New York Biltmore Hotel

The New York Biltmore Hotel was a luxury hotel at 335 Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The hotel was developed by the New York Central Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and operated from 1913 to 1981. It was one of several large hotels developed around Grand Central Terminal as part of Terminal City. The Biltmore was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style by Warren and Wetmore, one of the firms involved in designing Grand Central. Although the hotel's steel frame still exists, the hotel itself was almost entirely demolished and replaced by an office building in the early 1980s.

The hotel building was variously cited as having between 23 and 26 stories. The hotel had a facade of granite, limestone, brick, and terracotta. Most of its floor plan was U-shaped, with a light court facing east toward Vanderbilt Avenue. In the basement was a reception room that led directly from Grand Central Terminal. The public dining rooms, including the Palm Court and main dining room, were at ground level. There was a roof garden above the sixth story, facing east toward Vanderbilt Avenue. There were additional ballrooms and meeting spaces on the upper stories. In total, the Biltmore had 1,000 rooms and suites; the fourth floor included a private entertainment suite called the Presidential Suite.

Following the construction of Grand Central Terminal, the New York Central started planning a hotel on the city block in the early 1910s, and it officially opened on December 31, 1913. The hotel was originally operated by Gustav Baumann, who died in October 1914. The hotel's manager, John McEntee Bowman, then operated it until his own death in 1931, affiliating the Biltmore with the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels chain. Realty Hotels Inc., a subsidiary of the New York Central, took over the hotel in 1934 and operated it for four decades. Paul Milstein acquired the hotel in 1978 and began demolishing the interiors immediately after the hotel closed on August 15, 1981. Despite protests from preservationists, Milstein gutted the Biltmore and converted it into an office building called Bank of America Plaza, which reopened in May 1984. Bank of America relocated in 2010 and the building became 335 Madison Avenue. Following another renovation in 2019, the structure became The Company Building, which in turn was renamed 22 Vanderbilt in late 2022.

Architecture

The Biltmore Hotel was designed by the architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore, which also helped design the adjoining Grand Central Terminal, in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. The building had either 23, 25, or 26 above-ground stories. According to plans filed by Warren and Wetmore, the hotel building was tall.

Form and facade

The hotel had a facade of granite, limestone, brick, and terracotta. Although the hotel's main entrance was on 43rd Street, it also had two entrances on Vanderbilt Avenue, which led to different corridors for men and women. The base was primarily clad in granite. The stories above the base were primarily clad in brick and limestone. It was completed in 1915 and the Biltmore Room. northwest of the Main Concourse, serving as an entrance to tracks 39 through 42 within the terminal. The room had a ceiling and seven entrances. The hotel was also connected to the New York City Subway's Grand Central–42nd Street station, as well as to neighboring buildings, via the terminal's corridors. the passageways are protected as New York City designated landmarks, as are other parts of Grand Central Terminal. and featured a vaulted ceiling with Guastavino tiles. Although the driveway still exists , it leads to a garage.

Next to Grand Central, a stairway from the main entrance descended to a grill room, bar, and men's clubroom in the basement. The grill room's ceiling was composed of English-style plasterwork in low relief. In addition, there was a Turkish bath and a swimming pool in the basement. The Turkish baths in the basement had been converted into a health club by the late 20th century. In 1962 a women's parlor room, with red decorations, was added in the basement.

Ground level

thumb|The Palm Court, 1956

The southern half of the ground level contained writing and reception rooms for men, while the northern had similar rooms for women. Adjacent to the 43rd Street entrance was the hotel's main office. and marble walls and pilasters. it consisted of two dials flanked by a pair of sculpted nude figures. The room also incorporated skylights and palm trees. The Palm Court's elliptical vaulted ceiling was interrupted by elliptical arches with carved friezes. after the Biltmore Hotel closed, the Palm Court's clock was reinstalled in 335 Madison Avenue's lobby. which opened in October 1936. The space hosted performers such as Horace Heidt and Carmen Cavallaro. and a bar was installed in the room in 1947. The shows in the Bowman Room were discontinued permanently in September 1949 after the federal government imposed a 20 percent excise tax on such shows. The Bowman Room was converted into a furniture storage room at some point before the hotel closed in 1981.

