The Hotel Beacon is a Beaux-Arts, 24-story building on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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 ...

, designed by

Walter W. Ahlschlager Walter William Ahlschlager (July 19, 1887 – March 28, 1965) was a 20th-century American architect. After being located in Chicago for many years, he established his office in Dallas, Texas in 1940. He died in Dallas. Noted designs *Davis Theat ...

. It was built in 1928 at 2130

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, at the corner with 75th Street, on the site of the Tilden Club HouseBuilding to Cost $800,000 - Dyckman Tract Lot Sold - New York Daily Tribune August 5, 1908.
/ref> and the Dakota Stables.
/ref> At the time of its opening, apartments could be leased unfurnished with maid service or furnished with full hotel service. They featured one, two or three bedrooms, each with bath and kitchenette. Kitchenette were described as 'almost' kitchen size and equipped with silent electric refrigeration. The hotel featured a gymnasium, rooftop gardens on the setbacks,Hotel Beacon Soon Ready - New York Evening Post September 8, 1928
/ref> the Cafe of the Beacon in the lobby, located back then on the second floor mezzanine, that could seat 250 and the Restaurant Grill in the basement seating 200. Also in the basement was a barber shop and a beauty salon. As of 2017, the hotel features 278 transient

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

roomsTripadvisor page for the Hotel Beacon
/ref> but still hosts a few permanent tenants.

Development and construction (1927-1928)

On January 24, 1927, the Havemeyer Construction Company headed by J. Henry Small, purchased from the Chanin Construction Company the plot of ground on the south side of 75th street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue with the intention of erecting a building that will be a combination of hotel and theater at the cost of eight million dollars. The building was to be 23 stories high and the theater was to have a capacity of 4,000. Havemeyer Construction Co. promptly issued a press release. The Hotel Midway, now 24 stories high, would be

fireproof Fireproofing is rendering something (structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be used as a n ...

, featuring every modern improvement such as serving pantries, electric refrigeration, baths and showers, and would tower over all the immediate structures in the neighborhood including

the Ansonia The Ansonia is a building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, located at 2109 Broadway, between 73rd and 74th Streets. It was originally built as a residential hotel by William Earle Dodge Stokes, the Phelps-Dodge copper heir ...

. Construction was underway when J. Henry Small falls for the short lived "beacon craze" sweeping through the city. An

airway beacon An airway beacon (US) or aerial lighthouse (UK and Europe) was a rotating light assembly mounted atop a tower. These were once used extensively in the United States for visual navigation by airplane pilots along a specified airway corridor. ...

and a

penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

with illuminated panels was to be placed on top of the Midway Hotel and the name was changed to Midway Beacon Hotel, a name that would be kept through construction as late as June 1928.Hotel Beacon to Guide Airplanes - New York Evening Post June 9, 1928
/ref> The Hotel St. George in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

which opened in February of that year and the

Hotel McAlpin Herald Towers, formerly the Hotel McAlpin, is a residential condominium building on Herald Square, along Broadway between 33rd and 34th Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Constructed from 1910 to 1912 by the Greel ...

already had beacons in operation. When the hotel was christened on July 12, 1928, Midway was dropped from the name and it was now the Hotel Beacon.

The Airway Beacon (1928-1931)

Built by the

Sperry Gyroscope Company Sperry Corporation was a major American equipment and electronics company whose existence spanned more than seven decades of the 20th century. Sperry ceased to exist in 1986 following a prolonged hostile takeover bid engineered by Burroughs ...

and installed on a high steel tower on the roof,AIRPLANE BEACON LIGHTED.; Chamberlin Turns On Current for Giant "Pathfinder" Here. - New York Times July 12, 1928
/ref> the five foot in diameter, 1.2 billion

candles A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...

in power,

is officially lit by Clarence D. Chamberlin, transatlantic flier and the city's airport engineer, at 10 pm on July 12, 1928 to christen the building. In an elaborate ceremony, Lieutenant Orville Stephens from the Army Reserve Air Corps flies a plane in a storm, above

harbor and lower

to Flatbush, then passing directly over the light, while Chamberlin is giving the dedicatory address. The plane had taken off from

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field (Hazel ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, which became famous in 1927 as the starting point for

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

's solo

transatlantic flight A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Central America, or South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing air ...

