The Westin New York Grand Central Hotel

Building in New York , United States

The Westin New York Grand Central

Shot of the hotel from across East 42nd Street. The Daily News Building can be seen to the left.

Hotel chain| Westin Hotels
General information
Location| 212 East 42nd Street
New York City, New York 10017
United States
Coordinates| 40°45′00″N 73°58′26″W﻿ / ﻿40.75000°N 73.97389°W﻿ / 40.75000; -73.97389Coordinates: 40°45′00″N 73°58′26″W﻿ / ﻿40.75000°N 73.97389°W﻿ / 40.75000; -73.97389
Opening| February 18, 1981
Owner| Davidson Kempner Capital Management
Management| HEI Hotels & Resorts
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Emery Roth & Sons
Developer| Harry Helmsley
Website
www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nyczw-the-westin-new-york-grand-central/

The Westin New York Grand Central is a 40-story, 800-room business-oriented hotel approximately two blocks west of the United Nations headquarters and a little more than one block east of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, New York.

## History[edit]

The hotel was designed by Emery Roth & Sons and opened on February 18, 1981, as The Harley of New York - A Helmsley Hotel. Constructed by New York developer Harry Helmsley, the hotel's name was a combination of his own first name and that of his famous wife, Leona Helmsley. They co-owned the hotel with the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The Helmsleys attended the opening, along with Mayor Ed Koch, but the inaugural luncheon that day was marred by an accidental fire, which necessitated the evacuation of the entire hotel and required 23 people to be treated for smoke inhalation.[1]

The Helmsleys purchased Hospitality Inns from Standard Oil of Ohio in 1981, renaming them to create a nationwide Harley Hotels chain[2] of 27 properties,[3] with the New York hotel as the flagship. Following a renovation,[4] the hotel was renamed The New York Helmsley in November 1985.[5]

Soon after Harry's death, Leona sold the remaining hotels in the Harley chain to a Philadelphia investment group in 1998 for $40 million.[6] After Leona's death in 2007, her estate sold The New York Helmsley Hotel to Host Hotels & Resorts in 2011 for $313.5 million.[7] The new owners contracted with Westin Hotels to manage the property, following an 18-month closure for a $75 million renovation, and the hotel became The Westin New York Grand Central on October 1, 2012. It was sold again on January 11, 2019, to Davidson Kempner Capital Management for $302 million. They plan to renovate it at a cost of $20 million and keep it under the Westin flag.[8]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Treaster, Joseph B. (19 February 1981). "HARLEY HOTEL BESET BY FIRE ON OPENING DAY 14". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
2. ^ LLC, New York Media (12 March 1984). "New York Magazine". New York Media, LLC. Retrieved 9 July 2018 - via Google Books.
3. ^ "The Daily Chronicle from De Kalb, Illinois on March 8, 1984 · Page 25". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
4. ^ "Leona, Queen Of Helmsley--hotels, That Is". Articles.chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
5. ^ "Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York on November 14, 1985 · Page 3D". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
6. ^ "PARTING WITH HARLEY LEONA WILL POCKET ABOUT 40M FOR HOTEL CHAIN". Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
7. ^ Hudson, Kris (25 January 2011). "Another Helmsley Property Sold Off". Wsj.com. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
8. ^ "Westin Grand Central Hotel | Davidson Kempner". 11 January 2019.

## External links[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

East Midtown (34th–59th Sts, east of Lexington Ave) and Turtle Bay

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

| 34th–42nd Sts|

* American Copper Buildings
* Civic Club / Estonian House
* The Corinthian
* Daily News Building
* Kips Bay Brewing Company
* Manhattan Place
* Socony–Mobil Building
* Tudor City

|

42nd–51st Sts|

* 219 East 49th Street
* Amster Yard
* Beaux-Arts Apartments
* Beekman Tower
* Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Center
* Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice
* Lescaze House
* One Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza
* Trump World Tower
* Tudor City
* Turtle Bay Gardens
* United Nations headquarters
* Dag Hammarskjöld Library
* Conference Building
* General Assembly Building
* Secretariat Building

51st–59th Sts|

* One Sutton Place South
* 23 Beekman Place
* 252 East 57th Street
* 300 East 57th Street
* 303 East 51st Street
* 312 and 314 East 53rd Street
* 599 Lexington Avenue
* 731 Lexington Avenue
* 919 Third Avenue
* Citigroup Center
* Lipstick Building
* River House
* Rockefeller Guest House
* The Sovereign

Culture

| Shops, restaurants, nightlife|

* P. J. Clarke's
* Shun Lee Palace
* Sparks Steak House
* Sushi Yasuda

|

Museums/venues|

* Japan Society
* Trygve Lie Gallery
* Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre

Hotels|

* DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Metropolitan New York City
* Millennium Hilton New York One UN Plaza
* The Westin New York Grand Central Hotel

Former|

* Caesar's Retreat
* El Morocco
* The Embers
* Le Cirque
* Le Club
* Museum of the Peaceful Arts

Other points of interest

| Green spaces|

* Amster Yard
* East River Greenway
* Greenacre Park
* Ralph Bunche Park
* Robert Moses Playground
* St. Vartan Park

|

Education|

* Cathedral High School
* High School of Art and Design
* Lyceum Kennedy International School
* P.S. 135
* Stern College for Women

Religion|

* Church Center for the United Nations
* St. Agnes Church
* St. Boniface Church
* St. Gabriel Church
* St. John the Evangelist Church (Manhattan)
* Sutton Place Synagogue

Transportation

| Subway stations|

* Grand Central–42nd Street
* Lexington Avenue/51st Street
* Lexington Avenue/59th Street

|

Railroad, ferry|

* Grand Central Madison
* Grand Central Terminal
* East 34th Street Ferry Landing

Streets|

* First Avenue
* Second Avenue
* Third Avenue
* 34th Street
* 42nd
* 47th
* 50th
* 51st
* 52nd
* 53rd
* 54th
* 55th
* 57th
* 59th
* Beekman Place
* Lexington Avenue
* Sutton Place

Related topics

* Murray Hill
* Sniffen Court Historic District

See also: Manhattan Community Board 6

This article about a hotel or resort in New York is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

This article about a building or structure in Manhattan is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template