Hotel St. George
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Hotel St. George, once the largest hotel in New York City, was located in the heart of scenic Brooklyn Heights. Today, it is a landmarked building in the first historically landmarked neighborhood in New York. Its various constituent buildings, mostly surviving, were built between 1885 and 1929, although it no longer operates as a hotel. It was conveniently located just one stop from Manhattan, atop the Clark Street subway station (2 3 trains) on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line. The subway entrance still operates inside the Hotel itself, right before the main door leading to the no longer operating ballroom and check-in.
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[edit] History
The St. George Tower once drew celebrities, athletes, and every presidential hopeful flocking to its many ballrooms (the Colorama Ballroom being the largest banquet room in the world) and the largest indoor salt-water pool in the United States. Part of The Godfather was filmed in the St. George.[1]
The last remaining portion of the hotel operating as such was burnt down in a fire in August, 1995 [2][3] although its signage remains for historical purposes.
[edit] Other uses
From 1975-1976, several political prisoners, exiled from Chile by dictator Augusto Pinochet, stayed at the Hotel St. George. Many of them became U.S. citizens and important Latino figures in the United States.
Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic in a recording for Columbia (now Sony Classical) of Tchaikovsky's Romeo & Juliet fantasy overture at the hotel on January 28, 1957, as well as Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris in 1959.
[edit] Architecture
The St. George is not a single building but a collection of ones built at different times. The St. George occupied a full city block bounded by Clark Street, Pineapple Street, Hicks Street and Henry Street. The main building, St. George Tower [4] is the most visible portion of the complex at over 30 stories tall. This section of the structure is now a residential cooperative building.
The 100 Henry Street entrance, also known as the Weller Wing of the St. George and previously the hotel entrance, is now part of Educational Housing Services, which provides dormitory service to NYC area university students. This same entrance also allows access to the Studio Wing also owned by EHS. In 2005, EHS expanded their St. George operations and opened a new wing of the building at 55 Clark Street known as Clark Residence. It is built on the site of the building that was destroyed in 1995. EHS houses 1200 students from all over the country and from all over the world.[5]
House shops, restaurants, and charming neighborhood shops at street level occupy the Clark Street and Henry Street fronts. The subway entrance is located on the Henry Street entrance.
The hotel was the subject of a song by The Hassles (featuring Billy Joel), written by Billy Joel and recorded in 1968. The song can be heard on The Hassles album, 'Hour of the Wolf', and on the bootleg Billy Joel compilation, entitled Billy Joel Sings.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Media related to Hotel St. George at Wikimedia Commons
