Plaza Hotel: Difference between revisions

Plaza Hotel (edit)

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=== First hotel ===
John Duncan Phyfe and James Campbell acquired the site in 1883.<ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /><ref name="Stern (1999) pp. 529-530">{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1999|ps=.|pp=529–530}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=October 30, 1883|title=Sale of Fifth Avenue Plaza Lots|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1883/10/30/archives/sale-of-fifthavenue-plaza-lots.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Phyfe and Campbell announced plans for a nine-story apartment building at the site that October,<ref>{{cite journal|date=October 13, 1883|title=Out Among the Builders|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031128_032&page=ldpd_7031128_032_00000336&no=1|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide|volume=32|pages=785|via=[[Columbia University|columbia.edu]]|number=813}}</ref> to be designed by [[Carl Pfeiffer (architect)|Carl Pfeiffer]],<ref name="Gathje p. 4">{{harvnb|Gathje|2000|ps=.|p=4}}</ref> and construction on the apartment block began that same year.<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /><ref name="Stern (1999) pp. 529-530" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=November 4, 1883|title=A Grand Family Hotel.; the Mammoth Structure to Be Erected on the Fifth-Avenue Plaza|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1883/11/04/archives/a-grand-family-hotel-the-mammoth-structure-to-be-erected-on-the.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The builders borrowed over $800,000 from the [[New York Life Insurance Company]], and obtained a second mortgage to John Charles Anderson for a total investment of $2 million.{{efn-lg|New York Life's investment is equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|0.8|1888|r=2}} million, and the total investment is equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|2|1888|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|US-GDP}}.{{inflation/fn|index=US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="nyt18880228">{{Cite news|date=February 28, 1888|title=Prospect of a New Hotel.; the New Structure at Central Park May Be Finished|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/02/28/archives/prospect-of-a-new-hotel-the-new-structure-at-central-park-may-be.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> InBy 18851887, Johnafter Anderson'staking familythree contestedloans hisfrom willNew York Life, Phyfe and hisCampbell granddaughterfound Marythat Maudethey Watsondid disputednot Phyfehave andenough Campbell's titlefunds to complete the propertyapartment block.<ref name="nyt18910826">{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=OctoberAugust 1426, 18851891|title=MaryThe MaudPlaza Watson'sHotel Suit.Case; anHow EffortBeers toBought Obtaina anWhite InterestElephant infor Fifth-avenueHis PropertyCompany|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/18851891/1008/1426/archives/marythe-maudplaza-watsonshotel-suitcase-anhow-effortbeers-tobought-obtaina-anwhite-interestelephant-infor-his.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 25, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The seniorextent Andersonto which the apartment building was completed before the builders' bankruptcy is unclear.<ref name="NYCL p. 17">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2005|ps=.|p=17}}</ref>{{efn|The 1885 E. Robinson Atlas shows the "Fifth Avenue Plaza Hotel" as occupying part of the site, without indicating its construction status<ref name="NYCL p. 17"/> and ''The New York Times'' of February 28, 1888, describes the hotel's willinterior wasas invalidatedbeing inpartially 1887furnished.<ref name=nyt18880228/> Although architectural writer [[Robert A. M. Stern]] implies that only the foundations were completed,<ref name="nyt18870605Stern (1999) pp. 529-530" /><ref name="btu18880522NYCL p. 17"/> the building had progressed several stories above ground by 1886, when a worker died after falling seven stories from the structure.<ref>{{citeCite news|lastdate=March 23, 1886|firsttitle=FAlling Seven Stories.; a Workman Killed at the New Plaza Hotel in Fifty-ninth-street|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/03/23/archives/falling-seven-stories-a-workman-killed-at-the-new-plaza-hotel-in.html|access-date=MayNovember 2227, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>}} In February 1888, brothers Eugene M. and Frank Earle entered contract to lease the hotel from Phyfe and Campbell, and furnish it.<ref name="nyt18880228" /> New York Life concurrently foreclosed on the apartment building,<ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /><ref>{{cite news|date=December 5, 1888|title=AThe Son-in-law'sPlaza $750,000Hotel Property Sold|page=12|work=Brooklyn TimesNew-UnionYork Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/6395461863955089/|url-status=live|access-date=November 25, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> and Watsonthat gaveSeptember, abought it at public auction for $925,000.<ref name="nyt18880919">{{Cite news|date=September 19, 1888|title=Sale of the Plaza Hotel|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/09/19/archives/sale-of-the-plaza-hotel.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Shortly afterward, New York Life decided to remodel the interiors completely,<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 24, 1888|title=Must Be Reconstructed.; the Interior of the Plaza Hotel of Inferior Workmanship.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/11/24/archives/must-be-reconstructed-the-interior-of-the-plaza-hotel-of-inferior.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> hiring architects [[quitclaimMcKim, Mead & deedWhite]] to Phyfecomplete andthe Campbell,hotel.<ref allowingname="NYCL p. 3" /><ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /> New York Life leased the themhotel to continueFrederick holdingA. Hammond in 1889,<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 17, 1899|title=Plaza Hotel May Close; Said that Mr. Hammond Will Not Get a Renewal of His Lease|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/04/17/archives/plaza-hotel-may-close-said-that-mr-hammond-will-not-get-a-renewal.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and the landHammond brothers became the operators of the hotel for the next fifteen years.<ref name="btu18880522"Harris p. 9">{{harvnb|Harris|1981|ps=.|p=9}}</ref>
 
