Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel (Building 144)

154-68 Brookville Boulevard | John F. Kennedy International Airport | built 1994

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1958

    May 8

    The International Hotel opens in Building 144 as JFK's only on-site hotel

    The 478-room hotel in Airport Building 144, a six-story block faced in white brick, opened on May 8, 1958, as the International Hotel. It later ran as the Travelodge New York JFK under Forte Hotels before becoming the Ramada Plaza JFK. While it operated, it was the only hotel on the airport's grounds.

    “The hotel was opened on May 8, 1958 as the International Hotel.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1996

    Families of TWA Flight 800 victims gather at the hotel, and President Clinton visits

    After TWA Flight 800 crashed in 1996, the hotel became the base for relatives of the passengers and crew, with grief services and a crowd of reporters. The Daily News described it as a makeshift grief counseling center, and many families waited there while remains were recovered and identified. President Bill Clinton came to the hotel while the next of kin were staying there, and its repeated use by grieving families later earned it the nickname "heartbreak hotel."

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 2001

    The hotel again shelters crash victims' families after American Airlines Flight 587

    The role begun with TWA Flight 800 repeated through the next five years. The hotel housed families of those killed on Swissair Flight 111 in 1998 and EgyptAir Flight 990 in 1999, and in 2001 it took in relatives of the victims of American Airlines Flight 587. Each of those flights had started from JFK.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 2009

    December 1

    The Port Authority closes the Ramada Plaza, ending JFK's only on-site hotel

    After Westmont Hospitality Group let its lease lapse in 2008, the Port Authority leased the building to Highgate Holdings for a year. Citing declining aviation activity and the need for major renovation, the authority closed the hotel on December 1, 2009, expecting to save about $1 million a month; almost 200 employees lost their jobs. JFK had no on-site hotel again until the TWA Hotel opened in 2019.

    “The hotel closed on December 1, 2009, with almost 200 employees made redundant…”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading