New York—The historic Gramercy Park Hotel will be renovated and reopened in 2025, it was announced Friday, after its new operator, MCR Hotels, signed a lease for the property earlier this month.
The nearly century-old establishment is known for hosting the likes of Babe Ruth and David Bowie, and gained a reputation as a rock-and-roll hotspot in the 20th century. It shut its doors at the outset of the pandemic in March 2020.
The hotel will undergo an “extensive renovation” to revitalize the lobby, restaurants, bars and 197 guest rooms, MCR Hotels said in a news release.
“We will return this beloved hotel to its original splendor as the jewel of Gramercy Park — one of the most magical and unique neighborhoods in Manhattan,” said Tyler Morse, chairman of MCR.
A representative for MCR confirmed to the Daily News the company also plans to reopen Maialino, an Italian restaurant run by Danny Meyer, which moved from the Gramercy Park Hotel to the Redbury Hotel last year. The Redbury Hotel location is set to shutter at the end of August.
According to city records, MCR signed the 99-year lease for the 2 Lexington Ave. property last week. The Wall Street Journal reported MCR paid about $50 million for the lease.
Many famous faces have passed through the hotel over the years.
Bowie’s two-week stint there in 1973 led the hotel to be nicknamed the “Glamercy,” and it hosted other music icons including U2, Aerosmith, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, Debbie Harry and Bob Dylan. Before that, Babe Ruth was a regular at the bar, and Humphrey Bogart married his first wife, Helen Menken, on the rooftop garden in 1926.
The hotel was also the site of tragedy. For decades it was owned and managed by the Weissberg family. David Weissberg, son of the company’s CEO, took his own life in 2002 by jumping from its roof.
Shortly afterward, the Weissbergs sold the business to Ian Schraeger, famed as a co-founder and co-owner of Studio 54.
Friday’s announcement comes after years of legal back and forth.
The hotel’s most recent operator, Aby Rosen, was involved in a lengthy eviction battle with Solil Management, which owns the hotel building and the land it sits on.
Solil ultimately took control of the hotel and sold nearly everything it contained as part of a liquidation sale last September. Hundreds of New Yorkers lined up around the block to snag everything from lamps to wall art. According to Morse, the hotel’s vintage lobby chandelier and red velvet bar curtains still remain.
MCR also owns seven other hotels around the city, according to its website, including The High Line Hotel in Chelsea, The New Yorker Hotel in Midtown and the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport in Queens.
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