The first Plaza Hotel finally opened on October 1, 1890,<ref name="Gathje p. 4" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=September 30, 1890|title=For Eight Hours of Work.; Letter Carriers' Mass Meeting in Cooper Union Indorses the Bill|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1890/09/30/archives/for-eight-hours-of-work-letter-carriers-mass-meeting-in-cooper.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="tribune18900930">{{cite news|date=September 30, 1890|title=A Great Hotel Finished|page=7|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64065129/|access-date=November 27, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> at a cost of $3 million.{{efn-lg|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|3|1890|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|US-GDP}}{{inflation/fn|index=US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="Gathje p. 4" /><ref name="NPS p. 3">{{harvnb|ps=.|National Park Service|1978|p=3}}</ref><ref name="King 1892 p.">{{cite book|last=King|first=Moses|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/King_s_Handbook_of_New_York_City/cKkUAAAAYAAJ|title=King's Handbook of New York City: An Outline History and Description of the American Metropolis|publisher=Moses King|year=1892|isbn=|location=|page=208|pages=|oclc=848600041}}</ref> The original hotel stood eight stories tall and had 400 rooms.<ref name="Gathje p. 4" /><ref name="King 1892 p." /> The interiors featured extensive mahogany and carved wood furnishings; lion motifs, representing the hotel's coat of arms; and a {{Convert|30|ft||-tall|abbr=|adj=mid}} dining room, with stained glass windows and gold and white decorations.<ref name="tribune18900930" /><ref name="King 1892 p." /><ref name="Harris pp. 8-9">{{harvnb|Harris|1981|ps=.|pp=8–9}}</ref> [[Moses King]], in his 1893 ''Handbook of New York City'', characterized the hotel as "one of the most attractive public houses in the wide world".<ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /><ref name="Harris p. 6" /> Despite being described as fashionable,<ref name="Gathje p. 6">{{harvnb|Gathje|2000|ps=.|p=6}}</ref> it was not profitable.<ref name="nyt18910826" /><ref name="Jackson p. 1003">{{harvnb|Jackson|2010|ps=.|p=1003}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported in 1891 that the hotel netted $72,000 in rental income, out of $1.8 million that New York Life had spent to complete the hotel, including loans to Phyfe and Campbell.{{efn-lg|The rental income is equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|0.072|1891|r=2}} million, and the total investment is equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|1.8|1891|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|US-GDP}}.{{inflation/fn|index=US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="nyt18910826" /> Furthermore, New York Life's claim to the first Plaza Hotel remained controversial. One of John Anderson's daughters, Laura V. Appleton, sued the insurance company in 1891, claiming that she was the rightful owner of the land.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 6, 1891|title=Claiming the Plaza Hotel|page=17|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63955626/|access-date=November 25, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> New York Life ultimately settled with Appleton the next year, paying her for a deed for the property.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 21, 1892|title=The Plaza Hotel Suit: Attorney Hornblower Makes a Statement as to the Settlement|page=6|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63955796/|access-date=November 25, 2020|issn=0362-4331|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref>▼
By 1887, after taking three loans from New York Life, Phyfe and Campbell found that they did not have enough funds to complete the apartment block.<ref name="nyt18910826">{{Cite news|date=August 26, 1891|title=The Plaza Hotel Case; How Beers Bought a White Elephant for His Company|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1891/08/26/archives/the-plaza-hotel-case-how-beers-bought-a-white-elephant-for-his.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 25, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The extent to which the apartment building was completed before the builders' bankruptcy is unclear.<ref name="NYCL p. 17">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2005|ps=.|p=17}}</ref>{{efn|The 1885 E. Robinson Atlas shows the "Fifth Avenue Plaza Hotel" as occupying part of the site, without indicating its construction status<ref name="NYCL p. 17"/> and ''The New York Times'' of February 28, 1888, describes the hotel's interior as being partially furnished.<ref name=nyt18880228/> Although architectural writer [[Robert A. M. Stern]] implies that only the foundations were completed,<ref name="Stern (1999) pp. 529-530" /><ref name="NYCL p. 17"/> the building had progressed several stories above ground by 1886, when a worker died after falling seven stories from the structure.<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 23, 1886|title=FAlling Seven Stories.; a Workman Killed at the New Plaza Hotel in Fifty-ninth-street|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/03/23/archives/falling-seven-stories-a-workman-killed-at-the-new-plaza-hotel-in.html|access-date=November 27, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>}} In February 1888, brothers Eugene M. and Frank Earle entered contract to lease the hotel from Phyfe and Campbell, and furnish it.<ref name="nyt18880228" /> New York Life concurrently foreclosed on the apartment building,<ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /><ref>{{cite news|date=December 5, 1888|title=The Plaza Hotel Property Sold|page=2|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63955089/|access-date=November 25, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> and that September, bought it at public auction for $925,000.<ref name="nyt18880919">{{Cite news|date=September 19, 1888|title=Sale of the Plaza Hotel|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/09/19/archives/sale-of-the-plaza-hotel.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Shortly afterward, New York Life decided to remodel the interiors completely,<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 24, 1888|title=Must Be Reconstructed.; the Interior of the Plaza Hotel of Inferior Workmanship.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/11/24/archives/must-be-reconstructed-the-interior-of-the-plaza-hotel-of-inferior.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> hiring architects [[McKim, Mead & White]] to complete the hotel.<ref name="NYCL p. 3" /><ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /> New York Life leased the hotel to Frederick A. Hammond in 1889,<ref>{{Cite news|date=April 17, 1899|title=Plaza Hotel May Close; Said that Mr. Hammond Will Not Get a Renewal of His Lease|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1899/04/17/archives/plaza-hotel-may-close-said-that-mr-hammond-will-not-get-a-renewal.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 23, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and the Hammond brothers became the operators of the hotel for the next fifteen years.<ref name="Harris p. 9">{{harvnb|Harris|1981|ps=.|p=9}}</ref>
 
