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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The fate of the Henry Hudson Hotel

My parents are here for a few stays. Mom decided she needed a dose of NYC culture, and Dad agreeably accompanies her. Not that there is any choice, for her or for him.
Thus far they have visited the Onassis Cultural Center for the “Worshipping Women” Exhibit, MOMA to get confused, and the Met for Islamic tiles and Dutch landscapes. My mother is researching the lineage of the spiral design and has traced it as far back as the Bronze Age. This pleases her enormously.


Dad wants to know about the Henry Hudson Hotel. The NYC he remembers is circa 1944, when several floors of the Henry Hudson Hotel were commandeered by Naval Intelligence, and he lived there for a few months learning codes. The Henry Hudson Hotel was built in 1929 as the Women’s Association Clubhouse, with 1250 rooms and a swimming pool. A quick Google search tells me that back in 1997 Ian Schrager bought the building with plans to renovate it and turn it into a$75/night hotel. A lovely idea, but did that happen? The Internet trail turns chilly after one fascinating article about Schrager’s project and Anne Morgan’s role in the establishment of the Women’s Association.

An Internet site called EveryBlockNYC, tells me that in 2008 three Applications for alterations were denied at 353 West 57th. Having been denied a variance by our own misguided Zoning Board (for a barn, no less) I can only imagine the bureaucratic posturing and the gnashing of teeth, the lamentations and recriminations. Or maybe it’s not quite like that on the West Side.
The flat Netherlandish landscape may be fine, but this is all Dad wants to see. A visit is in order.
You probably would not expect the patron saint of hotel keepers to have much in common with Oedipus. But such is the sad case. He was out hunting when the stag he pursued predicted Julian would kill his parents. Julian promptly moved to Galicia and married a wealthy older woman. Twenty years later his loving parents found out where he had decamped to and popped in for a surprise visit. Julian's wife graciously gave the older couple her and Julian's bed. When Julian came home (from hunting, of course) and saw them sleeping there, he assumed it was his wife with another man and killed them both. And there is much more. But most likely none of it is true.

6 comments:

Rebecca Rice said...

I love all the details about your parents--your mother sounds like an absolute dynamo, researching the lineage of the spiral design. And your dad wanting to return to 1944 when he lived in the Henry Hudson Hotel doing naval intelligence is very moving. I'm wondering what sort of stuff he uncovered? Can you get him to share it? I'd love to read it, and I'll bet your other readers would too!

Mickey and Flea said...

You must share this site with Amy when you next meet. If she hasn't already seen it.

pond said...

Did you ever show Mom the books by Andy Goldsworthy (sp?) about his nature creations? I am sure he must have made some over the years with spirals. Or what about that guy who made the Spiral Jetty in Utah? Perhaps a field trip is in order...

And it's interesting Dad talking about learning codes. There was just article in the paper about these women in England during the war who used the Turing Machine to break the German codes. Now that they can talk about it, lots of details are coming out.

Piet Paal said...

In the course of 2010 the alterations to the hotel were approved, I'm happy to mention.

Piet Paal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Piet Paal said...

Actually, three applications were approved.