The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, owls, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

---------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

  

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Park Central Hotel facade detail.

------------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

Richard Prince print.... lobby Park Central Hotel

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

---------------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Park Central Hotel lobby - February 3, 2012

---------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Front desk reception at the Park Central Hotel

--------------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment window in New York and saw the sign "MONY". Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells:

 

"Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony

Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony"

--------------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

  

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

I'd like to be the ambassador to the Bahamas. - Eleanor Mondale

 

this is the port of nassau in the bahamas. we went on a cruise this past summer and it was amazzzing. this is literally from an app on my iPhone; i'm not promising it has superb quality and merging, i just thought it was cool and an interesting subject of the bahamian flag flying.

life update: i haven't uploaded in forever, i know. The college application process started, then in summer i was getting ready for college and then, trying to not fail out of college my first semester. all of this hasn't left much time for art, but maybe it'll lay off a little soon.

243|365 Feeling a bit scattered today....maybe I should lay off the NyQuil

 

SHOUT OUT TO ONE OF THE BEST GAMES ON FLICKR® - F64 Sign ups are underway for the next game. Get over there and sign up now. Go see what it is all about!

Why does pressing Down + B make Tanooki Mario turn into a statue...but really, nothing in the Mushroom Kingdom really makes much sense, does it now?

 

Andrew and I have a theory that perhaps Mario/Luigi/Peach are all having a bad trip on drugs and are just imagining all these insane things happening. Seriously-- lay off the shrooms, guys. I know they're everywhere, but get a hold of yourselves!

 

Maybe that's why you're encountering such ridiculous scenarios! A giant dinosaur guy that is trying to steal your woman and castle? An Invincibility Star? Sounds more like paranoia and short-lived euphoric feeling cocaine gives you! All the crazy colors and outrageous creatures? Perhaps a bad acid trip.

 

Don't do drugs, kids. Unless you want to spark an amazing imaginative world...wait a minute. Hahaha

 

All conspiracy theories aside, I love this series with all my heart...haha :D

 

If anyone would like to adopt these guys, they are waiting for you on my Etsy!

Getting my eye in after a long lay off!

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

The Manhattan Club is a time share "resort" affiliated with Resort Condominiums International (RCI).

------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Street side entrance for cityhouse - the hotel's 88-seat steakhouse.

-----------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

Microsoft is apparently cutting more of its team members, as a new report says that it has laid off 60 workers in Israel that helped to develop it’s HoloLens augmented reality technology. 30 of the team members were contracted workers and were laid off immediately while the other 30...

 

www.ms-hololens.com/microsoft-reportedly-lays-off-60-holo...

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief pelicans, sea lions and owls and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

---------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Starbucks now occupies the site of Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop - where in 1957 Albert Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

------------------------------

 

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

Heading into the Sierra foothills this weekend. Have a great Memorial Day, my US friends. The rest of you: have a great weekend. Promise to lay off the textures next week, LOL.

 

Large on Black

 

This, and the rest of my shots can be viewed on black on Flickriver

 

Click for more www.photostags.com/media/BhRigyJhUV3 by www.photostags.com/user/abdullah_evindar

"If an external factor is upsetting you, it is not the thing that you hear, but the value you give it to you, and you have the power to lift it from the center any moment," says Aurelius. The objects are what we mean to them. "So are people," adds John Berger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Park Central Hotel (formerly the Omni Park Central, The Park Sheraton)

870 7th Avenue

New York, NY

 

Front desk reception at the Park Central Hotel

---------------------------

Construction started in 1926 on the Park Central Hotel. The 25-story renaissance revival style building at 870 Seventh Avenue was designed by Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The 1,600 room hotel was named Park Central due to its close proximity to Central Park, its rooms though, did not have actual views of the park. Previously at this location was the Van Corlear apartment house, designed by Henry Hardenbergh for builder Edward Clark and put up in 1878.

 

Gronenberg & Leuchtag were noted for many of Manhattan's apartment buildings and for one previous hotel - the Times Square Hotel (now the Common Ground Times Square Building - housing for 652 low income individuals) built in 1922 located at 255 West 43rd Street.

 

The hotel was built for approximately $15 million in the pre-Depression building frenzy of the late-twenties; its grand opening took place on June 12, 1927. The NY Times described the hotel as 31-stories and had a swimming pool and an elaborate roof garden. The hotel's mural paintings were done by William Clark Rice and J Scott Williams. The hotel's lobby had wood carvings and marble designed by Leo Lentelli. In 1929 the hotel opened a sales office in Paris, France.

 

The owner was Harry A. Lanzer who operated the 1,600 room hotel through the Great Depression and managed to make ends meet and hold on to it until he sold it in 1948 to the Sheraton Corporation of America. Ernest Henderson, president of the Sheraton Corp., led the negotiations, and the Park Central Hotel became the 28th hotel within the Sheraton chain - renamed Park Sheraton Hotel.

 

*Arnold Rothstein Murder*

 

Arnold Rothstein was known coast to coast as the nation's most notorious gambler. He was heading to a meeting in room 349 of the Park Central Hotel on Sunday, November 4, 1928, but never made it. He was found shot and mortally wounded in a first floor service corridor at the Park Central Hotel.

 

Rothstein had lost $300,000 at a 3-day poker game in September of 1928 and refused to pay the debt. More famously he was known as the man behind the Black Sox scandal in which the 1919 World Series was fixed. No one is ever convicted of his murder. Rothstein's show biz girlfriend, Inez Norton, opens in the Broadway play "Room 349" at the National Theater (now the Nederlander Theatre) on April 21, 1930 - it closes after 15 performances.

 

*WPCH*

 

Prior to the Park Central opening the radio station WFBH (the Voice of Central Park) was given notice in 1927 its antenna located atop the Hotel Majestic would have to move since the Majestic was to be demolished. WFBH moved its broadcasting facilities and transmitting towers to the Park Central Hotel. The move to the Park Central Hotel ended the WFBH call letters and the station became known as WPCH, incorporating the new hotel's initials into their call sign. It seems that once the Park Central installed its electrical roof signage there were transmission problems and WPCH had to again relocate - this time to the Hotel McAlpin. WPCH went silent in 1933 and was absorbed by WMCA - named after its transmission tower location - the Hotel McAlpin.

 

*Wine Cellar*

 

Prohibition was lifted in 1933. The Park Central Hotel was opened without any consideration to the possibility of storing or serving alcoholic beverages. To prepare for the expected demand of wine and spirits the NY Times reported Park Central Hotel's Chief Steward, J.J. Mullins, authorized the excavation through the hotel's bed rock of a wine cellar some 30 feet below the hotel. The wine cellar would hold up to 150,000 bottles. In those days it was thought that vibrations from subways would rattle the wine and spoil it, hence the need to go in to the bedrock.

 

*Albert Anastasia Murder*

 

Albert Anastasia was a founder of the American Mafia. A Brooklyn gangster, he was an accomplished underworld enforcer, earning the nickname of "Lord High Executioner." Anastasia was gunned down in what was probably the most sensational public and daytime assassination in mob history.

 

On the morning on October 25, 1957, Anastasia went to his usual barber at Arthur Grasso's Barber Shop at the Park Sheraton Hotel for a shave and haircut. He sat in the fourth of twelve barber chairs manned by Joseph Bocchino. Starbucks is now located at approximately this location on the hotel's first floor at 55th Street and Seventh Avenue. According to www.mafiahistory.us two masked gunmen burst into the shop and unloaded handguns into the 55-year-old Anastasia's body. The former Murder Inc. chief was hit in his head, back, right hip and left hand. Witnesses said he lunged from the chair and attacked the reflection of his attackers in the mirror in front of him before collapsing dead in a pool of blood on the floor.

 

The murder has never been solved. The killing allowed Carlo Gambino to take control of the crime family that would now bear his name.

 

Two weeks after the killing the Park Sheraton Hotel attempted to evict the operator of the barber shop claiming the shop served objectionable patrons. Thomas C. de Veau, the Park Sheraton Manager said the Anastasia killing was a ghastly incident that resulted from Arthur Grasso's failure to heed the term of the lease for maintaining an orderly shop. The complaint alleged that Grasso solicited and encouraged the patronage in the barbershop of notorious underworld characters.

 

*Jackie Gleason*

 

In 1953 Jackie Gleason negotiated a two year deal with CBS TV to produce 39 episodes of the Honeymooners to be filmed live at the Adelphi Theater. Upon signing the contract Gleason leased a penthouse atop the Park Sheraton Hotel to be the headquarters of his entertainment company. The 7-room 23rd floor suite had a terrace and sweeping views of Manhattan. According to www.drunkard.com Gleason outfitted the penthouse with a pool table, dance studio and four bars, staffed by a live-in bartender. It resembled a sultan’s palace more than a place of business. Gleason used the penthouse from 1953 to 1957, the heady years of ''The Honeymooners.''

 

In 1987 the Omni Park Central Hotel named "the Great One's” penthouse suite ''The Jackie Gleason Suite''.

 

Hilton New York owned the Adelphi Theater (demolished in 1970) which was adjacent to the hotel and held the site for expansion. In 1989 an office tower 1325 Avenue of the Americas was built on the site.

 

*Eleanor Roosevelt*

 

Eleanor Roosevelt was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt and married her father's fifth cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was president from 1933 to 1945. After FDR's death, the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt rented suites at the Park Sheraton Hotel from 1950 to 1953. She returned to the Park Sheraton Hotel in 1958 as she waited for renovations on a new house to be completed. During the 1950's long term guests were using the 202 West 56th Street address (today 200 West 56th Street is the address for the Manhattan Club).

 

According to a 1956 Walter Winchell column it was Eleanor Roosevelt who forced the hand of hotel management to cover the bare breasted mermaids hanging from the Mermaid Room's ceiling. The room was celebrated for its Mermaids... but Eleanor Roosevelt complained the undraped sea sirens were indecent. Bras made of fish net were made to cover their frontages.

 

*The Mermaid Room*

 

The Mermaid Room was established on the main floor of the Park Central Hotel in the late 40's. Its fare was cocktails, steak, lobster lamb chops with dinner music 6.30 to 9.30pm and star entertainment from 10pm to 4am. The Mermaid Room had a large curvaceous bar and dance floor. It was known for its four very large terra cotta mermaids on the walls.

 

The Mermaid Room was designed by night club designer Franklin Hughes - live orchids in his night clubs was his signature. He also designed the decor for El Morocco and the Copacabana.

 

Irving Fields and his Trio found a home at the Mermaid Room and played for 16 years, 1950 to 1966. His hits included Miami Beach Rhumba and "Managua Nicaragua." Other Mermaid Room entertainers included pianist Belle Gale, Rosa Linda, The Milt Herth Trio, the Pepe Morreale Trio and the renowned organist, Ashley Miller.

 

*Cocktail Hostess Sues Widow of Park Sheraton Hotel Manager for Husband's Estate*

 

In 1952 Ralph H. Freeman was appointed General Manager of the Park Sheraton. He brought with him from the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago his mistress Delores Dunn, a cocktail lounge hostess. Freeman died unexpectedly in 1957 at the age of 54. A lawsuit was filed by Dunn against Freeman's widow for $100,000 claiming she had a relationship with Freeman for 8 years, that he induced her to move to New York and performed all the nursing, housework and cooking for him. Freeman had been a prominent hotelier serving as a director for the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau and a director for New York City Hotel Association. At his death he was the Sheraton Hotel's Regional Manager for the Atlantic Division.

 

*70's and 80's*

 

The Park Sheraton Hotel changed its name to the New York Sheraton in 1972. A press release issued by Jim Sheeran, the public relations spokesperson for the Sheraton chain said there was a corporate decision made to boost New York and the West Side of New York with the name change.

 

In May, 1983 V.M.S. Realty, a Chicago-based national real estate investment firm, acquired the New York Sheraton Hotel, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, from the Sheraton Corporation. V.M.S. paid $60 million for the 1,450- room hotel, at the time the city's fifth largest. V.M.S contracted with Dunfey Hotels Corporation (owned by Aer Lingus) to manage the hotel. Peter R. Morris, the chairman of V.M.S., called the acquisition a ''once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.'' He added that the company's decision to take over the Sheraton reflected its strong belief in the renaissance taking place on the West Side between Times Square and Lincoln Center. In January 1984 Dunfey changed the name to Omni Park Central. V.M.S. and Dunfey provided the 1,450 room hotel with $15 million in improvements. Philip Grosse was the Omni Park Central's general manager in 1984.

 

Since its beginning in 1977, V.M.S. has acquired 3,500 hotel and motel units. VMS was one of the largest real estate syndicators, raising more than $1.5 billion through more than 100 real-estate limited partnerships. The firm's hotel properties included the Boca Raton Hotel in Florida, Four Seasons Hotel in Santa Barbara, California and Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands. By 1989 VMS Realty Partners disclosed that it is suffering cash-flow problems and would replace its top management and lay off some of its 500 employees. The dismantling of VMS Realty Partners was one of the largest liquidations in real estate history.

 

*Ian Bruce Eichner and The Manhattan Club*

 

In 1995 New York developer Ian Bruce Eichner acquired the Omni Park Central Hotel in a bankruptcy sale from VMS Partners for $60.225 million. The hotel has more than 1,430 rooms and is the fifth largest in the city with more than 800,000 square feet. That translates into a purchase price of $42,115 per room. Upscale hotels were selling at that time for per room prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000. Eichner said the Sheraton hotel chain still held the first mortgage for V.M.S that had failed in the early 90's. Sheraton agreed to maintain the mortgage for Eichner who had bid $60 million -- or $20 million more than the next highest bidder.

 

Construction began in 1996 on a $40 million conversion of half the 26-story Park Central Hotel into New York City's first time-share condominium. Eichner would keep the eastern half of the building as a "lower-end hotel" with its entrance on Seventh Avenue. They would have separate lobbies, separate entrances, separate heating systems. The western half transformed to a 360-unit time-share operation called the Manhattan Club, with a new entrance on 56th Street. The "intervals" or weekly shares initial price for seven days' use a year of a 650-square-foot one-bedroom would be $15,000; a two-bedroom will be $23,000. Annual maintenance fees would average $575, including real estate taxes. Manhattan Club buyers would be able to trade their weeks for any one of Resorts Condominium International's (RCI) 3,500 locations in 85 countries. Eichner thought that if The Manhattan Club ever sells out, there is a whole other side-full of rooms to tap! A sell-out of the timeshares would produce more than $300 million.

 

Eichner was developing a product that had never before been offered in New York City. Eichner even negotiated with the hotel unions to come up with a set of job rules and qualifications for a time share project.

 

The 1996 cleaning of the hotel's 1925 Tuscan Renaissance facade -- found a beautiful mixture of arches, bas relief squirrels, deer and pelicans and Corinthian half columns that had been hidden for years by gold-colored aluminum panels.

 

In July 2011 Ian Bruce Eichner, the developer and the operator of The Manhattan Club, was sued for fraud by five buyers of time-shares in The Manhattan Club. According to the documents they are alleging fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.” The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite their attempts to book up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.

 

*Mony Mony*

 

The 1740 Broadway Building shares the block with the Park Central Hotel and was once the headquarters of the MONY (Mutual of New York). In 1968 the insignia "MONY" was located where *1740* is today. Tommy James was struggling with the lyrics for a new song when he looked out of his apartment building in New York and saw the sign "MONY".

 

Sung by Tommy James And The Shondells: "Here she comes now sayin' Mony Mony Shoot 'em down turn around come on Mony" …

 

*Recent Events*

 

In December 2004 the 935-room Park Central was sold by H. Park Central, LLC to Goldman's Whitehall Real Estate Funds and Highgate Hotels for $215,000,000 or $230,000 per room. Following this sell Bruce Eichner went on to develop the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas however, in 2008 he defaulted on a $768 million construction loan from Deutchse Bank. Deutchse foreclosed on Eichner and took control of the property.

 

In October 2010 owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels put the 1,000-room Park Central Hotel on the market. The hotel had recently received a $65 million renovation.

 

In a January 2012 press release Lasalle Hotel Properties (LHO) announced it acquired the 934-room Park Central Hotel in New York City for $396.2 million. Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties said “We remain excited about this well located New York City asset and our ability to acquire the hotel at an attractive purchase price.” Lasalle plans to implement a renovation of the hotel, currently estimated at between $30.0 and $35.0 million, including guestrooms and guest bathrooms, corridors and the hotel’s lobby. The renovation is expected to commence late 2012 and conclude during 2013. Highgate Holdings will continue to manage the Park Central.

 

All photos and text by Dick Johnson, February 2012

richardlloydjohnson@hotmail.com

212-832-0098

 

The Artemisia was built in Sunderland in 1847. The following is an extract from a report by the Illustrated London News from 1848 - when they inspected the vessel:

 

"We should first explain that it is not as generally known as it should be, that the Government gives free passage (including food), to New South Wales and South Australia, to agricultural labourers, shepherds, female domestic and farm servants, and dairy maids; also, to a few blacksmiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, and other country mechanics. The vessels are first-class, and proceed every month to Sydney and Port Philip, in New South Wales, and to Port Adelaide, in South Australia. The ships sail from London and Plymouth, where dépôts are fitted up for the emigrants.

 

The conditions may be learned from The Colonisation Circular, issued by her Majesty's Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, so that we need not here enter into the details. We may, however, mention that the emigrants must be of good character, and recommended for sobriety and industry. Each must provide himself with clothing and, on being accepted, must pay £1 10 shillings for every child under 14, as security that he will come forward and embark.

 

During the voyage they are placed under the exclusive superintendence of the surgeon, not only as their doctor, but as their sole superintendent and, on their arrival, a Government Agent gives advice as to wages, and places where they will get work. No repayment is required. ...

 

Saturday, July 29th, was the day fixed for the departure of the Artemisia. She lay off the stairs adjoining the Royal Dockyard at Deptford, near which, also, is the dépôt. This is a house rented by Mr. Cooper, who receives here any persons who may produce an 'Embarkation Order' for any ship chartered by the Government Commissioners. The premises are situated in Czar Street, Deptford, nearly upon the spot where Peter the Great, a century and half ago, learned practical shipbuilding. ... Here the applicants, provided they appear on the date specified in the Order, are boarded and lodged at two shillings per day, paid by the Commissioners; they are kept there until they have been examined as to the state of their health by the surgeon appointed to the ship in which they are to embark and by Lieutenant Lean, R.N., the Emigration Officer, and his assistant, Mr. Smith, as to their answering the description given of themselves as to their previous occupation. During their stay here, they are treated with kindness and attention. The above enquiries are, however, indispensable, and should the applicants appear in every respect eligible for free passage, arrangements are made for berthing and messing the passengers: a ticket with a number is a fixed to his or her berth; the bags and messing utensils are given out, and on the former is marked the number, so that each knows his or her berth, ongoing board. To each adult is also supplied bedding, which is put into the respective berths. These preliminaries usually occupy three days."

 

Queensland State Archives Image ID 21885

Pictures from the Vanarama National League North clash at Broadhurst Park between FC United of Manchester and Darlington.

 

The game finished in a hard fought 3-2 victory for Darlo. who were 2-0 up inside 27 minutes.

 

Hardy opended the scoring for the visitors latching onto a superb ball from Thompson before slipping the ball past the advancing keeper.

 

Quakers went two-up on 27 minutes but it should have been more as thye spurned a host of chnaces. Liam Marrs’ free-kick was headed down by Mark Beck for Hardy to lay off in turn for Thompson to fire across Frith.

 

Against the run of play United pulled a goal back on 42 minutes when Jason Gilchrist spotted Jameson off his line, and chipped the ball over the keeper followed by an equaliser on 66 minutes from Thomson.

 

A draw looked on the cards however with 10 minutes left subsititute Cartman cleverly found Purewal with an overhead kick for his fellow sub to charge up the left. His ball to the far post was blocked, but it came back out to Cartman, who struck a low shot that took a deflection and beat the keeper to make it 3-2. Darlo were able to weather a late storm to secure all 3 points!

The memorial of Overstrand are all arranged in order of date of death.

Below is a list of the names in alphabetical order. For more details on all of them see the panel shots of the War Memorial and the Roll of Honour in the church.

 

Great War

 

Ernest William Baxter 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 1st April 1894, Cromer. Baptised Cromer Resident Suffield Park, Cromer. Link to Overstrand not known. Brother of Francis Henry Baxter.

Died France & Flanders 22nd August 1918

 

Francis Henry Baxter 8th Battalion North.Staffordshire Regiment

 

Born 24th December 1897, Cromer. Baptised Cromer Resident Suffield Park, Cromer. Link to Overstrand not known. Brother of Ernest William Baxter.

Died France & Flanders 18th April 1918

 

Gilbert George Beckett RAF

 

Born 26th January 1879, Happisburgh. Baptised St Martin, Overstrand (1891). Family lived Harbord Road then, “Engadine”, Cromer Road, the “The Gables”. Father was Overstrand Sub-Postmaster. Gilbert is buried in the churchyard. Died 24th February 1919 in the UK.

