The full CB5 landmark hearing is now
available online. One of our members that couldn't make it that day,
sent this
speech in via proxy. The full video (in 9 parts) can be found
on YouTube, or by clicking
here.
The Rally to get the word out was a great
success today. Thanks to everyone who turned out to support our cause.
We got some great reactions from people who remember the hotel from back
when it was young. Special thanks goes out to the crew of
NYC2600 for helping out. Also thanks to
Chris Lombardi from
Chelsea Now,
paper and the reporters at
WWOR
Apparently we are not the only ones that
want to save the hotel. In a recent editorial response of New York
Post's Steve Cuozzo's articles, people speak out in favor of preserving the
hotel.
Mark your calendar: We're taking our
message to the streets on Black Friday (November 23rd) to keep Hotel
Pennsylvania! The rally will be taking place from 9 am to 11 am. More Info will be posted shortly!
Sources close to this story, have told us that
although the city has not made a "formal" evaluation yet, that "their staff
already evaluated the Hotel Penn over the summer and determined that, in
their view, it did not merit landmark status, adding, 'In this case, it's
unlikely that we'd change our minds.'"
This being said the
LPC,
does not have the final
say. Their vote can be over ruled by the
Mayors Office
(as can the LPC
over rule him by a 2/3 majority vote.)
Click on the link below to download the RFE
(Request for Evaluation), and tell the city what you think of the Hotel
Penn.
Finally,
It's important that people speak with the Community Board 5 and join their
efforts in the process moving forward. You will want to contact your local
elected officials, with a letter, and provide information about the vote of
the board and related facts that can be used to inform their position.
Despite the misinformation posted on
CB5's
website, pertaining to the location of last nights hearing, we managed to
get quite an impressive turn out. Not only from
2600
members, but from the Hotel Penn's
staff, and Hotel union reps. As a result we won a major victory in the battle
against
Vornado.
With an astonishing 21 to
8 victory the members of the Community Board 5 voted to pass the resolution
to recommend landmark status of the hotel.
Many thanks to Neo of
NYC2600
for video taping the meeting, who is also in the process of editing it
and will get it up on line soon.
Thanks to Emmanuel Goldstein and the members of
2600 Magazine
&
WBAI
(99.5 FM) for giving us the ability to get air time, this past
Wednesday, on his weekly radio show
"Off
The Hook".
Below are the PDF copies of Thursday's
Community Board meeting Agenda and Resolutions.
Tonight is the full Community Board
5 meeting. We need as many people as possible to show up, and speak up
in favor of keeping this hotel alive. If you wish to speak please show
up early, and register at the front door. The meeting is at
227 West 27th St @ 7th Ave.
Building "C", 2nd floor
Haft Auditorium
The meeting starts at 6pm, so show
up early, and start talking to people about how you feel. The more
people we can sway, the better our chances!
If you can not make the meeting, please
send us an email
to
hotel@2600.com,
telling us what you think about the Hotel. We will read it to the CB5
members on your behalf.
Last week's meeting of the local
Community Board 5
in New York City
resulted in a 6-1 vote to pursue landmark status for the Hotel Pennsylvania,
home of the
HOPEconferences, and a magnet for tourists from all over the
globe for nearly a century. This means the matter will be heard in front of
the full board on November 8th. A strong turnout is essential and those
who can't attend can still participate.
The fight to save the hotel faces an uphill battle for a number of reasons.
It simply is not luxurious enough for many tastes. The rooms are not
generally huge as they are quite old. And while the outside of the structure
is quite impressive, much of the inside has been changed and refurbished
over the decades. Many New Yorkers simply don't see the need for another old
structure to be preserved. But New Yorkers are also the least likely to
benefit from the hotel in the first place. People from all over the world
stay there when visiting New York because of its remarkable accessibility
(right across the street from Penn Station) and prices that are about half
that of other hotels. So, regardless of what many think of the architecture
and the current condition of the place, there is history and there is
significance. Most of all, there is a need. That need will certainly not be
filled by yet another huge financial tower.
If you'd like to speak at the meeting on Thursday, it starts at 6 pm and
will be at the Fashion Institute of Technology at 227 West 27th Street at
7th Avenue, Building "C", Haft Auditorium, 2nd Floor. People who wish to
speak on behalf of the hotel's preservation will have three minutes in which
to do so. You must sign up upon arrival if you wish to do this. For those
who can't attend (including those of you from overseas who make the hotel
your home when coming to HOPE), there are two ways in which you can
participate. You can send
mailto us and we will bring a printout to the
meeting on Thursday or you can email the community board directly expressing
your concerns. Please be nice and articulate. These people can be very
helpful.
There are other fronts to fight for the preservation of the hotel which are
being discussed at our
online forum.
Please join the discussion and spread
the word.
On Tue, 1 Apr 2008 8:27 am, Denise Myers wrote:
I was so sad to hear that the Statler Hilton will be
demolished. My
mother worked there in the 60's and always spoke so
highly of it. My
mother even remembers the phone number PA65000! She
sang it so many
times when we were kids anytime we were booking a
hotel room. We even
had my sister's wedding at a Hilton because my mom
only wants to patron
Hilton. This year is my mom and dad's 40th Wedding
Anniversary. My
sisters and I are putting them up at the Statler
Hilton (Pennsylvania
Hotel) for the last time I guess. They have not been
inside since
their wedding reception and honeymoon.