▲The first Plaza Hotel finally opened on October 1, 1890,<ref name="Gathje p. 4" /><ref>{{Cite news|date=September 30, 1890|title=For Eight Hours of Work.; Letter Carriers' Mass Meeting in Cooper Union Indorses the Bill|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1890/09/30/archives/for-eight-hours-of-work-letter-carriers-mass-meeting-in-cooper.html|url-status=live|access-date=November 24, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="tribune18900930">{{cite news|date=September 30, 1890|title=A Great Hotel Finished|page=7|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/64065129/|access-date=November 27, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> at a cost of $3 million.{{efn-lg|Equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|3|1890|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|US-GDP}}{{inflation/fn|index=US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="Gathje p. 4" /><ref name="NPS p. 3">{{harvnb|ps=.|National Park Service|1978|p=3}}</ref><ref name="King 1892 p.">{{cite book|last=King|first=Moses|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/King_s_Handbook_of_New_York_City/cKkUAAAAYAAJ|title=King's Handbook of New York City: An Outline History and Description of the American Metropolis|publisher=Moses King|year=1892|isbn=|location=|page=208|pages=|oclc=848600041}}</ref> The original hotel stood eight stories tall and had 400 rooms.<ref name="Gathje p. 4" /><ref name="King 1892 p." /> The interiors featured extensive mahogany and carved wood furnishings; lion motifs, representing the hotel's coat of arms; and a {{Convert|30|ft||-tall|abbr=|adj=mid}} dining room, with stained glass windows and gold and white decorations.<ref name="tribune18900930" /><ref name="King 1892 p." /><ref name="Harris pp. 8-9">{{harvnb|Harris|1981|ps=.|pp=8–9}}</ref> [[Moses King]], in his 1893 ''Handbook of New York City'', characterized the hotel as "one of the most attractive public houses in the wide world".<ref name="Stern (1983) p. 261" /><ref name="Harris p. 6" /> Despite being described as fashionable,<ref name="Gathje p. 6">{{harvnb|Gathje|2000|ps=.|p=6}}</ref> it was not profitable.<ref name="nyt18910826" /><ref name="Jackson p. 1003">{{harvnb|Jackson|2010|ps=.|p=1003}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported in 1891 that the hotel netted $72,000 in rental income, out of $1.8 million that New York Life had spent to complete the hotel, including loans to Phyfe and Campbell.{{efn-lg|The rental income is equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|0.072|1891|r=2}} million, and the total investment is equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|1.8|1891|r=2}} million in {{Inflation year|US-GDP}}.{{inflation/fn|index=US-GDP|group=lower-alpha}}}}<ref name="nyt18910826" /> Furthermore, New York Life's claim to the first Plaza Hotel remained controversial. One of John Anderson's daughters, Laura V. Appleton, sued the insurance company in 1891, claiming that she was the rightful owner of the land.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 6, 1891|title=Claiming the Plaza Hotel|page=17|work=New-York Tribune|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63955626/|access-date=November 25, 2020|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref> New York Life ultimately settled with Appleton the next year, paying her for a deed for the property.<ref>{{cite news|date=January 21, 1892|title=The Plaza Hotel Suit: Attorney Hornblower Makes a Statement as to the Settlement|page=6|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/63955796/|access-date=November 25, 2020|issn=0362-4331|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}}</ref>
 
=== Replacement and early 20th century ===
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