 

Charles Arthur Betts 2nd/7th Battalion Worcestershire Regiment

 

Born 2nd October, 1893, Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School.Family lived at Cromer Road and then East Terrace. On the CWGC entry his father was living at Rose Cottage, The Londs.

Died 3rd December 1917 at Cambrai.

 

Victor John Bowden 6th Battalion (The Buffs) East.Kent Regiment

 

Born 28th October 1897, Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School.Family lived at Rectory Cottages. Died France & Flanders 16th May 1918.

 

Harold Bradbrook 9th Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 3rd January 1896, Overstrand. Lived Suffield Park. Died on the Somme, 15th September 1916.

 

Charles John Bumfrey 2nd Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment

 

Born 26th June 1888, Alby. Connection to Overstrand not known. Died Flanders 20th September 1917.

 

Claude Theodore Church 8th Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 10th September 1888, Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School. Family lived at 10, Gunton Terrace. Brother of Herbert Thomas, cousin of Herbert Smith, (see below for both). Died on the Somme, 2nd July 1916.

 

Herbert Smith Church 2nd/4th Battalion Royal.Berkshire Regiment

 

Born March 1885, Battersea, London. On the 1901 census living with his cousins Claude Theodore, (above) and Herbert Thomas, (below) at 10, Gunton Terrace. 1911 census has him living with his parents at 6 Harbord Road. Died Belgium, 10th September 1917.

 

Herbert Thomas Church Russian Armoured Car Brigade

 

Born July 20th 1899 Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School.Family lived at 10, Gunton Terrace. Brother of Claude Theodore, cousin of Herbert Smith, (see above for both). Died Baku, Russia, 15th October 1918.

 

Andrew John Clarke The Depot, Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 2nd April 1901, Bareilly, India.. Family lived Suffield Park and then The Bungalow, Royal Cromer Golf Club. Brother of Herbert Richard, see below. Connection to Overstrand not known. Died in the UK 22nd February 1919 and buried Cromer.

 

Herbert Richard Clarke 2nd/5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born July 1897 either Ranibet or Maurilet, India, (depending on source).Same details as brother Andrew John above except died in the UK 8th June 1915. He is also buried Cromer.

 

Sidney Frederick Worship Codling 12th Battalion (Kings.Own.Norfolk Yeomanry), Norfolk Regiment.

 

Born September 24th 1892 Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School. Family lived at the White Horse Hotel where his father was Innkeeper. He was lost off Alexandria, Egypt, when the troopship HMT Aragon was torpedoed and sunk on the 30th December 1917.

 

Arthur Harry Cook 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards - (the War Memorial in the churchyard have transposed the units for Arthur and his brother Sidney, (see below).

 

Born November 24th 1885, Chesham, Bucks. By the time of the 1911 census was serving as a Police Constable with the Norfolk Constabulary, in lodgings at Old Catton, near Norwich.. His widowed mother had moved to Cromer by the time of the same census. Immediate connection with Overstrand not known.

Died France 12th July 1916.

 

Sidney Isaac Cook 19th Battalion, The Kings Liverpool Regiment (the War Memorial in the churchyard have transposed the units for Sidney and his brother Arthur, (see above).

 

Born November 6th 1895, Gayton, Norfolk. By the time of the 1911 he was living with his widowed mother in Cromer. Immediate connection with Overstrand not known. Died on the Somme, 30th July 1916.

 

Henry Robert Comer 11th Battalion Norfolk Regiment (transferred to the Labour Corps)

 

Born 4th February 1883, Northrepps. Eductade at Overstrand School. By the 1911 census parents had moved to Overstrand but no exact address is shown. Died in the UK 29th August 1918 and is buried in Worcestershire.

 

Ronald William Cork Royal Naval Reserve (R.N.A.T)

 

Born June 1895 Trunch Norfolk, by 1901 census had moved to Overstrand, (Cromer Road). Educated Overstrand School. By 1911 at 5 East Terrace and his parents were later recorded at 3 “Elst” Terrace.

Lost when H.M Trawler Achilles 11 was torpedoed and sunk off Harwich on the 26th June 1918.

  

William Randell England 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 13th June 1895, Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School.Family lived at “Verona House”, Cromer Road. Father was the village baker and this was also his shop. Died Belgium 27th May 1915.

 

Wallace James Grace 2nd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment

 

Born Husborne Crawley, Bedfordshire. 21st December 1889. By the 1901 census family had moved to The Londs. Educated Overstrand School. Following enquiries it now appears Wallace went missing on the 31st July 1917 on the opening day of Passchendaele and that is the most likely date of his death. This is with odds with what is shown in the Book of Remembrance, where he is shown with a known death a year earlier, which is then replicated in all the date ordered memorials.

 

William M Hardingham 1st Battalion Royal Fusiliers

 

Born Booton, Norfolk circa 1887. Lived with his wife at Suffield Park. No obvious connection with Overstrand. He died in France and Flanders 11th June 1917.

 

Bertie Leonard Harvey 7th Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born North Walsham 26th July 1894. Parents subsequently moved to Suffield Park. Died in France and Flanders 16th July 1917.

 

Edward William Jarvis Royal Navy

 

Born 9th February 1884 Overstrand. Educated at Overstrand School. Family lived at 1, Rectory Cottages. Edward was lost when HMS Pathfinder was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea on the 5th September 1914.

 

Felix Marmaduke Kettle Royal Engineers

 

Born April 10th 1897, Roughton. No obvious Overstrand connection although Felix is buried in the churchyard. He died in the UK on the 6th December 1918.

 

William Lake 49th Battery Royal Field Artillery

 

Born circa 1872, Fakenham. Subsequently married a Cromer woman and moved to that town. No obvious Overstrand connection, although he is buried in the churchyard. William died in the UK on the 17th July 1915.

 

Charles Thomas Mills 2nd Battalion Scots Guards

 

Born London 13th March 1887 and was a Member of Parliament at the time of his death. He came from a wealthy banking famil who maintained a number of residences, including Overstrand Hall. He died in France and Flanders 6th October 1915.

 

Edward Henry Anthon Naylor Royal.Naval.Air .Service.

 

Born 25th June 1898, Letchmore Heath, Berkshire. By the time of the 1911 census the family has moved to The Pleasaunce, Gardens where it is likely that father and son were employed as gardeners. Edward completed his education at Overstrand School. He was wounded in Galicia while serving with the Russian Armoured Car Squadron, was repatriated to the UK where he died from his wounds on the 29th August 1917. He is buried in Overstrand churchyard.

 

Cyril W Paul 1st/5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born September 7th 1896, Overstrand. Educated at Overstrand School. Lived with family at 6 Gunton Terrace, Died November 2nd 1917, Gaza Palestine.

 

William John Pegg Royal.Warwickshire Regiment

 

Born 21st June 1890, Hackford, Norfolk. By 1911 had moved to The Cottage, Overstrand Hall. Completed education at Overstrand school. He is stated to have died as a result of a “swooping aircraft” while recovering at a Convalescent Hospital in the UK from wounds he sustained in France. This was on the 11th March 1919. He is buried in the churchyard.

 

Richard Ayres Ritchie 2nd Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born Ireland November 1891 he is possibly the “Dick” Ritchie recorded as a pupil at a boarding school in Suffield Park on the 1901 census. There is possibly also another member of the Ritchie family who had Overstrand connections by the time names were being sought for the memorial, (and possibly funds - Richard went to Sedbergh School and Trinity College, Oxford, while his probable brother Thomas - see below - went to Sedbergh and Pembroke College, Cambridge. Their parents are recorded as living on own means at such places as Mapplewell Hall and Nanpantan Hall in Leicestershire). Richard is said to have succumbed to his wounds in Mesopotamia on the 22nd November 1915.

 

Thomas Pearsall Ayres Ritchie 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade

 

Born 20th July 1894, Mapplewell Hall, Leicestershire. See Richard, his likely brother, above for details of what little there is in the way of an Overstrand connection. Richard died at St Eloi, France and Flanders, on the 15th March 1915.

 

Basil William George Roberts 1st Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 15th February 1895, Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School. Family lived at Gunton Terrace before moving to “Dundonald House” The Londs, Cliff Road. Died on the Somme, 31st July 1916

 

Ernest John Savory Royal Navy

 

Born 23rd September 1884, Hellington, Norfolk. No obvious Overstrand connection. Died in the Naval Hospital, Malta from Pneumonia, November 26th 1918. Brother of Sidney, (see below), but doesn’t appear to live with the family.

 

Sidney Robert Savory 1st Battalion Norfolk Rgt

 

Born 26th October 1894, Burgh, Aylsham, Norfolk. Lived Suffield Park. Died France 15th September 1914.

 

George Herbert Summers 2nd Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born 17th December 1889, Overstrand. Educated at Overstrand School, Lived The Londs. Died in a Turkish Prisoner of War camp on the 30th June 1917, having been captured at the siege of Kut.

 

John White 1st/4th Battalion Norfolk Regiment

 

Born Gorleston 1891.No obvious link with Overstrand. Died in Hospital in Cairo, Egypt, of acute Pneumonia, July 19th 1919

 

Sidney Robert Woodhouse 6th Battalion The Queens (Royal West Surrey Regiment)

 

Born 14th April 1894, Overstrand. Baptised Overstrand. Educated Overstrand School. Family lived at The Londs. Killed in action near Arras, July 17th 1917.

 

WW2

 

Robert Stephen Allen Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

 

Born 18th April 1923, Cromer. Parents lived Suffield Park. Died from illness in the UK, 2nd March 1942. Buried in the Cemetery extension at Overstrand.

 

Cecil George Bacon Royal Navy

 

Born 16th January 1899, Thorpe Market, Norfolk. Married in Overstrand 1923. Lived Cromer. Lost when HMS Bullen was sunk by a guided torpedo in the Pentland Firth, Scotland, 6th December 1944.

 

Frank Charles Cork Royal Naval Patrol Service.

 

Born Overstrand 10th August 1897. Baptised and educated Overstrand. Lived as a child at “East Dene”, Cromer Road. Lived with his wife at Overstrand. Was lost when H.M Drifter Ocean Retriever struck a mine in the Thames Estuary, 22nd September 1943

 

Ronald Victor Dennis 6th Battalion Kings.Own.Scottish.Borderers

 

Born circa 1923 Overstrand and educated in the village. Parents subsequently lived Cromer. Killed in the crossing of the Rhine, 26th March 1945.

 

Ronald Ralph Golden 1st Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment

 

Born Suffield Park 1917. He would also live in Suffield Park with his wife. Killed in an accident in the UK, 18th May 1943. Buried in the churchyard extension.

 

Alec Peter Gray Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

 

Born 4th August 1919, Suffield Park. Killed in bombing attack on Castelrosso by enemy aircraft in 28th October 1943. Buried at Castelrosso, a small island East of Rhodes in the Mediterranean.

 

Frederick William Grout Royal Army Supply Corps

 

Born Southrepps circa 1904. Captured by the Japanese, probably during the fall of Java, and died a Prisoner of War in Japan. Overstrand connection not known.

 

Henry Thomas George Hubbard 218 Squadron Royal Air Force

 

Born 22nd March 1922, Suffield Park .Disappeared whilst on his first operational sortie - mine laying off the Frisian Islands.

 

Bernard Sharpin Royal Naval Patrol Service

 

Born 23rd October 1909 Cromer. Lived Cromer. Overstrand connection not known. Killed with H M Trawler “Marsona” struck a mine when clearing a channel off Cromarty into the Firth on 4th August 1940.

 

Robert Tarling 460 Squadron Royal Air Force

 

Born in Epping in Essex on 19th April 1924. Lived Cromer. Overstrand connection not known. Lost on his crews first operational flight over Berlin, 3rd December 1943.

 

Donald Frank Tyson Royal Army Supply Corps

 

Born 1st August 1907 at Grimsby. Family moved to Cromer by the 1911 census. Married and lived in Aylsham. Overstrand connection not known. Went missing during the chaos that was the fall of France sometime between the 17/05/1940 and 26/05/1940.

 

Colin Thomas Watson Royal Navy.

 

Born on 13th October 1918 at Cromer. Family lived Cromer. Overstrand connection not known. Killed when Troopship “Empress of Canada” was sunk on the 13th March 1943, returning from the Far East.

 

Officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. In terms of land area, it is the largest country on the Mediterranean Sea, the second largest on the African continent after Sudan, and the eleventh-largest country in the world.

Algeria is bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, a few kilometers of the Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in the southwest, Morocco in the west and northwest, and the Mediterranean Sea in the north. Its size is almost 2,400,000 km2 with an estimated population of about 35,000,000. The capital of Algeria is Algiers.

Algeria is a member of the United Nations, African Union, OPEC. It also contributed towards the creation of the Maghreb Union.

 

Etymology

The name of the country is derived from the city of Algiers. A possible etymology links the city name to Al-jazā’ir, a truncated form of the city's older name of jazā’ir banī mazghanā, the Arabic for "the islands of Mazghanna", as used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.

 

In Classical times northern Algeria was known as Numidia, which included parts of modern day western Tunisia and eastern Morocco.

 

History

Algeria had been inhabited since prehistoric times by indigenous peoples of northern Africa, who coalesced eventually into a distinct native population, the Berbers.

After 1000 BC, the Carthaginians began establishing settlements along the coast. The Berbers seized the opportunity offered by the Punic Wars to become independent of Carthage, and Berber kingdoms began to emerge, most notably Numidia.

In 200 BC, however, they were once again taken over, this time by the Roman Republic. When the Western Roman Empire collapsed, Berbers became independent again in many areas, while the Vandals took control over other parts, where they remained until expelled by the generals of the Byzantine Emperor, Justinian I. The Byzantine Empire then retained a precarious grip on the east of the country until the coming of the Arabs in the eighth century.

 

Middle Ages

The two branches, Sanhadja and Zanata, were also divided into tribes, with each Maghreb region made up of several tribes. Several Berber dynasties emerged during the Middle Ages.

 

Arrival of Islam

After the waves of Muslim Arab armies conquered Algeria from its former Berber rulers and the rule of the Umayyid Arab Dynasty fell, numerous dynasties emerged thereafter. Amongst those dynasties are the Almohads, Almoravids, Fatimids of Egypt and Abdelwadids.

 

Having converted the Kutama of Kabylie to its cause, the Shia Fatimids overthrew the Rustamids, and conquered Egypt, leaving Algeria and Tunisia to their Zirid vassals. When the latter rebelled, the Shia Fatimids sent in the Banu Hilal, a populous Arab tribe, to weaken them.

 

Geography

Most of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and there are a few natural harbours. The area from the coast to the Tell Atlas is fertile. South of the Tell Atlas is a steppe landscape, which ends with the Saharan Atlas; further south, there is the Sahara desert.

 

The Ahaggar Mountains (Arabic: جبال هقار‎), also known as the Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, southern Algeria. They are located about 1,500 km (932 mi) south of the capital, Algiers and just west of Tamanghasset.

 

Algiers, Oran, Constantine, and Annaba are Algeria's main cities.

 

Other Info

 

Nome Oficial:

الجمهورية الجزائرية الديمقراطية الشعبية

Al-Jumhūrīyah al-Jazā’irīyah

ad-Dīmuqrāţīyah ash-Sha’bīyah

Kabile: Tagduda tamegdayt taɣerfant n Dzayer

 

Estabelecido:

Hammadid dynasty from 1014

- Ottoman rule from 1516

- French rule from 1830

- Independence from France July 5, 1962

 

Superficie:

2.381.741km2

 

Capital: Argel

 

Idiomas e dialectos:

Arabic, Algerian Saharan Spoken [aao] 100,000 in Algeria (1996). Population total all countries: 110,000. Moroccan border along the Atlas Mountains, northeast to Medea (south of Algiers), southeast to the Righ Wadi, south to 28 degrees latitude, as far as Plateau du Tademait, including some in the town of Tamanrasset. Also spoken in Niger. Alternate names: Saharan Arabic, Tamanrasset Arabic, Tamanghasset Arabic. Dialects: Structurally distinct from other Arabic. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

 

Arabic, Algerian Spoken [arq] 20,400,000 in Algeria (1996 Hunter). Population total all countries: 21,097,000. Also spoken in Belgium, France, Germany, Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Alternate names: Algerian. Dialects: Constantine, Algiers, Oran. Eastern Algerian and Tunisian dialects are close, and Western Algerian and Moroccan dialects are close. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

 

Arabic, Standard [arb] Middle East, North Africa. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Semitic, Central, South, Arabic

 

Chenoua [cnu] 4,764 (2000 WCD). Towns are Cherchell, Hamadia, Gouraya, Damous, Oued Damous, Larhat, Marceau, Sidi Amar, Nador, Tipaza, Sidi Mousa, Ain Tagourirt. Dialects: Lexical similarity 77% with Tachawit, 76% with Kabyle. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern

 

French [fra] 110,600 in Algeria (1993). Known more in the cities. Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French

 

Kabyle [kab] 2,537,000 in Algeria (1995). Estimates by some sources are up to 6,000,000 in Algeria (1998). 49,000 in Belgium. Population total all countries: 3,123,000. Grande Kabylie Mt. range, western Kabylia. Also spoken in Belgium, France. Alternate names: Tamazight. Dialects: Greater Kabyle, Lesser Kabyle. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Kabyle

 

Korandje [kcy] Tabelbala oasis. Classification: Nilo-Saharan, Songhai

 

Tachawit [shy] 1,400,000 (1993). South and southeast of Grand Kabylie in the Aurès Mountains. Alternate names: Chaouia, Chawi, Shawiya, Shawia, Tacawit. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Shawiya

 

Tachelhit [shi] Southern Algeria near the Moroccan border around Tabelbala. Alternate names: Tashelhit, Tashelhait, Tashelhayt, Tasoussit, Shilha, Southern Shilha, Tachilhit. Dialects: Susiua (Sus, Sousse). Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern berber

 

Tagargrent [oua] 5,000 (1995). South of Constantine, near Mzab. Ouargla and Ngouça are the main centers. Alternate names: Ouargla, Ouargli, Wargla. Dialects: Ouedghir (Wadi), Temacin, Tariyit. Related to Tumzabt, Temacine Tamazight, and Taznatit. Testing showed only moderate comprehension of Tumzabt. Tariyit is a possible dialect spoken by the Haratine (former slaves of the Ouargli people). Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Mzab-Wargla

 

Tamahaq, Tahaggart [thv] 25,000 in Algeria (1987). Population includes 20,000 Hoggar, 5,000 Ghat. Population total all countries: 62,000. Hoggar dialect in south Hoggar (Ajjer) Mountain area around Tamanghasset and south to the Niger border. The Ghat dialect is in southeast Algeria around Ganet and west. Also spoken in Libya, Niger. Alternate names: Tamachek, Tamashekin, Tomachek, Tuareg, Touareg, Tourage. Dialects: Hoggar (Ahaggaren, Ajjer, Tahaggart), Ghat (Ganet, Djanet). Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Tamasheq, Northern

 

Tamazight, Central Atlas [tzm] Western Algeria mountain area of Atlas and adjacent valleys to Taza, in the vicinity of Rabat, south near the Moroccan border. Alternate names: Middle Atlas Berber, Central Shilha. Dialects: South Oran. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Atlas

 

Tamazight, Temacine [tjo] 6,000 (1995). Vicinity of Temacine, Tamelhat, Ghomra, and Meggarin. Alternate names: Tougourt, Touggourt, Tugurt. Dialects: Related to Tumzabt, Tagargrent, and Taznatit. Possibly a dialect of Tagargrent, but not likely. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Mzab-Wargla

 

Tamazight, Tidikelt [tia] 9,000 (1995). Tidikelt, in the vicinity of Salah, and Tit in southern Algeria. Dialects: Tidikelt, Tit. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Tidikelt

 

Tarifit [rif] Along the coast, eastern Alteria to Arzeu. Alternate names: Tirifie, Riff, Rifi, Ruafa, Fifia, Rif, Northern Shilha, Shilha. Dialects: Arzeu, Igzennaian, Iznacen (Beni Iznassen). Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Riff

 

Taznatit [grr] 40,000 (1995). Isolated, around Timimoun, near the Touat Region and around 400 miles southwest of the Mzab. Dialects: Gourara (Gurara), Touat (Tuat, Tuwat). Related to Tumzabt, Tagargrent, Temacine Tamazight, but not as close as they are to each other. Low intelligibility of other Tamazight speech forms, including Tumzabt and Tagargrent. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Mzab-Wargla

 

Tumzabt [mzb] 70,000 (1995). Mzab Region 330 miles south of Algiers. 7 oases, Ghardaia being the principal one. Alternate names: Mzab, Mzabi, Ghardaia. Dialects: Only minor dialect variations. Related to Tagargrent, Temacine Tamazight, and Taznatit. Classification: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Northern, Zenati, Mzab-Wargla

 

Meaning of the country name:

The name Algeria is derived from the name of the city of Algiers (French Alger), from the Arabic word "الجزائر" (al-jazā’ir), which translates as the islands, referring to the four islands which lay off that city's coast until becoming part of the mainland in 1525; al-jazā’ir is itself short for the older name jazā’ir banī mazghannā, "the islands of (the tribe) Bani Mazghanna", used by early medieval geographers such as al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.