I first visited New York City in 1963, when
Pennsylvania Station's fate had already been decided
but not yet executed. I still remember how hard it
was for me, a young child at the time, to comprehend
how that magnificent and apparently permanent
structure which stood before me could be
deliberately destroyed within a year, even though
everyone knew it was the wrong thing to do. In fact,
I did not really believe that this could or would
happen. As a young adult I returned to New York to
live, and saw that indeed the old Pennsylvania
Station had been destroyed. Since that time, I've
taken comfort in viewing the facade of the Hotel
Pennsylvania unchanged from my first visit to New
York. I have thought of it as an enduring link to my
first visit to Penn Station in 1963, as well as
appreciating it in its own right as a fragment of a
magnificent past. At some future time I hope to
stand with my grandchildren in front of the lovely
facade of Hotel Pennsylvania. I will tell them that
this hotel was built at the same time as their great
grandmother (my mother) was born, and that when I
was their age I had the good fortune to see its
older and more magnificent sister building across
the street. Please, let us learn from past mistakes.
That which seems enduring is in fact fragile and in
need of protection. Preserve this link to the past,
so that it can in actuality be the enduring link
which I've long imagined it to be.
Anne Krauss
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ladies and gentlemen
of the board, My father tuned 81 years old this
year. Often, he would recount stories of his
childhood in Canada, listening to the radio
broadcasts from the Hotel Pennsylvania. When I was
able to stay there a few times myself, as I was
attending conferences there, it was my turn to tell
him the stories. I told him stories of how
accommodating the staff of the Hotel is. They are
very professional, friendly, and they really do
shatter the myth of what New Yorkers are supposed to
be like. They provide a clean and convenient place.
I urge you to please grant this hotel landmark
status. The tearing down of this hotel would
negatively affect the area, economy, and the city.
Many jobs will be lost, and children will not be
immune by the loss of their parents' jobs. Countless
millions of dollars will be lost, and commuters and
tourists will be left without affordable,
comfortable hotel rooms. We're New Yorkers. We're
proud of our city; its past and present. This hotel
is a sweet reminder of just how much the city had to
offer, and still does. By saving this hotel, it will
show that we do, in fact, care about our history,
and fellow New Yorkers' livelihoods. Our city is the
Capitol of the World, and this hotel is well worth
showing off. I ask you to please save this hotel.
Save our history. Thank you for giving me the
opportunity to be heard.
I have memories of the
Hotel Pennsylvania as the site of the original New
Life Expo, before it moved to its current venue at
the Hotel New Yorker. I would be sorry to see the
last of the Hotel Pennsylvania. New York doesn't
need any more generic office towers and shopping
malls. The gritty charm and character of the city is
being destroyed as large chain stores displace
mom-and-pop businesses and historic sites are
replaced by modern urban eyesores. For once, can the
historical charm and value of a place override the
needs of huge real estate developers who seem to
have little regard for the ordinary people that live
here? As the Joni Mitchell song says poignantly,
"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot". Not
that the Hotel Pennsylvania is paradise--but you get
the idea.
Please do not ask me what year(s) the INTERNATIONAL
STAR TREK CONVENTION took over the STATLER HILTON,
because it was more years ago than I really want to
remember. But, if my hazy memory serves, we had the
pleasure of using the Statler's gracious facilities
on at least two occasion's. At the beginning of the
STAR TREK phenom., the Hotel's in Manhattan became
home to the ISTC, I especially remember the STATLER
HILTON, because it made traveling
from my home in Washington Hts. so easy to get to.
Also, I remember something else about the then
STATLER HILTON, which some of you may remember, the
escalator, which was right in the main lobby, just
after you came up the stairs, this escalator,
allowed everyone attending the STAR TREK CONVENTION
quick access to the mezzanine and the dealer's room
above the lobby. did you also know, that the STATLER
HILTON was also the home to July 4TH COMIC ART
CONVENTIONS?
There is so much history, that goes with this hotel,
whether you call it the HOTEL PENNSYLVANIA, the
STATLER HILTON, the OMNI PLAZA, those of us in our
late 40's, early 50's and older, remember meeting,
greeting and making friends at the building across
the street from MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. It demands
LANDMARK STATUS, not only for the rich architecture
of the exterior, but the interior as well.
Hello. I really
hope that the Hotel will be landmarked. Interior and
exterior. I think some people just do not realize,
or have forgotten about the historic and beautiful
parts that still do exist-such as the stairs that
once lead to the mezzanine level of the lobby the
elevator call panels, and the historic formal dining
room/cafe rouge. So much of our historic
buildings (Theatres, Hotels, cafeterias) have met
the wrecker's Ball ) and the price is a heavy one. I
think that some people really need to learn from
past mistakes, and not repeat them. If we lose Hotel
Pennsylvania, we lose more than just a hotel, we
lose our historic heritage. it would be the shame of
the century, Greed is destroying our city. The Hotel
Pennsylvania should be viewed as a monument of our
glorious past , and as a gift to future generations
of New Yorkers , and the world.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Please strongly consider issuing National Landmark
status to the Hotel Pennsylvania. This hotel is
among the grand structures in this nation and should
be preserved. Other old hotels such as Detroit's
Book-Cadillac, Cleveland and St. Louis' Statler
Hotels have been preserved and restored into useful
buildings and there is no reason that this hotel
couldn't do the same. It seems a waste of great
historical significance to just tear down this hotel
for just another office building to take its place.
A relative of mine, E. M. Statler, operated this
grand hotel for many years and it was one of the
best hotels in New York. There is no reason why it
can not be so again.
Thanks again for adding me to your page. It really
bothers me that
these greedy developers are bulldozing places like
the Hotel Penn.
Jackie Kennedy was responsible for saving Grand
Central Station. You
need a high profile backer like that to save this
historic landmark
from destruction. Otherwise, people will not pay any
attention.
