In the late 19th century, the site around the Hotel Pennsylvania was mostly residential, with three- and four-story row houses and four- and five-story tenements. The
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) had completed the original
Pennsylvania Station in
Midtown Manhattan, New York City, in 1910. In conjunction with the railroad station's opening, the PRR had acquired all lots on the eastern side of
Seventh Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, directly east of the station, though the railroad did not initially develop the sites. The northern site, which became the Hotel Pennsylvania, measured long on 32nd and 33rd Streets and long on Seventh Avenue. The southern site was sold in 1921 to
Equitable Holdings, which developed 11 Penn Plaza there. The hotel was to be designed by
McKim, Mead & White, The planned hotel was cited as being either ten The PRR wished to compete with the
New York Central Railroad, which was concurrently constructing the
Commodore Hotel near
Grand Central Terminal, as well as attract business travelers and professional conventions. the Fuller Company constructed the Pennsylvania and the Commodore simultaneously. The PRR also hired Post & McCord as the steel contractor. The hotel's cost had increased to $11 million by that April; this cost included $7.5 million for the actual hotel, $2.5 million for the land, and $1 million for furnishings. Initially, the PRR leased the hotel to Franklin J. Matchette for 21 years. In December 1916,
Ellsworth M. Statler of the
Statler Hotels chain purchased a controlling interest in Matchette's lease. Matchette and Statler formed the New York Hotel Statler Company, which issued stock to finance the hotel's construction. Both men initially had a 50 percent stake in the company, but Matchette turned over a 25 percent stake to Statler shortly after the company was established. The PRR announced in December 1916 that the hotel would be named the Hotel Pennsylvania and that construction of the hotel's foundations would commence the next month. Matchette's firm, the Servidor Company, also provided the hotel's original equipment and furnishings including the doors for each guestroom. The hotel's construction required over of steel and nine million bricks, although some of these materials were difficult to obtain because of World War I restrictions. In addition, the hotel's dynamo room caught fire and then exploded in April 1918, damaging the facade and a
sidewalk shed around the hotel. That June, Statler Hotels issued $3 million in bonds to finance the hotel's construction. Roy Carruthers was hired as the hotel's first general manager in late 1918. Statler planned to rent rooms within a relatively narrow price range, saying: "I am working on the assumption that New York wants a first-class hotel where the ratio between the minimum and maximum rates will be nearer together than is usually the case."
Statler operation The Hotel Pennsylvania was formally dedicated on January 25, 1919. On that day, 3,000 spectators viewed the hotel, and 2,000 people ate in the main dining room. The Pennsylvania's 2,200 guest rooms and baths made it the largest hotel in the world at the time; it was slightly larger than the Commodore, which opened a few days later on January 28. However, only 1,200 rooms were available when the hotel opened, In addition, Statler would pay six percent of the construction cost each year. One architectural critic wrote that the hotel's completion "marked a great step forward in hotel efficiency", as it had an efficient design that was not overly ornate.
1920s and 1930s In the hotel's early years, it hosted such events as a charity event for the
Jewish Federations of North America, a meeting for veterans, and a showcase of radio equipment. Employees established a newspaper called
The Pennsylvania Register in 1921, which according to
The Christian Science Monitor was "said to be the only daily newspaper published in a hotel". In 1922, the Pennsylvania became the first hotel on the
East Coast of the United States to receive radio telegraph service. The Pennsylvania remained the world's largest hotel until the late 1920s, when the
New Yorker Hotel was constructed. E. M. Statler managed the hotel until January 1928, when Frank A. Duggan took over as the hotel's manager. After Duggan left for the
Hotel McAlpin that April, Statler again became the hotel's manager, although Statler died two weeks later. Following Statler's death, Leo Molony was appointed as the hotel's manager. In 1929, Matchette filed two lawsuits in the
New York Surrogate's Court, seeking a combined $10 million in damages from the New York Hotel Statler Company Inc. and Ellsworth Statler's estate. Matchette claimed that Statler had given excessive salaries to himself and his family members and that Statler had mismanaged the hotel's construction. PRR received a $5 million mortgage loan from
Prudential Insurance in 1933, replacing two loans that the hotel had received in 1917 and 1923. The Automobile Club of New York moved its headquarters to the hotel in 1933, and the hotel's Room, decorated with cartoons depicting life in New York City, opened the same year. The hotel continued to host large events in the 1930s, including ping-pong matches, home equipment exhibitions,
National Board of Review conferences, and architects' conventions. Molony managed the hotel until January 1937, when Duggan replaced him. James H. McCabe became the hotel's manager that June after Duggan was promoted to a vice president within Statler Hotels.