 

Description flag:

The national flag of Algeria (Arabic: علم الجزائر) consists of two equal vertical stripes, green and white, and in the centre bears a red star and crescent.

The flag came into order on July 3, 1962. A similar version existed during the exiled government of Algeria from 1958 to 1962.

The flag's design is inspired from the standard of Emir Abdel Kadir in the 19th century which consisted of two equal vertical bands, green and white, as well as being inspired from the flag of the Algerian Regency from the 16th to the 19th century, which consisted of a white crescent and star on a red background (the same as the modern flag of Turkey; the Algerian Regency was an autonomous member state of the Ottoman Empire).

The white colour is for peace, while the green is for Islam and the red is for the blood of the martyrs of the Algerian war of independence (1954 to 1962).

 

Coat of arms:

The Emblem of Algeria is the seal used by the government, and it is similar to the coat of arms of other nations. The current form of the emblem was adopted in 1976, but was only differentiated from previous one by the changing of the motto from French to Arabic. Contained on the emblem is the crescent that is also found on the Flag of Algeria, and is a symbol of Islam. The text that rings the emblem says in Arabic: Al Jumhūrīyah al Jazā'irīyah ad Dīmuqrāţīyah ash Sha'bīyah (in English: The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the country's official name).

Within the actual emblem, the hand of Fatima is featured right below the rising sun. The hand of Fatima is a traditional symbol of the region, the rising sun representing a new era. The rest of the symbols relate to agriculture and industry with the plants around the mountains and buildings standing for agriculture. The buildings standing for industry. The mountains representing the Atlas Mountains.

 

Motto:

"From the people and for the people"

 

National Anthem: Kassaman, نشيد وطني جزائري

 

1

قسما بالنازلات الماحقات

والدماء الزاكيات الطاهرات

والبنود اللامعات الخافقات

في الجبال الشامخات الشاهقات

نحن ثرنا فحياة أو ممات

وعقدنا العزم أن تحيا الجزائر

فاشهدو... فاشهدو... فاشهدو...

2

نحن جند في سبيل الحق ثرنا

وإلى استقلالنا بالحرب قمنا

لم يكن يصغى لنا لما نطقنا

فاتخذنا رنة البارود وزنا

وعزفنا نغمة الرشاش لحنا

وعقدنا العزم أن تحيا الجزائر

فاشهدو... فاشهدو... فاشهدو...

3

يا فرنسا قد مضى وقت العتاب

وطويناه كما يطوى الكتاب

يا فرنسا إن ذا يوم الحساب

فاستعدي وخذي منا الجواب

إن في ثورتنا فصل الخطاب

وعقدنا العزم أن تحيا الجزائر

فاشهدو... فاشهدو... فاشهدو...

4

نحن من أبطالنا ندفع جندا

وعلى أشلائنا نبعث مجدا

وعلى أرواحنا نصعد خلدا

وعلى هاماتنا نرفع بندا

جبهة التحرير أعطيناك عهدا

وعقدنا العزم أن تحيا الجزائر

فاشهدو... فاشهدو... فاشهدو...

5

صرخة الأوطان من ساح الفداء

فاسمعوها واستجيبوا للنداء

واكتبوها بدماء الشهداء

واقرأوها لبني الجيل غدا

قد مددنا لك يا مجد يدا

وعقدنا العزم أن تحيا الجزائر

فاشهدو... فاشهدو... فاشهدو...

 

Transliteration

 

Qassaman Binnazilat Ilmahiqat

Waddimaa Izzakiyat Ittahirat

Walbonood Illamiaat Ilkhafiqat

F'Iljibal Ishshamikhat Ishshahiqat

Nahno Thurna Fahayaton Aw ma maaat

Wa Aqadna Alazma An Tahya Aljazair

Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo!

 

Nahno Jondon Fi Sabil Il hakki Thorna

Wa Ila Isstiqlalina Bilharbi Kumna.

Lam Yakon Yossgha Lana Lamma Natakna

Fattakhathna Rannat Albaroodi Wazna.

Wa Azafna Naghamat Alrashshashi Lahna

Wa Aqadna Alazmat An Tahya Aljazair.

Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo!

 

Nahno min Abtalina Nadfaoo Jonda

Wa Ala Ashlaina Nassnaoo Magda.

Wa Ala Hamatina Narfao Bandaa.

Gabhato' Ltahreeri Aataynaki Ahda

Wa Aqadna Alazma An Tahya Aljazair.

Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo!

 

Sarkhato 'lawtani min Sah Ilfida

Issmaooha Wasstageebo Linnida

Waktobooha Bidimaa Ilshohadaa

Wakraooha Libany Iljeeli ghada.

Kad Madadna Laka Ya Majdo Yada

Wa Aqadna Alazma An Tahya Aljazair.

Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo! Fashhadoo!

 

English

 

We swear by the lightning that destroys,

By the streams of generous blood being shed,

By the bright flags that wave,

Flying proudly on the high mountains,

That we have risen up, and whether we live or die,

We are resolved that Algeria shall live -

So be our witness -be our witness - be our witness!

 

We are soldiers in revolt for truth

And we have fought for our independence.

When we spoke, none listened to us,

So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm

And the sound of machine guns as our melody,

We are resolved that Algeria shall live -

So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

 

From our heroes we shall make an army come to being,

From our dead we shall build up a glory,

Our spirits shall ascend to immortality

And on our shoulders we shall raise the standard.

To the nation's Liberation Front we have sworn an oath,

We are resolved that Algeria shall live -

So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

 

The cry of the Fatherland sounds from the battlefields.

Listen to it and answer the call!

Let it be written with the blood of martyrs

And be read to future generations.

Oh, Glory, we have held out our hand to you,

We are resolved that Algeria shall live -

So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

 

Internet Page: www.el-mouradia.dz

www.algeria.com

www.apn-dz.org/apn/english/index.htm

 

Algerie in diferent Languages

 

eng | cos | cym | fao | fin | ina | ita | lld | nor | roh | ron | sme | srd | swa: Algeria

deu | ltz | nds: Algerien / Algerien

bre | eus | lin: Aljeria

fra | jnf | nrm: Algérie

ces | slk: Alžírsko

cor | hat: Aljeri

dan | swe: Algeriet

dsb | hsb: Algeriska

fry | nld: Algerije

ind | msa: Aljazair / الجزائر; Algeria / الڬيريا

kin | run: Algeriya

tur | zza: Cezayir

afr: Algerië

arg: Alcheria; Archelia

ast: Arxelia

aze: Əlcəzair / Әлҹәзаир

bam: Alizeri

bos: Alžir / Алжир

cat: Algèria

crh: Cezair / Джезаир

csb: Algerskô

epo: Alĝerio

est: Alžeeria

frp: Alg•èrie

fur: Algjerie

gla: Aildiria; An Ailgear

gle: An Ailgéir / An Ailgéir

glg: Alxeria

glv: Yn Algear

hau: Aljeriya

haw: ʻAlekelia

hrv: Alžir

hun: Algéria

ibo: Aljiria

isl: Alsír

jav: Aljazair; Algeria

kaa: Aljir / Алжир

kab: Dzayer / ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ

kmr: Alcizaîr / Алщьзаир / ئالجزائیر; Aljîr / Алжир / ئالژیر; Cizîre / Щьзирә / جزیره; Cizîr / Щьзир / جزیر

kur: Cezayir / جەزایر; Cezayîr / جەزاییر

lat: Algeria; Algerium

lav: Alžīrija

lim: Algerieë

lit: Alžyras

mlg: Alzeria; Aljeria

mlt: Alġerija

mol: Algeria / Алӂерия

oci: Argeria

pol: Algieria

por: Argélia

que: Alhirya

rmy: Aljeriya / आल्जेरिया

rup: Algheria

scn: Algirìa

slo: Alzxeria / Алжериа

slv: Alžirija

smg: Alžīrs

smo: Aleteria

som: Aljeeriya; Jasaa’ir

spa: Argelia

sqi: Algjeria

szl: Algerja

tet: Arjélia

tgl: Alherya; Arhelya

ton: ʻAsilia

tuk: Jezaýyr / Җезайыр; Aljir / Алжир

uzb: Jazoir / Жазоир; Aljir / Алжир

vie: An-giê-ri

vol: Laljerän

vor: Alžeeriä

wln: Aldjereye

wol: Alseeri

zul: iAlijeriya

alt | bul | che | chm | chv | kjh | kom | krc | kum | mkd | oss | rus | tyv | udm: Алжир (Alžir)

kir | mon: Алжир (Alǧir)

abq: Алжир (Ałžir)

ava: Жазаир (Žazair); Алжир (Alžir)

bak: Алжир / Aljir

bel: Алжыр / Ałžyr; Альжыр / Alžyr

kaz: Алжир / Aljïr / الجير; Жезаир / Jezaïr / جەزاير

kbd: Джэзыл (Džăzəl); Алжир (Alžir)

srp: Алжир / Alžir

tat: Җәзәир / Cäzäir; Алжир / Aljir

tgk: Алҷазоир / الجزائر / Alçazoir

ukr: Алжир (Alžyr)

ara: الجزائر (al-Ǧazāʾir)

fas: الجزایر (al-Jazāyer)

prs: الجیریا (Aljīriyā); الجیریه (Aljīrīyâ)

pus: الجيريا (Aljīriyā); الجيريه (Aljīriyâ); الجزائر (al-Jazāʾir); الجزاير (al-Jazāyir)

uig: ئالجىرىيە / Aljiriye / Алҗирия

urd: الجزائر (al-Jazāʾir); الجیریا (Aljīriyā / Aljeriyā)

div: އަލްޖީރިއާ (Aljīri'ā)

heb: אלג׳יריה (Aljîryah)

lad: ארג'יליה / Ardjelia

yid: אַלזשיר (Alžir)

tzm: ⵍⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ / Ldzayer

amh: አልጄሪያ (Ăljeriya); አልጄርያ (Ăljerya)

ell-dhi: Αλγερία (Algería)

ell-kat: Ἀλγερία (Algería)

hye: Ալժիր (Alžir)

kat: ალჟირი (Alžiri)

hin: अल्जीरिया / अलजीरिया (Aljīriyā); अल्जेरिया (Aljeriyā); एलजीरिया (Eljīriyā)

ben: আলজেরিয়া (Āljeriyā); এলজিরিয়া (Eljiriyā)

pan: ਅਲਜੀਰੀਆ (Aljīrīā)

kan: ಅಲ್ಜೀರಿಯ (Aljīriya)

mal: അല്ജീറിയ (Aljīṟiya); അല്ജീരിയ (Aljīriya)

tam: அல்ஜீரியா (Aljīriyā)

tel: అల్జీరియా (Aljīriyā)

zho: 阿爾及利亞/阿尔及利亚 (Ā'ěrjílìyà)

yue: 阿爾及利亞/阿尔及利亚 (Àgèileiha)

jpn: アルジェリア (Arujeria)

kor: 알제리 (Aljeri)

bod: ཨར་གེ་རི་ཡ་ (Ar.ge.ri.ya.); ཨར་གི་རི་ཡ་ (Ar.gi.ri.ya.)

mya: အယ္ဂ္ယီးရီးယား (Ɛjìẏìyà)

tha: แอลจีเรีย (Ǣnčīriya)

lao: ອານເຍຣີ (Ānñēlī)

khm: អាល់ហ្សេរី (Alhserī)

 

Highland Park High School / Junior College / Career Academy

In many ways, the histories of Detroit and Highland Park – a separate city located within the borders of Detroit –are very similar. Both cities experienced tremendous growth as a result of the automobile industry, and built up their city services to meet demand. Both cities lost population after the auto industry left. And today, both cities are struggling with how to provide the same city services to fewer people with less tax revenue. Budget cuts have led to the closure of most of Highland Park’s fire stations, libraries, and schools.

 

A three-block stretch of Highland Street running west from Woodward Avenue was one the civic center of the city. Along Highland and nearby streets were five schools, three churches, two hospitals, and the main library, mixed in with ornate high-rise apartment buildings. In this densely populated neighborhood one could be born, baptized, attend nursery school, elementary school, high school, and college, all without going more than three blocks in any direction. Right at the center of the neighborhood is the old Highland Park High School and Junior College, a block-long slab of quarry-faced limestone that played an important role in the development of Highland Park from an obscure village into an industrial boomtown.

 

Early days in Highland Park

 

In 1900, Highland Park was just a small village north of Detroit, population 427. Through the early 1900’s, the city grew as Detroit developed north along Woodward Avenue, spurring residential development. In 1907, Henry Ford began to move his automobile production from the Piquette Avenue Plant in Detroit to a new, much larger factory located in Highland Park. The factory opened in 1909; a year later the population of Highland Park had risen to 4,120 as workers quickly built up neighborhoods around the Ford plant.

 

Like other early school districts, Highland Park Schools taught from Kindergarten to the 8th grade level, at which point young adults were expected to join the workforce. Starting in 1911, high school courses were introduced, with 42 students enrolled in 9th and 10th grade levels at Stevens Elementary, then moved to the new Ferris School when it opened in November. The next year 11th and 12th grades were introduced. Demand for higher education was enough that by 1912, plans were underway to build a dedicated high school building.

 

Building a new high school

 

Initially the board of education wanted to build the new high school east of Woodward Avenue, at Farrand and John R Streets, but instead settled a large rectangular parcel of land along Glendale Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. Though the high school would take up only a small part of the land, school officials wanted additional space to expand the school if needed. Excavation at the site began as the first high school class of 14 students graduated from Ferris School in 1913. In 1914, a contract for construction of the new building designed by Wells D. Butterfield was awarded for $460,000. It could comfortably seat 1,000 students, though it was believed that it would be quite a few years before the school reached capacity.

 

The first unit of Highland Park High School was of English type architecture, laid out with a central mass three stories tall, with two end wings linked by classrooms. The east wing had a 1,100-seat auditorium, and the west wing featured a three-story gymnasium and basement swimming pool. In the center were school offices, a library, and recitation rooms. The exterior was done up in quarry-faced gray limestone, with mouldings and detail work of dressed Bedford stone. Inside the school were long hallways of Caen stone and ornamental carved oak. Dedicated classrooms included sewing, carpentry, machine tooling, botany, chemistry, and drawing.

 

The cornerstone was laid down in October of 1914. Construction on the high school had progressed far enough that by June of 1915, the auditorium was used for graduation as work on the rest of the building continued. The new building was scheduled to formally open in September, but even before then school administrators were facing an unanticipated problem: overcrowding.

 

Expansion

 

Between 1910 and 1916, the population of Highland Park grew from 4,100 to 28,000. By 1920 there would be 46,500 residents, a staggering 1,000% increase in population over just 10 years. Workers from across the globe were drawn to Detroit and Highland Park in particular, by the Ford factory and its promise of a $5 a day wage. The assembly line had revolutionized the way that cars were made, and in doing so, made Highland Park the center of the automotive revolution. The school board found itself with hundreds of new students every year, requiring hasty additions to existing school buildings, and the construction of new schools in neighborhoods that were springing up around town.

 

By the time Highland Park High School opened in September of 1915, enrollment far exceeded expectations, with 850 students signing up. In 1916, just a year after it opened, that number grew to over 1,000 high school students, filling the school to capacity. Plans for a second unit of the high school for 1,500 additional students to be built next to the first were immediately drawn up, with construction beginning in 1917.

 

Though the second unit of the high school used identical building materials and same English styling as the first, it was laid out differently. Initially the second unit was intended to be a high school for girls and a junior college, and was built with its own separate gymnasium and swimming pool. Instead of a second auditorium, a larger library and additional classrooms were set aside for a junior college program that would share the building with the girl’s high school. The new high school for girls opened in September of 1918, with a total enrollment of 1,525 students. Highland Park Junior College opened in 1918 as well, with 35 students. Course offerings included French, rhetoric, history, chemistry, zoology, and analytic geometry.

 

Within a few years the two high school programs merged and became co-ed. In 1927, a vocational education building including an automobile repair lab was built to south of the school, connected by an overhead walkway. A further addition to the vocational wing was added in 1938, and the auditorium was renovated in 1939. The high school thrived, with as many as 3,000 students and a host of extracurricular activities, including athletics, homemaking, and a school radio station.

 

Great Depression, Second World War

 

Enrollment at Highland Park Junior College steadily increased to around 300 students by the 1920’s, but slowed in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Lack of adequate space and a drop in the number of students to 159 in 1929 nearly led to the closure of college, but the residents of Highland Park voted to keep it open. This paid off in the long run, as after the Second World War ended enrollment skyrocketed from 117 in 1943 to 1,800 in 1947 as veterans returning to Highland Park used the GI bill to pay for college education.

 

By the 1940’s, population in Highland Park had peaked. Ford had moved auto production out of Highland Park to a new factory in the suburbs in 1927, and moved its headquarters to Dearborn in 1930. The construction of freeways made it easier for people to live outside the city, hastening an outward flight or residents to the suburbs. The racial composition of Highland Park changed as well. By 1968, over half of the 4,488 students were black, while teachers and administrators were mostly white. Sit-ins protesting the lack of diversity in the school administration were frequent in 1969.

 

The high school moves out

 

As part of a district-wide modernization program, several older schools in Highland Park were demolished and replaced with newer buildings in the 1950’s and 60’s. A nursery school was built on the south side of the campus in 1950, and an elementary school was built a block south in 1961. Plans for a new, modern high school to be built north on Woodward Avenue were drawn up in the early 1970’s, which would replace the existing school. The junior college (now a community college) would take over the entire building and expand its vocational offerings.

 

Construction on the new building was already underway when on the evening of March 18th 1975, a large fire broke out in the gymnasium of the old high school. Stacks of rolled-up wrestling mats were set alight as a practical joke, but the blaze quickly spread out of control, causing the roof and floor to cave into the basement swimming pool. The fire burned for over five hours as firefighters from Highland Park, Detroit, and Hamtramck struggled to contain it to just the gymnasium. While smoke and water damage throughout the high school were repaired fairly quickly, repairing the gymnasium was estimated to cost over $600,000. Since the high school was moving out in the near future, athletics were moved over to the community college building, which had its own pool and gymnasium. In 1977, the new Highland Park Community High School on Woodward Avenue opened, and the community college took over the Glendale campus. A temporary roof was built over the shell of the burned-out gymnasium, as administrators struggled with what to do next.

 

Not wishing to demolish the handsome limestone façade of the gym, the wing sat empty until 1983, when the community college approached Bloomfield Hills landscape architect James Scott about reusing the space. Scott envisioned turning the empty hall into a “multi-purpose concourse” and performing arts space, linking the two units together. Within a few days his ideas went from sketches to planning, and work began a short time later. The swimming pool, into which burning debris from above had been dumped, was covered by a new floor and sealed off. The open area above was a mix of the old and new, retaining the limestone wall of the adjacent gym, but incorporating modern styling throughout. Hexagons were the dominant theme, with planters turning the concourse into a green space. Work on the renovation concluded in 1985. In the years after the space was used for concerts, special events, and art galleries.

 

Community college struggles

 

Though enrollment at Highland Park Community College was 2,000 to 3,000 through most of the 1980’s, the college operated at a deficit that had grown to $1.4 million dollars by 1989. In an effort to save money, school administrators cut the LPN and respiratory therapy programs, sparking a four-day sit in strike by students. Though the administration reverses its decision, the financial situation continued to deteriorate, with accusations of rampant misuse of funds. After missing two consecutive annual audits, Michigan Governer John Engler began to withhold state funding for the college, as investigators report that Highland Park Community College “had the worst facilities of any community college in the state.”

 

In February of 1995, Governor Engler announced that all funding for the college would be stripped from the budget due to chronic financial and academic problems, stating, “Though the college has a long and distinguished tradition, it has become apparent that it is no longer an economically viable institution." Local representatives fought hard to keep the school open, arguing that it was making progress in fixing its financial situation and that the loss of the school would be devastating to Highland Park’s troubled economy. By December of 1995 the college had run out of money, and closed down.

 

Highland Park Career Academy, Final Years

 

The immediate impact of the closing of Highland Park Community College was that students were stranded in mid-study, some just a semester away from graduation. Though other nearby colleges tried to accommodate students, many never finished their studies, and walked away from secondary education. While elected officials fought to get funding restored, the school reopened as the Highland Park Career Academy, offering an alternative high school program and vocational training for students and young adults in the fields of nursing, dental hygiene, and auto repair. In 2001, the Ford Motor Company opened an automotive training center in the vocational education building, complete with demonstration cars.

 

Highland Park City Schools steadily lost students through the 2000’s, with K-12 enrollment falling to 2,700 by 2008 as students were lured away to other nearby school districts. As schools were funded by the state on a per pupil basis, this led to a major revenue shortfall for Highland Park. On January 23rd, 2009 the school board shut down the career academy with no official notification to parents, laying off 36 teachers to close the budget gap. Students were again left in the lurch with the cancellation of their programs, with few options for continuing their studies elsewhere. and leaving students stranded in mid-study. Only seniors were allowed to stay at the school until the end of the school year, with the remaining students to attend night school at Highland Park Community High School. However, the first scheduled night of classes was canceled without explanation. Most students dropped out, and the building closed for good in the summer of 2009.

