Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel (the former Americana)
811 7th Avenue | also 140 West 53rd Street | Times Square | built 1960
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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.
- 1960
The Tisch brothers begin the 2,000-room Americana, and an elephant pours champagne into its foundation
Laurence and Preston Tisch of Loews bought the old Manhattan Storage Warehouse site in August 1960, and Loews announced a 50-story, 2,000-room hotel designed by Morris Lapidus. Construction started that September, when an elephant was brought to the site to pour champagne over the foundation concrete. A strike by concrete workers in 1961 halted the all-concrete building for eight weeks.
“Construction began in September 1960, and the builders brought an elephant to the site to pour champagne into the concrete foundation.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1962
The Americana of New York opens, the city's first hotel with over 1,000 rooms in three decades
The Americana opened on September 24, 1962, after a press preview four days earlier. Francis Cardinal Spellman blessed the new building, which was the first New York hotel with more than a thousand rooms since the Waldorf Astoria opened in 1931. Its managers said it already held 250 bookings worth $10 million, helped by the coming 1964 World's Fair.
“The Americana of New York opened on September 24, 1962... first hotel with more than 1,000 rooms since the Waldorf Astoria in 1931.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1963
The Americana hosts the 1963 Tony Awards in its Imperial Ballroom
The Americana held the 1963 Tony Awards in its Imperial Ballroom on April 28, 1963. The hotel's main ballroom held 3,000 people for a banquet, or 4,000 for a business dinner. Its decoration used bronze, gold leaf and marble, and a winch let staff raise and lower the chandelier.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1974
The NFL holds its 1974 draft at the Americana, with no television coverage
The Americana hosted the 1974 NFL draft, held on January 29 and 30 with no television coverage. Dallas, which had traded for the first pick, chose defensive end Ed Jones of Tennessee State. The final pick, known as Mr. Irrelevant, was Ken Dickerson, a defensive back taken by the Miami Dolphins.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1976
The Americana serves as Democratic headquarters for the 1976 convention
The Americana was the Democratic Party's headquarters during the 1976 national convention, and it filled that role again in 1980. American Airlines had leased the hotel from Loews in 1972 and ran it under the Americana name.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1988
Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli attend a benefit honoring Michael Jackson at the Sheraton Centre
A 1988 benefit at the Sheraton Centre for the United Negro College Fund, honoring Michael Jackson, was attended by Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli. The hotel's own history page says Sheraton acquired it in 1979, when it was the largest Sheraton in the brand.
Source: marriott.com
- 2001
Lehman Brothers turns the hotel's lounges and 665 rooms into offices after September 11
After the September 11 attacks, Lehman Brothers' investment banking division temporarily turned the hotel's ground-floor lounges and restaurants, along with 665 guest rooms, into office space. Sheraton had spent nearly $200 million renovating the hotel in 1991.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2022
MCR Hotels and Island Capital buy the Sheraton for $373 million, just over half what Host paid in 2005
The hotel that opened as the Americana in 1962 and became a Sheraton in 1979 was sold in March 2022 to MCR Hotels and Island Capital Group for $373 million. Host had paid $738 million for it in 2005. The buyers took over the previous owner's $250 million loan, which went into forbearance after it matured in October 2023.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Sheraton New York Times Square HotelWikipedia
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