Olcott Hotel facts for kids
The Olcott Hotel is a famous building on West 72nd Street in New York City. It's located in an area called the Upper West Side. Construction on the hotel started in late 1925. It was one of many buildings being built at that time on 72nd Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue. The Olcott Hotel was completed with sixteen floors and opened its doors in 1930.
Who Owned the Olcott Hotel?
In January 1937, Ralph Reck, who managed the Olcott Hotel, became the Chairman of the Hotel Executive Club.
Later, in August 1946, the hotel was sold to Atwood C. Wolfe. Its value was estimated at $1,250,000.
By 1956, a group of owners including E. Fishbein, S. Mendick, and M. Kaplan owned the Olcott Hotel. This group also bought another large building nearby called the Oliver Cromwell apartment-hotel.
Joseph Slutsky owned the Olcott Hotel with his sons, Ben and Julius, until he passed away in November 1958. The Slutsky family had also owned other hotels, like the Raleigh Hotel and Metropole Hotel in Miami.
In 1980, Eugene Fishbein was managing the Olcott Hotel. He had been in charge for twenty-five years! At that time, all the rooms in the hotel had small kitchens. Many of the four hundred and fifty rooms had special rules about how much rent could be charged. Long-term residents paid less for their rooms. New guests, often from other countries or the entertainment world, usually stayed for only a few weeks.
By 1995, the owners of the Olcott Hotel wanted to spend $600,000 to fix up the building. They hoped to get official permission for the way the hotel was being used. The general manager, Lee Rosen, wanted the building to stay just as it was.
Famous Faces and Fun Facts
For many years, a club for playing bridge called the Manhattan Bridge Club was located on the sixteenth floor of the hotel. In 1992, another bridge club, the Gotham, also moved there.
The famous musician Tiny Tim and his manager lived at the Olcott Hotel for a short time in the mid-1980s. The hotel was very close to The Dakota apartments, another famous building.
Nina Youshkevitch, a well-known ballet dancer and teacher, had her dance studio in the hotel for many years. She also lived there herself.
The Olcott Hotel even appeared in a movie! It was featured in Martin Scorsese's film Taxi Driver in 1976.