 

For over 90 years, the old high school and college had been the center of Highland Park’s education system. By the time the school closed, the neighborhood and city around it had changed considerably. Ferris School and the hospitals closed in the 1990’s, along with the main library in 2002. The nursery school closed permanently in 2005. Most of the apartment buildings along Glendale and Highland had been vacated years ago, leaving large gaps in the fabric of the neighborhood. In the end, the closing of the career academy wound up costing the school district a large amount of funding, as students dropped out or left for other school districts. With just 969 students enrolled in 2012, the state of Michigan declared a financial emergency, and the Highland Park City Schools were taken over by a state emergency financial manager, who converted the district into a privately operated charter school system.

 

The new charter school operator found that the three remaining school buildings – Highland Park Community High, Ford, and Barber – were in terrible disrepair, and required proximately expensive work to be brought up to standards. In early 2012, school officials started looking at consolidating all of the schools into one K-12 as a way to save money. One alternative discussed was the reopening of the old high school and college building, which was large enough to support all of the students left in the district. The emergency manager visited the closed building in February to see if it would viable to reopen.

 

Since its closing in 2009, the old high school and college had been frozen in time, with little more than security and routine maintenance being carried out in its empty halls and classrooms. Though fairly secure for a few years, when the state took over the Highland Park City Schools, patrols at the closed building had been discontinued, leaving the school briefly open to scrappers and metal thieves. In the short time between the state takeover and the resumption of security at the school, scrappers had done enough damage to make reopening the school cost prohibitive. The plan was abandoned in favor of letting the three remaining schools stay open.

 

In the years since, scrappers and vandals have dismantled the old Highland Park High School. When the local Police department set up two non-working squad cars in the back of the building to deter people from entering, the cars were vandalized and removed less than a month later. In October of 2012 the windows of the school were boarded up, but by that time the damage had been done. The property was put up for sale with an asking price of $3 million dollars.

Spazz needs to lay-off the coffee.

I was useless today. I woke up at about 10:30 in the morning and basically just hung around like a deadweight all day. Some of our family stayed with us on the weekend, so I had breakfast with them (they had bacon and eggs, I had an orange - stupid hangovers) before they went home. My sister's family then came over for a little while. I then sat around reading, and I watched Marie Antoinette. After that I had dinner and watched Australian Idol (my current favourite is Mark Spano).

 

I tried to do some cleaning and get myself organised, but that didn't last long. I found these shoes under my bed. I know a lot of people think they're fug (they're Sam Edelman rip-offs of those Balenciaga boots), but I don't care. I love them. The only problem is that I could never wear them before; after ten minutes I was in searing pain. I put them on today and walked around for a while. They seem to be a lot better now that I've gone back to wearing heels often, but I'll still need practice. They make me 6 feet tall, which I love. I wish I was that tall for real.

 

I've managed to do almost no work this weekend, so I just know that tomorrow is going to be shithouse. There's nobody to blame but myself though. I just have to lay off the drinking.

 

In more exciting news: it's my birthday next week, and my uncle and aunty who were staying with us this weekend usually send me some money in the post. This year my aunty put money in with my mum to buy me a fancy, big blender. I have always wanted a good blender, but we've only ever had those little plastic ones that attach to food processors. I HATE those, so I never used them. Now I have a beautiful blender, which I hope will help in my quest to become a better cook.

www.cnbc.com/2022/11/10/meta-twitter-salesforce-tech-layo...

 

Thousands at Meta, Twitter, Salesforce lost jobs this week—the shock could ripple through the economy for months

 

Tens of thousands of tech workers have been laid off within days, as tech giants including Meta, Twitter, Salesforce and others shed headcount going into the final stretch of the year. At least 20,300 U.S. tech workers were let go from their jobs in November, and more than 100,000 since the beginning of the year, according to Layoffs.fyi, which tracks layoffs in the field.

 

Tech workers reported huge drops in confidence in their job security through the summer, as news of layoffs, hiring freezes and rescinded offers put a damper on what’s so far been a worker-driven Covid pandemic recovery.

 

But the latest headlines are all converging at once as businesses course-correct on over-hiring and acknowledge how rising interest rates are thwarting their growth plans, says ZipRecruiter chief economist Julia Pollak.

 

She says layoff numbers, even in the thousands, are “not surprising” given how the Fed’s raising of interest rates has made it harder for companies to borrow, caused stock prices to dip and makes U.S. products too expensive for foreign markets.

 

The latest economic volatility disproportionately affects tech and could impact other downstream industries, Pollak adds.

 

How tech layoffs could impact the economy

 

Tech sector cuts will have a ripple effect: Fewer companies prepare to go public, so investment banks take a hit. Companies work to quickly conserve cash by slashing advertising spending, which also impacts media companies. Companies reduce their workforce and suddenly don’t need HR staff and recruiters anymore.

 

And junior-level workers will be hardest hit “as companies tighten their hiring needs and focus on experienced talent when filling new roles,” says Josh Brenner, CEO of the tech jobs marketplace Hired.

 

With all that said, layoffs have “so far been concentrated in narrow industries in Silicon Valley and Wall Street,” Pollak says, and are “still offset by tremendous economic resilience on Main Street,” where employers are struggling to hire to keep pace with consumer demand in travel, hospitality, leisure and other service sectors.

 

Hiring is still strong despite economic headwinds, according to the Labor Department’s latest jobs report, and Pollak says employers are adding 60% more jobs each month than prior to Covid. Jobs in health care and within major enterprises of 5,000-plus workers are doing especially well. Layoffs remain historically low at 1.3 million, or under 1% of the workforce, and there are still nearly two job openings for every available worker.

 

Pollak says that as of October, 2022 is the best year on record (since 2000) for having the lowest number of layoffs per month. That could change in the last months of the year, at which point it could fall just behind 2021′s record-low layoff numbers.

 

Even with tens of thousands of tech workers laid off this month, “in aggregate, it’s still largely offset by what’s happening in blue collar industries and manual service industries where companies are hoarding workers and very reluctant to let them go,” Pollak says.

 

Laid-off workers still have opportunities, just maybe not in the tech sector

 

Newly laid off workers will face more competition on the job market, which since 2021 has favored workers able to negotiate for big pay raises, better hours, flexible schedules and generally better jobs.

 

With that said, Pollak says, “many tech companies with strong profit margins are seeing their revenue grow or are holding steady, and are still continuing to hire. At companies struggling to find talent in the last year, talent acquisition teams are sitting at the ready to download the spreadsheets listing laid-off workers and start making calls.”

 

Brenner agrees, referencing Hired’s 2022 state of tech salaries report showing “the window to acquire tech talent has narrowed, and employers continue to widen their talent pipelines to ensure they get the top talent needed.”

 

Tech workers, and workers at tech companies, will still have lots of job opportunities at smaller companies and outside the tech industry, Pollak says — including health care, retail, the government and even agriculture. Tech job seekers on Hired are also flocking to financial services jobs, Brenner adds.

 

Most tech job seekers stay within the industry, but they have other options. According to ZipRecruiter data, 74% of tech workers who started a new job within the last six months stayed within the tech sector, according to an October survey of 2,500 Americans.

 

Among the 26% who found work in other industries, 6% went into retail or e-commerce, 5% went to work for a financial tech company, 2% moved to health care, and 2% moved to professional business services.

 

“Workers will likely have to take less attractive offers than they found in the heart of the tech sector,” she adds, “but these will continue to be relatively highly paid jobs with attractive career growth prospects, enormous flexibility and autonomy.”

 

A final thought, Pollak adds, is how tech-sector tumult could motivate some people to start their own companies.

 

“Many of today’s best household-name tech companies started in the shadow of the Great Recession,” she says, such as Airbnb, Uber and Dropbox. “This is obviously not the best financing environment to start a company, but we could still see some people becoming entrepreneurial through necessity. With a lot of tech geniuses dumped out on street at once, they might find each other and build the scrappy tech startup that could become the next FAANG company.”

 

www.yahoo.com/finance/news/happen-laid-off-tech-workers-1...

 

What will happen to laid-off tech workers on H-1B visas?

 

After a hiring spree for technical jobs during the pandemic, some big-name companies, including Meta, Twitter, and Stripe, are changing course and starting to lay off workers. The layoffs could be particularly hard for workers on H-1B visas, who will need to find a job within 60 days or leave the US unless they change their visa status.

 

Tech companies in the US depend heavily on foreign workers, particularly from India and China. For years, these companies have said there’s a shortage of workers with the needed technical skills, so they turn to the H-1B program to hire workers from overseas to fill specialty roles.

 

So what’s next for these workers if they are no longer needed by their employers?

 

The options for tech workers on H-1B visas

 

Immigration lawyers say that laid-off workers who intend to stay on an H-1B visa have a 60-day grace period in which they need to find and file another H-1B visa from another employer. If not, they will have to leave the country. Other options include going back to school and changing their status to a student visa to buy more time. Some may choose to apply for a B-2 visa to extend their time in the US.

 

For employees on H-1B visas who are on track to get a green card, losing their job could hurt their chances of receiving the green card to become a permanent resident of the US, unless they are far along in the approval process. A layoff can be particularly disruptive for people in this group, as many have mortgages or are putting kids through college in the US, says Poorvi Chothani, the founding partner at LawQuest, an immigration law firm based in Mumbai, India.

 

The current tech hiring landscape

 

How hard will it be for affected workers to get new jobs? It depends in part on where they are willing to go.

 

Chothani notes that the skills of these workers are in high demand, often in excess of what’s available through the H-1B program. She says clients tell her there aren’t enough qualified workers willing to take up jobs, for instance, in North Dakota or Idaho. “There is room for them to get jobs,” she said.

 

The US labor market is still tight overall, as layoffs have been concentrated either at big tech companies or unprofitable ones.

 

“We know that there are many H-1B workers who will be affected by that layoff,” said Richard Block, a partner at Lewis Brisbois, who focuses on business immigration law. “My suspicion or belief is that there are still quite a few US employers that would be willing to hire those individuals.”

 

He shares that one of his clients recently changed to a policy of no longer sponsoring H-1B workers, but was having such difficulty finding workers with the necessary skills that they reverted to their old policy.

 

Immigration outflow to Canada

 

Though the Biden administration has loosened restrictions on the number of visas issued to immigrants, backlogs on obtaining a visa, which worsened during the pandemic, continue, with some wait times extended to years.

 

As a result, lawyers say layoffs in tech could lead to more workers heading to Canada, where they can find friendlier immigration policies and typically face shorter wait times for visas than in the US. The timing, at least, would be good. Canada announced recently it is raising its immigration targets amid a labor shortage.

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik; August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and World Chess Champion for most of 1948 to 1963. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few professional chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess. He was also a pioneer of computer chess.

 

Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union, putting him under political pressure but also giving him considerable influence within Soviet chess. From time to time he was accused of using that influence to his own advantage, but the evidence is unclear and some suggest[who?] he resisted attempts by Soviet officials to intimidate some of his rivals.

 

Botvinnik also played a major role in the organization of chess, making a significant contribution to the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II and becoming a leading member of the coaching system that enabled the Soviet Union to dominate top-class chess during that time. His famous pupils include World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

 

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik was born on August 17, 1911, in what was then Kuokkala, Vyborg Governorate, Grand Duchy of Finland, but is now the district of Repino in Saint Petersburg. His parents were Russian Jews, his father was a dental technician and his mother a dentist, which allowed the family to live outside the Pale of Settlement to which most Jews in the Russian Empire were restricted at the time. As a result, Mikhail Botvinnik grew up in Saint Petersburg's Nevsky Prospekt. His father forbade the speaking of Yiddish at home, and Mikhail and his older brother Issy attended Soviet schools. Mikhail Botvinnik later said, "I am a Jew by blood, Russian by culture, Soviet by upbringing." On his religious views, Botvinnik called himself an atheist.

 

In 1920, his mother became ill and his father left the family, but maintained contact with the children, even after his second marriage, to a Russian woman. At about the same time, Mikhail started reading newspapers, and became a committed Communist.

 

In autumn 1923, at the age of twelve, Mikhail Botvinnik was taught chess by a school friend of his older brother, using a home-made set, and instantly fell in love with the game. He finished in mid-table in the school championship, sought advice from another of his brother's friends, and concluded that for him it was better to think out "concrete concepts" and then derive general principles from these – and went on to beat his brother's friend quite easily. In winter 1924, Botvinnik won his school's championship, and exaggerated his age by three years in order to become a member of the Petrograd Chess Assembly – to which the Assembly's President turned a blind eye. Botvinnik won his first two tournaments organized by the Assembly. Shortly afterwards, Nikolai Krylenko, a devoted chess player and leading member of the Soviet legal system who later organized Joseph Stalin's show trials, began building a huge nationwide chess organization, and the Assembly was replaced by a club in the city's Palace of Labor.

 

To test the strength of Soviet chess masters, Krylenko organized the Moscow 1925 chess tournament. On a rest day during the event, world champion José Raúl Capablanca gave a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad. Botvinnik was selected as one of his opponents, and won their game. In 1926, he reached the final stage of the Leningrad championship. Later that year, he was selected for Leningrad's team in a match against Stockholm, held in Sweden, and scored +1=1 against the future grandmaster Gösta Stoltz. On his return, he entertained his schoolmates with a vivid account of the rough sea journey back to Russia. Botvinnik was commissioned to annotate two games from the match, and the fact that his analyses were to be published made him aware of the need for objectivity. In December 1926, he became a candidate member of his school's Komsomol branch. Around this time his mother became concerned about his poor physique, and as a result he started a program of daily exercise, which he maintained for most of his life.

 

When Botvinnik finished the school curriculum, he was below the minimum age for the entrance examinations for higher education. While waiting, he qualified for his first USSR Championship final stage in 1927 as the youngest player ever at that time, tied for fifth place and won the title of National Master. He wanted to study Electrical Technology at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute and passed the entrance examination; however, there was a persistent excess of applications for this course and the Proletstud, which controlled admissions, had a policy of admitting only children of engineers and industrial workers. After an appeal by a local chess official, he was admitted in 1928 to Leningrad University's Mathematics Department. In January 1929, Botvinnik played for Leningrad in the student team chess championship against Moscow. Leningrad won and the team manager, who was also Deputy Chairman of the Proletstud, secured Botvinnik a transfer to the Polytechnic's Electromechanical Department, where he was one of only four students who entered straight from school. As a result, he had to do a whole year's work in five months, and failed one of the examinations. Early in the same year he placed joint third in the semi-final stage of the USSR Championship, and thus failed to reach the final stage.

 

His early progress was fairly rapid, mostly under the training of Soviet Master and coach Abram Model, in Leningrad; Model taught Botvinnik the Winawer Variation of the French Defence, which was then regarded as inferior for Black, but which Model and Botvinnik analyzed more deeply and then played with great success.

 

Botvinnik won the Leningrad Masters' tournament in 1930 with 6½/8, following this up the next year by winning the Championship of Leningrad by 2½ points over former Soviet champion Peter Romanovsky.

 

Botvinnik married an Armenian woman named Gayane (Ganna) Davidovna, who was the daughter of his algebra and geometry teacher. She was a student at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Leningrad and, later, a ballerina in the Bolshoi Theatre. They had one daughter, named Olya, who was born in 1942.

 

In 1931, at the age of 20, Botvinnik won his first Soviet Championship in Moscow, scoring 13½ out of 17. He commented that the field was not very strong, as some of the pre-Revolution masters were absent. In late summer 1931, he graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering, after completing a practical assignment on temporary transmission lines at the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station. He stayed on at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute to study for a Candidate of Sciences degree.

 

In 1933, he repeated his Soviet Championship win, in his home city of Leningrad, with 14/19, describing the results as evidence that Krylenko's plan to develop a new generation of Soviet masters had borne fruit. He and other young masters successfully requested the support of a senior Leningrad Communist Party official in arranging contests involving both Soviet and foreign players, as there had been none since the Moscow 1925 chess tournament. Soon afterwards, Botvinnik was informed that Alexander Ilyin-Genevsky, one of the older Soviet masters and a member of the Soviet embassy in Prague, had arranged a match between Botvinnik and Salo Flohr, a Czech grandmaster who was then regarded as one of the most credible contenders for Alexander Alekhine's World Chess Championship title. The highest-level chess officials in the Soviet Union opposed this on the grounds that Botvinnik stood little chance against such a strong international opponent. In spite of this attempt to dissuade him, Krylenko insisted on staging the match, saying that "We have to know our real strength."

 

Botvinnik used what he regarded as the first version of his method of preparing for a contest, but fell two games behind by the end of the first six, played in Moscow. However, aided by his old friend Ragozin and coach Abram Model, he leveled the score in Leningrad and the match was drawn. When describing the post-match party, Botvinnik wrote that at the time he danced the foxtrot and Charleston to a professional standard.

 

In his first tournament outside the USSR, the Hastings 1934–35, Botvinnik achieved only a tie for 5th–6th places, with 5/9. He wrote that, in London after the tournament, Emanuel Lasker said his arrival only two hours before the first round began was a serious mistake and that he should have allowed ten days for acclimatization. Botvinnik wrote that he did not make this mistake again.

 

Botvinnik placed first equal with Flohr, ½ point ahead of Lasker and one point ahead of José Raúl Capablanca, in Moscow's second International Tournament, held in 1935. After consulting José Raúl Capablanca and Lasker, Krylenko proposed to award Botvinnik the title grandmaster, but Botvinnik objected that "titles were not the point." However, he accepted a free car and a 67% increase in his postgraduate study grant, both provided by the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry.

 

He later reported to Krylenko that the 1935 tournament made it difficult to judge the strength of the top Soviet players, as it included a mixture of top-class and weaker players. Botvinnik advocated a double round-robin event featuring the top five Soviet players and the five strongest non-Soviet players available. Despite politicking over the Soviet choices, both Krylenko and the Central Committee of the Komsomol quickly authorised the tournament. This was played in Moscow in June 1936, and Botvinnik finished second, one point behind Capablanca and 2½ ahead of Flohr. However, he took consolation from the fact the Soviet Union's best had held their own against top-class competition.

 

In early winter, 1936, Botvinnik was invited to play in a tournament at Nottingham, England. Krylenko authorized his participation and, to help Botvinnik play at his best, allowed Botvinnik's wife to accompany him – a privilege rarely extended to chess players at any time in Soviet history. Taking Lasker's advice, Botvinnik arrived ten days before play started. Although his Soviet rivals forecast disaster for him, he scored an undefeated shared first place (+6=8) with Capablanca, ½ point ahead of current World Champion Max Euwe and rising American stars Reuben Fine and Samuel Reshevsky, and 1 point ahead of ex-champion Alexander Alekhine. This was the first tournament victory by a Soviet master outside his own country. When the result reached Russia, Krylenko drafted a letter to be sent in Botvinnik's name to Stalin. On returning to Russia Botvinnik discovered he had been awarded the "Mark of Honour".

 

Three weeks later, he began work on his dissertation for the Candidate's degree, obtaining this in June 1937, after his supervisor described the dissertation as "short and good", and the first work in its field. As a result of his efforts, he missed the 1937 Soviet championship, won by Grigory Levenfish, who was then nearly fifty. Later in 1937, Botvinnik drew a match of thirteen games against Levenfish. Accounts differ about how the match was arranged: Levenfish later wrote that Botvinnik challenged him; while Botvinnik wrote that Krylenko, angered by Botvinnik's absence from the tournament, ordered the match.

 

Botvinnik won further Soviet Championship titles in 1939, 1944, 1945, and 1952, bringing his total to six. In 1945 he dominated the tournament, scoring 15/17; however, in 1952 he tied with Mark Taimanov and won the play-off match.

 

In 1938, the world's top eight players met in the Netherlands to compete in the AVRO tournament, whose winner was supposed to get a title match with the World Champion, Alexander Alekhine. Botvinnik placed third, behind Paul Keres and Reuben Fine. According to Botvinnik, Alekhine was most interested in playing an opponent who could raise the funds. After consulting the nearest available Soviet officials, Botvinnik discreetly challenged Alekhine, who promptly accepted, subject to conditions that would enable him to acclimatize in Russia and get some high-quality competitive practice a few months before the match. In Botvinnik's opinion, Alekhine was partly motivated by the desire for a reconciliation with the Soviet authorities, so that he could again visit his homeland. The match, including funding, was authorised at the highest Soviet political level in January 1939; however, a letter of confirmation was only sent two months later – in Botvinnik's opinion, because of opposition by his Soviet rivals, especially those who had become prominent before the Russian Revolution – and the outbreak of World War II prevented a World Championship match.

 

In spring 1939, Botvinnik won the USSR Championship, and his book on the tournament described the approach to preparation which he had been developing since 1933. One striking feature of this was emphasis on opening preparation in order to gain a permanent positional advantage in the middle game, rather than seeking immediate tactical surprises that could only be used once.

