Hotel Pennsylvania
New York City's bed bug scourge continues to wreak pain, fear, high extermination expenses, and the occasional overblown lawsuit against real estate moguls. A Massachusetts woman has sued Vornado Realty Trust, claiming that her September 2009 stay at the Hotel Pennyslvania caused her to “to be bitten by bugs in the bed and/or premises provided by defendants." The rather overwrought lawsuit... READ MORE»
Just as the markets were starting to unwind in October 2007, real estate titan Steve Roth thought he'd hooked a giant fish. Merrill Lynch had been through a tortuous, hard-fought search for a firm to build its new world headquarters, and after pitting Mr. Roth and his Vornado Realty Trust against developer Larry Silverstein and landlord Brookfield Properties, the investment bank's CEO, Stan O'Neal, gave Mr. Roth the nod. Merrill Lynch wanted a new,... READ MORE»
Steve Roth’s Vornado Realty Trust has filed an application with the city to rezone the site of the 90-year-old Hotel Pennsylvania, clearing hurdles for the real estate firm to demolish the hotel and build an office tower of up to 2.85 million square feet in its place. In paperwork filed with the Department of City Planning, Vornado indicates it wants to rezone the site on 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue to allow for the... READ MORE»
Last November, the Post's Steve Cuozzo railed against the campaign to preserve Hotel Pennsylvania, which he called "one of the gloomiest structures between the Battery and The Bronx." Now, the paper is listing the old Glenn Miller hangout among its "10 Endangered Buildings Worth Saving" -- No. 2, in fact, just behind Harlem's Corn Exchange Bank. Built in 1919 by the Pennsylvania Railroad as part of Penn Station's development. Designed by McKim, Mead &... READ MORE»
One-time demolition target Hotel Pennsylvania continues to line landlord Steve Roth's pockets, giving him even more reason to hang on to the old McKim, Mead & White-designed lodge. Quarterly figures released this week by Mr. Roth's Vornado Realty Trust show the historic hotel generating even more revenue than last year -- a total of nearly $30 million so far through the first nine months of 2008. That's about $5 million more than it made... READ MORE»
MTV is sponsoring a contest to promote the upcoming action film Max Payne starring Mark Wahlberg--and talk about the perfect setting for a gritty cop-movie gimmick! "To celebrate the release of this slick new thriller, MTV is giving one lucky winner and a friend an NYPD trip to New York City. You’ll get flights, two-nights accommodation at the luxurious Hotel Pennsylvania..." What, you were expecting the posh Hotel Carter? Now, MTV wasn't around during the... READ MORE»
Vornado Realty Trust isn't hell-bent on demolishing the historic Hotel Pennsylvania, anymore -- but it's putting the paperwork in place, just in case. Vornado recently applied for a Certification of No Harassment from the city, which, if granted, would by no means guarantee demolition but is apparently a prerequisite for tearing down the semi-grungy hotel across from Penn Station. Vornado, which owns that site and many others in the area, hasn't made up its mind on... READ MORE»
The literary landmark Algonquin Hotel hosted a feline fashion show and birthday party on Thursday in honor of Matilda, the famous inn's finicky house cat, now 13. "I hope we get to see the cat's pajamas," quipped one quick-witted attendee, as guests sipped $20 purr-tinis while cooing at the various costumed kitties in the hotel's famed Round Table Room. But something was missing. "We can't find Matilda," an organizer confessed. The resident blue-eyed Ragdoll -- who... READ MORE»
Veteran punk rocker Jello Biafra didn’t trash his hotel room during a recent trip to New York. It was already trashed. “The air-conditioners are so old and beat up, I figure why waste electrical power during an energy crunch when I can just take off all my clothes and work nude?” quipped Mr. Biafra, the 50-year-old former lead singer of the irreverent Reagan-era rock band the Dead Kennedys and a onetime fringe presidential candidate.... READ MORE»
Joe O's, the casual sports bar and restaurant in the Hotel Pennsylvania and home to the $13 Vornado pizza -- presumably, an ass-kissing tribute to hotel landlord Steve Roth's ginormous real estate company -- has been shuttered. Its windows along West 33rd Street have been blacked out, with only a sign hanging from the outside scaffolding to remind passersby of its former... READ MORE»
After months of talk about demolishing the historic Hotel Pennsylvania to make way for a soaring office tower, landlord Vornado Realty Trust has acknowledged that it might just hang on to the McKim, Mead & White-designed, Dave Barry-panned, so-called "World's Most Popular Hotel," after all. "First off, it is doing damn well as a hotel," Vornado CEO Steven Roth said Tuesday during a conference call with investors. Indeed, the 1,700-room lodge that Vornado previously described... READ MORE»
With Merrill Lynch staying put downtown and plans to redevelop Penn Station in flux, Vornado CEO Steven Roth may not know what to do with the Hotel Pennsylvania--a building the company once described as "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot." In the meantime, the historic lodge continues to make his company some big bucks--netting roughly $37.9 million last year. That's $10.6 million more than in 2006, according to the company's latest filing... READ MORE»
Hotel Pennsylvania preservationist Gregory Jones recently received a Valentine's Day greeting from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission--er, more of a Dear John letter, really. The message, dated Feb. 14, reads: "At this time, the property does not appear to meet the criteria for designation and will not be recommended to the full commission for further consideration as a New York City landmark." Yet, Mr. Jones, who has spearheaded efforts to save the old hotel from... READ MORE»
Endangered Hotel Pennsylvania is rolling out the wood chips once again for its most highly regarded guests -- the four-legged stars of the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, taking place next week. Competing canines will be treated to "sound healthy" live piano music in the lobby on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 9, and the hotel's basement conference hall will be converted into "perhaps the largest in-door doggie spa in all of New York"... READ MORE»
"Well, we won a small victory in the battle, but the fight isn't over yet," said Gregory Jones. The lead organizer of the "Save The Hotel" campaign was reacting to news that financial giant Merrill Lynch will likely stay put in the city's financial district -- and not relocate to the site of his beloved Hotel... READ MORE»
