Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel was a resort in the

Catskill Mountains The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...

in the Town of Liberty, near the village of

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. One of the largest

Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps, is a colloquial term for the mostly defunct summer resorts of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan, Orange, and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, straddling both Upstate New York and the north ...

resorts, it was a

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

establishment that catered primarily to

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

clients from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After decades of activity and notable guests, it closed in 1986. The resort buildings were demolished in 2018.

History

Asher Selig Grossinger moved from

to Ferndale in Sullivan County in the Catskill Mountains in the 1900s. There he rented rooms to visitors from New York City. His wife, Malka, operated the kosher kitchen, and Jennie Grossinger (1891–1972), his daughter, was the hostess. They called their home Longbrook House. In 1919, they sold it and purchased a bigger house on , calling it Grossinger's Terrace Hill House. Reportedly, the Grossinger family offered a million dollars to rename the local

New York, Ontario and Western Railway The New York, Ontario and Western Railway, more commonly known as the O&W or NYO&W, was a regional railroad with origins in 1868, lasting until March 29, 1957 (the last train ran from Norwich to Middletown, NY on this date), after which it was or ...

train station at Ferndale to "Grossingers", but were rebuffed by competing hoteliers. In 1952, Grossinger's earned a place in the

history of skiing Skiing, or traveling over snow on skis, has a history of at least eight millennia. The earliest archaeological examples of skis were found in Russia and date to 6000 BCE. Although modern skiing has evolved from beginnings in Scandinavia, 5000-ye ...

as the first resort in the world to use

artificial snow Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

. During the years that the resort was operated by their daughter Jennie Grossinger, it expanded to over 35 buildings. The main building contained an enormous dining room capable of seating 1,300 guests; under the dining room there was a vast, cavernous night club called the “Terrace Room". It had its own airstrip and post office. During his fighting days,

Rocky Marciano Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only ...

would train at the resort. In 1972, Jennie died and the decline began. By the late 1970s and 1980s, resorts like Grossinger's or the

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

could no longer attract younger guests. In August 1984, Grossinger's, in its dying years, promoted a

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

weekend to mark the 15th anniversary of the festival. It featured a workshop in tie-dyeing, a musical performance by David-Clayton Thomas, formerly of

Blood, Sweat & Tears Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Ny ...

, a midnight showing of the four-hour documentary "Woodstock," and an appearance by

John Sebastian John Benson Sebastian (born March 17, 1944) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and harmonicist who founded the rock band The Lovin' Spoonful. He made an impromptu appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969tzimmes ''Tzimmes'', or ''tsimmes'' ( yi, צימעס, ), is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish stew typically made from carrots and dried fruits such as prunes or raisins, often combined with other root vegetables (including yam). Tzimmes is often part of t ...

Abbie Hoffman Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989) was an American political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ("Yippies") and was a member of the Chicago Seven. He was also a leading proponen ...

, who was thrown off the Woodstock stage by

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

for making a political speech, was brought in by Grossinger's for the promotion. Grossinger's may be most widely recognized as the Catskill resort that inspired "Kellerman's Mountain Resort" in the 1987 film ''

Dirty Dancing ''Dirty Dancing'' is a 1987 American romantic drama dance film written by Eleanor Bergstein, produced by Linda Gottlieb, and directed by Emile Ardolino. Starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, it tells the story of Frances "Baby" Houseman ...

''. In 1986, the Grossinger descendants sold the property to Servico. Grossinger's main hotel and main resort areas closed in 1986, but the golf course stayed open until 2017, and has been kept maintained. The golf course clubhouse was demolished in July 2018. The members of the golf clubhouse call the course "Big G". Servico failed to reopen the hotel due to the massive costs associated with it. Numerous other companies also failed the same feat. It is owned by Louis Cappelli as of September 2013, who is hoping for casinos to come to the area. The Concord Resort is part of the same deal. Demolition of the remaining buildings on the resort started in summer 2018. The last building at Grossinger's was demolished on October 19, 2018. One of the remaining buildings on the property burned to the ground on August 16, 2022. In February 2019, a news report stated that Sullivan Resorts LLC intended to build a "$50 million resort with a 250 room hotel, convention centre, private residences and other amenities. Sullivan Resorts LLC was said to be "a subsidiary of owner Louis Cappelli’s Valhalla-based Cappelli Enterprises". The author of a news item in September 2019 did not seem as certain as to the long-term plan for the property.Grossinger’s Resort site cleaned up
/ref>

Description

Like most Catskill resorts, Grossinger's grew over time, evolving from a Victorian hotel, later remodeled with Mission-style improvements, through a Tudor-styled expansion in the 1940s and ending with the construction of Modernist-styled accommodations and entertainment facilities in the 1950s and 1960s. The original building, the former Nichols House, was designed by Frank Cottle, a local architect. Competition from nearby resorts drove the 1940s expansion, expanding the dining room on a large scale and creating the Terrace Room club and the Pink Elephant bar. The Terrace Room was expanded and renovated in 1949 by architect

Morris Lapidus Morris Lapidus (November 25, 1902 – January 18, 2001) was an architect, primarily known for his Neo-baroque "Miami Modern" hotels constructed in the 1950s and 60s, which have since come to define that era's resort-hotel style, synonymous w ...

: one of his first hotel commissions.

References

External links

Grossinger's Golf and Country Club
(still active)
Catskill Archive: Grossinger's HotelAll Abandoned: Grossinger's Hotel in 2010
{{commons category, Grossinger's Resort, position=left Borscht Belt Defunct hotels in New York (state) Golf clubs and courses in New York (state) Resorts in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Sullivan County, New York Morris Lapidus buildings Unused buildings in New York (state) Demolished buildings and structures in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 2018

History

Description

See also

References

Further reading

External links