The Knickerbocker Hotel
1466 Broadway | also 6 Times Square, 142 West 42nd Street, 1462 Broadway | Times Square | built 1907
Open on the map13 entries
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1902
Astor's Knickerbocker Hotel replaces the Hotel St. Cloud, while a small 41st Street hotel stays on as its annex
John Jacob Astor leased the new hotel site to a Philadelphia firm, the International Realty & Construction Company, on condition that a hotel costing at least $2 million replace the old Hotel St. Cloud. Construction began in 1902. The St. Cloud was razed, but a smaller eight-story building on West 41st Street, designed as a hotel by Philip C. Brown in 1894, was kept and became the new hotel's service entrance. Hotelier James B. Regan became the lessee.
- 1904
Construction of the Knickerbocker stops in 1904 with only the steel and masonry shell finished
Work began in 1902, but early in 1904 it halted, leaving only the structural shell. Dissension within the Knickerbocker Holding Company led Regan to resign, and Astor began dispossession proceedings. Construction resumed in June 1905 after Regan agreed to rent the hotel for twenty years at $300,000 a year and Trowbridge & Livingston were hired to redesign the interiors.
- 1905
Construction restarts after James Regan agrees to lease the hotel for 20 years
Work on the stalled Times Square hotel resumed in June 1905, more than a year after it stopped with only a steel and masonry shell. Regan, who had resigned from the Knickerbocker Holding Company amid dissension, agreed to a twenty-year lease at $300,000 a year. Trowbridge & Livingston were hired to redesign the interiors, and a two-story portico was added to the 42nd Street front.
- 1906
The Knickerbocker opens with a Maxfield Parrish mural, a Frederic Remington painting and electrified fountains
The hotel opened on October 24, 1906, and, in the Landmarks Commission's words, created a sensation. Its decor included Maxfield Parrish's 'Old King Cole and His Fiddlers Three' and Remington's 'The United States Cavalry Charge,' plus two electrified fountains by Frederick MacMonnies. With 556 rooms for about a thousand guests and public rooms for two thousand, it was pitched as Fifth Avenue style at Broadway prices.
- 1909
William Randolph Hearst launches his failed mayoral campaign at the Knickerbocker
Tammany Hall often held its meetings at the Knickerbocker, so the hotel doubled as a political venue. The newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst launched his unsuccessful campaign in the 1909 New York City mayoral election there.
“…media magnate William Randolph Hearst launched his failed campaign for the 1909 New York City mayoral election at the Knickerbocker.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1911
The hotel's 42nd Street portico comes down, probably for the street widening
The two-story portico over the sidewalk on 42nd Street, added while the hotel was being finished in 1905, was removed in 1911. The Landmarks Preservation Commission thought this was probably done to make room for the widening of the street. Between 1908 and 1910 the architect C. H. Cullen had also added a rooftop penthouse meant for upholstery repair.
“In 1911 the portico on the sidewalk level of 42nd Street was removed, probably to accommodate the widening of the street.”
- 1912
The hotel's violinist kills his wife and tries to seal her body in plaster
In 1912 Albert de Brahms, a violinist employed by the hotel, murdered his wife and tried to conceal her body by encasing it in plaster. It was one of several murders connected with the Knickerbocker during its years as a hotel.
“…in 1912, when the hotel's in-house violinist Albert de Brahms killed his wife and tried to seal her body in plaster.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1918
Enrico Caruso, living at the Knickerbocker, leads a crowd in song after a false report of peace
The Metropolitan Opera tenor kept a suite at the Knickerbocker because it stood near the opera house. On November 8, 1918, a premature report that World War I had ended brought crowds into the street, and Caruso led those beneath his window in The Star-Spangled Banner. He sang for them again on November 11, when the Armistice was real.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1919
Jewel thieves flee through the Knickerbocker basement and squirt tabasco sauce into the eyes of police
In 1919 two men stole gems from a hotel guest and tried to escape through the basement. When patrolmen responded, the thieves squirted tabasco sauce into their eyes. The officers arrested the burglars regardless. Wikipedia lists the episode among several high-profile incidents at the hotel, along with a chimpanzee in human clothes that caused panic in the lobby in 1918.
“…two men stole gems from a guest and attempted to escape through the basement, squirting tabasco sauce into the eyes of the responding patrolmen, who arrested the burglars anyway…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1919
Harry Frazee plans the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees at the Knickerbocker
Harry Frazee, who owned the Boston Red Sox, settled on his scheme of selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees while at the Knickerbocker in 1919. The hotel's other guests and residents included the opera singer Geraldine Farrar and many politicians and diplomats.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1920
The Knickerbocker stops being a hotel and is remade as offices and shops under architect Charles A. Platt
Many changes came in 1920-21, when the building was converted to office and retail use under architect Charles A. Platt, best known for residential designs. The cornice balustrade and upper iron railing were lost, and a third level of dormers was added to the roof. The interiors changed most: the public rooms were removed and their fittings sold.
“…when the building was changed to office and retail use. The change from hotel to offices was accomplished under architect Charles A. Platt... The public spaces were removed and their fittings sold.”
- 1940
Newsweek makes the old hotel its home, and it is known as the Newsweek Building until 1959
After its conversion, the building was first called the Knickerbocker Building. From 1940 to 1959 it took the name Newsweek Building, after its major tenant, Newsweek magazine. The Landmarks Commission notes that the first two stories have been altered regularly since 1920, mostly in windows and signage.
“From 1940 to 1959 it was called the Newsweek Building, after the major tenant, Newsweek magazine.”
- 1988
The city designates the Knickerbocker a landmark, one of the few grand Beaux-Arts hotels left near Times Square
On October 18, 1988, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Knickerbocker Hotel and its 41st Street annex a landmark, after a 1985 hearing where five witnesses spoke in favor. The commission called it one of the very few grand Beaux-Arts hotels surviving in the Times Square area, noting its red brick, French Renaissance ornament and copper mansard roof.
“The Knickerbocker Hotel is one of the very few grand hotels in the Beaux-Arts style surviving in the Times Square area.”
Further reading
- The Knickerbocker HotelWikipedia
Nearby
- Bush Tower130 West 42nd Street | 12 entries
- Times Square Tower1459 Broadway | 12 entries
- 4 Times Square1472 Broadway | 10 entries
- Bank of America Tower1111 Avenue of the Americas | 12 entries
- Lewisohn Building119 West 40th Street | 2 entries
- Salesforce Tower1095 Avenue of the Americas | 8 entries