Hotel Wolcott

{{Infobox hotel

| hotel_name = Hotel Wolcott

| image = Hotel Wolcott from west.jpg

| image_alt = View of the Hotel Wolcott as seen from across 31st Street. The facade is largely made of red brick and stone, except at the base, where it is made entirely of stone. The top of the hotel contains windows within a mansard roof.

| caption =

| location = 4 West 31st Street, New York, NY, 10001

| coordinates = {{Coord|40|44|48|N|73|59|12|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=it}}

| start_date = 1902

| opening_date = March 1, 1904

| architect = John H. Duncan

| operator = Erlich family

| owner = Wolcott Hotel Co.

| floor_area =

| floors = 12

| parking =

| embedded = {{Designation list

| embed = yes

| designation1 = NYCL

| designation1_date = December 20, 2011

| designation1_number = 2423{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=1}}

}}

| pushpin_map =

| architectural_style = Beaux-Arts and neoclassical

| height =

| logo =

| logo_width =

| closing_date =

| developer = William C. Dewey

| number_of_rooms = {{abbr|appx.|approximately}} 160

| number_of_suites =

| number_of_restaurants =

| website = {{Official website|http://www.wolcott.com/}}

}}

The Hotel Wolcott is a hotel at 4 West 31st Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Constructed between 1902 and 1904 by developer William C. Dewey, it was designed by John H. Duncan in the French Beaux-Arts and neoclassical styles. The hotel's namesake was Henry Roger Wolcott, a businessman, politician, and philanthropist. The hotel is a New York City designated landmark.

The hotel building is 12 stories tall. Its facade is largely made of red brick and limestone, with elaborate decorations. The facade is divided vertically into six bays and horizontally into a two-story base, a six-story midsection, a transitional story, and a three-story mansard roof. The hotel originally contained several ground-floor amenity areas for guests, including a neo-Grec lobby, reception room, and ballroom. The upper floors are arranged in an "H" shape and originally contained various suites and rooms, which have been rearranged over the years into 160 guestrooms.

Dewey acquired the site in 1902. The hotel opened on March 1, 1904, several months behind schedule, and Dewey had lost the Wolcott to foreclosure by that September. The Wolcott was operated by numerous individuals during the early 20th century, including William and Julius Manger of Manger Hotels during the 1920s. Over the years, it was popular with travelers, though the Wolcott also had permanent residents such as Isadora Duncan, James Buchanan Duke, Doris Duke, Edith Wharton, Mark Twain, and Henry Miller. The Wolcott had declined into a single room occupancy hotel by 1975, when the Erlich family bought it and made numerous renovations. The Wolcott was known as a budget hotel in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, then served as a temporary shelter in the 2020s.

Site

The Wolcott is on the south side of 31st Street, between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, at the southern edge of the Koreatown neighborhood.{{Cite web |title=4 West 31 Street, 10001 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/832/49 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning |archive-date=May 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522151749/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/832/49 |url-status=live }}{{cite AIA4|page=224}} The land lot is nearly square and measures around {{convert|9500|ft2}}, with a frontage of {{Convert|97|ft}} and a depth of {{Convert|98.75|ft}}. The Grand Hotel is on the same block to the west, while the Wilbraham is on the same block to the south. Other nearby buildings include the Marble Collegiate Church and the old Holland House to the south, Gilsey House to the southwest, the Aberdeen Hotel (17-21 West 32nd Street) to the north, and the Colony Club building and the Church of the Transfiguration to the southeast.

During the mid-19th century, the stretch of Fifth Avenue between 23rd Street and 42nd Street contained brownstones and mansions for some of New York City's wealthiest residents, as well as churches.{{cite report |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/64576251-0376-440c-822c-2baf7f293d91 |title=The Wilbraham |date=March 23, 2018 |publisher=National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service |pages=12–13 |access-date=August 6, 2023 |archive-date=May 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515122223/https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/64576251-0376-440c-822c-2baf7f293d91 |url-status=live }} Many hotels and social clubs opened in what is now NoMad following the opening of the Fifth Avenue Hotel in the 1850s, followed by apartment hotels, apartment buildings, Broadway theaters, and stores in the 1870s. The area's wealthiest residents moved uptown in the 1880s, but the neighborhood remained fashionable for clubs, hotels, and apartment hotels.

Architecture

The building was designed by John Hemenway Duncan, the architect of Grant's Tomb in Upper Manhattan.{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=April 21, 2011 |title=A Building Befitting the Hat's Heyday |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/realestate/24streetscapes.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806214808/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/realestate/24streetscapes.html |url-status=live }}{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=4}} It is largely designed in the French Beaux-Arts style, with large decorative elements that were characteristic of that style. The structure is 12 stories high{{cite news |last=Stroud |first=Toni |date=November 2, 2003 |title=New York sleeps ; In search of a nice room for $150 or less in a city where dreams don't come cheap |page=8.1 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|419742296}}}} and has light courts facing east and west, giving it an "H" shape.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=6}}

= Facade =

The Wolcott has a limestone and brick facade,{{cite web |last=Sheftell |first=Jason |date=July 26, 2012 |title=Stunning midtown Manhattan hotel has a ghostly past |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/stunning-midtown-manhattan-hotel-ghostly-article-1.1122701 |access-date=May 17, 2023 |website=New York Daily News |id={{ProQuest|1029919578}} |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517180254/https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/stunning-midtown-manhattan-hotel-ghostly-article-1.1122701 |url-status=live }} with elaborate decorations.{{harvnb|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1903|ps=.|pp=548–550}} The facade is symmetrical and is divided vertically into six bays; the two center bays comprise the main entrance. It is split horizontally into a two-story base, six-story midsection, and two-story capital. Most of the original facade decorations remain intact, but most of the original wooden windows have been replaced with one-over-one metal sash windows. The northern elevation of the facade is the only side with ornamentation; the western and eastern elevations have plain brick facades with a small number of windows.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|pp=6–7}}

The base is clad with rusticated blocks of stone. There is an arch at the center of the double-height ground story, with a pair of metal-and-glass doors within the arch, topped by a transom window. In front of the entrance doorways is a terrace that is raised slightly above the ground, with a short stone partition wall extends from the facade on either side of the terrace.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=7}} A marquee with a skylight and recessed lights is cantilevered over the main entrance, above which is an oversized cartouche and an ornate keystone. To the east (left) of the main entrance, there is a metal-and-glass door, a ramp leading to an automatic sliding door, and a service entrance. To the west (right) is a wood-and-glass door with a semicircular glass pane above, followed by two of the original sash windows. There is a recessed areaway in front of the westernmost windows. Over the years, a metal sign with the hotel's name, security cameras, and an air-conditioner have been added to the ground floor. There are windows on the second floor, topped by a cornice that separates the base and midsection.

The third through eighth stories have a pink-brick facade, with vertical stone piers and quoins, and are largely similar to one another. There are horizontal string courses above the third and eighth stories, as well as various brackets, cartouches, and other decorations above the windows. Between the third and seventh stories, the two center bays of the Wolcott's facade have oriel windows with curved glass; at the time of the hotel's construction, such windows were expensive and thus generally rare in New York City.{{Cite news |date=May 9, 1976 |title=The Shrinking Window |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/09/archives/the-shrinking-window-smaller-rooms-smaller-windows.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517173710/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/09/archives/the-shrinking-window-smaller-rooms-smaller-windows.html |url-status=live }} The remaining bays have simple sash windows with copper balconettes. At the third story, the balconettes are made of stone and contain spotlights. There is another oversized cartouche between the two center bays above the eighth story, with the name "Wolcott" carved into it.

The ninth story has a stone facade and is treated as a "transitional story". On this story, the windows are recessed between pairs of large brackets that support a protruding copper cornice with giant dentils. The hotel building contains a triple-height mansard roof with copper cresting. The roof formerly had finials and other ornate details; the copper cresting was added during a later modification.

= Features =

From the outset, the Wolcott was intended as a fireproof building; the hotel's steel frame was built using what was known as the "Roebling system".{{harvnb|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1903|ps=.|p=548}} The Wolcott also had modern mechanical systems for its time, including ice-making machines, a laundry room, a private steam plant, and a heating and ventilation system.{{harvnb|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1903|ps=.|p=550}}

== Public rooms ==

File:Hotel Wolcott entrance.jpg

The Wolcott originally had a vestibule leading to a lobby, both designed in the Neo-Grec style. The vestibule and lobby were decorated in verde antique green, white and gold. The {{convert|20|ft|adj=on}} ceiling had elaborate moldings, as well as gold-colored brackets. Some of the marble has been replaced with wood over the years, and the ceiling has been painted to match the color of the carpet. The modern lobby is in the Louis XVI style and has marble columns and a chandelier. The lobby ends at a check-in counter.{{Cite news |last=Oser |first=Alan S. |date=February 20, 1994 |title=Hotels in West 30's Recover Their Aplomb |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/20/realestate/hotels-in-west-30-s-recover-their-aplomb.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907034531/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/20/realestate/hotels-in-west-30-s-recover-their-aplomb.html |url-status=live }}

A parlor and ladies' reception room led off the left (east) side of the vestibule, while a cafe and smoking room led off the right (west) side.{{cite web |date=January 30, 2014 |title=Hotel History: Wolcott Hotel (1904) |url=https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article76167.html |access-date=May 19, 2023 |website=Hotel News Resource |archive-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519192713/https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article76167.html |url-status=live }} The latter rooms contained a high leaded glass ceiling. To the right of the lobby was an office with green-and-white marble pilasters and counters, as well as a mosaic floor with an ornamental border and centerpiece. Near the center of the hotel, there was also a palm room to the left of the lobby and a children's dining room to the right. The palm room was a classical-style space decorated with Caen stone;{{harvnb|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1903|ps=.|p=552}} the ceiling of the palm room had trellises. There was also a mezzanine level with several private dining rooms. By the 2000s, the hotel had a fitness room, business center, and a conference room,{{Cite news |last=Lofting |first=Christopher |date=September 24, 2000 |title=Yes, There Are New York Hotels That Won't Empty Your Wallet for $100-$150, You Can Get Clean, Safe Lodging in Nice Parts of Town |page=N4 |work=Boston Globe |id={{ProQuest|405348793}}}} as well as a self-service laundry.{{Cite news |last=Pielou |first=Adriaane |date=November 15, 2003 |title=NEW YORK AUTUMN Bargain hotels |page=7 |work=The Daily Telegraph |id={{ProQuest|317813313}}}}

The ground story also has a ballroom covering {{Convert|3500|ft2}}. Originally an elaborate ballroom, it measured {{convert|100|by|50|ft}} across and was designed in the Louis XVI style. The ballroom was decorated in a white, gray, and gold color scheme, with red plush hangings, and was illuminated by full-height windows on its rear wall. The decorations included Baroque-style moldings, a mosaic-tile floor, a dozen Palladian windows, a set of columns with scagliola-style plaster capitals, and a coffered ceiling. The ceiling is variously cited as measuring {{Convert|20|ft}} or {{Convert|24|ft}} high. A musicians' gallery with palms and shrubs overlooked the ballroom. The space had become a jazz club by the 1990s before being largely abandoned in the 2000s.

== Guestrooms ==

The upper stories are arranged in an "H" shape, with a hallway connecting to a pair of emergency staircases. Two passenger elevators and a freight elevator, clustered at the center of the hotel, also served all stories. There were telephones in each room and mail chutes in the hallways.

According to a brochure published from the hotel's opening, every suite and almost every guestroom had a bathroom, and both the bedrooms and bathrooms were illuminated by natural light. The brochure also described the hotel as having many closets and full-height mirrors and windows. The closets in each bedroom have large hooks for women's dresses, which, at the time of the hotel's construction, tended to be heavy. By the 2000s, the rooms had been redecorated with striped wallpaper and "muted Federalist" designs. The modern-day hotel has about 160 or 165 units, most of which have sparse furnishings and small bathrooms. Although the rooms have air-conditioning and TVs, they do not have mini fridges or coffee machines;{{cite web |date=August 4, 2017 |title=The Wolcott Hotel Review: What To REALLY Expect If You Stay |url=https://www.oyster.com/new-york-city/hotels/wolcott-hotel/ |access-date=July 6, 2023 |website=Oyster.com |archive-date=July 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707162632/https://www.oyster.com/new-york-city/hotels/wolcott-hotel/ |url-status=live }} according to one critic, the rooms with queen-sized beds only had enough space for a nightstand, an armoire, and a small closet.

History

When the Wolcott Hotel was developed at the beginning of the 20th century, many commercial structures were being developed around Herald Square. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift northward along Broadway, from Union Square and Madison Square to Herald Square and eventually Times Square, during the first decade of the 20th century.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=2}} Half a block to the east, new department store buildings were quickly being developed on Fifth Avenue.{{Cite news |date=November 3, 1912 |title=Catharine Street as Select Shopping Centre Recalled in Lord & Taylor's Coming Removal; Business Established on Lower East Side in 1826, and Brooks Brothers Had Store on Cherry Street Corner – In 1850 Broadway Above Grand Street Became Popular Retail Section – In Last Ten Years Movement Has Been to Fifth Avenue North of 34th Street. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/11/03/archives/catharine-street-as-select-shopping-centre-recalled-in-lord-taylors.html |access-date=October 11, 2019 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011143425/https://www.nytimes.com/1912/11/03/archives/catharine-street-as-select-shopping-centre-recalled-in-lord-taylors.html |url-status=live }} Because of growing demand for these theaters and department stores, numerous hotels were developed on Broadway between Madison Square and Times Square, a half-block to the west during the late 19th and early 20th century. The opening of Pennsylvania Station, Macy's Herald Square, and the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad's 33rd Street Terminal in the 1900s further spurred growth immediately around Herald Square.{{Cite news |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=September 27, 1987 |title=Streetscape: The Hotel Martinique; Grimy Grande Dame Housing The Homeless Off Herald Sq. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/27/realestate/streetscape-hotel-martinique-grimy-grande-dame-housing-homeless-off-herald-sq.html |access-date=December 7, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207181035/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/27/realestate/streetscape-hotel-martinique-grimy-grande-dame-housing-homeless-off-herald-sq.html |url-status=live }} The presence of commercial structures and entertainment on Fifth Avenue and Broadway also affected development on side streets, where hotels and clubs were built to replace private residences.

= Development and opening =

The Alvord family sold three land lots on 31st Street in February 1902 to New York Realty Corporation, which then resold them to William C. Dewey.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=8}}{{cite magazine |date=February 22, 1902 |title=Manhattan |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_029&page=ldpd_7031148_029_00000426&no=18 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |volume=69 |pages=348 |via=columbia.edu |number=1771}} Prior to Dewey's purchase, the Alvord family had owned the site for a half-century, and the lots had included a three-story house and a horse stable. Dewey indicated that he would build a 12-story hotel about {{Cvt|100|ft}} west of Fifth Avenue,{{cite news |date=April 30, 1902 |title=The Building Department: List of Plans Filed for New Structures and Alterations |page=14 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|96162022}}}} and he hired Duncan to design the hotel, which was to cost $500,000.{{Cite magazine |date=May 10, 1902 |title=Residences and Flats |magazine=The Construction News |volume=13 |issue=19 |page=346 |id={{ProQuest|128399140}}}} The George F. Balmer Construction Company began excavating the site in June 1902,{{cite magazine |date=June 7, 1902 |title=Work Under Way |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_029&page=ldpd_7031148_029_00001215&no=2 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |volume=69 |pages=1047 |via=columbia.edu |number=1786}} and A. L. Goldschmidt was hired that September to install the electrical equipment.{{cite magazine |date=September 27, 1902 |title=Contracts Awarded |url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/document.php?vol=ldpd_7031148_030&page=ldpd_7031148_030_00000562&no=1 |magazine=The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide |volume=70 |pages=442 |via=columbia.edu |number=1802}} James Breslin, the longtime operator of the nearby Gilsey House hotel, leased the building in March 1903,{{cite news |date=March 6, 1903 |title=The Wolcott Hotel Leased |page=13 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571367978}}}}{{Cite news |date=March 5, 1903 |title=James H. Breslin's New Lease. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1903/03/05/archives/james-h-breslins-new-lease.html |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518172828/https://www.nytimes.com/1903/03/05/archives/james-h-breslins-new-lease.html |url-status=live }} paying more than $2 million over 21 years.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|p=5}} By then, the hotel had been named after businessman and politician Henry Roger Wolcott, a brother of U.S. senator Edward O. Wolcott and a descendant of U.S. founding father Oliver Wolcott.

The Wolcott's construction was delayed by several months because Dewey had to import structural steel from Europe, having encountered issues in acquiring the steel domestically. Furthermore, as a result of labor strikes, the hotel could not open in November 1903, as was originally scheduled.{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1904 |title=Strikes Force Bankruptcy |pages=2 |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-strikes-force-bankruptc/124912830/ |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=1941-0646 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518173307/https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-strikes-force-bankruptc/124912830/ |url-status=live }} The Wolcott opened on March 1, 1904,{{Cite news |date=March 2, 1904 |title=New Hotel Wolcott Opens |pages=1 |work=The Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-new-hotel-wolcott-opens/124912798/ |access-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518173309/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-new-hotel-wolcott-opens/124912798/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=April 1, 1906 |title=Obituary: James H. Breslin |page=2 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|571684984}}}} with J. H. Woods as its first manager. At the time of the Wolcott's opening, guests paid $3 per night for guestrooms with bathrooms and $8 per night for guestrooms with a parlor and bathrooms. The hotel had its own restaurant, which, according to a contemporary brochure, served "little chicken that come unplucked from the Jersey farms" and Cape Cod oysters. In addition, the hotel hired porters to carry bags from nearby train stations, as well as a valet and a "ladies' maid".

= 1900s to 1960s =

Because of the atypically long time that it had taken to construct the Wolcott, Dewey was unable to make payments on his mortgage. At the end of September 1904, the American Mortgage Company foreclosed on a $391,000 mortgage that it had placed on the hotel, and G. Thornton Warren was appointed as the Wolcott's receiver.{{Cite news |date=October 1, 1904 |title=Receiver of Rents of Hotel Wolcott |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1904/10/01/archives/article-11-no-title.html |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518172828/https://www.nytimes.com/1904/10/01/archives/article-11-no-title.html |url-status=live }} A state judge ordered in January 1905 that the Wolcott be sold.{{Cite news |date=January 7, 1905 |title=Orders Hotel Sold |pages=1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-orders-hotel-sold/124913853/ |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518172823/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-new-york-times-orders-hotel-sold/124913853/ |url-status=live }} After the Wolcott was sold, Breslin maintained his lease of the hotel until his death in early 1906,{{Cite news |date=April 1, 1906 |title=Hotel Men All Mourn Death of 'Jim' Breslin; Flags Half-Masted in Memory of the "Ideal Hotel Man" |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1906/04/01/archives/hotel-men-all-mourn-death-of-jim-breslin-flags-halfmasted-in-memory.html |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518172823/https://www.nytimes.com/1906/04/01/archives/hotel-men-all-mourn-death-of-jim-breslin-flags-halfmasted-in-memory.html |url-status=live }} and his estate held the hotel's lease for another two years.{{Cite news |date=May 27, 1908 |title=Hotel Wolcott Change |pages=1 |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-hotel-wolcott-change/124914520/ |access-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518181616/https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-hotel-wolcott-change/124914520/ |url-status=live }} George T. Stockham bought the hotel's lease in May 1908 and retained most of its staff,{{Cite news |date=May 29, 1908 |title=Hotel Wolcott Lease Purchased |pages=4 |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-hotel-wolcott-lease-pur/124913464/ |access-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518173310/https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-tribune-hotel-wolcott-lease-pur/124913464/ |url-status=live }} operating the hotel for ten years.{{cite news |date=August 26, 1950 |title=George Stockham, Hotel Man 60 Years: Most Recently With Shelton Managed Others Here |page=8 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327512317}}}} After Stockham took over the Wolcott, the hotel began offering additional amenities for dog owners.{{Cite news |date=June 25, 1908 |title=The Wolcott Welcomes Dogs |pages=7 |work=The Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-the-wolcott-welcomes-dogs/124915623/ |access-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518181620/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sun-the-wolcott-welcomes-dogs/124915623/ |url-status=live }} The Wolcott Realty Company acquired the hotel in 1912.{{cite news |date=February 22, 1923 |title=Makes Park Av. Site More Attractive to Builders |page=11 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1237254082}}}} William and Julius Manger of Manger Hotels bought the Wolcott in February 1923,{{Cite news |date=February 22, 1923 |title=Downtown Building in $7,000,000 Deal; August Heckscher Buys 25-Story Wall Street Exchange Building. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/02/22/archives/downtown-building-in-7000000-deal-august-heckscher-buys-25story.html |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518181616/https://www.nytimes.com/1923/02/22/archives/downtown-building-in-7000000-deal-august-heckscher-buys-25story.html |url-status=live }} and their subsidiary Wolcott Operating Corporation owned it for nine years.

In the Wolcott's early years, it was popular with travelers, although it also rented rooms to permanent residents. Among the Wolcott's most famous residents were dancer Isadora Duncan, tobacco magnate James Buchanan Duke,{{cite book |last=Winkler |first=John Kennedy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeNCAAAAIAAJ |title=Tobacco Tycoon: The Story of James Buchanan Duke |publisher=Random House |year=1942 |page=171 |access-date=August 6, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518181620/https://books.google.com/books?id=oeNCAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }} heiress Doris Duke, writers Edith Wharton and Mark Twain, and theatrical producer Henry Miller.{{cite book |last=Morse |first=Frank Phillip |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kjkrAAAAMAAJ |title=Backstage with Henry Miller |publisher=E. P. Dutton & Company, Incorporated |year=1938 |page=151 |access-date=August 6, 2023 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518182250/https://books.google.com/books?id=kjkrAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }} The writer Francis Trevelyan Miller also stayed at the Wolcott, suing the hotel's managers in 1930 after he allegedly got electrocuted while trying to plug in a lamp.{{Cite news |date=July 27, 1930 |title=F.T. Miller Asks $50,000.; Writer Charges Injuries From Electric Shock in Hotel Wolcott. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/07/27/archives/ft-miller-asks-50000-writer-charges-injuries-from-electric-shock-in.html |access-date=May 19, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519195448/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/07/27/archives/ft-miller-asks-50000-writer-charges-injuries-from-electric-shock-in.html |url-status=live }} The hotel also hosted events such as American League baseball meetings;{{Cite news |date=December 16, 1909 |title=American League for 154-game Season; Reserve List of Players for Each Club Restricted by a New Rule |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1909/12/16/archives/american-league-for-154game-season-reserve-list-of-players-for-each.html |access-date=May 18, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518181620/https://www.nytimes.com/1909/12/16/archives/american-league-for-154game-season-reserve-list-of-players-for-each.html |url-status=live }} at one such meeting in 1914, the New York Yankees were sold to Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast Huston.{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011|ps=.|pp=5–6}} The Commission Resident Buyers' Association of America opened a clubhouse on the Wolcott's mezzanine in 1928, using the main ballroom and the private dining rooms for meetings.{{cite magazine |date=January 24, 1928 |title=Commission Buyers Open Own Clubrooms: Permanent Quarters Obtained In Hotel Walcott For Assn. Members |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |volume=36 |issue=19 |pages=24 |id={{ProQuest|1654107008}}}}

In October 1932, the Wolcott Operating Company sold the hotel to Wolcott Inc., headed by Hyman Portnof, at which point the hotel was valued at $600,000.{{Cite news |date=October 14, 1932 |title=Deals in Manhattan; Hotel Wolcott Is Sold and Home in Eightieth Street Rented. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/10/14/archives/deals-in-manhattan-hotel-wolcott-is-sold-and-home-in-eightieth.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517180254/https://www.nytimes.com/1932/10/14/archives/deals-in-manhattan-hotel-wolcott-is-sold-and-home-in-eightieth.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=October 14, 1932 |title=Real Estate News and Projects: Mangers Sell Hotel Wolcott To H. Portnof West 31st Street Properly Taken in $600,000 Deal G.W. Kahn House Leased |page=38 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1115129220}}}} The new owners planned to overhaul the interior for about $100,000. The hotel continued to host events such as Fiorello La Guardia's inauguration ball in 1938. The Office of Price Administration, an agency of the U.S. government, accused the Wolcott's operators of overcharging rent in 1944;{{Cite news |date=November 19, 1944 |title=OPA Cracks Down on 22 Hotels, 6 Apartment Houses in Rent Drive |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/19/archives/opa-cracks-down-on-22-hotels-6-apartment-houses-in-rent-drive-22.html |access-date=January 21, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230121005924/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/19/archives/opa-cracks-down-on-22-hotels-6-apartment-houses-in-rent-drive-22.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=November 19, 1944 |title=22 Hotels Sued By O. P. A. for Rate Violations: 6 Apartment Houses Also Named; Agency Seeks $58,400 in Damages |page=34 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1257453689}}}} the case was settled the next year, when the operators agreed to refund tenants' rent and pay damages.{{cite news |date=June 16, 1945 |title=8 Hotels Pay Rent Claims: O. P. A. Suit Wins Treble Damages and Refunds to Tenants |page=4 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1323166143}}}} Architect Samuel A. Hertz filed plans for $8,000 worth of alterations in 1947.{{cite news |date=September 23, 1947 |title=Building Plans Filed |page=43 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|108087782}}}} The Wolcott also hosted the Beltone Studios, a recording studio, during the 1950s and 1960s. Among the musicians who stayed at the Wolcott while recording at Beltone Studios were Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers.

= 1970s to present =

The Erlich family paid $650,000 for the building in 1975, at which point it had declined into a single room occupancy hotel. Scott Erlich took over as the hotel's manager around 1989. The Wolcott's occupancy rate increased by about 5 percent per year for the next five years; some of the increase in occupancy came from European tourists who learned of the hotel through travel publications. The lobby was renovated in 1992, when the Tiffany glass window and other details were restored. A jazz club called the Five Spot opened at the hotel in February 1993,{{Cite news |last=Watrous |first=Peter |date=February 11, 1993 |title=Pop and Jazz in Review |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/11/arts/pop-and-jazz-in-review-440093.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517180254/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/11/arts/pop-and-jazz-in-review-440093.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last=Gourse |first=Leslie |date=February 21, 1993 |title=New York glories Big Apple has rediscovered its appetite for small but vibrant jazz clubs |page=18 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|283521943}}}} within the hotel's ballroom.{{Cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Arthur |date=March 21, 1993 |title=Home, Home on the Range |pages=977 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-home-home-on-the-rangearthu/125123672/ |access-date=May 22, 2023 |archive-date=May 22, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522151742/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-home-home-on-the-rangearthu/125123672/ |url-status=live }} The club hosted musicians such as David Sanborn and McCoy Tyner until it closed in 1996. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Wolcott operated as a budget hotel;{{Cite news |last=Noel |first=Pamela |date=March 11, 2001 |title=Q & A |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/travel/q-a-266299.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517180255/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/travel/q-a-266299.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Usborne |first=David |date=July 12, 2003 |title=Manhattan Hotels: the Complete Guide to Manhattan Hotels ; Whether You're an Uptown Girl or a Downtown Guy, You'll Be Spoilt for Choice for Somewhere to Stay With New York's Wealth of Stylish Hotels. David Usborne's Guide Will Help You to Find Something to Suit Your Taste and Your Pocket |pages=6, 7 |work=The Independent |id={{ProQuest|312239527}}}} it did not offer any room service.{{Cite news |last=Noel |first=Pamela |date=March 11, 2001 |title=Q & A |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/travel/q-a-266299.html |access-date=July 6, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517180259/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/travel/q-a-266299.html |url-status=live }}

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Wolcott as a city landmark in 2011.New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission [https://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2423.pdf "Hotel Wolcott Designation Report"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102174518/http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2423.pdf |date=January 2, 2023 }}, (December 20, 2011) The building's owners decided to renovate the ballroom in 2014 after completing a five-year renovation of the guest rooms. At the time, the ballroom was mostly empty and used as storage space, although it sometimes held photo shoots for celebrities such as actresses Jennifer Lawrence and Amanda Seyfried.

Under a contract with nonprofit organization Exodus Transitional Communities, in March 2020, the hotel became a shelter for homeless former prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web |date=August 25, 2022 |title=Troubled Contractor Abruptly Shutting Million-Dollar Halfway Hotels |url=https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/8/25/23322399/troubled-contractor-abruptly-shutting-million-dollar-halfway-hotels |access-date=May 17, 2023 |website=The City |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517220421/https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/8/25/23322399/troubled-contractor-abruptly-shutting-million-dollar-halfway-hotels |url-status=live }} The hotel was almost entirely staffed by formerly incarcerated people.{{cite web |last=Daly |first=Ilyssa |date=October 12, 2020 |title='I feel human again' - At three hotels, formerly incarcerated New Yorkers get the support they need |url=https://queenseagle.com/all/i-feel-human-again-at-three-nyc-hotels-formerly-incarcerated-get-help-with-reentry |access-date=May 17, 2023 |website=Queens Daily Eagle |archive-date=October 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006103804/https://queenseagle.com/all/i-feel-human-again-at-three-nyc-hotels-formerly-incarcerated-get-help-with-reentry |url-status=live }} After local news website thecity.nyc reported in 2022 that Exodus Transitional Communities had hired an unlicensed security contractor at another shelter that it operated, Exodus closed the Hotel Wolcott shelter that October.{{cite web |last=Grossinger |first=Annie |date=December 16, 2022 |title='I Know That I'm Living This Cinderella Life' |url=https://www.curbed.com/2022/12/photo-rikers-former-inmates-hotel-emergency-housing.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |website=Curbed |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517220419/https://www.curbed.com/2022/12/photo-rikers-former-inmates-hotel-emergency-housing.html |url-status=live }} The next month, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that he would open a temporary 175-room shelter for asylum seekers at the Wolcott, amid an increase in the number of people within the city who sought asylum in the United States.{{cite web |last=Donaldson |first=Sahalie |date=November 3, 2022 |title=New York City opens new emergency center for asylum-seekers in a Midtown hotel |url=https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2022/11/new-york-city-opens-new-emergency-center-asylum-seekers-midtown-hotel/379322/ |access-date=May 17, 2023 |website=City & State NY |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517220419/https://www.cityandstateny.com/policy/2022/11/new-york-city-opens-new-emergency-center-asylum-seekers-midtown-hotel/379322/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Sommerfeldt |first=Chris |date=November 3, 2022 |title=NYC seeks to rent more hotel rooms for migrants, opens new facility for women, families despite drop in arrivals |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-nyc-migrants-hotel-rooms-women-families-20221103-us2pao3gsjfxfpva67tgqhcwam-story.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |website=New York Daily News |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517220418/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/new-york-elections-government/ny-nyc-migrants-hotel-rooms-women-families-20221103-us2pao3gsjfxfpva67tgqhcwam-story.html |url-status=live }} The city government also paid a contractor to cook Latin American food for the hotel's occupants.{{Cite news |last=Zraick |first=Karen |date=March 23, 2023 |title=How Manhattan Hotels Became Refuges for Thousands of Migrants |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/nyregion/nyc-hotels-homeless-shelters.html |access-date=May 19, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 17, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517211227/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/23/nyregion/nyc-hotels-homeless-shelters.html |url-status=live }}

Critical reception

A writer for The New York Times wrote in 1980 that the Wolcott's design "show[s] the romantic extravagance once lavished on city hostelries".{{Cite news |last=Dunning |first=Jennifer |date=August 8, 1980 |title=Madison Square Garden Area, Nerve Center of the City; Metropolitan Baedeker Madison Square Garden Landmarks and Vistas History The Garment Center Shopping The Empire State Building |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/08/08/archives/madison-square-garden-area-nerve-center-of-the-city-metropolitan.html |access-date=May 19, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 19, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519195449/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/08/08/archives/madison-square-garden-area-nerve-center-of-the-city-metropolitan.html |url-status=live }} Another critic for the same paper wrote in 2000: "Walking into the giddy, ornate plaster-and-marble ornamented lobby [...] I fooled myself for an instant, thinking that I'd returned to the elegant New York of 1910."{{Cite news |last=McLane |first=Daisann |date=May 14, 2000 |title=Frugal Traveler; New York's Bargain Hotels, With Help From the Web |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/travel/frugal-traveler-new-york-s-bargain-hotels-with-help-from-the-web.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 1, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201164208/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/14/travel/frugal-traveler-new-york-s-bargain-hotels-with-help-from-the-web.html |url-status=live }} In 2014, Lana Bortolot of The Wall Street Journal wrote of the Wolcott that "Its distinctive pink-brick facade, limestone frills and copper mansard roof gave it standing among other luxury hotels of its time".{{Cite news |last=Bortolot |first=Lana |date=January 16, 2014 |title=Old Ballroom Awaits Return After a Redo |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303595404579320632997864214.html |access-date=May 17, 2023 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=August 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806062656/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303595404579320632997864214 |url-status=live }} Christopher Gray wrote that Duncan's design "combines his blocky, brusque stonework with a veritable galleon of copper cresting along the three-story-high mansard".

Reviews of the service were mixed. The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1998 that the Wolcott was "old-fashioned but well maintained, and especially popular with Europeans".{{cite news |last=Frommer |first=Arthur |date=October 18, 1998 |title=The Bargain Hunter's Big Apple |page=20 |work=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|421497244}}}} Similarly, The Daily Telegraph called the Wolcott a "faded hotel with a shabby-grand lobby and cramped rooms". A Chicago Tribune critic praised "the lobby's elaborate, turn-of-the-century decorative ceiling" and the quietness of the rooms in the rear, although the critic described the rooms as somewhat expensive and claimed to have found an empty condom wrapper on the floor.

References

Citations

Bibliography

{{cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2423.pdf |title=Hotel Wolcott |date=December 20, 2011 |publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission |ref={{Harvid|Landmarks Preservation Commission|2011}}}}
{{Cite magazine |date=Sep 1903 |title=The Hotel Wolcott, John Duncan, Architect |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000969819o&view=1up&seq=588 |magazine=Architects' and Builders' Magazine |volume=35 |ref={{harvid|Architects' and Builders' Magazine|1903}}}}