The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury
apartment hotel
An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel, or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check ...
located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of
Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...
and East 76th Street, on the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
of New York City. Opened in 1930, the hotel was designed in
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style and was named after Scottish essayist
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy.
Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
.
Owned since 2001 by
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is an international luxury hotel and resort company operating 28 hotels in 16 countries, currently owned by Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group (formerly New World Hospitality and rebranded in May 2013). It was founde ...
, the Carlyle is a
cooperative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
with 190 rental rooms and suites, and 60 privately owned residences.
Out of the Depression
The Carlyle was built by Moses Ginsberg, maternal grandfather of
Rona Jaffe
Rona Jaffe (June 12, 1931 – December 30, 2005) was an American novelist who published numerous works from 1958 to 2003. During the 1960s, she also wrote cultural pieces for ''Cosmopolitan''.
Biography
Jaffe was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 19 ...
. Designed by architects Sylvan Bien and Harry M. Prince, it opened as an
apartment hotel
An apartment hotel or aparthotel (also residential hotel, or extended-stay hotel) is a serviced apartment complex that uses a hotel-style booking system. It is similar to renting an apartment, but with no fixed contracts and occupants can "check ...
, with apartments costing up to $1 million a year.
Apartment hotels had become increasingly popular since World War I. As the economy boomed and skyscrapers rose, New York was transforming so quickly that owning a townhouse began to fall out of fashion. The new thirty-five floor hotel "was to be a masterpiece in the modern idiom, in which shops and restaurants on the lower floors would give residents the convenience and comforts of a community
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
".
However, by the time the Carlyle was ready to open its doors in 1930, the
1929 stock market crash
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
had started the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. The new hotel struggled, went into receivership in 1931, and was sold to the Lyleson Corporation in 1932.
The new owners kept the original management, which was able to dramatically improve the property's financial situation through maintaining high occupancy and rates favorable to the hotel's costs. However, the hotel's reputation at this time was "staid rather than ritzy".
The next postwar boom allowed the hotel to take on new
high-society prominence. In 1948, New York businessman
Robert Whittle Dowling purchased the Carlyle and began to transform it from a "respectable" address to a "downright fashionable" one, frequented by elegant Europeans. That year,
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
became the first president to visit the Carlyle; each of his successors through
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
followed.
Rise to prominence
The Carlyle became known as "the New York White House" during the administration of President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, who maintained an apartment on the 34th floor for the last ten years of his life.
["JFK's love affair with NYC"]
by Jeane MacIntosh, ''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', November 18, 2013 He stayed at the apartment in a well-publicized visit for a few days just prior to his inauguration in January 1961.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
was snuck in through the service entrance on East 77th Street.
After famously singing "
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
"Happy Birthday, Mr. President" is a song sung by actress and singer Marilyn Monroe on May 19, 1962, for President John F. Kennedy at a gala held at Madison Square Garden for his 45th birthday, 10 days before the actual date (May 29). The even ...
" at Kennedy's birthday gala at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
on May 19, 1962, Monroe reportedly used a warren of tunnels to enter the Carlyle secretly with Kennedy and friends.
The ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' reported a
Mob
Mob or MOB may refer to:
Behavioral phenomena
* Crowd
* Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication
Crime and law enforcement
* American Mafia, also known as the Mob
* Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
smear campaign plot on
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
planned as an informant passed on information that a Mrs. Jacqueline Hammond had information on the sex-capade; however, the ''Post'' article stated "An FBI summary of the documents released yesterday said the bureau didn't consider the Milwaukee and Hammond information 'solid'".
Years later, longtime bellman Michael O'Connell recalled, "Those tunnels. President Kennedy knew more about the tunnels than I did".
The Carlyle was the last place
John F. Kennedy Jr.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. (November 25, 1960 – July 16, 1999), often referred to as John-John or JFK Jr., was an American lawyer, journalist, and magazine publisher. He was a son of the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kenn ...
ate breakfast before departing on
his ill-fated plane trip to
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the Northeastern United States, located south of Cape Cod in Dukes County, Massachusetts, known for being a popular, affluent summer colony. Martha's Vineyard includes the s ...
with
his wife and her sister.
The
Council for United Civil Rights Leadership
Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was an umbrella group formed in June 1963 to organize and regulate the Civil Rights Movement. The Council brought leaders of Black civil rights organizations together with white donors in busines ...
