The Jane is a
boutique hotel
Boutique hotels are small inventory, design driven, unique hotels with their own character, personality and storytelling at the heart of their concept. Positioning is secondary for these hotels as they focus on authenticity and personalization ...
located at 505–507
West Street
The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...
, with its main entrance at 113 Jane Street in the
West Village
The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.
The traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, 14th Street (Manhattan ...
section of the
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
neighborhood of
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 ...
.
The building was originally the American Seamen's Friend Society Sailors' Home and Institute, a hotel for sailors built in 1906–08 and designed by
William A. Boring
William Alciphron Boring (September 9, 1859 – May 5, 1937) was an American architect noted for co-designing the Immigration Station at Ellis Island in New York harbor.
Career
Boring studied first at the University of Illinois, then spen ...
in
Georgian style
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British monarchs of the House of Hano ...
. The building featured a chapel, a concert hall, and a bowling alley, and a beacon which played over the river from the polygonal observatory. The hotel was used to house the survivors of the
RMS ''Titanic'' while the American inquest into the sinking was held.
In 1944, the
YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...
took over the building from the Seaman's Retreat Center as it was then called.
Later known as The Jane West, and most-recently called the Riverview Hotel.
["History"]
on the Jane Hotel website The hotel was renovated by developers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode in 2008 in partnership with BD Hotels, converting a facility which had become long-term housing for drug addicts and those down on their luck into an upscale hotel.
During a period in the mid-1980’s, the American drag performer
RuPaul
RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...
lived in the tower of the hotel.
The building is a
New York City landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
, designated in 2000.
[, p.58]
It was reported in late 2022 that it would become a members-only establishment.
Jane Street Theatre
The ballroom of the hotel was converted into a theatre space by
Theater for the New City
Theater for the New City, founded in 1971 and known familiarly as "TNC", is one of New York City's leading off-off-Broadway theaters, known for radical political plays and community commitment. Productions at TNC have won 43 Obie Awards and the P ...
in the 1970s. The Jane Street Theatre was an
Off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
theatre which had a very small
thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performe ...
and a seating capacity of 280. Notable shows which were presented there include ''
Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' and ''
tick, tick ... BOOM!''.
The space later became available for commercial rental, but it is now the Jane Ballroom, the bar of The Jane.
[Gray, Christopher]
"Popeye Slept Here and Now Olive Oyl Can, Too"
''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 ...
'' (July 14, 2009) The Jane Ballroom was shut down for six months from late 2009 to May 2010, when police investigating the complaints of neighbors about noise from the people lined up trying to get inside discovered that the bar did not have an assembly permit.
[Cardwell, Diane]
"It’s Reopening Night at the Jane Ballroom"
''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 ...
'' (May 3, 2010)
See also
*
References
;Notes
External links
*
*
*
Interior and exterior photos of The Jane
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jane Hotel
Theatres in Manhattan
Hotels in Manhattan
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
West Village
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Buildings and structures completed in 1908
West Side Highway