 

Botvinnik took an early lead in the 1940 USSR Championship, but faded badly in the later stages, eventually sharing fifth place. He attributed this to the unaccustomed difficulty of concentrating in a party-like atmosphere filled with noise and tobacco smoke. Botvinnik wrote to a friendly official, commenting that the champion was to be the winner of a match between Igor Bondarevsky and Andor Lilienthal, who had tied for first place, but had no achievements in international competition. The official's efforts led to a tournament for the title of "Absolute Champion of the USSR", whose official aim was to identify a Soviet challenger for Alekhine's title. The contestants were the top six finishers in the Soviet Championship – Bondarevsky, Lilienthal, Paul Keres (who had recently become a Soviet citizen), future World Champion Vasily Smyslov, Isaac Boleslavsky and Botvinnik – who were to play a quadruple round-robin. Botvinnik's preparation with his second, Viacheslav Ragozin, included training matches in noisy, smoky rooms and he slept in the playing room, without opening the window. He won the tournament, 2½ points ahead of Keres and three ahead of Smyslov; moreover, with plus scores in the "mini-matches" against all his rivals.

 

In June 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Botvinnik's wife Gayane, a ballerina, told him that her colleagues at the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre were being evacuated to the city of Perm, then known as Molotov in honour of Vyacheslav Molotov. The family found an apartment there, and Botvinnik obtained a job with the local electricity supply organization – at the lowest pay rate and on condition that he did no research, as he had only a Candidate's degree. Botvinnik's only child, a daughter named Olya, was born in Perm in April 1942.

 

In the evenings, Botvinnik wrote a book in which he annotated all the games of the "Absolute Championship of the USSR", in order to maintain his analytic skills in readiness for a match with Alekhine. His work included wood-cutting for fuel, which left him with insufficient energy for chess analysis. Botvinnik obtained from Molotov an order that he should be given three days off normal work in order to study chess.

 

In 1943, after a two-year lay-off from competitive chess, Botvinnik won a tournament in Sverdlovsk, scoring 1½ out of 2 against each of his seven competitors – who included Smyslov, Vladimir Makogonov, Boleslavsky, and Ragozin. Chessbase regards this as one of the fifty strongest tournaments between 1851 and 1986.

 

Shortly afterwards, Botvinnik was urged to return to Moscow by the People's Commissar for Power Stations, an admirer and subsequent good friend. On his return, Botvinnik suggested a match with Samuel Reshevsky in order to strengthen his claim for a title match with Alekhine, but this received no political support. In December 1943, he won the Moscow Championship, ahead of Smyslov. At the same time, opposition to his plan for a match with Alekhine re-surfaced, on the grounds that Alekhine was a political enemy and the only proper course was to demand that he be stripped of the title. The dispute ended in Botvinnik's favor, and in the dismissal of a senior chess official, one of those to have opposed Botvinnik's plan, who was also a KGB colonel.

 

After Botvinnik won the 1944 and 1945 Soviet championships, most top Soviet players supported his desire for a World Championship match with Alekhine. However, the allegations that Alekhine had written anti-Semitic articles while in Nazi-occupied France made it difficult to host the match in the USSR. Botvinnik opened negotiations with the British Chess Federation to host the match in England, but these were cut short by Alekhine's death in 1946.

 

When the Second World War ended, Botvinnik won the first high-level post-war tournament, at Groningen in 1946, with 14½ points from nineteen games, ½ point ahead of former World Champion Max Euwe and two ahead of Smyslov. He and Euwe both struggled in the last few rounds, and Botvinnik had a narrow escape against Euwe, who he acknowledged had always been a difficult opponent for him. This was Botvinnik's first outright victory in a tournament outside the Soviet Union.

 

Botvinnik also won the very strong Mikhail Chigorin Memorial tournament held at Moscow 1947.

 

World Champion

 

Botvinnik strongly influenced the design of the system which would be used for World Championship competition from 1948 to 1963. Viktor Baturinsky wrote "Now came Botvinnik's turn to defend his title in accordance with the new qualifying system which he himself had outlined in 1946" (this statement referred to Botvinnik's 1951 title defence).

 

On the basis of his strong results during and just after World War II, Botvinnik was one of five players to contest the 1948 World Chess Championship, which was held at The Hague and Moscow. He won the 1948 tournament convincingly, with a score of 14/20, three points clear, becoming the sixth World Champion. While he was on vacation in Riga after the tournament, an eleven-year-old boy called Mikhail Tal paid a visit, hoping to play a game against the new champion. Tal was met by Botvinnik's wife, who said the champion was asleep, and that she had made him take a rest from chess.

 

Botvinnik then held the title, with two brief interruptions, for the next fifteen years, during which he played seven world championship matches. In 1951, he drew with David Bronstein over 24 games in Moscow, +5−5=14, keeping the world title, but it was a struggle for Botvinnik, who won the second-last game and drew the last in order to tie the match. In 1954, he drew with Vasily Smyslov over 24 games at Moscow, +7−7=10, again retaining the title. In 1957, he lost to Smyslov by 9½–12½ in Moscow, but the rules then in force allowed him a rematch without having to go through the Candidates' Tournament, and in 1958 he won the rematch in Moscow; Smyslov said his health was poor during the return match. In 1960, Botvinnik was convincingly beaten 8½–12½ at Moscow by Tal, now 23 years old, but again exercised his right to a rematch in 1961, and won by 13–8 in Moscow. Commentators agreed that Tal's play was weaker in the rematch, probably due to his health, but also that Botvinnik's play was better than in the 1960 match, largely due to thorough preparation. Botvinnik changed his style in the rematch, avoiding the tactical complications in which Tal excelled and aiming for closed positions and endgames, where Tal's technique was not outstanding.[ Finally, in 1963, he lost the title to Tigran Petrosian, by 9½–12½ in Moscow. FIDE had by then altered the rules, and he was not allowed a rematch. The rematch rule had been nicknamed the "Botvinnik rule" because he twice benefited from it.

 

Though ranking as formal World Champion, Botvinnik had a relatively poor playing record in the early 1950s: he played no formal competitive games after winning the 1948 match tournament until he defended his title, then struggled to draw his 1951 championship match with Bronstein, placed only fifth in the 1951 Soviet Championship, and tied for third in the 1952 Géza Maróczy Memorial tournament in Budapest; and he had also performed poorly in Soviet training contests.[14][54] However, he lost only five of over thirty games in the two tournaments; three of the four who finished ahead of him in the 1951 championship were future world champions Smyslov and Petrosian and a leading world championship contender (and winner in both tournaments) Paul Keres; and he finished ahead of Petrosian and even with Smyslov in 1952. Botvinnik did not play in the Soviet team that won the 1952 Chess Olympiad in Helsinki: the players voted for the line-up and placed Botvinnik on second board, with Keres on top board; Botvinnik protested and refused to play. Keres' playing record from 1950 to early 1952 had been outstanding.

 

Botvinnik won the 1952 Soviet Championship (joint first with Mark Taimanov in the tournament, won the play-off match). He included several wins from that tournament over the 1952 Soviet team members in his book Botvinnik's Best Games 1947–1970, writing "these games had a definite significance for me". In 1956, he tied for first place with Smyslov in the 1956 Alexander Alekhine Memorial in Moscow, despite a last-round loss to Keres.

Team tournaments

 

Botvinnik was selected for the Soviet Olympiad team from 1954 to 1964 inclusively, and helped his team to gold medal finishes each of those six times. At Amsterdam 1954 he was on board one and won the gold medal with 8½/11. Then at home for Moscow 1956, he was again board one, and scored 9½/13 for the bronze medal. For Munich 1958, he scored 9/12 for the silver medal on board one. At Leipzig 1960, he played board two behind Mikhail Tal, having lost his title to Tal earlier that year; But he won the board two gold medal with 10½/13. He was back on board one for Varna 1962, scored 8/12, but failed to win a medal for the only time at an Olympiad. His final Olympiad was Tel Aviv 1964, where he won the bronze with 9/12, playing board 2 as he had lost his title to Petrosian. Overall, in six Olympiads, he scored 54½/73 for an outstanding 74.6 percent.

 

Botvinnik also played twice for the USSR in the European Team Championship. At Oberhausen 1961, he scored 6/9 for the gold medal on board one. But at Hamburg 1965, he struggled on board two with only 3½/8. Both times the Soviet Union won the team gold medals. Botvinnik played one of the final events of his career at the Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World match in Belgrade 1970, scoring 2½/4 against Milan Matulović, as the USSR narrowly triumphed.

 

Late career

 

After losing the world title for the final time, to Tigran Petrosian in Moscow in 1963, Botvinnik withdrew from the following World Championship cycle after FIDE declined, at its annual congress in 1965, to grant a losing champion the automatic right to a rematch. He remained involved with competitive chess, appearing in several highly rated tournaments and continuing to produce memorable games.

 

He retired from competitive play in 1970, aged 59, preferring instead to occupy himself with the development of computer chess programs and to assist with the training of younger Soviet players, earning him the nickname of "Patriarch of the Soviet Chess School".

 

Botvinnik's autobiography, K Dostizheniyu Tseli, was published in Russian in 1978, and in English translation as Achieving the Aim (ISBN 0-08-024120-4) in 1981. A staunch Communist, he was noticeably shaken by the collapse of the Soviet Union and lost some of his standing in Russian chess during the Boris Yeltsin era.

 

In the 1980s Botvinnik proposed a computer program to manage the Soviet economy. However, his proposals did not receive significant attention from the Soviet government.

 

During the last few years of his life he personally financed his economic computer project that he hoped would be used to manage the Russian economy. He kept actively working on the program until his death and financing the work from the money he made for the lectures and seminars he attended, despite prominent health problems.

 

Botvinnik died of pancreatic cancer in May 1995. According to his daughter, Botvinnik remained active until the last few months of his life, and continued to go to work until March, 1995 despite blindness in one of his eyes (and extremely poor vision in the other) (Wikipedia).

  

Sept 30th 2022 Andrew H. McCain Arena, Acadia University Wolfville..

 

final : Moncton Blue Eagles 2 vs Acadia Axemen 1

 

* FYI Update * Acadia Axeman hockey at Andrew H. McCain Arena has gone paperless this year ? Official program leaflets are no longer being handed out to patrons ?

  

* FYI Update * someone must have noticed and so now they've put out some paper copies printed off from a nearby printer.. ty

  

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Some relevant news clippings,,

  

January 11-22, 2023 - CBC doesn't seem to sponsor or promote Men's Hockey like the AHL, ECHL, or USPORTS Men's hockey ? And Canada has just won both Golds at the recent 2023 international University Hockey FISU tournament. But the Gold medal final games, in fact the whole tournament, was not shown by the CBC ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52640201721/in/datepos...

 

Halifax, Canada Jan 2023 - This time around the IIHF Men's World Juniors hockey tournament is being held in Canada. No games were shown on CBC, and many Canadians were unable to watch Canada's finest male Junior hockey players incl Connor Badard play in their home Country and win the Gold for Canada ?

However, although CBC ignored and did not televise any of the IIHF Men's junior hockey games played, they were sure to make daily news reports and give a lot of air time focusing on an alleged past scandal that had involved a previous Men's IIHF Junior hockey team ? cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/official-broadcaster-...

 

New Women's Pro Hockey PWHL - CBC giving full support, full coverage, and will be backing the girls with massive air time, TV ads, coast to coast live broadcasts, player bios and a game each week complete with hosting and game analysis,, "CBC/Radio-Canada is the official broadcaster of the Professional Women's Hockey League"

However, CBC shows a different attitude when it comes to supporting or televising many pro sporting events played by male athletes such as the Grey Cup, FIFA, Copa America international Men's soccer football and the Men's World Juniors, and so a huge Canadian fan base is not able to watch Canada's star male pro athletes like Acadia Axemen footballer Bailey Feltmate in the Grey Cup, or Nova Scotia's Jacob Shaffelburg in the Copa international Men's soccer tournament or Connor Badard in the IIHF World Men's Juniors hockey tournament ?

cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/official-broadcaster-... cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/official-broadcaster-...

 

CBC doesn't seem to support Men's soccer or Men's CFL pro football ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52512969092/in/album-7...

 

Jun 11, 2024 - Women's Pro soccer, the Halifax Tides, - CBC giving full media support and coverage to the brand new start-up Women's Pro soccer league. CBC will broadcast eight regular-season matches. A "Game of the Week" will co-stream simultaneously on CBC Gem and NSL.ca,

www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cbc-radio-canada-broadcast-agree...

Thanks to CBC, fans will now be able to follow female Acadia University athletes like Mya Harnish, who has now turned Pro . www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54482565652/in/photost...

 

This year Canadian Taxpayers will pay out $1.5 billion dollars to subsidize the CBC ?

site-cbc.radio-canada.ca/documents/impact-and-accountabil...

 

Breathtaking salaries for CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate management ? President and CEO Catherine Tait had a base salary range of $390,300 to $459,100 in 2019 ? That's more than the P.M. makes ? tnc.news/2022/01/26/cbc-salaries-include-125-senior-direc...

 

Huge bonuses for CBC brass in 2022,

nationalpost.com/news/canada/cbc-employees-paid-16-millio...

 

Aug 12, 2024 - CBC has paid out $18.4 million in bonuses after staff layoffs ? The bonuses went to nearly 1,200 employees ? $3.3 million went to 45 executives ?

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbc-bonuses-catherine-tait-1.729...

 

Apr 04, 2025 - Mark Carney pledges a $150M boost to 'underfunded' CBC ? And,, the new Liberal government will make CBC funding statutory ? Last year CBC received an all time record 1.5 billion in taxpayer funding and their CEO Catherine Tait, made more than the Prime Minister ?

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mark-carney-cbc-funding-1.7501902

 

June 28,2021, O Canada at the Stanley Cup Finals ? CBC plays an unsettling and unflattering version of the Canadian National Anthem on the World stage ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/51829474529/in/album-7...

 

July 1, 2021 - the Prime Minister of Canada will not be celebrating Canada Day this year claiming that for some Canada Day is not a day to celebrate." Wha-a-a-a-t -t-t ????? Did I hear that right ??? www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-day-political-reaction-1....

 

February 20th 2023 Jully " I Sung it My Way" Black makes headlines when she changes the lyrics and sings a politicized and personalized ' our home on native land' version of the Canadian National anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah ?

www.iheartradio.ca/news/jully-black-sings-o-canada-with-s...

 

video replay of CBC's unflattering version of O Canada ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/51829474529

 

Jully " I Sung it My Way" Black sings her personalized and politicized 'our home on native land' version of the Canadian National anthem in a performance at Toronto university graduation.. Black was asked to perform her new way of singing the national anthem to reflect the core values of the law program at Toronto Metropolitan University www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jully-black-tmu-law-school...

 

Calgary Stampede O Canada - The original version "in all thy Sons command" National anthem sung at the 2023 Calgary Stampede, www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53044391089

 

Dec 16th 2023 - O Canada sung in Punjabi at the NHL Jets hockey game in Winnipeg,,,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKifMtbbyJg

 

Nov 4th, 2021 - Pascale St-Onge is appointed to Trudeau's Cabinet. She is the first out lesbian to become a federal Minister and also the first as Minister of Sport,

www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pascale-st-onge-making-history-as...

 

July 2023 - Katherine Henderson is appointed to take over and thereby become the first female CEO and President of Hockey Canada ,

www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/katherine-henderson-hockey-canad...

 

No more hockey fights: This league plans to ban them dailyhive.com/vancouver/hockey-fights-ban-qmjhl

 

Skate Canada Dec 13, 2022 - Canada is about to revolutionize male/female gender rules in Sport ? Canadian gender trail blazers led by President Karen Butcher push to change Pairs Ice dancing competition rules from the standard longtime male female separate gender rule ?

theprovince.com/sports/other-sports/skate-canada-redefine...

 

Federal audit finds Hockey Canada did not use public funds for legal settlements .

discoverhumboldIcom/articles/federal-audit-finds-hockey-...

 

NHL moves away from Pride jerseys - advocates are disappointed, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nhl-special-jersey-announcement-re...

 

Nov 20th, Grey Cup 2022 - Many Canadian households in Canada were unable to watch the Toronto Argos win the 2022 Grey Cup game by a score of 24 to 23 because CBC/Radio-Canada and Bell media owned CTV do not schedule nor televise this historic Canadian event for broadcast ? CBC's programming has instead scheduled an unknown variety show that is being held in the USA ?

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52512969092/in/photost...

 

CBC quits Twitter when Twitter calls them, "a government-funded media" ?

www.cbc.ca/news/world/cbc-twitter-government-funded-media...

 

Apr 27th 2023 , Bill C-11 - A controversial bill to regulate online streaming becomes law. Bill C-11, which will force streaming platforms to contribute to funding Canadian content. Critics say the bill is too ambiguous, many issues unresolved.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/c11-online-streaming-1.6824314

 

Nov 11th, 2023 - The Liberal Government has ordered the Canadian Military not to use or recite any Christian prayers like the Lord's Prayer at this years Remembrance Day ceremonies ?

www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/gunter-we-will-always-pray-f...

 

The Grey Cup Nov 19th 2023, Hamilton Canada - Why aren't CTV or CBC broadcasting the 2023 Grey Cup game for Canadians to enjoy on Grey Cup Sunday ?

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53338415225

 

Dec 2023 - Merry Christmas, and a ho ho ho ? CBC plays Scrooge at Xmas time as it looks at executive bonus compensation while laying off 10 per cent of its workforce right at Xmas time ? www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbc-cuts-layoffs-exec-bonuses-1....

 

CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait faces angry MPs over refusal to rule out bonuses amid looming layoffs' www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGG8quYBb4

 

Have a very Merry Christmas Canada ? The Canadian Human Rights Commission ( fully funded by the federal Liberal Government) declares that the celebration of Christmas is evidence of Canada’s colonialist religious intolerance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmuDidYTiY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmuDidYTiY

 

Dec 31 2023 - Question.. Is CBC now viewing New Years Eve as a public holiday and tradition that has become inappropriate to celebrate in Canada ? Happy New Year Canadians from your taxpayer owned billion dollar funded CBC ? For the first time ever in memory, CBC will not broadcast the traditional New Years Eve Party, stage show or countdown ? CBC says they can't afford it ? www.msn.com/en-ca/entertainment/other/cbc-to-skip-new-yea...

 

Bill C-18: An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c18_1.html

 

Bell media, is a proud Canadian Company ? It's Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas Nevada USA. Prior to the big game CTV has been flooding North American airways with ads to promote their full coverage of the upcoming American Superbowl and they will then broadcast 10 straight hours of uninterrupted prime time live T.V. coverage of this prime American sporting event on Superbowl Sunday 2024 ? However, on the other hand, back home in their home country of Canada, they don't broadcast anything at all, nothing (zero) blanco, zilch, silencio, not even 1 minute of CTV coverage of their own 2024 Canadian Grey Cup game for their fellow Canadians to enjoy ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53523500175/in/datepos...

 

Feb 2024 - Halifax Nova Scotia,

Bell media and CTV have deafened and blindfolded many East Coast residents after eliminating many critical hours of local and community news programming in the Atlantic region ?

Recent Bell Canada Corporate decisions have now left many Maritimers in a vulnerable position ? East Coast Provinces appear to be the target of severe local live Newstime cancellations and these cut-backs have left many Maritimers without their daily Noon news hour updates that are broadcast everyday all week long ? ATV viewers will now be forced to tune into the other station (CBC) where CBC tends to run mostly world international news along with their select choice of the National News, along with lengthy live news conferences that are put on by the PM and other liberal party members ?

Aside from terminating the popular weekday ATV Noon hour news show, CTV has also downsized in half the very popular and iconic , 'ATV live at five' 5 P.M. local community news program, (prompting long time popular host Jason Baxter to seek early retirement) ? Adding to the devistating loss of this much needed news reporting that is traditionally broadcast every week, Bell will also now terminate all weekend Saturday and Sunday local news reporting currently running on ATV ? The cancellation and elimination of so much allotted local news airtime that is normally given to Atlantic Canadians surely threatens the safety and security of residents especially now that there will be a 24 hour local news blackout for 2 full days each and every weekend and even for as much as 3 consecutive days every holiday long weekend ? And so it seems that arch rival CBC has taken over prime time live local news reporting in the Maritimes and Bell Canada is blaming the Liberal Government's new Bill C-18 for them having to slash so many prime time hours of local and Provincial news coverage in the Maritimes ?

broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cance...

broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cance...

 

Halifax, Feb 1st 2024 - Bell Canada Media blames Liberal Government's new Bill C-18 for having to slash many hours of critical local and Provincial news coverage in the Maritimes ?

broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cance...

 

the Junos 2024, Halifax, Mar 24th - CBC and the new Heritage Minister seem to be more interested in their own personal politics than they are in music ? itsthe4thquarter.blogspot.com/2024/03/junos-2024-halifax-...