On Vanderbilt Avenue, there was a roof garden along the sixth-story setback, with flower beds, shrubs, grass, a fountain, and shaded walkways. Known as the Italian Garden, it was transformed into an ice skating rink during the winter months. This roof garden also featured terracotta caryatids. and was decorated in a gold and blue color scheme. The ballroom also had its own foyer, assembly room, lounging room, bar, and kitchen.

The fourth floor included the Presidential Suite, a private suite for entertaining guests. Otherwise, these suites functioned separately from the rest of the hotel and were rented out for yearlong terms. After a fatal crash in 1902, the New York state legislature passed a law to ban all steam trains in Manhattan by 1908. The New York Central's vice president William J. Wilgus proposed electrifying the line and building a new electric-train terminal underground, a plan that was implemented almost in its entirety. The old Grand Central Depot was torn down in phases and replaced by the current Grand Central Terminal. Passenger traffic on the commuter lines into Grand Central more than doubled in the years following the terminal's completion.

The terminal spurred development in the surrounding area, particularly in Terminal City, a commercial and office district created above where the tracks were covered. Terminal City soon became Manhattan's most desirable commercial and office district. A 1920 New York Times article stated, "With its hotels, office buildings, apartments and underground Streets it not only is a wonderful railroad terminal, but also a great civic centre." Most of these buildings were designed by Warren and Wetmore, which had also designed the terminal itself. According to Christopher Gray of The New York Times, the Biltmore was "the linchpin of what was called Terminal City", being one of the district's first large buildings. The Biltmore was one of several hotels developed in Terminal City, along with other hostelries such as the Commodore, the Roosevelt, and the Barclay.

Development

As part of the construction of Grand Central Terminal, the New York Central started planning a hotel on the city block bounded by Madison Avenue, 44th Street, Vanderbilt Avenue, and 43rd Street. The New York Central formally announced plans for the 23-story Biltmore Hotel on Madison Avenue in February 1912; the railroad wanted to maximize usage of the site, which was largely occupied by the new terminal's railroad tracks. the hotel would be developed by the New York Central and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The New York State Realty and Terminal Company, a division of the New York Central, leased the hotel to Gustav Baumann, operator of the Holland House hotel. In March 1912, Warren and Wetmore filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for the 26-story hotel, which was projected to cost . Baumann hired John McEntee Bowman that May to manage the hotel,

Baumann ordered $1 million worth of furniture from W. & J. Sloane, and $800,000 of silverware from the Gorham Manufacturing Company, in mid-1912. That July, the New York Central awarded the Fuller Construction Company a $5.5 million general contract for the hotel's construction; at the time, it was expected that the hotel would be completed by the beginning of October 1913. In addition, the American Bridge Company was hired to manufacture of structural steel for the hotel. By the end of that year, workers were completing excavations on the hotel's site. The Biltmore's construction started in March 1913, and the hotel's structural steel was topped out on August 15, 1913. The construction of the hotel coincided with the completion of Grand Central Terminal's final phase. The Biltmore's operators rented the air rights above Grand Central Terminal's tracks, paying the New York Central $100,000 annually.

Baumann and Bowman operation

thumb|The Biltmore as seen in 1914

The Biltmore hosted its first dinner on December 28, 1913, with a celebration featuring various officials involved in the hotel's construction. In its first year of operation, the Biltmore became extremely popular. Baumann operated the hotel for less than a year; he died on October 15, 1914, after falling from the hotel's roof while observing employees. At the time of Baumann's death, the hotel was valued at $4 million, of which $1.5 million was appraised as goodwill created by the hotel's prominent location in midtown Manhattan. Even so, Baumann had been operating the Biltmore at a net loss at the time of his death. After a protracted legal battle, the New York Supreme Court ordered Warren and Wetmore to pay Stem one percent of the Biltmore's construction cost.

