The Benjamin Hotel
557 Lexington Avenue | also 125 East 50th Street | Turtle Bay | built 1927
Open on the map11 entries
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.
- 1927
Louise Cromwell Brooks, wife of Douglas MacArthur, rents the Beverly's entire 26th floor
Among the first people to take apartments in the new Beverly was Louise Cromwell Brooks, wife of Douglas MacArthur, who rented the whole 26th floor. Other tenants included the polar explorer Richard E. Byrd, the actor Lionel Atwill, the accountant Jacob K. Lasser and the financier and art collector Chester Dale. The building also hosted the 1927 wedding of a Russian prince, Vladimir Koudacheff.
“Louise Cromwell Brooks, the wife of Douglas MacArthur, who had rented the entirety of the 26th floor.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1927
The Beverly belongs to the apartment-hotel type that sidestepped the 1901 tenement law's height limits
The Landmarks Preservation Commission counts the Beverly, completed in 1927, among the early skyscraper hotels built as residential, or apartment, hotels. The type was especially popular in New York because apartments without individual kitchens were not bound by the height and fireproofing limits of the 1901 Tenement House Act, and many developers exploited the loophole. Such hotels gave long-term residents the services of doormen, receptionists and cleaners, plus lobbies and dining rooms.
“…apartments without individual kitchens were exempt from the height limitations and fireproofing restrictions imposed by the Tenement House Act of 1901…”
- 1927
Charles Sheeler photographs the Beverly Apartment Hotel in its final stages of construction
In 1927 Charles Sheeler made a photograph titled Beverly Apartment Hotel that shows the building in the last stages of construction. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's report says the image was probably a commission from the American Institute of Steel Construction.
“Charles Sheeler's photograph "Beverly Apartment Hotel" (1927) showing the final stages of construction was probably a commission by the American Institute of Steel Construction.”
- 1927
The Beverly Hotel opens on East 50th Street
Developer Moses Ginsberg and architect Emery Roth built this 29-story neo-Romanesque apartment hotel, expected to cost $2.5 million. It opened as the Beverly in October 1927 with 177 apartments and a double-height lobby in the Spanish style. Early tenants included Louise Cromwell Brooks, wife of Douglas MacArthur, and explorer Richard E. Byrd.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1931
Alfred Stieglitz's 1931 photograph and Georgia O'Keeffe's painting capture the Beverly's tower
The Landmarks Preservation Commission notes that the Beverly's design drew artists, among them Georgia O'Keeffe, who painted it in New York at Night, and Alfred Stieglitz, whose photograph From My Window at the Shelton, North dates to 1931. The report closes with Steven Ruttenbaum's description of the hotel as one of the city's most romantically styled towers.
- 1952
A judge orders Moses Ginsberg to sell the Beverly to Irving Maidman despite no formal contract
When the investor Irving Maidman began negotiating to buy the Beverly in October 1951, a rival offered $250,000 more, so Maidman filed a lis pendens to stop Moses Ginsberg's companies from selling to anyone else. In July 1952 a state judge ruled that Ginsberg had to hand the hotel and an adjoining building to Maidman at roughly $2.1 million, though the two sides had signed no formal contract. Maidman took title that December, when the hotel had 305 rooms.
“A New York state judge ruled in July 1952 that Ginsberg had to sell the hotel and a neighboring building to Maidman for about $2.1 million…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1961
Henry Speter and Murray Knight lease the Beverly for 16 years at $18.745 million
International Hotels bought the Beverly in 1959 and had it renovated to designs by Henry End. In March 1961 Sidney Schwartz agreed to buy it, and that June he leased it for 16 years to Henry Speter and Murray Knight, paying $18.745 million in all. Schwartz took title in August, soon after being elected president of the Warren Servicing Corporation, the firm behind a syndicated loan on the hotel.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1999
The hotel is renamed the Benjamin after a $45 million overhaul
Manhattan East Suite Hotels, owned by the Denihan family, spent $45 million renovating the former Beverly Hotel. It reopened in April 1999 as the Benjamin, named for the company's founder, Benjamin J. Denihan Sr. The work turned the building's 177 apartments into 209 guestrooms.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2001
The Benjamin offers a menu of 11 pillows and hires a sleep concierge
The renovated Benjamin introduced a pillow menu offering 11 types of pillows. In 2001 it hired a sleep concierge, responding to a rise in guests with questions about sleep. After the September 11 attacks the hotel also began promoting itself to business travelers.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
The Landmarks Commission hears six supporters and three opponents of designating the Beverly Hotel
The Landmarks Preservation Commission heard public testimony on July 19, 2016 about designating the Beverly Hotel, now the Benjamin. Six people spoke in favor, among them the Municipal Art Society, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Historic Districts Council, Community Boards 5 and 6 and representatives of Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer. Three spoke against, including two representatives of the owners and one from the Real Estate Board of New York.
“Six people spoke in support of designation ... Three people spoke in opposition to designation including two representatives of the owners and the representative of the Real Estate Board of New York.”
- 2016
The city designates the Benjamin Hotel a landmark
On November 22, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Benjamin Hotel and ten other nearby buildings as city landmarks. The vote came as the city prepared changes to East Midtown's zoning. The hotel is Emery Roth's 1927 neo-Romanesque design.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- The Benjamin Royal Sonesta New YorkWikipedia
Nearby
- The Summit Hotel569 Lexington Avenue | 10 entries
- The Centrale138 East 50th Street | 3 entries
- General Electric Building570 Lexington Avenue | 10 entries
- Waldorf Astoria New York301 Park Avenue | 17 entries
- St. Bartholomew's Church325 Park Avenue | 15 entries
- 345 Park Avenue9 entries