Tag Archive for: The Plaza

Terry Trucco

An Under-The-Radar Supporting Role For The Mark Hotel In “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”

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OscarHotels don’t win Academy Awards, but that hasn’t kept New York City hotels from landing in movies that get nominated. 

Consider 2013, when NYC hotels had close-ups in three movies chasing Oscars –Best Picture contenders The Great Gatsby and American Hustle which showcased extravagant, if wildly different, interiors at The Plaza, and Blue Jasmine (Best Actress, Cate Blanchett), which features a contentious argument shot near the big clock in front of the erstwhile Tribeca Grand (now the Roxy Hotel Tribeca).

Only one New York City hotel is in the running for reflected glory when the 93rd Academy Awards air on Sunday, April 25, and it’s on screen for less than five minutes. But the scene filmed in a suite at The Mark won instant notoriety when Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sacha Baron Cohen’s cheeky mockumentary, debuted in October. It wasn’t for the interior design. Read more

Terry Trucco

NYC Hotels Stepping Up To House Medical Personnel and Non-Critical Patients During Covid-19 Outbreak

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If anyone deserves a comfy bed and a welcoming room after a grueling day at work, it’s the doctors, nurses and other medical personnel caring for Covid-19 patients at New York City hospitals. The deadly virus has also created a need for facilities for non-critical patients and personnel.

Enter the hospitality industry, newly awash in temporary closings prompted by the disease. This week New York Governor Andrew Cuomo cited several prominent New York City hotels in his list of companies, individuals and foundations donating goods and services to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. Read more

Terry Trucco

Coming Soon: New Owners for The Plaza Hotel; What Will They Get for $600 Million?

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If all goes as expected, The Plaza Hotel — overnight home to Christian Dior, Frank Lloyd Wright and the Beatles, backdrop to movies like North by Northwest and Crocodile Dundee and playground for the impish Eloise — is about to change hands once again for an eye-popping $600 million. It’s just not clear who the new owner will be. Read more

Terry Trucco

Why the Waldorf Astoria is Closing for Renovations, and Why You Should Stop By While You Can

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If eating Waldorf Salad at the Waldorf Astoria is high on your bucket list, consider yourself warned: the clock is ticking. Read more

Terry Trucco

It’s Spring — in These NYC Hotel Lobbies (Even if it Still Feels Like Winter Outdoors)

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I doubt I’m alone in saying I’ve been counting the hours, the minutes, the seconds to the arrival of spring.

By Siberian standards — but New York isn’t Irkutsk. And when you rack up the days that failed to break 30 degrees, couple them with more than 56 inches of snow and throw in a Polar Vortex or two, Winter 2013-14 was brutal.

Even if the snow doesn’t cease on March 20, we’ve crossed the seasonal divide.

To celebrate the official start of spring, I visited several midtown hotels known for their flowers, camera in hand. Looks like yellow is the color of spring this year.

Read more

Terry Trucco

And The Oscar Goes To: NYC Hotels with Supporting Roles In the 2014 Academy Awards

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No hotel has ever won an Oscar. But that does not mean hotels haven’t had close ties with the Academy Awards over the years. Read more

Terry Trucco

Fab Fifty: Where to Relive The Beatles’ Historic 1964 Visit to New York

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As anyone who hasn’t been in solitary confinement this week knows, February 9 marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to the U.S.

Specifically, it heralds their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, an event watched by 73 million people including the 728 in the studio audience.

Not surprisingly, there are hotel connections. Read more

Terry Trucco

From Belle Epoch to Disco — How The Plaza Dressed Up for the 70s in “American Hustle”

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From North by Northwest and Sleepless in Seattle to Crocodile Dundee, it’s hard to imagine a hotel with more Hollywood screen time than The Plaza. Last year alone the hotel racked up vivid cameos in The Great Gatsby and American Hustle. Read more

Terry Trucco

Was that the Tribeca Grand On View for a Blink in “Blue Jasmine?”

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Yes, it was, and what a plum, if fleeting, cameo Tribeca’s chic brick, pie-slice-shaped hotel landed in Woody Allen’s latest movie.

Without giving too much away, a lead character – Alec Baldwin as a huckster bazillionaire named Hal – is spotted canoodling a glamorous brunette by his wife’s sister as the pair exit the hotel. After registering the look of shock on the sister’s face, the camera lingers for a few seconds on the hotel and its iconic clock with Roman numerals atop a sculpted wrought iron stand, a Tribeca landmark since the hotel opened in 2000. Read more

Terry Trucco

Why Is The Plaza All Wrapped Up To Look Like The Plaza?

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Seems it wasn’t that long ago – 2005, to be precise – that The Plaza closed for major refurbishments inside and out. The spruced up property reopened with a flourish in 2008 housing hotel rooms, condominiums and a high-end shopping mall that has since morphed into the wildly – and deservedly – popular Plaza Food Hall and Todd English Food.

So why is this 1907 landmark swaddled in a pale white scrim, the kind that signals heavy-duty construction work instead of an artwork by Christo? Read more