New Yorker Hotel Editorial Image

The 43-story New Yorker Hotel (481 Eighth Avenue, New York City) was built in 1929 and opened its doors on January 2, 1930. It was designed by the architectural firm of Sugarman and Berger. Much like its contemporaries, the Empire State Building (opened in 1931) and the Chrysler Building (opened in 1930), the New Yorker is designed in the Art Deco style that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The building's pyramidal, set-back tower structure largely resembles that of the Empire State Building, which lies just a couple of blocks east on 34th Street. For many years, the New Yorker Hotel was New York's largest hotel with 2,500 rooms. In addition to the ballrooms there were ten private dining salons and five restaurants employing 35 chefs. The barber shop was one of the largest in the world with 42 chairs and 20 manicurists. There were 92 telephone operators and 150 laundry staff washing as many as 350,000 pieces daily.