Angry Canadian - Canadian juno awards ? where ?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNieEg-_d1k

 

Is this a CBC Stanley Cup cruel joke ? June 2nd, 2024 Edmonton ? Fans are upset after CBC had broadcast the first 5 games of the Men's NHL Dallas vs Oilers series, and then, without warning and for no logical reason, CBC blacked out the critical and most important climactic final game that saw Edmonton win and gain entry into the Stanley Cup finals ? It remains unclear why CBC would do this ? Was it arrogance, or was it to be mean spirited, or was it a gender bias issue due to this being Men's pro hockey, or was it maybe a lesson given out to remind Canadians just who is running this Countries main media and who controls the programming ? v=iW0yzPhwC4s" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW0yzPhwC4s

 

The Koncerned Kentvillian asks, "What kind of a Country would show sad and upsetting images of itself when playing their National Anthem on the World stage in front of an international audience ?" www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/44424045874/

 

July 5th, 2024 Jacob Shaffelburg (Pt Williams Nova Scotia) Men's soccer - Unfortunately, CBC doesn't seem to support or sponsor Men's soccer and will not be broadcasting the Men's Copa soccer tournament ? However, you can still enjoy soccer on CBC as they will be giving support and full coverage to the Women's National team and to the new start-up Women's pro soccer league ? www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cbc-radio-canada-broadcast-agree... ? -

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53839077022/in/photost...;

 

June 29th, 2024 - Bailey Feltmate (Acadia U, Wolfville N.S.). - CBC doesn't seem to support Men's football anymore and so most Canadians won't be able to watch graduating male university athletes like Bailey perform in the pros ? However, fans are able to watch many graduating university female athletes perform as CBC will provide full cross Canada media support and live coverage of the new start-up Women's pro soccer league, the new Women's pro hockey league, and upcoming Women's pro basketball league ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53855066488/in/datepos...

 

In a groundbreaking move and for the first time ever, CBC is introducing and now including gambling in its media coverage of the Olympic games ?

2024 Paris Olympics - It appears that CBC has partnered with one particular online Casino company and BetRivers is running sports betting ads during the televising of Olympic sporting events ? Is the inclusion of a Casino and Sports betting parlor that runs gambling ads during the Olympic events appropriate to the high principles and moral standards exemplified by our youth in the Olympic Games ?

 

The CBC sport darlings Canadian women's soccer team has been caught cheating at the Paris 2024 Olympics ? The CBC has seemed unusually silent on this story ? heavy.com/sports/olympics/canada-soccer-bev-priestman-dro...

 

2024 Paris Olympics - CBC's full game coverage of the Olympics seems to favor the female athletes while male athletes received only limited coverage and short clips from their events ?

www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/olympic-games-paris-2024

 

Jul 25, 2024 Paris Olympics - CBC airs entire Women's Olympic soccer games, Women's beach-ball games, Women's rugby games, Women's basketball games water polo and more ? Watch CBC for live full game coverage from St-Etienne, France heavy.com/sports/olympics/canada-soccer-bev-priestman-dro...

 

Grey Cup Nov 17th 2024 - Everyone else is here, but where's the CBC ?

Once again this year CBC will distance itself from a very identifiable and nation uniting Canadian sports extravaganza and will not cover or live broadcast the historic Grey Cup game to Canadians ? However they will be covering a relatively unknown Women's tennis sports event named after Battle of the Sexes winner and Women in sports advocate Billie Jean King being held at this time overseas in Spain ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54147303159/in/album-7...

 

October 27, 2024 - Demand for CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait to refund the Canadian taxpayers . Why should a civil servant who works for Trudeau make more than the Prime Minister she works for ?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-z1ZNza5Fk

 

Aug 22 2024, Minister of hypocrisy, I mean, Minister of Health Mark Holland says, "All the stuff that's clearly designed to target youth — it's over," ?

the fans are confused ? After Connor McDavid and other NHL Superstar heroes played starring roles in glamorous new betMGM ads to promote gambling on their websites, numerous complaints were filed. And so they eased up on the image of a Sports hero who encourages and participates in gambling although the McDavid image itself was not to be disconnected from the gambling vice or from the lucrative gambling industry ? A new corrected version will now show Connor as an ambassador for safe and responsible gambling whenever you gamble ? But isn't it still gambling ? see news article, "Connor McDavid's latest gambling ad with Bet MGM sparks outrage among his fans,"

www.sportskeeda.com/us/nhl/news-disgusted-started-gamblin...

 

Bell Let's Talk ! Feb 4th 2025 - U Ottawa Scotty accuses Bell Canada of hypocrisy,, www.youtube.com/shorts/31f3sZndK6w

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/51844732131/in/album-7...

 

* News Flash * Grey Cup 2024, BC Place Vancouver - Does Bell read the FLICKR comments ? Bell has made a stunning about face ? and it's good news.. After decades of Canadian pro football exclusion CTV will for the first time in a long time actually broadcast this years' playoffs and the Grey Cup game to Canadians. Many more games are now scheduled for the 2025 season, www.cfl.ca/2024/09/06/fall-is-in-the-air-the-cfl-on-ctv-i...

 

March 30th Vancouver B.C. Michael Bublé plugs his own outside personal business products while hosting CBC's 2925 Juno Awards ? Is it appropriate for the CBC to allow the salaried MC to also advertise his own outside personal business ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54607761592/in/album-7...

 

2025 Calgary Stampede, CBC distances itself from the Calgary Stampede this year, and will not broadcast any events including the Parade ? You'll have to subscribe to a specialty channel if you are interested in this famous Canadian event ? calstampede.com/calgary-stampede-2025-how-to-watch-date-t...

July 13th 2025 - Men's Pro Rodeo and chuckwagon fans are ignored ? CBC Sports programming ignores and does not include this years fifty thousand dollar finals of the world famous Calgary Stampede, see Sunday's CBC Sports programming,, calstampede.com/shows/calgary-stampede-broadcast-schedule/

 

Jul 13, 2025 - Men's World Cup soccer is not broadcast on CBC ? FIFA Club World Cup Jun 15, 2025 – Jul 13, 2025 - Chelsea beats PSG 3-0 to win 2025 Club World Cup . Coldplay and Trump and 81,000 attend the final,, but is not televised ? CBC does broadcast an unknown Women's softball tournament ?

apnews.com/live/psg-chelsea-club-world-cup-updates

 

2025 Toronto Blue Jays - CBC doesn't seem to broadcast Men's baseball ? www.consumersearch.com/fitness-sports/plan-viewing-blue-j...

 

Dec 3rd 2025, University of Victoria B.C. - Young minds being blocked ? No more freedom of speach or free thinking allowed in Canadian Universities ? Asking questions that might challenge the status quo or oferring your own opinion is not allowed in a B.C. University and can get the Police called in to arrest you and cart you off to jail ? www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53G5WBpVmc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSRn8BzpvLc

   

Oct 1st, 2022 Acadia University Wolfville N.S. - Raymond field - AUS football

 

Duncan Patterson SMU qb #15 selected as the Subway player of the game

 

final: St Mary's Huskies 25 vs Acadia Axemen 23

 

***** Student-athlete community service award ****:

Duncan Patterson of the Saint Mary's Huskies is the 2022 AUS student-athlete community service award recipient. The 6'0", 200lb veteran quarterback played in all seven games for the Huskies and finished the regular season with the second-most completions (86), passing yards (1143), yards-per-game (163.3) and passing touchdowns (8) in the conference. He also had five interceptions and a 137.8 pass rating.

  

USports 2022 Russ Jackson Award (Athletics, Academics, Community Service) - Duncan Patterson, Saint Mary’s

 

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Some relevant news clippings,,

  

January 11-22, 2023 - CBC doesn't seem to broadcast Men's Hockey leagues like the AHL, the ECHL, or Men's USports University hockey ? And Canada just won both Golds at the recent 2023 international University Hockey FISU tournament. But the Gold medal final games, in fact the whole tournament, was not shown on the CBC ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52640201721/in/datepos...

 

Halifax, Canada Jan 2023 - This time around the IIHF Men's World Juniors hockey tournament is being held in Canada. No games were shown on CBC, and many Canadians were unable to watch Canada's finest male Junior hockey players incl Connor Badard play in their home Country and win the Gold for Canada ?

However, although CBC ignored and did not televise any of the IIHF Men's junior hockey games played, they were sure to make daily news reports and give a lot of air time focusing on an alleged past scandal that had involved a previous Men's IIHF Junior hockey team ? cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/official-broadcaster-...

 

New Women's Pro Hockey PWHL - CBC giving full support, full coverage, and will be backing the girls with massive air time, TV ads, coast to coast live broadcasts, player bios and a game each week complete with hosting and game analysis,, "CBC/Radio-Canada is the official broadcaster of the Professional Women's Hockey League"

However, CBC shows a different attitude when it comes to supporting or televising many pro sporting events played by male athletes such as the Grey Cup, FIFA, Copa America international Men's soccer football and the Men's World Juniors, and so a huge Canadian fan base is not able to watch Canada's star male pro athletes like Acadia Axemen footballer Bailey Feltmate in the Grey Cup, or Nova Scotia's Jacob Shaffelburg in the Copa international Men's soccer tournament or Connor Badard in the IIHF World Men's Juniors hockey tournament ?

cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/official-broadcaster-... cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/media-centre/official-broadcaster-...

 

CBC doesn't seem to support Men's soccer or Men's CFL pro football ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52512969092/in/album-7...

 

Jun 11, 2024 - Women's Pro soccer, the Halifax Tides, - CBC giving full media support and coverage to the brand new start-up Women's Pro soccer league. CBC will broadcast eight regular-season matches. A "Game of the Week" will co-stream simultaneously on CBC Gem and NSL.ca,

www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cbc-radio-canada-broadcast-agree...

Thanks to CBC, fans will now be able to follow female Acadia University athletes like Mya Harnish, who has now turned Pro . www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54482565652/in/photost...

 

This year Canadian Taxpayers will pay out $1.5 billion dollars to subsidize the CBC ?

site-cbc.radio-canada.ca/documents/impact-and-accountabil...

 

Breathtaking salaries for CBC/Radio-Canada’s corporate management ? President and CEO Catherine Tait had a base salary range of $390,300 to $459,100 in 2019 ? That's more than the P.M. makes ? tnc.news/2022/01/26/cbc-salaries-include-125-senior-direc...

 

Huge bonuses for CBC brass in 2022,

nationalpost.com/news/canada/cbc-employees-paid-16-millio...

 

Aug 12, 2024 - CBC has paid out $18.4 million in bonuses after staff layoffs ? The bonuses went to nearly 1,200 employees ? $3.3 million went to 45 executives ?

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbc-bonuses-catherine-tait-1.729...

 

Apr 04, 2025 - Mark Carney pledges a $150M boost to 'underfunded' CBC ? And,, the new Liberal government will make CBC funding statutory ? Last year CBC received an all time record 1.5 billion in taxpayer funding and their CEO Catherine Tait, made more than the Prime Minister ?

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/mark-carney-cbc-funding-1.7501902

 

June 28,2021, O Canada at the Stanley Cup Finals ? CBC plays an unsettling and unflattering version of the Canadian National Anthem on the World stage ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/51829474529/in/album-7...

 

July 1, 2021 - the Prime Minister of Canada will not be celebrating Canada Day this year claiming that for some Canada Day is not a day to celebrate." Wha-a-a-a-t -t-t ????? Did I hear that right ??? www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-day-political-reaction-1....

 

February 20th 2023 Jully " I Sung it My Way" Black makes headlines when she changes the lyrics and sings a politicized and personalized ' our home on native land' version of the Canadian National anthem at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah ?

www.iheartradio.ca/news/jully-black-sings-o-canada-with-s...

 

video replay of CBC's unflattering version of O Canada ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/51829474529

 

Jully " I Sung it My Way" Black sings her personalized and politicized 'our home on native land' version of the Canadian National anthem in a performance at Toronto university graduation.. Black was asked to perform her new way of singing the national anthem to reflect the core values of the law program at Toronto Metropolitan University www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jully-black-tmu-law-school...

 

Calgary Stampede O Canada - The original version "in all thy Sons command" National anthem sung at the 2023 Calgary Stampede, www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53044391089

 

Dec 16th 2023 - O Canada sung in Punjabi at the NHL Jets hockey game in Winnipeg,,,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKifMtbbyJg

 

Nov 4th, 2021 - Pascale St-Onge is appointed to Trudeau's Cabinet. She is the first out lesbian to become a federal Minister and also the first as Minister of Sport,

www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pascale-st-onge-making-history-as...

 

July 2023 - Katherine Henderson is appointed to take over and thereby become the first female CEO and President of Hockey Canada ,

www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/katherine-henderson-hockey-canad...

 

No more hockey fights: This league plans to ban them dailyhive.com/vancouver/hockey-fights-ban-qmjhl

 

Skate Canada Dec 13, 2022 - Canada is about to revolutionize male/female gender rules in Sport ? Canadian gender trail blazers led by President Karen Butcher push to change Pairs Ice dancing competition rules from the standard longtime male female separate gender rule ?

theprovince.com/sports/other-sports/skate-canada-redefine...

 

Federal audit finds Hockey Canada did not use public funds for legal settlements .

discoverhumboldIcom/articles/federal-audit-finds-hockey-...

 

NHL moves away from Pride jerseys - advocates are disappointed, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nhl-special-jersey-announcement-re...

 

Nov 20th, Grey Cup 2022 - Many Canadian households in Canada were unable to watch the Toronto Argos win the 2022 Grey Cup game by a score of 24 to 23 because CBC/Radio-Canada and Bell media owned CTV do not schedule nor televise this historic Canadian event for broadcast ? CBC's programming has instead scheduled an unknown variety show that is being held in the USA ?

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/52512969092/in/photost...

 

CBC quits Twitter when Twitter calls them, "a government-funded media" ?

www.cbc.ca/news/world/cbc-twitter-government-funded-media...

 

Apr 27th 2023 , Bill C-11 - A controversial bill to regulate online streaming becomes law. Bill C-11, which will force streaming platforms to contribute to funding Canadian content. Critics say the bill is too ambiguous, many issues unresolved.

www.cbc.ca/news/politics/c11-online-streaming-1.6824314

 

Nov 11th, 2023 - The Liberal Government has ordered the Canadian Military not to use or recite any Christian prayers like the Lord's Prayer at this years Remembrance Day ceremonies ?

www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/gunter-we-will-always-pray-f...

 

The Grey Cup Nov 19th 2023, Hamilton Canada - Why aren't CTV or CBC broadcasting the 2023 Grey Cup game for Canadians to enjoy on Grey Cup Sunday ?

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53338415225

 

Dec 2023 - Merry Christmas, and a ho ho ho ? CBC plays Scrooge at Xmas time as it looks at executive bonus compensation while laying off 10 per cent of its workforce right at Xmas time ? www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbc-cuts-layoffs-exec-bonuses-1....

 

CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait faces angry MPs over refusal to rule out bonuses amid looming layoffs' www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGG8quYBb4

 

Have a very Merry Christmas Canada ? The Canadian Human Rights Commission ( fully funded by the federal Liberal Government) declares that the celebration of Christmas is evidence of Canada’s colonialist religious intolerance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmuDidYTiY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmuDidYTiY

 

Dec 31 2023 - Question.. Is CBC now viewing New Years Eve as a public holiday and tradition that has become inappropriate to celebrate in Canada ? Happy New Year Canadians from your taxpayer owned billion dollar funded CBC ? For the first time ever in memory, CBC will not broadcast the traditional New Years Eve Party, stage show or countdown ? CBC says they can't afford it ? www.msn.com/en-ca/entertainment/other/cbc-to-skip-new-yea...

 

Bill C-18: An Act respecting online communications platforms that make news content available to persons in Canada www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/charter-charte/c18_1.html

 

Bell media, is a proud Canadian Company ? It's Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas Nevada USA. Prior to the big game CTV has been flooding North American airways with ads to promote their full coverage of the upcoming American Superbowl and they will then broadcast 10 straight hours of uninterrupted prime time live T.V. coverage of this prime American sporting event on Superbowl Sunday 2024 ? However, on the other hand, back home in their home country of Canada, they don't broadcast anything at all, nothing (zero) blanco, zilch, silencio, not even 1 minute of CTV coverage of their own 2024 Canadian Grey Cup game for their fellow Canadians to enjoy ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53523500175/in/datepos...

 

Feb 2024 - Halifax Nova Scotia,

Bell media and CTV have deafened and blindfolded many East Coast residents after eliminating many critical hours of local and community news programming in the Atlantic region ?

Recent Bell Canada Corporate decisions have now left many Maritimers in a vulnerable position ? East Coast Provinces appear to be the target of severe local live Newstime cancellations and these cut-backs have left many Maritimers without their daily Noon news hour updates that are broadcast everyday all week long ? ATV viewers will now be forced to tune into the other station (CBC) where CBC tends to run mostly world international news along with their select choice of the National News, along with lengthy live news conferences that are put on by the PM and other liberal party members ?

Aside from terminating the popular weekday ATV Noon hour news show, CTV has also downsized in half the very popular and iconic , 'ATV live at five' 5 P.M. local community news program, (prompting long time popular host Jason Baxter to seek early retirement) ? Adding to the devistating loss of this much needed news reporting that is traditionally broadcast every week, Bell will also now terminate all weekend Saturday and Sunday local news reporting currently running on ATV ? The cancellation and elimination of so much allotted local news airtime that is normally given to Atlantic Canadians surely threatens the safety and security of residents especially now that there will be a 24 hour local news blackout for 2 full days each and every weekend and even for as much as 3 consecutive days every holiday long weekend ? And so it seems that arch rival CBC has taken over prime time live local news reporting in the Maritimes and Bell Canada is blaming the Liberal Government's new Bill C-18 for them having to slash so many prime time hours of local and Provincial news coverage in the Maritimes ?

broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cance...

broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cance...

 

Halifax, Feb 1st 2024 - Bell Canada Media blames Liberal Government's new Bill C-18 for having to slash many hours of critical local and Provincial news coverage in the Maritimes ?

broadcastdialogue.com/most-noon-local-ctv-newscasts-cance...

 

the Junos 2024, Halifax, Mar 24th - CBC and the new Heritage Minister seem to be more interested in their own personal politics than they are in music ? itsthe4thquarter.blogspot.com/2024/03/junos-2024-halifax-...

Angry Canadian - Canadian juno awards ? where ?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNieEg-_d1k

 

Is this a CBC Stanley Cup cruel joke ? June 2nd, 2024 Edmonton ? Fans are upset after CBC had broadcast the first 5 games of the Men's NHL Dallas vs Oilers series, and then, without warning and for no logical reason, CBC blacked out the critical and most important climactic final game that saw Edmonton win and gain entry into the Stanley Cup finals ? It remains unclear why CBC would do this ? Was it arrogance, or was it to be mean spirited, or was it a gender bias issue due to this being Men's pro hockey, or was it maybe a lesson given out to remind Canadians just who is running this Countries main media and who controls the programming ? v=iW0yzPhwC4s" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW0yzPhwC4s

 

The Koncerned Kentvillian asks, "What kind of a Country would show sad and upsetting images of itself when playing their National Anthem on the World stage in front of an international audience ?" www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/44424045874/

 

July 5th, 2024 Jacob Shaffelburg (Pt Williams Nova Scotia) Men's soccer - Unfortunately, CBC doesn't seem to support or sponsor Men's soccer and will not be broadcasting the Men's Copa soccer tournament ? However, you can still enjoy soccer on CBC as they will be giving support and full coverage to the Women's National team and to the new start-up Women's pro soccer league ? www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/cbc-radio-canada-broadcast-agree... ? -

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53839077022/in/photost...;

 

June 29th, 2024 - Bailey Feltmate (Acadia U, Wolfville N.S.). - CBC doesn't seem to support Men's football anymore and so most Canadians won't be able to watch graduating male university athletes like Bailey perform in the pros ? However, fans are able to watch many graduating university female athletes perform as CBC will provide full cross Canada media support and live coverage of the new start-up Women's pro soccer league, the new Women's pro hockey league, and upcoming Women's pro basketball league ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/53855066488/in/datepos...

 

In a groundbreaking move and for the first time ever, CBC is introducing and now including gambling in its media coverage of the Olympic games ?

2024 Paris Olympics - It appears that CBC has partnered with one particular online Casino company and BetRivers is running sports betting ads during the televising of Olympic sporting events ? Is the inclusion of a Casino and Sports betting parlor that runs gambling ads during the Olympic events appropriate to the high principles and moral standards exemplified by our youth in the Olympic Games ?

 

The CBC sport darlings Canadian women's soccer team has been caught cheating at the Paris 2024 Olympics ? The CBC has seemed unusually silent on this story ? heavy.com/sports/olympics/canada-soccer-bev-priestman-dro...

 

2024 Paris Olympics - CBC's full game coverage of the Olympics seems to favor the female athletes while male athletes received only limited coverage and short clips from their events ?

www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/program/olympic-games-paris-2024

 

Jul 25, 2024 Paris Olympics - CBC airs entire Women's Olympic soccer games, Women's beach-ball games, Women's rugby games, Women's basketball games water polo and more ? Watch CBC for live full game coverage from St-Etienne, France heavy.com/sports/olympics/canada-soccer-bev-priestman-dro...

 

Grey Cup Nov 17th 2024 - Everyone else is here, but where's the CBC ?