Bowman took control of the hotel's lease shortly after Baumann died. Under Bowman's management, members of the social elite began to frequent the Biltmore. By 1918, the hotel had an annual payroll of over $1 million. After Bowman and rival hotel operator Benjamin L. M. Bates agreed to merge their respective companies in May 1918, the Biltmore became part of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels chain. Bowman also developed other Biltmore hotels across the United States, all named after the hotel in New York City. The hotel remained successful through the early 1920s, amid rapid increases in Grand Central's passenger traffic following the terminal's completion.

Bowman announced in July 1924 that the grill room, bar, and men's clubroom would be replaced with stores at a cost of $500,000. By then, the upper-class residences that had characterized the adjacent portion of Madison Avenue in the 19th century were being replaced with retail establishments. Warren and Wetmore designed the modifications. and Edward Gropper Inc., as well as a drug store. Bowman continued to operate the New York Biltmore until he died in 1931, During the 1930s, the Biltmore was one of the most expensive hotels in New York City, along with the Chatham, Park Lane, Roosevelt, and Waldorf Astoria. The Canadian Club of New York moved to the Biltmore in 1930, and the Traffic Club of New York relocated its clubhouse to the Biltmore's 18th and 19th floors in 1934. After New York state repealed a Prohibition-era ban on standing bars in May 1934, Bowman-Biltmore Hotels installed a long bar at the Madison Avenue end of the hotel, replacing a haberdashery there. When the bar opened in 1936 it was open only to men; its guests included New York governor Al Smith. The New York Central retained full ownership of the Biltmore and other properties around Grand Central Terminal. The Bowman Room, a nightclub at ground level, opened at the hotel in October 1936. The Biltmore was booked to capacity during World War II, when politicians and members of the U.S. Armed Forces frequented the hotel. Regan renovated all of the hotel's rooms in the 1940s, although the hotel remained open during the project. The work included replacing the guest rooms' decorations, adding automatic elevators, refurbishing the restrooms, and installing mechanical equipment. During that decade, as part of a $5 million project spanning three hotels, Realty Hotels added 54 guest rooms to the Biltmore's top floor.) moved from Grand Central to the Biltmore in May 1959. The new space, on the hotel's second floor, contained six exhibition rooms and an office. Although the hotel was still profitable, the New York Central as a whole had begun to lose money by the late 1950s. New Haven officials argued that they were entitled to half of the Biltmore's profits, as the two railroads were equal partners in the terminal's operation. In November 1958, the New Haven indicated that it did not want to renew Realty Hotels' lease of the Biltmore, which was about to expire, as Realty Hotels was a wholly owned subsidiary of the New York Central. The New Haven wanted Realty Hotels to start paying rent directly to Grand Central's manager, which would split the profits evenly between the two railroads. In response, the New York Central ordered the terminal's manager to refuse the payments. The New York Supreme Court ruled in September 1960 that the New Haven had the right to collect income from the Biltmore. The Supreme Court's Appellate Division upheld the ruling in 1961, as did the New York Court of Appeals the next year. The New Haven had filed for bankruptcy by then,

1960s and 1970s

The Parlor Car, a women's parlor room, opened at the hotel in 1962, By then, rail traffic had begun to decline with the beginning of the Jet Age and the construction of the Interstate Highway System, and there was also rising demand for office space in Manhattan. During this decade, Realty Hotels replaced about half of the manually operated elevators at the Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt, and it renovated these hotels as part of a $22 million modernization plan. Realty Hotels' president said the renovations had helped attract new and returning customers to the hotels. Thomas J. Kane was appointed as the hotel's managing director in 1968.

After the Plaza Hotel opened its formerly men- only Oak Bar to women in 1969 following a series of protests by some women, the Biltmore became the scene of similar protests. The bar's patrons attempted to discourage women from entering by staring at any who tried to enter and applauding until they relented and left. After a 1970 court ruling against gender discrimination, women began entering the bar. The Biltmore initially did not rename the Men's Bar, prompting complaints. The New York City government ordered the Biltmore's managers to rename the bar in 1973, and a New York Supreme Court judge upheld this decision in 1974. The Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt began showing in-room movies in 1972. As part of a small refurbishment project, Realty Hotels renovated the main dining room in the mid-1970s. The Biltmore Bar closed permanently at the end of June 1977.

