The Roosevelt Hotel, in New York, faces an uncertain future. The municipal authorities announced in February their plans to stop using it as a shelter and processing center for migrants from this summer.
The Roosevelt Hotel, an icon in New York City for more than a century, once again faces an uncertain future. Last February, the municipal authorities announced their plans to stop using it as a shelter and processing center for migrants from this summer.
Inaugurated in 1924 to serve the passengers of the nearby Grand Central Terminal, the iconic hotel has resisted the prohibition, the great depression, World War II and September 11.
However, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic forced the hotel to close its doors to guests due to financial losses, before its brief resurgence in 2023 as an influx of undocumented migrants influxes that flooded the city.
In spite of everything, the Roosevelt, affectionately known as the “Great Lady of Madison Avenue”, became a favorite scenario of films, starring innumerable classics of Hollywood and television series.
Although its destination is still uncertain, the past of Roosevelt, captured in photographs and films, serves as a microcosm of New York City and US history.
1924 – Baptized with the name of President Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel opened its doors only four years after the start of the dry law, the national alcohol prohibition that lasted 13 years in the United States.
Although the dry law forced the closure of some hotels in the city, the area around Grand Central flourished in the postwar years, attracting commercial promoters, including those behind the Roosevelt. Although it was not among the most opulent hotels in New York, the four -star hotel rose as an imposing presence in Midtown Manhattan, raising 19 floors towards the horizon.
Due to the dry law, the Roosevelt broke with the tradition and went on to have stores instead of rooms and bars on the ground floor. He was also one of the world's first hotels to offer pet service, nursery and a doctor at the hotel.
1929 – With alcohol outside the letter, Roosevelt became a magnet for tourists and music lovers. In full apogee of the Dry Law, the famous Orchestra Director Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians offered their first live concert in the Roosevelt Grill of the hotel, and continued to entertain fans during the next three decades.
His interpretation of “Auld Lang Syne”, a Scottish song about old friendships and loves, became a tradition of the evening of the New Year. Subsequently, Variety magazine acclaimed Lombardo as the “only Canadian to create an American tradition”, consolidating his legacy in the Roosevelt.
1943 – Hotel Magnate Conrad Hilton bought the Roosevelt, along with The Plaza Hotel, describing it as “an elegant hotel with large spaces”, and settled in his presidential suite. The acquisition consolidated Hilton as the first American hotel chain in coast to coast.
Four years later, the Roosevelt made history again by becoming the first to offer a TV in each room. But Hilton's property ended in 1956 when his company was forced to sell the property as part of an antimonopoly demand presented by the Government.
1948 – The Roosevelt became a political center in the mid -twentieth century, serving as the seat of the campaign of the Republican presidential candidate Thomas Dewey in 1944 and 1948. Dewey lost both elections and recognized them from the hotel. In the following years, the Hotel housed other high -profile political events.
Decade of 1970-2010 – As of the 1970s, the Roosevelt, with its neoclassical facade and its classic interior, became one of the favorite shooting scenarios of Hollywood studies. Among the more than a dozen films filmed there are “Contact in France” (1971), “Wall Street” (1987), “Alleged innocent” (1990) and “Morm in Manhattan” (2002). Several television series have also been filmed, including: “Mad Men” and “Law and Order.”
1979 – The hotel changed ownership several times before Pakistan International Airlines, with the support of the Saudi Prince Khalid Bin Faisal al Saud, assumed the management of the hands of a New York real estate family. The agreement included the hotel purchase option for 36.5 million dollars after 20 years, an agreement that the airline closed in 2000.
Considered national heritage by the Pakistani government, the Roosevelt became the favorite accommodation of the Pakistani prime ministers and other dignitaries who visited New York. At the end of the 90s, the Hotel housed a live performance at the Grand Ballroom in Junoon, the most important rock band in Pakistan.
2020-2023: In recent decades, Roosevelt has gone through economic difficulties. In 2020, he closed its doors to guests, claiming the “unprecedented environment” derived from pandemic. He received a new impulse when New York City signed a three -year lease for 220 million dollars in 2023 to use it as a shelter and migrant processing center.
However, the contract turned out to be a simple patch for the hotel, which was in difficulties. In February 2024, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city canceled the contract, marking the end of an era in New York history.