Bradford Hotel (New York City) facts for kids
The Bradford Hotel is a famous building in New York City. It first opened its doors on October 18, 1924. You can find it at 206-22 West 70th Street in Manhattan.
Building the hotel cost about $2 million. A person named George F. Pelham designed it. The Lapidus Engineering Company owned the hotel. They also owned another hotel called the Hotel Oxford.
The Bradford Hotel is a tall building with sixteen floors. It sits between Broadway and West End Avenue. It had 400 rooms, each with its own bathroom and a small kitchen. Many rooms even had balconies! By 1970, the hotel was being changed into homes for older people.
Who Owned the Bradford Hotel?
Over the years, the Bradford Hotel had several different owners. In January 1954, a company called Marson Corporation bought the lease. This meant they could operate the hotel for sixteen years.
Later, in March 1959, another group called Lincoln Bradford Corporation took over the lease. They only held it for a few months. By August 1959, a group led by Jack Brooks bought it.
After that, Jack Tish, Herbert Tenenbaum, and Aaron Rashap became the new leaseholders. Even with big building projects happening in the Lincoln Square area in the 1950s, the Bradford Hotel and its neighbor, the Chalfonte Hotel, stayed just as they were.
A Special Resident: Isidor Kiefer
One interesting person who lived at the Bradford Hotel was Isidor Kiefer. He used to make machine tools and was retired. He passed away in October 1961 while living at the hotel.
Mr. Kiefer came to the United States in 1935. He was a refugee from Worms, Germany. He had written a history book about the synagogue in Worms, which was his place of worship. He even helped rebuild the synagogue after it was destroyed by the Nazis.