1970s sale

The New York Central experienced financial decline during the 1960s, merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form the Penn Central Railroad. Penn Central continued to face financial issues and failed to make mortgage payments. By late 1970, the Biltmore Hotel was facing foreclosure, as were several other buildings that Penn Central owned around Grand Central Terminal. After Penn Central went bankrupt that year, the company sought to sell its properties, including the land below the Biltmore Hotel. The buildings were placed for auction in October 1971, and UGP Properties made a low bid of $11.65 million for the hotel. The proceedings were delayed for several years. UGP and Penn Central proposed a 56-story skyscraper for the Biltmore Hotel's site in 1972 after Penn Central unsuccessfully tried to replace the adjacent Grand Central Terminal with a skyscraper. Penn Central had placed all of Realty Hotels' properties for sale but subsequently withdrew its offer to sell the hotels.

In April 1978, Penn Central requested permission from a federal district court to sell the Biltmore, Barclay, and Roosevelt hotels for $45 million to Loews Hotels. The New York City government also offered the Biltmore Hotel's unused air rights to Penn Central in exchange for allowing the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to designate Grand Central Terminal as a city landmark, a move that Penn Central opposed. A consortium of Middle Eastern investors subsequently offered to buy the hotels for $50 million. Loews raised its offer for the three hotels to $55 million, and a federal judge approved the sale at the beginning of June 1978. Carter B. Horsley wrote that Loews's purchase of the three hotels "may save their future". At the time, the hotel had 907 rooms.

Loews resold the Biltmore and the Roosevelt to developer Paul Milstein in July 1978 for $30 million. The old Biltmore Bar was replaced in 1978 by the Cafe Fanny restaurant, operated by George Lang, which closed in April 1979. The space, in turn, became a computer store. In the hotel's final years, it became visibly dilapidated, and the owners refused to buy new furnishings, despite a shortage of such objects as tableware and linens. In addition, the Biltmore faced increasing competition from newer hotels, and it was only able to secure "cheap conventions and tourist groups", according to its manager. The New York Times reported that, during the late 1970s, there were rumors that the Biltmore would be converted to another use, rebuilt, or demolished.

Closure and replacement with offices

thumb|left|22 Vanderbilt, the former Biltmore Hotel building, seen in 2016

In March 1981, Milstein filed plans with the city to gut the hotel and rebuild it as an office building. Initially, Milstein had planned to replace the facade with a glass exterior similar to that of the Hyatt Grand Central New York. On July 29, Milstein agreed to rent half of the building to Bank of America. Over the next two days, registered letters were sent to the hotel's residential guests, informing them they would have to move in the near future. After Bank of America's announcement, Seymour and Paul Milstein modified the design of the planned office building, which would now be made of granite. Demolition crews entered the same day and began removing decorations,

The New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Municipal Art Society filed for and received a temporary restraining order on August 15. By then, the Palm Court's French doors, balustrades, and fixtures had already been removed. The Environmental Protection Agency also notified the demolition contractors that they had violated federal asbestos regulations as they were demolishing the Biltmore's interior. By August 18, the restraining orders had expired or been overruled. When LPC officials toured the hotel that same day, the 19th-floor Grand Ballroom was the only public room that was still extant.

The LPC scheduled a hearing on whether the ballroom and exterior should be designated as city landmarks, thus preventing significant modifications to these parts of the hotel. A New York state judge declined to grant further injunctions against demolition. The condition of the ballroom remained uncertain, even though the Milsteins promised to notify preservationists when demolition of the room was to start. The LPC voted against granting exterior and interior landmark statuses on September 16, despite concerted protests by preservationists. In addition, the interiors had been demolished so rapidly that almost nothing was salvageable.

