Midtown Manhattan Landmarks

The Plaza Hotel in Midtown Manhattan

The Plaza Hotel is an 18-story French Renaissance landmark at Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, facing Grand Army Plaza and the southeast entrance to Central Park. It opened on October 1, 1907, and it is among the most recognizable buildings in Midtown.

Quick facts

Where: 768 Fifth Avenue, at Central Park South (59th Street), facing Grand Army Plaza
Built: 1905 to 1907; opened October 1, 1907
Architect: Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, who also designed the Dakota
Style: French Renaissance, with a gray-green mansard roof
Status: exterior designated a New York City landmark on December 9, 1969; eight interior spaces designated in 2005

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History

The current Plaza replaced an earlier hotel on the same site, built in 1890 and bought by the George A. Fuller Company, which demolished it in 1905. Architect Henry Hardenbergh designed the new building in white brick and marble with a gray-green mansard roof. On opening day the hotel was fully booked, and a crowd gathered to watch fashionable guests arrive. It had ten elevators, more than any hotel in the world at the time, and five marble staircases.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission called the Plaza "the outstanding example of American hotel architecture" of the early twentieth century. In 1921 the Fifth Avenue terrace was removed to make room for the present entrance, and about 300 rooms were added on the 58th Street side. The Commission notes that Frank Lloyd Wright regularly stayed at the hotel, and in 1964 a crowd of teenagers gathered to greet the Beatles on their arrival. The hotel also appears in literature, including Kay Thompson's Eloise.

Eight interior spaces were designated landmarks on July 12, 2005: the Palm Court, Grand Ballroom, Terrace and Edwardian Rooms, Oak Room and Oak Bar, and the 59th Street and Fifth Avenue lobbies. Everett Shinn painted the murals in the Oak Bar.

What to look for

The gray-green mansard roof and its dormers
The rounded corner turrets on the east side
The Fifth Avenue entrance with its portico
The Pulitzer Fountain in Grand Army Plaza in front of the hotel

Visiting The Plaza Hotel

The Plaza stands directly across from the Central Park entrance at Grand Army Plaza, near Wollman Rink and a short ride from Columbus Circle. Hotel and retail operations and access to the public spaces change, so check current details.