(CUCRL) was organized in a meeting held at the Carlyle.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
expressed his concerns with having a white man in charge of this new fundraising organization during a November 10, 1963, speech, "
Message to the Grass Roots
"Message to the Grass Roots" is a public speech delivered by black civil rights activist Malcolm X. The speech was delivered on November 10, 1963, at the Northern Negro Grass Roots Leadership Conference, which was held at King Solomon Baptist Ch ...
". He described the hotel (rather than just one suite) as being owned by the Kennedy family.
In 1967, the hotel was purchased by a partnership of
Jerome L. Greene
Jerome L. Greene (1906–1999) was a prominent New York lawyer, real estate investor, and philanthropist.
Early years and Education
Greene was born in Brooklyn in 1909. Greene graduated from Columbia College in 1926 and Columbia Law School in 192 ...
, Norman L. Peck, and Peter Jay Sharp. The hotel is the source of the name for
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...
, as it was the location where that firm's founders first met in the mid-1980s.
Despite its brushes with history, the hotel retained a reputation for discretion. In June 2000, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' called it a "Palace of Secrets".
The hotel was the subject of a 2018 documentary film by writer-director Matthew Miele, ''Always at The Carlyle''.
Entertainment and dining
The hotel's Café Carlyle has featured a number of well-known
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
performers – notably
George Feyer from 1955 to 1968, and
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist, who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...
from 1968 to 2004.
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
and his jazz band have played weekly at the café since 1996. According to ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' writer
Joe Heller,
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
maintains a residence at the Carlyle to use when he visits New York.
Alan Cumming
Alan Cumming (born 27 January 1965) is a British actor. His London stage appearances include ''Hamlet'', the Maniac in ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' (for which he received an Olivier Award), the lead in '' Bent'', The National Theatre o ...
gave a series of concerts at the Café Carlyle in June 2015; the album of the performance, ''Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs'' features a photograph of a nude Cumming flanked by a male and a female model, also nude, shot in the doorway of the cafe.
The Café Carlyle is noted for the murals by
Marcel Vertès
Marcel Vertès (born Marcell Vértes, 10 August 1895 – 31 October 1961) was a French costume designer and illustrator of Hungarian-Jewish origins. He won two Academy Awards ( Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design) for his work on the ...
, which were cleaned in the summer of 2007 as part of a renovation and redecoration of the café. Interior designer Scott Salvator oversaw the renovation and redecoration, the first significant alterations to the café since its debut in 1955. During the renovations the café closed for three months and was widely praised after reopening in September 2007. Salvator removed the dropped acoustical ceiling, exposing two feet of newly found space which allowed for a modern sound and a lighting system to appeal to a younger generation.
The Bemelmans Bar is decorated with murals depicting
Madeline
''Madeline'' is a media franchise that originated as a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian-American author. The books have been adapted into numerous formats, spawning telefilms, television series a ...
in Central Park painted by
Ludwig Bemelmans
Ludwig Bemelmans (April 27, 1898 – October 1, 1962) was an Austrian-American writer and illustrator of children's books and adult novels. He is known best for the ''Madeline'' picture books. Six were published, the first in 1939.
Early life
B ...
. Bemelmans is the namesake of the bar, and his murals there are his only artwork on display to the public. Instead of accepting payment for his work, Bemelmans received a year and a half of accommodations at the Carlyle for himself and his family. The 2015 film ''
A Very Murray Christmas
''A Very Murray Christmas'' is a 2015 American Christmas musical comedy film directed by Sofia Coppola and co-written by Bill Murray, Mitch Glazer, and Coppola. The film features an ensemble cast including Bill Murray, George Clooney, Paul ...
'' was set in the Carlyle and in Bemelmans Bar.
The
Carlyle Restaurant
The Carlyle Restaurant, formerly Dumonet at the Carlyle, is a Contemporary American cuisine restaurant located at 35 East 76th Street (at Madison Ave), in the back of the Carlyle Hotel, on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, in New York City. It ...
was known as "Dumonet at the Carlyle" until 2005, named after its chef Jean-Louis Dumonet from 2001 until 2005.
"The Carlyle"
chefdb.com
Notes
References
Sources
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
Art Deco hotels
Art Deco architecture in Manhattan
Hotels in Manhattan
Upper East Side