1940s and 1950s Statler Hotels agreed to buy the property outright from the Pennsylvania Railroad on June 30, 1948. Statler Hotels president Arthur F. Douglas officially took over the hotel that August, paying approximately $13 million. The Statler chain renovated the hotel's main dining room, the
Cafe Rouge, that year. The Pennsylvania was renamed the
Hotel Statler on January 1, 1949. The hotel's managers had supported the name change because the Pennsylvania had hosted Statler Hotels' main offices for many years. The hotel also replaced signs in subway stations and sent notices to 300,000 people who held Statler-branded credit cards. The hotel was branded as the "Hotel Statler, formerly the Hotel Pennsylvania" for two years after the name change. Hilton paid an estimated $76 million for the controlling stake. Hilton was installing air conditioners in all of the hotel's guestrooms by early 1956. The hotel had become
The Statler Hilton by 1958, and the hotel opened its Terrace Lounge there that September. Over the years, the hotel was reduced to 1,592 rooms. Many of the smaller rooms had been combined to create larger suites with alcoves for businessmen. In 1960, Hilton renovated the hotel at a cost of $1 million. The work included the reduction of the original two-story lobby to one story, to add more meeting space.
Zeckendorf and Abelco/Penta operation In January 1979, Hilton Hotels agreed to sell the New York Statler Hilton to developer
William Zeckendorf Jr. for $24 million. At the time, the hotel had 1,756 rooms. recording an estimated after-tax profit of $8.8 million. The hotel was renamed the
New York Statler and was operated by
Dunfey Hotels, a division of
Aer Lingus. Dunfey Hotels sought to market the hotel to business travelers and conventions. The hotel was sold again in August 1983 for $46 million. A half-interest in the hotel was acquired by Abelco, an investment group consisting of developers
Elie Hirschfeld,
Abraham Hirschfeld, and
Arthur G. Cohen, and the other half was bought by the
Penta Hotels chain, a joint venture of
British Airways,
Lufthansa, and
Swissair. The new owners renamed the hotel the
New York Penta.
Anna Quindlen of
The New York Times Magazine wrote: "Real New Yorkers, who will be damned if they will call
Sixth Avenue Avenue of the Americas, still call it the Statler." The owners renovated the facade and the public spaces, Despite the cost of the renovation, the Abelco/Penta partnership planned to retain the hotel's $100 nightly room rates. It was one of two major structures to open on the west side of Midtown Manhattan that month, the other being the
Axa Equitable Center. The Penta's owners hired James Parry Inc. as the hotel's marketing agency. When James Parry Inc. shuttered in 1988, the hotel's partners hired Kirshenbaum & Bond as the Penta Hotel's new agency.
Ramada and Best Western operation In 1991, the Hirschfelds acquired the Penta Hotels chain's stake in the hotel. Hampton Hotels Co. took over the hotel's operation in 1993. The hotel remained the third-largest in New York City, after the
New York Hilton Midtown and the
Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel. Hampton Hotels spent $15 million on renovations over the next two years. By the early 1990s, celebrities no longer frequented the Ramada Pennsylvania, which tried to attract guests by offering discounts for guests' pets. A
Sports Authority store at the hotel's base was announced in 1993, and it opened the following year, within the hotel's former bar and mezzanine. The board of directors of the
Best Western hotel chain voted in November 1993 to rename the hotel '''New York's Hotel Pennsylvania''', pending an inspection of the hotel's quality. Best Western also added a business center to the hotel the same year, equipped with fax machines, computers, and televisions. At that point, the Pennsylvania no longer had any restaurants, and guest-service directories instead listed restaurants near the hotel. Hirschfeld rebranded the hotel as the
Hotel Pennsylvania in 1995, Hirschfeld had installed ''Lover's Bench'', a bronze sculpture depicting a nude couple and a partly clothed woman, outside the Pennsylvania's entrance. The sculpture was ultimately removed in 1997.
Vornado acquisition Planet Hollywood plans In June 1997,
Vornado Realty Trust and Singaporean developer
Ong Beng Seng agreed to buy the hotel for $159 million. citing the hotel's proximity to Madison Square Garden. The plans were complicated by the fact that the Riese family held a long-term lease on commercial space at the Pennsylvania. At the end of June 1997, Vornado paid $75 million to terminate the Rieses' lease and acquire several buildings that the family owned nearby. Vornado and Ong would each own a 40 percent stake in the hotel, while Planet Hollywood would own 20 percent. The Official All Star Hotel plan was announced amid a revival in
tourism in New York City, as well as demand for office space in Penn Plaza. The hotel's renovation was expected to cost about $200 million. Vornado would operate about of commercial and office space at the hotel. Vornado bought out Ong's 40 percent stake in the hotel in early 1998 for $70 million, paying $22 million in cash and taking on $48 million in debt. Vornado Realty Trust transferred the hotel's management to a subsidiary, Vornado Operating Company, in October 1998 because of regulations concerning non-real-estate holdings of
real estate investment trusts. Vornado then acquired the remaining 20 percent stake from Planet Hollywood in August 1999 for $42 million, paying $18 million in cash and assuming $24 million in debt.
2000s As early as 2001, a
Lehman Brothers analyst said that Vornado officials were considering replacing the hotel with a 50- to 60-story tower. Through the 2000s, the hotel remained popular enough that its managers trademarked the slogan "World's Most Popular Hotel" in 2002. However, the hotel had become noticeably run down, and guests reported bedbug infestations, darkened windows, and dirty carpets, among other things. By the mid-2000s, Vornado officials said the hotel was merely "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot".
