The Waldorf astoria
History
The Waldorf Astoria we know today, located at 50th and Park, opened in 1931 and is the second location of this beloved landmark. The first was located at 34th and 5th and was a merger between two adjacent hotels called the Waldorf and the Astoria. Each hotel was built separately by cousins within the Astor family and later joined together in 1897.
The Waldorf Hotel, built by William Waldorf Astor, opened in 1893. It had 400 guest rooms and the Empire Room which rivaled Delmonico’s as the best restaurant in New York City.
The Astor Hotel, built by John Jacob Astor IV, opened next door in early 1897. It had 550 guest rooms and the Astor Dining Room.
Both buildings were designed in the German Renaissance style by American architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh. When eventually connected via a 900ft long corridor called Peacock Alley, the cohesive building created the Waldorf-Astoria. The merged hotel had 1300 rooms and was then the largest hotel in the world.
Both properties, now under one management, were then leased to George Boldt, a self-made millionaire hotelier who got his start in the kitchens of The Philadelphia Club, which is still in existence at 13th and Walnut. Before taking over management of the Waldorf-Astoria, Boldt managed the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia, and was a key figure in the merger of the Waldorf and the Astoria hotels. He is also credited with introducing Thousand Island Dressing at the Waldorf-Astoria by putting it on the menu for guests to enjoy.
The original Waldorf-Astoria was demolished in 1929 to allow for the building of the Empire State Building, and the hotel was reopened in its current location a few blocks uptown in 1931. It stands at 47 stories and was designed by architects Schultze and Weaver in the Art Deco style. It was managed by Conrad Hilton beginning in 1949 and remained the world’s tallest hotel until 1957. Hilton changed the hyphen to something more like an equals sign to represent Peacock Alley, but the hyphen was discontinued all together in 2009 when the Waldorf Astoria opened branded chain locations.
Art
Outside above the entrance on Park Avenue stands the iconic 10-foot tall statue of a winged woman. Entitled “Spirit of Achievement,” it was created in 1931 by Icelandic sculptor Nina Saemundsson who was the first Icelandic woman to work professionally as a sculptor. After studying art in Copenhagen, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1926. “Spirit of Achievement” was one of 400 entries in a contest hosted by the Waldorf-Astoria when opening its new location in 1931. Art deco in style and embodying innovation, progress, and ambition, the arching winged woman is made of nickel and bronze and poised atop a globe.
During renovations, the sculpture remained onsite at the Waldorf Astoria. A twin sculpture, created by 3D scans, was gifted to Iceland. It now stands in Hvolsvollur, a small town near Nina Saemundsson’s birthplace, and faces southwest towards New York City.
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Upon entry from the Park Avenue, guests are greeted by two flanking decorative silver urns made by premier decorative metal work company E. F. Caldwell & Company. These were once in the original lobby and have been recently reacquired.
The walls in the entrance space have thirteen murals by French artist Louis Rigal, as well as an 18-foot circular floor mosaic designed by him. The mosaic is entitled “The Wheel of Life” and is made of 148,000 hand-cut marble tiles. Representing the human journey from birth through death, the mosaic took eight years to fully assemble and was finished in 1938. It was covered by carpeting at some point, but flooding in the 1980s caused the carpet’s removal and the mosaic was re-discovered.
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Many of us have used that oft-spoke phrase, “Let’s meet at the clock” when planning to get together with friends at the Waldorf. The grand nine-foot-tall clock remains the centerpiece of Peacock Alley. Constructed of walnut, mahogany, and marble in 1893 for the World’s Columbian Exhibition (Chicago World’s Fair), the clock weighs about 4,000 pounds. Built in London and housed at the New York Historical Society during the renovations, the clock has been part of Waldorf history since the original location on 34th Street.
It is topped with eagles and a gold miniature of the Statue of Liberty, though she was added in 1902. The clock also features relief portraits of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, and Queen Victoria.
The four clocks originally showed the time in New York, Madrid, Paris, and Greenwich.
Painstaking restoration has renewed the clock, though it is not the same as it was when constructed in 1893. Besides the addition of Lady Liberty, statuettes in the areas between the clocks (notice the empty pegs), as well as figures of horses and people in the area on top of the base, were lost at some point in time.