Once again this year CBC will distance itself from a very identifiable and nation uniting Canadian sports extravaganza and will not cover or live broadcast the historic Grey Cup game to Canadians ? However they will be covering a relatively unknown Women's tennis sports event named after Battle of the Sexes winner and Women in sports advocate Billie Jean King being held at this time overseas in Spain ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54147303159/in/album-7...

 

October 27, 2024 - Demand for CBC President and CEO Catherine Tait to refund the Canadian taxpayers . Why should a civil servant who works for Trudeau make more than the Prime Minister she works for ?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-z1ZNza5Fk

 

Aug 22 2024, Minister of hypocrisy, I mean, Minister of Health Mark Holland says, "All the stuff that's clearly designed to target youth — it's over," ?

the fans are confused ? After Connor McDavid and other NHL Superstar heroes played starring roles in glamorous new betMGM ads to promote gambling on their websites, numerous complaints were filed. And so they eased up on the image of a Sports hero who encourages and participates in gambling although the McDavid image itself was not to be disconnected from the gambling vice or from the lucrative gambling industry ? A new corrected version will now show Connor as an ambassador for safe and responsible gambling whenever you gamble ? But isn't it still gambling ? see news article, "Connor McDavid's latest gambling ad with Bet MGM sparks outrage among his fans,"

www.sportskeeda.com/us/nhl/news-disgusted-started-gamblin...

 

Bell Let's Talk ! Feb 4th 2025 - U Ottawa Scotty accuses Bell Canada of hypocrisy,, www.youtube.com/shorts/31f3sZndK6w

www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/51844732131/in/album-7...

 

* News Flash * Grey Cup 2024, BC Place Vancouver - Does Bell read the FLICKR comments ? Bell has made a stunning about face ? and it's good news.. After decades of Canadian pro football exclusion CTV will for the first time in a long time actually broadcast this years' playoffs and the Grey Cup game to Canadians. Many more games are now scheduled for the 2025 season, www.cfl.ca/2024/09/06/fall-is-in-the-air-the-cfl-on-ctv-i...

 

March 30th Vancouver B.C. Michael Bublé plugs his own outside personal business products while hosting CBC's 2925 Juno Awards ? Is it appropriate for the CBC to allow the salaried MC to also advertise his own outside personal business ? www.flickr.com/photos/74039487@N02/54607761592/in/album-7...

 

2025 Calgary Stampede, CBC distances itself from the Calgary Stampede this year, and will not broadcast any events including the Parade ? You'll have to subscribe to a specialty channel if you are interested in this famous Canadian event ? calstampede.com/calgary-stampede-2025-how-to-watch-date-t...

July 13th 2025 - Men's Pro Rodeo and chuckwagon fans are ignored ? CBC Sports programming ignores and does not include this years fifty thousand dollar finals of the world famous Calgary Stampede, see Sunday's CBC Sports programming,, calstampede.com/shows/calgary-stampede-broadcast-schedule/

 

Jul 13, 2025 - Men's World Cup soccer is not broadcast on CBC ? FIFA Club World Cup Jun 15, 2025 – Jul 13, 2025 - Chelsea beats PSG 3-0 to win 2025 Club World Cup . Coldplay and Trump and 81,000 attend the final,, but is not televised ? CBC does broadcast an unknown Women's softball tournament ?

apnews.com/live/psg-chelsea-club-world-cup-updates

 

2025 Toronto Blue Jays - CBC doesn't broadcast Men's baseball ? www.consumersearch.com/fitness-sports/plan-viewing-blue-j...

 

Dec 3rd 2025, Is the University of Victoria B.C. brainwashing young minds ? open and individual free thinking and freedom of speech is denied to students by the same people who teach that Sir John A MacDonald is a vtllain ? ? Asking questions that might challenge the status quo or offering forward your own opinion is not allowed in this B.C. University and so called institute of higher learning - It can get the Police called in to take you to jail ? www.youtube.com/watch?v=u53G5WBpVmc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSRn8BzpvLc

   

Snow White truly is the Fairest One of All. This doll for my collection arrived the other day, and she is truly breathtaking (the other doll I had posted pictures of is for a friend overseas, as at least initially Saks Fifth Avenue stated that they could not ship these overseas). I also received in the mail today a Thank You card from the lady that I had made my order with over the phone along with the actual register receipt.

 

Though Snow White is my favorite princess, I do hope that Disney lays off making any more limited edition dolls for her for a while. Five 17" LE dolls in a little over a year's time is super-excessive!

Ruins of Malam Jabba hotel destroyed in military offensive. January 2011, Pakistan.

 

Malam Jabba is a Hill Station in the Karakoram mountain range. It is home to the only ski resort in Pakistan. The area also contains two Buddhist stupas and six monasteries that are scattered around the resort. The presence of the monuments at such a height indicates that the area has been inhabited for over 2000 years.

 

Two trekking trails are located near the Malam Jabba resort. The first passes through the Ghorband Valley and Shangla Top and starts about 18 km from the resort. The other trail passes through the Sabonev Valley and is about 17 km from the resort.

 

In late June 2008, the Malam Jabba Ski Resort was set on fire and destroyed after being closed for more than a year. Residents said a large portion of the resort had been reduced to ashes and the militants also damaged chairlifts and a tower belonging to the meteorological department. The Pakistani government had long since lost control over the administration and security of the valley and had abandoned the resort, laying off its employees there. This was due to the war in the Swat valley between government security forces and Taliban militias (who were likely relocating from nearby FATA and Afghanistan).The Pakistani government has since accepted a Taliban truce in the Swat valley.

 

In May 2009 however the army started an offensive against the Taliban and retook the town. In January 2011, Pakistan hosted its first skiing tournament for three years in Malam Jabba - the area previously controlled by the Taliban.

 

After: Wikipedia, BBC

My Nephew Riccardo

  

Fred: Say what, say what?

Jon: My dick is bigger than yours...

Fred: Ooooooooh Say what, say what?

Jon: My band is bigger than yours...

 

Fred:

Too bad I got your beans in my bag

You stuck-up sucka, korny motherfucka

Takin' over flows is the limp pimp

Need a Bizkit to save this crew from Jon Davis

I'm gonna drop a little east side skill

Ya best step back 'cuz I'm 'a kill, I'm 'a kill

So, whatcha thinkin’ Mr. Raggedy man?

Doin' all you can to look like Raggedy Ann

 

Jon:

Check you out, punk; yes I know you feel it

You look like one of those dancers from the Hanson video, you little faggot ho

Please give me some shit to wank with 'cuz right now I'm all it kid, suck my dick kid, like your daddy did

 

Fred:

Who the fuck you think you're talking to?

(Jon: Me)

I'm known for eatin' little whiny chumps like you

(Jon: Whatever)

All up in my face with that...

(Jon: Are you ready?!)

But halitosis is all you're rockin' steady

You little fairy, smelling on your flowers

Nappy hairy chest, look it's Austin Powers!

(Jon: Ah, yeah baby!)

I hear ya tweetin' on them fag-pipes Clyde

But you said it best, there's “No Place To Hide”

 

Jon:

What the fuck ya sayin'? You're a pimp whatever, limp dick.

Fred Durst needs to rehearse, needs to reverse what he's sayin’

Wannabe funk doobiest is what you're playin'

Rippin' up a bad counterfeit, fakin'!

Plus your bills I'm payin!

Spoken: you can't eat that shit every day, Fred. Lay off the bacon.

 

Fred:

Say what, say what?

You better watch your fuckin' mouth, Jon.

 

[Chorus:]

Jon: So, you hate me

Fred: and I hate you!

Jon: You know what, you know what?

Both: It's all in the family

 

Jon: I hate you

Fred: and you hate me

Jon: you know what?

Both: It’s all in the family

  

Jon:

Look at you fool, I'm gonna fuck you up twice

Throwin' rhymes at me like, oh shit alright, Vanilla Ice

Ya better run, run while ya can

Can never fuck me up, Bisc Limpkit

At least I got a P.H.A.T. original band

 

Fred: Who's hot, who's not?

(Jon: You)

You best step back, Korn on the cob, You need a new job

Time to take them mic skills back to the dentist and buy yourself a new grill.

(Jon: Fuck you!)

You pumpkin pie, I'll jack-off in your eye

Climbing shoots and ladders, while your ego shatters

But you just can't get away

(Jon: Get a gay?)

Because it's doomsday kid, it's doomsday.

  

Jon: So, I hate you

Fred: and you hate me!

Jon: You know what, you know what?

Both: It's all in the family

 

Jon: I hate you

Fred: and you hate me

Jon: You know what, you know what?

Both: It’s all in the family

 

Fred: You call yourself a singer?

(Jon: Yep)

You're more like Jerry Springer.

(Jon: Oh cool!)

Your favorite band is winger

(Jon: Winger?)

And all you eat is Zingers

You're like a Fruity Pebble

Your favorite flag is rebel

(Jon: Yeeeeeehaaaaaa!!)

It's just too bad that you're a fag and on a lower level.

 

Jon:

So you're from Jacksonville kickin' it like Buffalo Bill.

Gettin' butt-fucked by your uncle Chuck, while your sister's on her knees waitin' for your little peanut.

 

Fred:

Wait, where'd ya get that little dance?

(Jon: Over here)

Like them idiots in Waco, you're burning up in Bako where your father had your mother, your mother had your brother,

(Jon: naahaa)

Fred: it's just too bad your father's mad your mother's now your lover.

 

Jon:Come on hillbilly, can your horse do a fuckin' wheelie?

You love it down south and boy, you sure do got a purdy mouth

  

Jon: I hate you!

Fred: and you hate me!

Jon: You know what, you know what?

Both: It's all in the family

 

Jon: And I hate you

Fred: and you hate me

Jon: you know what, you know what?

Both: It’s all in my family

 

Jon: and I love you!

Fred: and I want you!

Jon: and I'll suck you!

Fred: and I'll fuck you!

Jon: and I'll butt-fuck you!

Fred: and I'll eat you!

Jon: and I'll lick your little dick, motherfucka'.

Fred: Say what? Say... what?

  

- KoRn feat. Fred Durst -

bueno foto del dia 8 de abril cuando la cia recuerda a uno de sus 4 martires..

aca les dejo su historia

 

En la lejana provincia de Atacama, en Chañaral, un 1ª de abril de 1928, nacía Alfredo, el penúltimo de 8 hermanos. Por los valores íntegros y envión de su familia, le permitieron llevar una niñez normal y feliz. Realizo todos sus estudios primarios en su pueblo natal. Perteneció a los Boy escouts, llegando a ser líder y al mismo tiempo practicaba natación y otros deportes.

Sus padres Juan Estevan y Clementina, preocupados para que continuara sus estudios superiores, enviaron a sus hijos a Santiago. Es así como Eduardo y posteriormente Juan y Alfredo, ingresarían al Internado Nacional Barros arana.

Una vez terminados sus estudios, hizo su servicio militar y mas tarde entro a trabajar a la universidad de chile. Definitivamente se radico en santiago, estableciendo su domicilio en calle Huérfanos esquina Cienfuegos. Su hermana Marcela junto a su esposo vivía en av. Recoleta a pasos de la segunda compañía de bomberos, los cuales constantemente recibían la visita de Alfredo.

Su voluntad de servicio, su buena educación, lo llevarían a ser presentado por los voluntarios Rogelio Pacheco y Edgardo Pohl a nuestra compañía e ingresar el 20 de octubre de 1952 a la edad de 24 años. Los médicos encargados de hacer su chequeo, fueron los Voluntarios Coghlan y Esprenger. Demostró siempre gran entusiasmo, se hizo querer por todos, su físico le permitió gran resistencia en los incendios y ejercicios. Muchos amigos tuvo en la compañía, entre ellos Osvaldo Rivera, Mariano Díaz y otros. En las formaciones casi siempre era el porta estandarte, su afición por la cocina lo inicio para organizar alegres convivencias. Un día, se le ocurrió hacer empanadas, faltaban muchas cosas, pero salio adelante, sin embargo, no había horno “de eso no se preocupen, tengo la solución “se dirigió con una bandeja de empanadas a la panadería “Providencia” y al rato regreso con todas listas.

En una visita que realizo a un fundo, invitado por unos amigos, conoció a Tatyana Miranda con la que posteriormente contraería matrimonio. De ellos nacieron Sergio y Ricardo. Junto a ellos se traslado a la AV. Ejercito y nuevamente a huérfanos.

 

Sábado 7 de abril de 1956.

 

Hace solo 6 días había cumplido sus 28 años de edad, sus hijos Sergio y Ricardo ya tenían cerca de los 2 y 1 años respectivamente.

Aprovechando que su señora estaba fuera de santiago, decidió ir a visitar a su hermana Marcela para compartir la tarde y devolver con un cheque de $2000 una deuda que tenia con ella (nunca cobro ese cheque, aun lo conserva) “querida hermana, no hay nada mas importante que pagar las deudas”.

Junto a su esposo habían sacado entradas para la función de las 21:00 horas en el sine rex. Alfredo los iría a dejar al centro y de ahí se fue a su domicilio.

El día anterior la bomba mack había entrado en servicio a las 15:30 horas. Para este día todo había permanecido en calma, pero a las 23:00 horas la central despachaba llamado de comandancia a

av. Portugal y av. Matta, dándose a los 5 minutos la alarma de incendio para el 7ª cuartel. En el mismo momento, desde el cuartel de 9ª compañía ubicado en calle compañía esquina de matucana se accionaba la sirena. Por mientras al conductor del transporte procedía a poner en marcha el motor para esperar el tiempo correspondiente y luego dirigirse al lugar del incendio, Alfredo al percatarse que este incendio le tocaba a la 13ª, se alisto rápidamente con su uniforme de trabajo y salio de su casa para dirigirse por calle huérfanos, corriendo asta el cuartel de la 9ª. Esa noche un poco fría de otoño, avanzaba aquél hombre con sus ideales nobles, corría para pronto llegar al lugar y trabajar en otro siniestro más. El transporte con voluntarios de la 1ª,3ª,8ª,10ª y 13ª, salio de su cuartel para dirigirse por compañía y luego doblar por San Martín. Al intentar cruzar avenida Bernardo O`higgins

fue violentamente envestido por el microbús del recorrido Plaza Egaña- Av. España, el cual se dirigía fuera de servicio y a gran velocidad. la violenta colisión provocó que el móvil volcara arrojando a los voluntarios al pavimento, perdiendo algunos el conocimiento. de los voluntarios que tripulaban, ilesos resultarían, Danilo Crespo de la 3ª, Jorge Chilos de la 8ª y Carlos Moller de la 1ª con lesiones leves el voluntario de la 10ª José Cresta y el conductos Luis Lucero; los voluntarios Alberto Rojas y Hernán Fuenzalida ambos de la 3ª con lesiones de mediana gravedad a la cabeza y resto del cuerpo; mientras que Alfredo con fracturas craneanas y lesiones cerebrales.

también en el mismo momento, en el lugar del incendio el tte.1º Sergio Campbell, recibía un fuerte golpe de corriente eléctrica, siendo auxiliado por el voluntario Jorge Weis.

a las 23:45 mientras la compañía se encontraba trabajando en el incendio, se informa de la posta central, que el estado del voluntario Molina era de suma gravedad. nuestro voluntario Dr. Harold Coghlan, estaba en contacto directo para tener bien informada la situación.

también se había informado telefónicamente a su hermana, la cual junto a su esposo quedarían consternados, ya que ase pocas horas habían estado con el

 

domingo 8 de abril

 

siendo las 17:00 horas, se informa nuevamente de la gravedad de nuestro voluntario.

después de grandes esfuerzos hechos por el equipo medico del hospital de neurocirugía, a las 23:00 horas, deja de existir nuestro amigo Alfredo Molina, pasando a ser uno mas de la larga lista de de mártires del cuerpo de bomberos de santiago y el primero de nuestra compañía.

 

lunes 9 de abril

a las 11:30 horas, sus restos son trasladados desde el instituto medico legal al cuartel y a las 19:30 horas al cuartel general. La compañía hizo guardia de honor asta 01:30 del día martes.

 

martes 10 de abril

 

a las 15:00 horas, rinde guardia de honor todas las compañías del cuerpo, mientras venían en vuelo los padres de nuestro mártir, don Juan Esteban y doña clementina junto a sus otros hijos. Sus funerales se efectuaron a las 16:30 horas, despidiendo sus resto todo el material mayor, entre ellos la bomba mack, con su sirena dolida que sobrecogió a todos los trecerinos. Nuestro director don Artemio Espinosa Martínez, dijo las ultimas palabras.

veinte años desde que entrara Alfredo a la compañía ingresaba a la 13ª su hijo mayor Sergio, el 20 de octubre de 1972. sin duda, que desde la 'legión de Trecerinos' del 'mas allá' lo mira orgulloso de pertenecer a la institución que lo acogió y lo quiso.

actualmente Sergio luce con orgullo el uniforme de parada que usara su padre, en tantas formaciones.

  

Good picture of the day on April 8 when the cia reminds one of the 4 martyrs ..

ACA will leave its history

 

In the distant province of Atacama, Chañaral, 1st April 1928, was born Alfredo, the penultimate of 8 siblings. For the values of integrity and sent his family, allowed him to lead a normal and happy childhood. I make all primary school in his hometown. He belonged to the Boy escouts, becoming leader at the same time practicing swimming and other sports.

His parents John and Clementine Estevan, anxious to continue their higher education, sent their children to Santiago. Thus, Eduardo and then John and Alfredo, join the National Internship Barros Spider.

Once completed his studies, he made his military service and later go to work at the University of chile. Definitely be settled in Santiago, setting his home on Orphans street corner Cienfuegos. His sister Marcela along with her husband lived by. Recoleta steps to the second company of firefighters, who were constantly visited by Alfredo.

His willingness to serve, good education, it would lead to be presented by volunteers Rogelio Pacheco and Edgardo Pohl our company and enter the October 20, 1952 at the age of 24 years. The doctors responsible for making your check, it was the Volunteers and Esprenger Coghlan. Always demonstrated great enthusiasm, it was wanting all, his great physical strength enabled him to fire and exercises. Many had friends in the company, including Osvaldo Rivera, Mariano Diaz, and others. In formations almost always carries the banner, his love of home cooking as to organize cheerful coexistence. One day, he came to empanadas, missing many things, but salio forward, however, there was no furnace "that do not worry, I have the solution" went with a tray of pastries in the bakery "Providence" and the time return with all lists.

In a visit I make a bottom, invited by some friends, knew Tatyana Miranda with the later marriage contract. Of those born Sergio and Ricardo. Alongside them are moving to the VA. Army and again to orphans.

 

Saturday April 7, 1956.

 

Just 6 days had fulfilled its 28 years of age, their children and Sergio Ricardo already had close to 1 and 2 years, respectively.

Capitalizing that his wife was out of Santiago, decided to go to visit her sister Marcela share for the evening and returned with a check for $ 2000 a debt that I had with her (never recover the check, even as preserves) "beloved sister, no nothing more important than paying bills. "

Besides her husband had brought tickets for the role of 21:00 am in the sine rex. Alfredo going to leave the center and then went to his home.

El día anterior la bomba mack había entrado en servicio a las 15:30 horas. To this day everything had remained calm, but at 23:00 hours central command to call despachaba

Av. Portugal and Av. Matta, with the 5 minutes of a fire alarm for 7 th quarter. At the same time, from the company's headquarters located at 9 th street corner matucana company is accionaba siren. For while the driver of the carriage came to starting the engine to wait for the time and then go to the scene of the fire, Alfredo realizing that the fire touched him to the 13 th, was quickly enlisted with his uniform and working salio de su house to go for street orphans, running till the headquarters of the 9 th. That night a little cold autumn progressed one man with their lofty ideals, soon ran to the scene and work in another more sinister. The carriage with volunteers from the 1 st, 3 rd, 8 th, 10 th and 13 th, salio their barracks to go by company and then bent in St. Maarten. While attempting to cross Avenue Bernardo O `higgins

Envestido was violently by the minibus route Egaña Plaza-Av. Spain, which was heading out of service at high speed. The violent collision caused the mobile overturned throwing the volunteers to pavement, losing some knowledge. Of the volunteers who tripulaban unharmed result, Danilo Crespo of the 3 rd, Jorge Chilos of the 8 th and Carlos Moller of the 1 st with minor injuries volunteer of the 10 th Cresta Jose Luis Lucero and ducts; volunteers Alberto Rojas and Hernan both Fuenzalida of the 3 rd with medium severity injuries to the head and the rest of the body, while Alfredo cranial fracture and brain damage.

Also at the same time, at the scene of the fire tte.1 fourth Sergio Campbell, received a heavy blow from electric shocks, being aided by the volunteer George Weis.

At 23:45 while the company was working on the fire, reported on the central post, that the state of the volunteer Molina was of the utmost gravity. Dr our voluntary. Harold Coghlan, was in direct contact to be well informed of the situation.

Also been informed by telephone to his sister, which along with her husband would be dismayed, as they grab a few hours had been with the

 

Sunday April 8

 

Siendo las 17:00 pm and again informed of the gravity of our volunteer.

