Lexington Hotel

511 Lexington Avenue | also 509 Lexington Avenue | Turtle Bay | built 1929

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

1. 1928

   The Lexington Hotel Corporation buys the corner lot from Tishman Realty

   In 1928 the Lexington Hotel Corporation bought a 100-by-75-foot lot at Lexington Avenue and East 48th Street from the Tishman Realty and Construction Company. It was a subsidiary of the American Hotels Corporation and planned the largest hotel in the parent's chain of 52. The Times had noted that nearby land values rose 300 percent since the Shelton Club Hotel was built.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1929

   October 15

   The Lexington Hotel opens days before the stock market crash

   Schultze & Weaver's 27-story Romanesque Revival hotel at Lexington Avenue and 48th Street opened on October 15, 1929, two weeks before the Wall Street crash. The Depression that followed pushed the hotel into foreclosure by 1932.

   Source: Wikipedia

3. 1929

   Gothic dragons and grotesques decorate the hotel's facade

   The Lexington Hotel's exterior is carved with cathedral-like medieval dragons, griffins, and grotesques, plus four figures representing the seasons from spring to fall. Gilded allegorical figures continue the theme inside, hanging overhead in the lobby.

   Source: Ephemeral New York

4. 1932

   The Depression sends the new Lexington Hotel into receivership

   Built just before the stock market crash, the hotel saw its owning corporation placed in receivership in 1932. Management passed to a hotel chain run by the National Hotel Management Company, the first of many management changes over the years.

   “…the Lexington Hotel Corporation was put into receivership in 1932…”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

5. 1932

   The basement Silver Grill opens and draws live bands

   The hotel's basement restaurant space stood empty until 1932, when the Silver Grill opened there. By the mid-1930s the grill ranked among the city's most popular hotel entertainment venues, with live music at lunch and dinner. Artie Shaw's band was among the acts that played there.

   “The restaurant space in the basement was initially unoccupied until 1932, when the Silver Grill opened there.”

   Source: Wikipedia

6. 1937

   The basement Silver Grill becomes the tiki-themed Hawaiian Room

   The hotel's basement restaurant, opened as the Silver Grill in 1932, was reborn in 1937 as the Hawaiian Room, a nightclub with live Hawaiian musicians and dancers that entertained guests including radio host Arthur Godfrey for decades.

   Source: Wikipedia

7. 1968

   The Chateau Madrid nightclub takes over the old Hawaiian Room

   Two years after the Hawaiian Room closed in 1966, the space became the home of Chateau Madrid, a nightclub that began as a gathering place for flamenco devotees. The landmarks commission later credited both the Hawaiian Room and Chateau Madrid with adding to the cultural life of New York.

   “Two years later it became the home of Chateau Madrid a night club which had been established as an outpost for devotees of flamenco.”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

8. 1984

   The hotel's altered base is rebuilt to echo its original design

   In 1984 the base of the Lexington, which had been altered many times, was reconstructed to approximate the original design. William B. Tabler's architectural firm carried out the work. The recessed entrance on Lexington Avenue has since been enclosed and turned into retail space, though its carvings survive inside.

   “In 1984, the base of the building, previously altered, was reconstructed according to a modified version of the original design.”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

9. 2016

   November 22

   The city designates the Lexington Hotel a landmark

   On November 22, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Lexington Hotel and ten neighboring buildings as New York City landmarks, recognizing its Romanesque Revival design nearly ninety years after it opened.

   Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

• Lexington Hotel (New York City)Wikipedia
• The Gothic-style Starbucks on Lexington AvenueEphemeral New York

Nearby

• Roger Smith Hotel501 Lexington Avenue | 3 entries
• The Shelton Hotel525 Lexington Avenue | 10 entries
• The Barclay Hotel111 East 48th Street | 11 entries
• 277 Park Avenue6 entries
• 245 Park Avenue11 entries
• The Centrale138 East 50th Street | 3 entries

All 32 buildings with stories in Turtle Bay