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On the third floor, inspired by the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, is the long and narrow Silver Corridor. Murals painted by American artist Edward Emerson Simmons were brought over from the original location at 34th Street and installed in the upper bays. The murals, illustrating the months and seasons, needed to be added to along the edges to fit the new spaces. Hours of art conservation removed dirt and grime, and advantageous uplighting now highlights their bright colors.
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The Basildon Room, also on the third floor, was originally a dining room at Basildon Park Manor, a large estate in Berkshire, England. Waldorf-Astoria architect Leondard Schultze purchased the room and shipped its elements to New York for installation in the hotel. Conservators removed dirt from the ceiling murals, originally attributed to child-prodigy Swiss painter Angelica Kauffman, and recreated paint colors to bring the artwork back to its original glory.
Music
Cole Porter’s piano, named “High Society,” is currently on display in Peacock Alley and was used to write many famous songs including “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Porter resided in a five-bedroom apartment on the 33rd floor of the Waldorf Towers for nearly thirty years with his wife and cats named “Anything” and “Goes.”
The Steinway Model B “Music Room Grand” piano was built in 1907 and is decorated by British artist Arthur Blackmore. It was given as a gift to Cole Porter from the hotel. Though the interior playing mechanisms were restored during the hotel renovations by Steinway and Sons in Queens, the exterior casework has not been restored. All the original chips and scratches remain to document the piano’s rich history.
When Cole Porter passed away, Frank Sinatra took over the $1 million-per-year lease of the apartment on the 33rd floor of the Towers and resided there until 1988.
Frank Sinatra performed many times at the Waldorf Astoria, beginning in the 1940s when he was launching his career, through the 1980s. Some performances were recorded and released as albums. He also filmed the 1980 movie “The First Deadly Sin” inside the hotel.
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On New Year’s Eve 1956, Lena Horne performed for 400 people in the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria. She was the second woman of color to perform there; Dorothy Dandridge performed in 1955, followed by Harry Belefonte in the Starlight Room. Lena Horne performed shows for six weeks, which included a few Cole Porter songs, and recorded the live album entitled “Lena Horne at the Waldorf Astoria” which peaked at #24 on Billboard Hot 200 and became the best-selling record by a female artist in the history of RCA Victor.
Listen to Come Runnin’ from that album here, which may just be the perfect song for our own return to the Waldorf Astoria.
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Liza Minelli, famed actress and singer, performed in the Empire Room of the Waldorf Astoria in 1968 to promote her fourth album, self-titled, “Liza Minelli.” Tickets to her performances cost $6 on weeknights and $7 on weekends.
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The last night before the hotel closed for renovations, February 28, 2017, Stevie Wonder performed in the Grand Ballroom during New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s 20th Anniversary Gala. He sang much loved hits like “You Are the Sunshine Of My Life” and “I Just Called To Say I Love You.”
Famous Residents and Guests
Known as a city within the city, the Waldorf Astoria has had many famous visitors, guests, and residents including Martin Luther King, Queen Elizabeth II, Nikola Tesla, Abdicated King Edward VIII and wife Wallis Simpson, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, Elizabeth Taylor, and nearly every US President.
Winston Churchill stayed at the Waldorf Astoria longer than he originally intended. He checked in while on a lecture circuit in 1931, but was hit by a taxi on 5th Avenue and was forced to stay for two weeks while he recovered.
President Herbert Hoover moved into the Towers in 1940 and lived there for the last thirty years of his life. President Dwight Eisenhower moved into the Towers in 1967 and lived there the last three years of his life.
Prince Rainier III of Monaco and Grace Kelly celebrated their engagement in the Conrad Suite at the hotel in 1956. John F. Kennedy and new wife Jackie spent their first honeymoon night at the Waldorf Astoria on their way to Acapulco, Mexico in 1953. A few years earlier, in 1951, Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis honeymooned at the hotel as well. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt moved into the Towers in 2007, one of their first homes as a couple.
In 1965, Andy Warhol held one of his notorious “Underground Parties” on an unused subway platform located below the Waldorf-Astoria. Celebrating the launch of his first film, “Outer and Inner Space,” guests reached the platform through a fire door on 49th Street before climbing down two staircases. Reportedly, the Waldorf-Astoria ran an electrical cord down to the platform so that the film could be projected and a red Warhol self-portrait was on display to guests.