After great efforts made by the medical team of neurosurgery at the hospital at 23:00 pm, ceases to exist our friend Alfredo Molina, becoming more of a long list of martyrs of the Fire of Santiago and the first our company.

 

Monday April 9

At 11:30 am, his remains are transferred from the medical institute legal barracks and 19:30 hours per headquarters. The company made honorary till 01:30 the day Tuesday.

 

Tuesday, April 10

 

At 15:00 am honor guard pays all companies of the body, while in flight were the parents of our martyr, Juan Esteban and Ms clementina alongside their other children. His funeral took place at 16:30 hours, laying off its remaining all the material more, including bomb mack, with its siren dolida that sobrecogió all trecerinos. Our director Don Artemio Martinez Espinosa, said the last words.

Twenty years since Alfredo came to the company entered the 13th his eldest son Sergio, October 20, 1972. No doubt that since the 'legion of Trecerinos' of the' beyond 'what looks proud to belong to the institution that welcomed and loved him.

Sergio now proudly wears the uniform of stopping to use his father, in so many formations.

Maywood is a small city in southeast Los Angeles County, California. At 1.18 square miles (3.1 km2), Maywood is the third-smallest incorporated city in Los Angeles County. It is bordered by the cities of Bell on the south, Vernon on the north and west, Huntington Park on the southwest, and Commerce on the east.

 

As of July 1, 2010, Maywood became the first municipality in California to outsource all of its city services, dismantling its police department, laying off all city employees except for the city manager, city attorney and elected officials, and contracting with outside agencies for the provision of all municipal services. The population was 27,395 at the 2010 census.

 

The area that would later become Maywood was deeded in 1781 by the Spanish monarchy to Spanish War veteran Manuel Nieto. When the settlement of Pueblo de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles was recorded, it included the cow pasture (now Maywood) that eventually turned into a rancho.

 

The Chrysler Corporation had an auto assembly plant in Maywood from the 1920s until its closing in July 1971. It was located at 5800 Eastern Avenue at Slauson, and was generally referred to as the "Los Angeles" Plant. When the city of Commerce was incorporated in 1961, that corner was annexed as were several in the surrounding area.

 

Lockheed Hudson Mk IIIA (T9422) at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum

Willys-Overland built its California factory in Maywood, California, in 1929. Over 900 people were employed at the new $1.5 million assembly plant. Willys-Overland became the second automobile manufacturer to build a major plant in the city. After the United States entered World War II, automobile production for civilians was phased out and in November 1941, automobile assembly at Maywood was stopped. A great many automobile plants were retooled to manufacture war machinery and for three years during the war, the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation rented the plant building from Willys-Overland for that purpose. Equipment was installed for the manufacture of sub-assemblies for Hudson Bombers [18] until the war ended. Willys-Overland began to manufacture the first Jeeps (CJ-2As) for civilians in 1945. As the demand for Jeeps increased, the reconditioning of the plant back to automobile assembly began early in 1947 and by November, Willys was building "West Coast" CJ-2As. By the end of November, 108 Jeeps had been assembled.[19] Jeep Trucks and Station Wagons were incorporated into the West Coast Division's "final assemblies" production lines in 1948. The Maywood plant produced the entire CJ-3A model production duration and about 5% of all CJ-3As were assembled in California. In 1952, Willys-Overland introduced a new post-war model car, the Aero, and they were assembled in both Maywood and Toledo. The entire plant was shut down in 1954.

 

Postwar Maywood was a flourishing blue-collar, multi-ethnic suburb of Los Angeles. There were plenty of industrial jobs in aerospace, food processing, auto and furniture manufacturing. But, the early 1970s saw these jobs disappear with the pressure of higher taxes, increased local and state regulation, and the desirability of cheaper land and labor in other markets. Maywood would change over the next two decades by the influx of Hispanic immigrants.

 

Maywood has the second largest percentage of Latino residents in Los Angeles County, according to the 2000 census, at 96.4%.

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maywood,_California

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...

Frigidaire Ad, 1949

Yup, you guessed it, yet another picture of a Mack Model AC, but not the Philly one this time! According to the caption, this truck only collected ashes and "household rubbish." No, just because the King said rubbish doesn't mean he's British. The King doesn't drive on the left side of the road while sipping his tea with one hand and playing cricket with the other. The King is from Trashy Town, so he must be a Trashy Townian. Mystery solved.

 

You may be wondering, "What did they do with the food waste?" The King can answer that with two words: They transport them to pig farms. You know this talk of pigs reminds the King about some kid the King met in Paco's town.

 

So Paco is probably the richest guy in his little village in Mexico. He's got a house, a car, and a giant Wi-Fi tower, while the other people in his town have a joint, a lighter, and grass. Lots of grass in that village. Great way to solve all your problems by floating away in your own drugged up fantasies. Drugs are trash.

 

Anyway, the King was on another visit to Paco's village. The King was in charge with supplying the village with another geebeege truck. Currently, the village geebeege truck is some old guy in a sombrero on an old goat that eats all the trash the village puts out. Sometimes the villagers just litter all their trash on the dirt road. Paco sometimes uses old trash to roll some grass in it and get more wasted than the trash itself. Lots of drugs in Paco's system.

 

So the King was using Paco's computer to look into new geebeege trucks when some fat Mexican kid barged into Paco's house and pushed the King aside and started to log onto his e-mail. Now the King was very offended by that, and tried to give the kid a spanking, but when the King picked him up and tried to put him over the King's knees, The King swears the little ball of fat almost broke the King's legs. He was so damn heavy! So Paco pushed him off the King's legs and yelled, "¡Afuera, Chancho! ¡No usas el Wi-Fi!" And he was gone.

 

Paco told me that the kid's name was Chancho Rodriguez, and he's always barging into Paco's house to try to troll Elmigo's mafia in America. Chancho once told Elmigo's mafia that Paco had snorted some coke up his asshole, and he needed help getting it out. Now, Elmigo's mafia is not smart at all, so the next thing Paco knew, he was being held down by one mafia man while another one ran a vacuum up and down his rear end. Not a fun time for Paco.

 

Paco had found Chancho when Chancho's mother was getting banged in the back seat of his car by one of the village gangsters. Nine months later, out came Chancho. Accidents happen.

 

Elmigo is thinking about recruiting Chancho as a little transport boy in Mari-Trade. Chancho means pig in Spanish, which is pretty much what that little squirt is. You know now that the King thinks of it, he might have started to eat the King's legs when he was about to get spanked. Maybe Paco's village should use Chancho as a replacement for the geebeege goat. Would make a good geebeege pig indeed.

 

The King's business in trying to find a new geebeege truck for Paco's village and fat Mexican pigs, I mean, children aside, sites like the one the Mack is dumping at were commonly used in other cities to raise the level of the land to use for farming. Don't know if that's such a good idea, cause that farm-grown food may have some ashes or bits of glass in it when you take a bite out of the crop. Great way to lose weight if you're gonna be eating that kind of food. Maybe we should give some to Chancho. If he's gonna be a little transporter boy for Mari-Trade, then he's gonna have to lay off the carne asada tacos and start eating the ash-contaminated food. Stupid little Mexican rolling bean.

  

for 365 and FGR invades Rainbows can be straight

 

ummmm

 

Gimme five! haha.

 

sorry. Imma dork.

 

aaaaaand here are the questions:

1.) Why is sex so sexy?

...................................um-what? oh. sorry. I was daydreaming there for a sec. did you ask something?

  

2.) What kind of animal are you?

filthy

 

3.) What's grosser than gross?

fishy fish blech

 

4.) How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

tootsie pops just barely missed being the answer to grosser than gross so who cares?

 

5.) What was the best thing before sliced bread?

see question #1

 

6.) Do you poop in the woods?

that's what I have a bathroom for

 

7.) What's your favorite sammich?

turkey swiss avocado

 

8.) What's your worst habit?

thinking

 

9.) If a #2 Pencil is so popular then why is it still #2?

because it has a self-defeatist attitude and doesn't think it's good enough to be #1 thereby creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

10.) What is your shoe size?

dainty. *snort* haha. sorry. long story

 

11.) When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?

since when does cheese talk? someone needs to lay off the weed

 

12.) What kind of shape are you? (duh like a square or like a circle)

ameoba

 

13.) What's yer sign baby?

libra-scorpio cusp - just as with anything else, I can't be forced to make a decision. har har har

 

14.) What's yer job?

teaching with the teaching stuff for the teaching of those who would like to be teached.

 

15.) Big Bewbies or Small Bewbies?

I would think the above picture would make this answer redundant

 

16.) Where are you from?

here.

 

17.) Do you hang the tp ova or unda?

ova, baybee

 

18.) What's your phobia?

home invasion robbery. or having to put my hand in the garbage disposal to get something back out.

 

19.) What do you wash first in the shower?

hair

 

20.) Have you ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

is there anyone who can honestly answer 'no' to this question?

 

21.) What do chickens think we taste like?

people. just like everything else.

Chasewater ParkRun January 22nd 2022. Back again after a lay-off due to Avian Influenza at Chasewater Country Park. First batch of images here and plenty more to follow.

SOOC;

 

I realize I don't really do self-portraits hahah but oh well this was fun. :)

 

I was recently tagged-- *dun dun dun* by crencorets and farisiaaaaa check out both of their streams because they're much better than i am!! :D

 

ten facts? about brenda lee?

 

1. i crack up at people who say stuff and it always comes out like a question: "Hey there, what's your name?" "uh... brenda?" "Oh hey Abrenda!" *giggle giggle snort snort* <-- jokes, i don't snort.

 

2. i very rarely take "normal" smiling pictures... it's just so easy to be like BLARGHHGHGHADASKLJDLKS and make a funny face. you know?

 

3. i fear people seeing me without makeup. (then again... i only wear eyeliner.. but my eyes are so teenytiny its indeed like a scavenger hunt to find them! first: find forehead, then eyebrows, then nose, then look in between. ¿donde están sus ojos chica?

 

4. every day should be sweatpants and a tshirt day. i think i bummed it at school for so long that when i'd wear a pair of jeans people would ask what the special occasion was.

 

5. i think stretching before running is silly. but i see that it probably has some merits.

 

6. due to cramping up during a track meet last year, i cut out all other drinks except water for the 10 months (i mean, occasionally i'll have some orange juice, grapefruit juice, a milkshake, etc, but rarely.)

 

7. i'm allergic to nickel metal. in the way where i get a rash, not where if i'm near it i start sneezing.

 

8. i cry easily. whether from watching chick flicks, laughing too hard, or just stress... it's like *streams of tears* and occasional *sniffle*

 

9. i laugh at inappropriate jokes and cheesy pickup lines are my kryptonite (oooh all in bad taste i know!) and basically anything ridiculously cheesy/goofy will at least get a giggle in my head

 

10. i don't like chocolate. (y'all should lay off the hater-ade on this one)

HI Great story- just a couple of things.

Seppeltsfield is now back in private hands- the Seppeltsfield Estate Trust (Kilikanoon\'s owners and Warren Randall) acquired it from Foster\'s

in 2007. Also happy to say the the magnificent 1888 Gravity Flow winery is back in full operation!

 

Nathan Waks (proprietor, executive director) Added 29/11/2010

 

Seppeltsfield is more than just a place that is steeped in over 150 years of Australian wine history; this is a unique, living, breathing museum and probably the most historically important wine site in Australia

. The owners, Penfolds and then subsequently Southcorp are to be commended for not only leaving this site alone, but for wearing the cost of maintaining it. Since our visit, readers will know that Fosters now owns the operation. Reliable sources have informed me that no sooner was the ink dry on the deal the bean counters went to work seeing how they can best utilise this site. It is crucial that these accountants and business analysis not just look at a return on investment; if they have no social conscience and desecrate what is a national wine shrine that can never be replaced, they deserve, as a company, and as individuals to rot in hell.

   

Strong words indeed and this is no rant. Whilst many people will have tasted many of the fine Seppelt fortified wines, there is so much more to this place than what is found in the bottle. Yes, the bottles contents can be anything from good to the ultimate sensual wine experience, but it is what is behind the bottle that makes it so special and if Fosters screw with that, they will not only have raped the product, Fosters will have pillaged and plundered a unique part of our wine heritage that can never be replaced.

   

Our appointment was with the God Father and custodian of this unique enterprise, James Godfrey who is also known as the fortified wine maker but lets go back to the beginning.

   

Hop in the time machine and head back to 1851. It took forward thinking and guts to leave your homeland and venture off into the unknown in those times; even if things were not exactly rosy in the “old country”. Joseph Seppelt, an immigrant from Poland, was just such a person; he purchased land in the Barossa, named it after himself, and decided to grow a few grapes. In those times, families had to be as self sufficient as possible. None of this popping down to the supermarket for a few spuds and bit of rump steak; you wanted it and you either had to grow it, or barter for it, with your own produce, so old Joseph had a mixed farm. At that time, there wasn’t any such thing as “the pill” or synthetic condoms, so old Joe prolifically produced more than just grapes.

   

Now young Benno (with a name like that, it looks like the uniquely Australian way of bastardising and changing names started early ) was a pretty smart chip of the old block and wound up being “the main man” of the family. By 1878 he was doing his own thing, and had a radical idea. He went to the Mrs and said, “Hay Mrs S, we have mucho barrels of good port every year; why don’t we put down a barrel every year and leave it for a 100 years?”

   

Many people think about putting down a few bottles for their kids 21st but I told you Benno was a forward thinker like his old man; why settle for 21 years when you are dealing with top port? Much better to think long term, (they not worried about maximising quarterly stock market yields in those days;) let the great, great, great grandkids have something incredibly special to celebrate their family heritage.

   

And so a tradition was born. As time went on, it quickly became apparent that one barrel would not be enough, they needed extra material for topping up purposes so three barrels became the norm, at the end of 100 years there is only the one barrel left, the other two have replace thed evaporation from the "master" barrel, no wonder it has a syrupy consistency and concentrated flavour. Like all great traditions, it is continued today, long after the last family member has left the firm.

   

Benno was a pretty eccentric dude, none of your baseball caps, or even an Akubra for this guy. Like the American Express card of today, legend has it that Benno never left home without “it”; it being a violin and an umbrella. Even stranger, when you consider that he used to get around the place on the white horse, what a sight he would be galloping off to do the weekly shopping.

   

Benno’s eccentricity didn't end there. Towards the end of the 18th century, there was a severe economic depression and Benno’s philanthropy came to the fore. Workers mightn't have had the unions to stand up for them in those days, but those working for Seppelt didn't need one; old Benno didn't lay off a single worker. Workers decided that a good way of prettying the joint up was to plant a few trees (there were even greenies back then,) and they propagated the date palm seeds from the two trees next to the Homestead. By way of saying thanks, over a period of time, two trees became two thousand. If you visit Seppeltsfield, you will see most of them are still there today.

     

But Seppelt's is so much more than 100 year old port and date palm trees. Once we met James Godfrey and exchanged pleasantries, we hung a left out of the office, walked past the original Seppelt family home; then we were surrounded by elm trees and a rainforest like garden. We proceeded over the small bridge that spans the creek; up the hill, and finally the padlocks were removed from the huge, old, sliding winery door. If you ever drive past the south side of Seppeltsfield, you will notice a large, (frankly bloody ugly) old structure, painted in some revolting shade of “heritage yellow” that has been built on terraced levels. The design of this building is no accident and was a very practical and cunning bit of design work, especially so when you consider how long ago it was built.

   

Built way before there were modern fandangled conveniences like electricity, this working winery was designed to take advantage of the technology of the time, gravity, and when available, a bit of steam power and chain drives. Although the winery is no longer used, it could become fully functional again with ease, all the basic structure is there, and only some of the furnishings would be required.

Merry Christmas everyone.

 

I think Santa needs to lay off the fast food !

 

Strobist: YN565ex @ 1/64 power grid snoot from above left. YN560II@1/64 power blue gel snoot from camera right behind subjects. Trigger yn622C.

HI Great story- just a couple of things.

Seppeltsfield is now back in private hands- the Seppeltsfield Estate Trust (Kilikanoon\'s owners and Warren Randall) acquired it from Foster\'s

in 2007. Also happy to say the the magnificent 1888 Gravity Flow winery is back in full operation!

 

Nathan Waks (proprietor, executive director)

Seppeltsfield is more than just a place that is steeped in over 150 years of Australian wine history; this is a unique, living, breathing museum and probably the most historically important wine site in Australia

. The owners, Penfolds and then subsequently Southcorp are to be commended for not only leaving this site alone, but for wearing the cost of maintaining it. Since our visit, readers will know that Fosters now owns the operation. Reliable sources have informed me that no sooner was the ink dry on the deal the bean counters went to work seeing how they can best utilise this site. It is crucial that these accountants and business analysis not just look at a return on investment; if they have no social conscience and desecrate what is a national wine shrine that can never be replaced, they deserve, as a company, and as individuals to rot in hell.

   

Strong words indeed and this is no rant. Whilst many people will have tasted many of the fine Seppelt fortified wines, there is so much more to this place than what is found in the bottle. Yes, the bottles contents can be anything from good to the ultimate sensual wine experience, but it is what is behind the bottle that makes it so special and if Fosters screw with that, they will not only have raped the product, Fosters will have pillaged and plundered a unique part of our wine heritage that can never be replaced.

   

Our appointment was with the God Father and custodian of this unique enterprise, James Godfrey who is also known as the fortified wine maker but lets go back to the beginning.

   

Hop in the time machine and head back to 1851. It took forward thinking and guts to leave your homeland and venture off into the unknown in those times; even if things were not exactly rosy in the “old country”. Joseph Seppelt, an immigrant from Poland, was just such a person; he purchased land in the Barossa, named it after himself, and decided to grow a few grapes. In those times, families had to be as self sufficient as possible. None of this popping down to the supermarket for a few spuds and bit of rump steak; you wanted it and you either had to grow it, or barter for it, with your own produce, so old Joseph had a mixed farm. At that time, there wasn’t any such thing as “the pill” or synthetic condoms, so old Joe prolifically produced more than just grapes.

   

Now young Benno (with a name like that, it looks like the uniquely Australian way of bastardising and changing names started early ) was a pretty smart chip of the old block and wound up being “the main man” of the family. By 1878 he was doing his own thing, and had a radical idea. He went to the Mrs and said, “Hay Mrs S, we have mucho barrels of good port every year; why don’t we put down a barrel every year and leave it for a 100 years?”

   

Many people think about putting down a few bottles for their kids 21st but I told you Benno was a forward thinker like his old man; why settle for 21 years when you are dealing with top port? Much better to think long term, (they not worried about maximising quarterly stock market yields in those days;) let the great, great, great grandkids have something incredibly special to celebrate their family heritage.

   

And so a tradition was born. As time went on, it quickly became apparent that one barrel would not be enough, they needed extra material for topping up purposes so three barrels became the norm, at the end of 100 years there is only the one barrel left, the other two have replace thed evaporation from the "master" barrel, no wonder it has a syrupy consistency and concentrated flavour. Like all great traditions, it is continued today, long after the last family member has left the firm.

   

Benno was a pretty eccentric dude, none of your baseball caps, or even an Akubra for this guy. Like the American Express card of today, legend has it that Benno never left home without “it”; it being a violin and an umbrella. Even stranger, when you consider that he used to get around the place on the white horse, what a sight he would be galloping off to do the weekly shopping.

   

Benno’s eccentricity didn't end there. Towards the end of the 18th century, there was a severe economic depression and Benno’s philanthropy came to the fore. Workers mightn't have had the unions to stand up for them in those days, but those working for Seppelt didn't need one; old Benno didn't lay off a single worker. Workers decided that a good way of prettying the joint up was to plant a few trees (there were even greenies back then,) and they propagated the date palm seeds from the two trees next to the Homestead. By way of saying thanks, over a period of time, two trees became two thousand. If you visit Seppeltsfield, you will see most of them are still there today.

     

But Seppelt's is so much more than 100 year old port and date palm trees. Once we met James Godfrey and exchanged pleasantries, we hung a left out of the office, walked past the original Seppelt family home; then we were surrounded by elm trees and a rainforest like garden. We proceeded over the small bridge that spans the creek; up the hill, and finally the padlocks were removed from the huge, old, sliding winery door. If you ever drive past the south side of Seppeltsfield, you will notice a large, (frankly bloody ugly) old structure, painted in some revolting shade of “heritage yellow” that has been built on terraced levels. The design of this building is no accident and was a very practical and cunning bit of design work, especially so when you consider how long ago it was built.

   

Built way before there were modern fandangled conveniences like electricity, this working winery was designed to take advantage of the technology of the time, gravity, and when available, a bit of steam power and chain drives. Although the winery is no longer used, it could become fully functional again with ease, all the basic structure is there, and only some of the furnishings would be required.

40 cm. x 30 cm. oil on canvas.

I've taken up the brushes again after a two year lay off. Painting this little Blackcountry street scene helped me remember just how much I enjoy painting and telling stories with my art.

Thank you to those who have continued to take a look at my paintings.