Hotel Pennsylvania

The Hotel Pennsylvania was a hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, across from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. It remained the city's fourth-largest until it closed permanently on April 1, 2020. After years of unsuccessful preservation battles, it was demolished in 2023. The hotel is to be replaced by 15 Penn Plaza, a 50-story tower. The Pennsylvania Railroad announced the construction of a hotel on Seventh Avenue in 1916, six years after completing the original New York Penn Station. The Hotel Pennsylvania was formally dedicated on January 25, 1919, and was originally managed by Ellsworth M. Statler of the Statler Hotels chain. Statler Hotels agreed to buy the property in 1948, and the Pennsylvania was renamed the Hotel Statler. The hotel became The Statler Hilton in 1958, four years after Hilton Hotels & Resorts acquired it. The developer William Zeckendorf Jr. bought the Statler Hilton in 1979, after which the hotel was operated by Dunfey Hotels and renamed the New York Statler. The hotel was sold again in 1983 to a joint venture, renamed the New York Penta, and renovated extensively. The hostelry was renamed several times in the 1990s, eventually becoming the Hotel Pennsylvania. Vornado Realty Trust and Ong Beng Seng bought the hotel in 1997, although Vornado later bought out Ong's stake. Vornado considered closing and demolishing the Hotel Pennsylvania several times before finally shuttering it in 2020. The Hotel Pennsylvania was designed by McKim, Mead & White. It was 22 stories high, including the street level and the rooftop; there was also a three-story penthouse. The first four stories occupied nearly the entire site and had an Indiana Limestone facade. Above the fourth story, the facade was made of buff-colored and gray brick, and the hotel building was divided into four wings that faced south toward 32nd Street. The public rooms were largely on the lower floors and included a ground-level lobby, a restaurant called the Cafe Rouge, and a ballroom level. The hotel originally had 2,200 guestrooms, which started at the fifth story. The Hotel Pennsylvania used the prominent and memorable telephone number, PEnnsylvania 6-5000 (736–5000), which inspired the lyrics and title of the song "Pennsylvania 6-5000".