Observer described the hotel as having "devolved into a cheap, decrepit tourist trap more commonly associated with reported bedbug attacks than big-band nostalgia". The hotel was divided into two sections by then: the main hotel and the more upscale Penn 5000 Club. Vornado also rented out some of the hotel's space to small businesses during the 2000s, and the T. R. Engle Group gradually renovated the hotel's lobby and rooms during this decade. As part of the planning process for the
7 Subway Extension, in 2003, city and state officials determined that the Hotel Pennsylvania was eligible for official landmark protections on the city, state, and national levels. With the redevelopment of west Midtown in the mid-2000s, the Hotel Pennsylvania was again being considered as a prime site for redevelopment. In early 2007, Vornado announced plans to demolish the hotel and develop the
15 Penn Plaza skyscraper there, as part of a redevelopment of the area around Penn Station. Vornado intended to complete the building by 2011, marketing the tower to financial tenants. Had the hotel been demolished at that time, Vornado would have been required to maintain a "museum-quality" exhibit of the Hotel Pennsylvania's history in the new building's lobby. Ultimately, Merrill Lynch opted to move to the
World Financial Center in January 2008, in part because of the firm's financial troubles. At a conference call in June 2008, Vornado chairman
Steven Roth said he was considering downsizing his planned development or renovating the Hotel Pennsylvania. The redevelopment plans prompted the staff of
2600: The Hacker Quarterly, a magazine that sponsored biennial
HOPE hacker conventions at the hotel, began investigating possible ways to save the hotel from demolition. They were joined by the new Save the Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation (later the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society), In November 2007,
Manhattan Community Board 5 voted 21–8 in support of a landmark designation. Three months later, the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected the landmark request.
Emmanuel Goldstein of
2600 noted that while people overseas expressed concern over the fate of the hotel:New Yorkers might not care enough to get involved. The hotel was old; the rooms weren't as big and luxurious as other more modern facilities; and New Yorkers simply weren't in a position to grasp the importance of such a place since they normally don't need cheap and easily accessible hotels if they already live here.
2010s In May 2010, the hotel was again in danger of demolition. Manhattan
borough president Scott Stringer gave a conditional approval overruling
Manhattan Community Board 5. The LPC reviewed the hotel's
Cafe Rouge for landmark status based on a request by the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society, but on October 22, 2010, the LPC declined to designate the cafe as a landmark. On July 14, 2010, the
New York City Department of City Planning voted unanimously in favor of the construction of the tower. On August 23, 2010, the NYC Council voted to approve the proposed
Uniform Land Use Review Procedure submitted by the building owners. Steven Roth said in March 2013 that he wanted to renovate the hotel instead of demolishing it. By 2014, Vornado was again looking to develop a skyscraper on the Hotel Pennsylvania's site. In the hotel's final years, the mezzanine levels above the lobby were operated as a separate business, the
Penn Plaza Pavilion, a series of raw spaces used as function facilities. They were the site of numerous trade shows and conventions, including the annual
Big Apple Comic Con. The guestrooms were frequented by students and shoppers who sought discounted room rates. In March 2018, Vornado renewed special permits from the City Planning Commission to develop 15 Penn Plaza on the Hotel Pennsylvania's site. In an April 2018 letter to investors, Roth mentioned the demolition and 15 Penn skyscraper plan as a continued option, but also described Vornado as being at "a tipping point" with regard to redeveloping the Pennsylvania into a "giant convention/entertainment hotel". In June 2019, Vornado unsuccessfully tried to lure
Facebook to rent space in the proposed office building, with a new design done by
Rafael Viñoly.
Closure and demolition The hotel was forced to close in April 2020 as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. now known as Penn15. According to Roth, "the hotel math has deteriorated significantly over the last five years", and the benefits of continuing to operate the hotel were outweighed by the drawbacks of maintenance, taxes, and lack of demand. Several groups, such as the Hotel Trades Council, supported the plans for redeveloping the Pennsylvania's site. By then, the hotel had been neglected for several years. Christopher Bonanos of
Curbed wrote: "Architecturally, it is like a lot of early-20th-century midsize hotels and office buildings around the city, only larger; it is surely a better-quality example from its period [...] Even if you're a hardcore preservationist, your energies might be better spent elsewhere." Items for sale included chandeliers and lighting, ornate staircase railings, guest room furniture, unused mattresses and linens, televisions, the entirety of the hotel's fitness center and commercial kitchens, banquet tables and chairs, and the original guest room doors. Some artifacts were salvaged by the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society during this time. The hotel's demolition began in January 2022, and the main entrance was converted to a turnstile for demolition workers. The Pennsylvania caught fire on February 7, 2022, while it was being demolished. By the middle of that year, demolition of the hotel had resumed; the hotel had been deconstructed to the 12th floor by March 2023. The hotel was supposed to have been completely demolished by July 2023, but was still partially standing by that August. In July 2023, Steven Lepore of the Hotel Pennsylvania Preservation Society successfully negotiated with the owners to salvage an section of original staircase railing from the rear entrance lobby. == Architecture ==