageway also connects the hotel to the New York City Subway 's Grand Central–42nd Street station via the terminal's corridors.[31] Additional passageways connect with other buildings such as the Biltmore and Roosevelt hotels, the Yale Club Building , the Graybar Building , and the Chrysler Building .[30] In the late 1990s, the passageway was redesigned as a shopping arcade with marble storefronts.[32]
The lobby itself was designed in a manner resembling an Italian courtyard, surrounded by an arcade with a mezzanine above it.[18] [33] At the hotel's opening in 1919, architectural media described the Commodore's lobby as the largest hotel lobby in the world.[3] [17] [27] The lobby had a metal-and-white-glass ceiling[33] [34] supported by light-colored stucco arches.[17] There was a large palm tree in the middle of the lobby, which reached nearly to the ceiling.[27] The walls were made of rough plaster above a wainscoting of soft Italian stone, and the paneling on the walls consisted of blue Italian tiles.[27] [35] The space was illuminated by vases with concealed lighting.[17] At the center of the main lobby was a small retreat surrounded by palm trees.[27]
The lobby's mezzanine contained a lounge, which was accessed by a wide staircase on the west wall and smaller stairs along the lobby's perimeter.[17] [27] The mezzanine railing contained boxes with plants.[17] [35] The mezzanine gallery was designed in the Italian Renaissance style, with flowers and palms. The walls contained satin hangings in blue, red, and yellow with green stripes, which were intended to complement the design of the floor. The gallery also had period furniture, including chairs and vases; the chairs were covered with blue and gold satin and velvet. Leading off this gallery were various writing rooms, the barber shop, the manicure shop, and the Commodore Hotel's executive offices, as well as numerous small alcoves and retreats.[27]
Men's and women's rooms were positioned on opposite sides of the lobby.[17] [27] [35] West of the lobby were offices, a stock-brokers' room, check rooms, a men's writing room, an English-style men's restaurant, telephones, telegraph services, and other business functions.[17] On the lobby's west wall was a cafe with natural-oak wainscoting ; a blue-and-gold carpet; Flemish oak chairs; and a ceiling with white-and-green plaster frescoes.[28] East of the lobby, and a few steps above it, was the palm room, where after-dinner coffee and afternoon tea were served.[17] [27] The palm room was separated from the lobby by large majolica vases with palm trees.[27] Behind the palm room was the main dining room, which contained a walnut wainscoting and a purple, green, and rose-colored vaulted ceiling in low relief.[17] [27] Next to the main dining room were the lobby supper room and the breakfast room, both designed in a similar manner to the main dining room.[36] Stairs led from the dining room to the mezzanine, the hair-dressing parlor, and ladies' public rooms.[17] [27]
The hotel's kitchen was on the same level as the men's restaurant and the main dining room; stairs led down to the street-level grill room.[35] The kitchen was capable of serving 10,000 meals per day,[13] [37] including 4,000 meals for employees.[37] The kitchen was divided into several departments.[25] [37] These included a main kitchen, measuring 200 by 64 ft (61 by 20 m) wide; a separate kitchen for banquets, measuring 145 by 35 ft (44 by 11 m) wide; and a "preparatory kitchen" above the main kitchen, which was used for food preparation. Paper slips with guests' orders were delivered to the kitchen via a series of pneumatic tubes , and dumbwaiters connected the kitchen with each guestroom floor.[37]
When the hotel was built, the New-York Tribune called the main ballroom "the largest private ballroom of any hotel in the world".[16] The space was described as being in the French Empire style.[17] [34] It covered 180 by 78 ft (55 by 24 m) and was originally decorated in white, purple, and gold, with green accents.[28] [35] The main ballroom could accommodate up to 3,000 guests for entertainments such as plays, and it could seat 2,000 guests during banquets.[16] [38] The room had 56 boxes,[11] [35] connected by a promenade[28] and split across two tiers.[16] This arrangement, inspired by the layout of seats in a Mexican bullring , was intended to maximize the number of boxes for sale during charity events, as well as provide sufficient space for a dance floor below. Above the ballroom was a roof garden for tea and luncheons.[17] The ballroom was redecorated in coral and black during a 1937 renovation, with a carpet in yellow, blue, and tan.[39]
Two smaller ballrooms opened off the main ballroom and could be used separately or in tandem.[17] [28] These ballrooms contained silk and satin tapestries in the Louis XV style , as well as black-and-green satin chairs.[28] To the north of the main ballroom was a vestibule that spanned the entire width of the room.[28] [35] Three chandeliers were hung from the vestibule's high ceiling, which was painted blue and white, and a carpet with "Old World designs" covered the marble floors.[39] The western end of the vestibule was accessed to a direct entrance from the Park Avenue Viaduct.[17] [28] The hotel also had a vehicular elevator from 42nd Street, which ascended to the viaduct level[28] and could carry up to 10,000 lb (4,500 kg).[25]
Another popular spot was the Century Room, which had its own orchestra.[40] The Billboard magazine described the Century Room in 1947 as "one of the top name [orchestra] spots in the city".[41] Major bands played at the Century Room from the 1930s to 1948, when the Century also started booking smaller bands.[42] [43] The shows in the Century Room were discontinued permanently in 1949 after the federal government imposed a 20 percent excise tax on such shows, and the Century Room became a luncheon room.[44] Other amenities included a parking garage, which the Commodore shared with the Biltmore and the Hotel Manhattan ,[45] [46] as well as a children's playroom.[47]
The hotel had 2,000 rooms when it opened. Each room faced either the street or a light court, and all guestrooms had bathrooms.[3] [47] Rooms on the light courts received more sunlight than rooms on the street, as the light courts were wider than any of the surrounding streets.[17] Initially, approximately 1,000 rooms had rates of $2.50 a night, advertised as "a room and a bath for two and a half"; the remaining rooms cost $3 to $4 a night.[47] Each guestroom floor was staffed by its own "floor clerk" who was stationed outside the elevators.[17] [47] Acting as a concierge for their respective story, the floor clerk coordinated room service, provided supplies, and obtained tickets and schedules for guests, among other tasks.[47]
When the Commodore opened, the corridors and rooms all had gray-and-black carpets above two layers of linings. The rooms had translucent curtains and shades that could be unhung, allowing each room to be ventilated during the summer and winter. Each bedroom typically contained a bed, a dressing table, two small chairs, a large armchair, a small table with a telephone, and small writing tables with lamps. The bedrooms also had ornate light fixtures suspended from the ceiling.[28] Each bathroom had a cold-water tap,[47] [48] as well as a shower and an illuminated wall mirror, which were novel features at the time of the hotel's construction.[48]
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