Hotel Pennsylvania's Last Gasp
Posted at 5:34 AM on 10-28-07 by Rob T Firefly
Early this month, a New York Observer article on the plan to demolish the Hotel Pennsylvania reported that “Preservationists citywide have responded to Vornado’s proposed demolition with a resounding ‘Eh.’”
This apparent local apathy is perhaps best explained in the article’s quote from Emmanuel Goldstein:
“Just recently, I was in Vienna and Pisa [Italy], where people expressed a great deal of concern to me over the fate of the hotel. It was hard (and rather embarrassing) to explain why 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.”
A new article in the Observer indicates that while Merrill Lynch has “given every indication” that it intends to move to a new skyscraper built upon the site of the Hotel, there is still “a glimmer of hope.”
The Hotel Pennsylvania demolition project requires public approval, which could take a year, and would entail building over the railroad tracks that run beneath the hotel and pose engineering and security challenges.
A committee of the local Community Board 5 meets Tuesday to discuss whether the hotel merits consideration as a protected landmark. The meeting takes place at 6 p.m. on Oct. 30 at 227 West 27th Street, 8th floor, Rm A802.
As Pirho of SaveTheHotel.org noted on the HOPE forums, “if this Hotel does not get the landmarking it deserves, then the fight is over.”
If you want to see this hotel stay, show up and speak at the Community Board 5 Meeting this Tuesday at 6PM.
This could be our last chance to save the Hotel Pennsylvania.
tags: history, hope, hotel pennsylvania, nyc, politics
