The Ritz-Carlton Hotel was a luxury hotel in

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 ...

, owned by

the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addi ...

. It was located at 46th Street and

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 ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

History

The Ritz-Carlton Investing Company was established by Albert Keller, who bought and franchised the name in the United States. The New York hotel opened in 1911; it was the first Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the U.S.

Louis Diat Louis Felix Diat (May 5, 1885 – August 29, 1957) was a French-American chef and culinary writer. It is also believed that he created vichyssoise soup during his time at the Ritz Paris. Biography Childhood Diat was born in 1885 in Bourbon-l'A ...

ran the kitchens and is believed to have invented the modern

vichyssoise Vichyssoise ( , ), also known as potage Parmentier, velouté Parmentier, or crème Parmentier, is a thick soup made of boiled and puréed leeks, onions, potatoes, cream, and chicken stock. It is traditionally served cold, but it can be eaten hot. ...

there.

Vincent Sardi Jr. Vincent Sardi Jr. (July 23, 1915 – January 4, 2007) was an American restaurateur who owned and operated Sardi's restaurant, which was founded by his father Vincent Sardi Sr., for more than 50 years. He was dubbed as the "unofficial mayor of Broa ...

completed his training at the hotel before rejoining

Sardi's Sardi's is a Continental food, continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan, New Yo ...

, his family restaurant business. In the opening year, the Ritz-Carlton Company announced its intention to expand the hotel, adding 100 rooms, a 300-seat banquet hall, ballroom, and private dining rooms, all on the 46th Street side. Upon the death of the hotel's owner,

Robert Walton Goelet Robert Walton Goelet (March 19, 1880 – May 2, 1941) was a financier and real estate developer in New York City. He was one of the largest property owners in the city by the time of his death. Early life Robert Walton Goelet, nicknamed Bertie ...

, in 1941, he bequeathed the hotel, "free and clear of mortgage and restrictions" to his alma mater,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. The New York hotel was demolished in 1951, leaving only the Boston location.

Later operations

In 1982, Blakely licensed the Ritz-Carlton name to hotelier John Bennett Coleman for two hotels Coleman was renovating, The Fairfax in Washington, D.C., and the Navarro at 112 (now 110)

Central Park South 59th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, running from York Avenue and Sutton Place on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan to the West Side Highway on the West Side (Manha ...

in New York City. Coleman renamed them the Ritz-Carlton Washington D.C. and the Ritz-Carlton New York in April 1982. The two hotels eventually joined the modern chain that would be founded a few years later. Ritz-Carlton's management of the New York hotel ended in 1997, with the hotel joining the Sheraton chain and becoming a Westin, and later an InterContinental. The building was converted to a luxury

co-op 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 ...

in 2006. In 1999 Ritz-Carlton acquired the former Hotel St. Moritz in New York City. It was extensively renovated and re-opened in 2002 as a luxury hotel and condominium complex called the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.

References

{{Authority control 1911 establishments in New York City 1951 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 1951 Defunct hotels in Manhattan Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Demolished hotels in New York City Hotel buildings completed in 1911 Hotels established in 1911 Madison Avenue Midtown Manhattan