.How Five Historic New York Hotels Wooed Their First Guests - Curbed MAR 25, 2014
/ref> Stephens reported that the light could be seen at a reasonable height while Chamberlain praised the light and said it would be of great value for mail fliers who pass near New York City on their routes. A somewhat ironic statement since he was quoted just 5 days earlier in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle saying he had not heard of any flier who found the St. George beacon (another city hotel with a beacon) useful in night flying, adding 'I haven't done any night flying abound New York myself recently'. The Assistant Manager of the St. George was at least honnest enough to say 'a couple of fliers recently flew from Boston using our beacon all the way, but of course it's for the advertising'St. George beam keeps residents of Heights awake - Brooklyn Daily Eagle July 7, 1928
/ref> The Beacon itself will be dedicated in a separate ceremony August 1, 1929.
/ref> It was said to be the largest candle-powered light in the world at the time, which light could be seen on clear nights as far as seventy miles away by planes and visible on the ground as far as twenty-five miles from the hotel.
/ref> On February 25, 1931, the lighthouse division of the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

has ruled that only actual airway beacons could use white light. Experiments are conducted with colored lenses but prove unfeasible.City Beacons Out - New York Evening Post February 25, 1931
/ref> The beacons on top of the McAlpin, the St. George and the Beacon go dark, never to be lit again.

Early years (1928-1933)

Following the christening of the building in July 1928 and under the leadership of its first General Manager, Gus Shult, leasing at the Hotel Beacon seems to be off to an auspicious start. On August 26, J. Henry Small was quoted saying "We have been somewhat surprised at the rental Interest shown during the hot weather of this month when people are supposedly away from town and not interested in actually signing leases. Even on sweltering days we rented as many as six apartments a day and when the weather was cooler we ran as high as 10."West Side Apartments in Brisk Renting Season - Brooklyn Daily Eagle August 26, 1928
/ref> Gus Schult was an experienced professional, a native of Sweden, he managed the Hermitage Hotel only to become the resident Manager of

Reisenweber's Reisenweber's Cafe, also known as Reisenweber's Restaurant or simply Reisenweber's, was a restaurant, nightclub, and hotel in Columbus Circle, Manhattan, on the intersection of Eighth Ave and 58th Street, from 1856/7 to 1922. Reisenweber's Cafe ...

. He then purchased the Ben Hur Restaurant on City Island, which he operated for several years before going back to the hotel business as Manager of the Beacon. April 4, 1930: The Chanin Realty Company who had sold the land of the Beacon to J. Henry Small in 1927 buys the Hotel Beacon from the Beacon & Midway Corporation Presided by John L. Lann.

Notable tenants

A.H. Woods Albert Herman Woods (born Aladore Herman; January 3, 1870 – April 24, 1951) was a Hungarian-born theatrical producer who spent much of his life in the USA. He produced over 140 plays on Broadway theatre, Broadway, including some of the m ...

: Broadway producer

Aristodimos Kaldis Aristodimos Kaldis (August 15, 1899 in Dikeli, Asia Minor, Turkey – May, 1979) was an artist and left-wing activist in New York. Aristodimos Kaldis was influential in the gallery and museum scene during the 1950s. His friendship with leading mem ...

: Figurative painterNoted artist A. Kaldis dies at 79 - Ossining NY Citizen Register May 3, 1979
/ref>
Richard Dey de Ribcowsky: American artist born in Bulgaria, famous for his paintings of " Old Ironsides"Oil Paintings - Dey de Ribcowsky
/ref>

Gerard Alessandrini Gerard Alessandrini (born November 27, 1953) is an American playwright, parodist, actor and theatre director best known for creating the award-winning off-Broadway musical theatre parody revue ''Forbidden Broadway''. He is the recipient of T ...

: American playwright, parodist, actor and theatre director, creator of

Forbidden Broadway ''Forbidden Broadway'' is an Off-Broadway revue parodying musical theatre, particularly Broadway musicals. It was conceived, written and directed by Gerard Alessandrini. The original version of the revue opened on January 15, 1982, at Palsson's S ...

Grete Stückgold: Soprano Opera singer
Herbert Doussant: Tenor Opera Singer
Gusti Brandt: PhilanthropistMrs Gusti Brandt, 83, Active In Charitable Enterprise - Brooklyn Eagle February 1, 1952
/ref>
Bertha Vorzimer: Dress designer who introduced many Paris fashions to New York
Etta Shiber: Best selling writer, author of 'Paris Underground'
Francis Miller: American painter and illustrator. Painted several covers of

the Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

Nathaniel Edward Reeid:

Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...

's editor.
David Holdgreiwe: Broadway choreographer and author

General managers

Gus Schult (1928-1933)Gus Schult - The Long Islander March 13, 1936.
/ref>
Harry G. Yurdin (1933-1945)
/ref>
John Newton (1945-1947)Letsch Resigns as Manager of Towers Hotel - Brooklyn Eagle December 12, 1947.
/ref>
Harry G. Yurdin (1947-1953)
/ref>
Oscar Wintrab (1953-1963)
A. David Alpert (1976-1987)A.David Alpert Obituary - New York Times via Legacy.com
/ref>
Elizabeth Dashiff (1987-1990)
Thomas J. Travers (1990–2020)
/ref>

References

External links

* {{Broadway (Manhattan) 1928 establishments in New York City Broadway (Manhattan) Hotels in Manhattan Upper West Side Hotel buildings completed in 1928