Savoy-Plaza Hotel

Savoy-Plaza Hotel
Samuel H. Gottscho · Public domain · source
Name	Savoy-Plaza Hotel
Location	5th Avenue and 59th Street, Manhattan, New York City
Opened	1927
Demolished	1965
Architect	McKim, Mead & White; Horace Trumbauer (interior)
Owner	Savoy-Plaza Company; Hilton Hotels; Webb & Knapp

Savoy-Plaza Hotel The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was a prominent luxury hotel on Fifth Avenue at 59th Street in Manhattan, New York City, opening in 1927 and demolished in 1965. The hotel occupied a high-profile site near Central Park, Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, serving as a nexus for visitors associated with Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Plaza Hotel (New York) clientele, and patrons linked to Rockefeller Center. The property intersected with commercial and cultural arteries like Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Broadway (Manhattan), and transportation hubs tied to Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station.

History

The hotel's genesis followed transactions among investors connected to Railway Exchange Building (St. Louis), Pennsylvania Railroad, and financiers associated with J.P. Morgan interests and the Equitable Life Assurance Society. Built during the late 1920s boom that produced projects such as Chrysler Building, Woolworth Building, and Empire State Building, the Savoy-Plaza was commissioned by the Savoy-Plaza Company with design input from prominent firms like McKim, Mead & White and patrons linked to social registers exemplified by families such as the Astor family, Vanderbilt family, and Rockefeller family. The opening in 1927 occurred amid events involving municipal figures from administrations of James J. Walker and John F. Hylan and local businessmen affiliated with New York Stock Exchange contemporaries. Through the Depression and World War II era, the hotel hosted delegations related to League of Nations observers, expatriates from the United Kingdom, and visitors from France, Germany, and Italy, while adapting operations in response to shifts in travel linked to airlines such as Pan American World Airways and rail lines run by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and New York Central Railroad.

Architecture and design

The building’s exterior reflected the Beaux-Arts and early 20th-century skyscraper idioms practiced by firms like McKim, Mead & White and rivals including Carrère and Hastings and Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, whose peers worked on projects such as St. Patrick's Cathedral (New York), New York Public Library Main Branch, and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower. Interiors drew on decorative programs associated with firms like Horace Trumbauer and decorators who had worked for estates such as Biltmore Estate and patrons including J.P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt II. Public spaces—lobbies, ballrooms, and dining rooms—echoed designs found in contemporaneous hotels like The Pierre, Biltmore Hotel (New York City), and The Plaza Hotel (New York), featuring ornamentation similar to installations at Carnegie Hall and furnishing traditions practiced by houses like S. Karpen & Brothers and Tiffany & Co.. Structural systems paralleled methods used on projects by George B. Post and Daniel Burnham, integrating mechanical innovations akin to those deployed at Radio City Music Hall and some Columbia University buildings.

Ownership and management

Ownership and management changed hands among entities connected to corporate chains and real-estate developers such as the Savoy-Plaza Company, Hilton Hotels, and developers associated with Webb & Knapp and financiers tied to Tishman Realty and Construction Company and MetLife. Management overlapped with executives who had backgrounds at Statler Hotels, Chase National Bank, and hospitality figures who had consulted for international brands like Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and InterContinental Hotels Group. Board members and investors included individuals with ties to institutions such as Chemical Bank, Marine Midland Bank, First National City Bank of New York, and corporate actors from Standard Oil descendant companies. Labor and operations involved unions connected to the American Federation of Labor and hospitality associations with links to the Hotel & Motel Trades Council.

Notable events and guests

The Savoy-Plaza hosted galas, conventions, and receptions tied to cultural institutions such as the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, American Red Cross, and philanthropic events for organizations like United Service Organizations and American Museum of Natural History. Dignitaries and celebrities reported to have stayed or dined there included figures associated with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter, Eleanor Roosevelt, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and international visitors from delegations including members of French Third Republic delegations and representatives from United Kingdom missions. Press coverage linked the hotel to meetings involving publishers from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and entertainers contracted to agencies such as William Morris Agency. Sporting and cultural tastemakers connected to New York Yankees, Madison Square Garden, and Broadway producers from The Shubert Organization also used hotel facilities for receptions and announcements.

Demolition and legacy

In the 1960s the property became the focus of redevelopment plans by developers associated with Vincent Astor heirs, firms like Webb & Knapp, and corporate tenants represented by Pan Am Building proponents and insurance companies such as MetLife. The 1964–1965 demolition made way for the construction of a modern office tower by entities allied with Alcoa Building developers and corporate headquarters projects resembling the Pan Am Building (now MetLife Building). Preservation debates involved advocates and critics linked to organizations such as Landmarks Preservation Commission, preservationists inspired by campaigns around Penn Station (1963 demolition) and proponents of architectural conservation associated with figures like Jane Jacobs. The loss contributed to shifting attitudes toward urban preservation that influenced later designations for structures including Grand Central Terminal and spurred the creation of policies that affected future projects like renovations at The Plaza Hotel (New York) and redevelopment around Columbus Circle. The site's memory persists in studies of mid-20th-century New York redevelopment and histories about hospitality linked to archives at institutions including New-York Historical Society and Museum of the City of New York.

Category:Hotels in Manhattan