Reconstruction as office building

The firm Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA) was hired as a consultant for the restoration of the Biltmore's public spaces. In August 1982, HHPA resigned, stating that the demolition work had made any re-creation impossible. Norman Pfeiffer of HHPA said the firm had discovered that further demolition had occurred the previous month, to the extent that "there was nothing left to give you even the beginning of a restoration".

Another firm, Environetics, redesigned the Biltmore. The two ends of the Biltmore's U-shaped massing were connected, turning the hotel into an "O"-shape. A new elevator core was built and a 28-story atrium was created in the center of the building.

The Palm Court's clock was the only decoration from the hotel that was preserved. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority owned the driveway on 44th Street and the Biltmore Room in the basement, and a Catholic bookstore occupied a storefront at 43rd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue; these three spaces remained intact. Milstein subsequently paid for a restoration of the Biltmore Room, which reopened in April 1985

Office use

Bank of America had started moving into the 2nd through 14th floors of the structure by late 1983, Paul Goldberger criticized the new design, saying, "Now the East Coast headquarters of the Bank of America, this is a bloated, heavy form of glass and polished granite, unrelieved by any of the gracious ornament that made the old Biltmore so beloved a presence." Further tenants moved into the building in the 1990s, such as the American Management Association and the New York Life Insurance Company.

Bank of America relocated to 1 Bryant Park in 2010 and the structure became known by its address, 335 Madison Avenue. By the 2010s, the building's tenants included several technology companies, such as Addepar and Facebook Inc. During that decade, city government officials sought to change zoning regulations around Grand Central Terminal as part of the Midtown East rezoning plan. After the Midtown East rezoning was announced, Paul Milstein's son Howard Milstein indicated in 2015 that he wanted to construct a larger office tower with a luxury hotel on the site. Milstein subsequently decided to renovate the existing building and add an atrium lobby for US$150 million to designs by SHoP Architects. In addition, 335 Madison Avenue was rebranded as The Company Building, and its space was advertised to technology startups. , the building's major tenants included Bain & Co.

Guests

Among the hotel's early guests was William H. Newman, president of the New York Central Railroad, who lived there until his death in 1918, as well as architect William Rutherford Mead of the firm McKim, Mead & White, who was recorded as living at the Biltmore in 1919.

Use as meeting place

Christopher Gray wrote in 2013, "The Biltmore, and in particular its clock, became almost as much an institution as Grand Central itself." Writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was also among those who met "under the clock at the Biltmore".

The hotel was a popular meeting place for college students because of its proximity to Grand Central Terminal, as well as to several clubs for Ivy League alumni. In 1970, the Young Women's Towne House took over 32 rooms at the hotel, renting the rooms to young women at discounted rates.

Democratic Party use

The Biltmore was also frequented by Democratic Party politicians, who frequently conducted deals at the hotel's Turkish baths and rented the function rooms during elections. Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt also had his national campaign headquarters there in 1932, 1936, and 1940. The Democratic Party occupied all of the hotel's second floor until 1962. Employees frequently described Farley, merchant Bernard F. Gimbel, and boxer Gene Tunney as part of "the Order of the Biltmore Baths" because they frequented the hotel's Turkish baths. Old Guard balls, and National Horse Show dinners. Additionally, in 1915, Henry Ford tried to broker a truce agreement to halt World War I while headquartered at the Biltmore. On August 4, 1916, the Treaty of the Danish West Indies was signed at the hotel, which transferred possession of the Danish West Indies, now the United States Virgin Islands, from Denmark to the United States. Other events at the hotel included a 1915 luncheon in honor of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson; a 1931 dinner in which the main ballroom was decorated to resemble the horse-racing track at Belmont Park;

From May 6 to 11, 1942, the hotel was the location of the Biltmore Conference, a meeting of Zionist groups that produced the Biltmore Program, a series of demands regarding Palestine. Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev and industrialist Cyrus S. Eaton ate lunch at the hotel in 1960, drawing widespread protests. In its later years, the Biltmore largely hosted conventions,