Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel

{{Infobox building

| name = Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel

| former_names = International Hotel Travelodge New York JFK

| alternate_names =

| status = Closed

| image = File:Nassau Expy td (2023-04-20) 15 - Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel.jpg

| image_alt =

| caption =

| map_type =

| map_alt =

| map_caption =

| relief =

| altitude =

| building_type = Hotel

| architectural_style =

| structural_system =

| material = White brick (façade)

| cost =

| ren_cost =

| client =

| owner = Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

| current_tenants =

| landlord =

| location = John F. Kennedy International Airport

| address =

| location_town = Queens, New York City, New York

| location_country = United States

| coordinates = {{Coord|40|39|51|N|73|48|17|W|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}

| groundbreaking_date =

| start_date =

| completion_date =

| opened_date = May 8, 1958{{cite news |last1=Witkin |first1=Richard |title=IDLEWILD'S HOTEL OPENS TO JET ERA; 320-Room Facility, Insulated Against Din, Is Furnished in Futuristic Style |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/05/08/archives/idlewilds-hotel-opens-to-jet-era-320room-facility-insulated-against.html |access-date=27 April 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=May 8, 1958 |page=15}}

| inauguration_date =

| renovation_date =

| closing_date = {{start date and age|December 1, 2009|paren=yes}}

| height =

| diameter =

| circumference =

| architectural =

| tip =

| antenna_spire =

| roof =

| top_floor =

| observatory =

| other_dimensions =

| floor_count = 6

| floor_area =

| seating_type =

| seating_capacity =

| elevator_count =

| grounds_area =

| architect =

| architecture_firm =

| structural_engineer =

| services_engineer =

| civil_engineer =

| other_designers =

| quantity_surveyor =

| main_contractor =

| awards =

| designations =

| ren_architect =

| ren_firm =

| ren_str_engineer =

| ren_serv_engineer =

| ren_civ_engineer =

| ren_oth_designers =

| ren_qty_surveyor =

| ren_awards =

| rooms = 478

| parking =

| hotel_chain = Ramada

| affiliation =

| number_of_suites =

| number_of_restaurants =

| number_of_bars =

| facilities =

}}

The Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel was a Ramada-branded hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in the South Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York, United States.

Description

While in operation, The Ramada Plaza JFK was JFK Airport's only on-site hotel.[http://www.chmhotel.com/property.php?id=394 "Ramada Plaza Hotel JFK International Airport"]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130522081304/http://www.chmhotel.com/property.php?id=394 Archive]) CHM (Capital Hotel Management) Properties. Retrieved November 4, 2012. It was located in Airport Building 144,Dunford [https://books.google.com/books?id=l1YKyCci5PEC&pg=PT503 Page not stated in Google Books preview - PT503], "Ramada Plaza JFK Building 144, Van Wyck Expressway S, Queens"Successful Meetings, Volume 51, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=AA8tAQAAMAAJ&q=Ramada+Plaza+JFK 188]. "Ramada Plaza Hotel 477 Units JFK Int. Airport Bldg. 144". a six-story structure.Leland, John (August 4, 1996). [http://www.newsweek.com/grieving-ground-zero-177360 "Grieving at Ground Zero"]. Newsweek. Retrieved March 9, 2014. "The six-story Ramada, just off Kennedy airport, has been ground zero for the grief and incomprehension surrounding TWA Flight 800. It has been a place of prayer and condolences, of unlimited bar tabs and a presidential visit." The building had a white brick facadeSwanson, Steven (November 1, 1999). [https://www.proquest.com/docview/418919879 "At JFK, Another Grim Routine in 'Heartbreak Hotel'"]. Chicago Tribune. "It is a routine familiar at the Ramada Plaza Hotel near John F. Kennedy International Airport, where this unassuming white-brick hotel has become known as "Heartbreak Hotel" because it is the place where family members have been brought after crashes involving planes that took off from the airport." and 478 rooms.{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022211417/http://www.ramadajfk.com/hotel_fact_sheet.pdf |date=October 22, 2006 |title="Hotel Fact Sheet" }} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20061022211417/http://www.ramadajfk.com/hotel_fact_sheet.pdf Archive]). Ramada Plaza JFK. Retrieved November 4, 2012. "Ramada Plaza Hotel – JFK Building #144 John F Kennedy Airport Van Wyck Expressway New York, NY 11430".

History

The hotel was opened on May 8, 1958 as the International Hotel. Prior to being a Ramada hotel, it was a Forte Hotels-managed property that was branded as the Travelodge New York JFK.World Hotel Directory 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jjcsAQAAMAAJ&q=Ramada+Plaza+JFK 459], "Ramada Plaza 2267 Part of Ramada Franchise Canada. Previously Travelodge New York JFK. Previously part of Forte Hotels. Address JFK international Airport, Van Wyck Expressway, Jamaica, NY 11430"

For several years, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), the airport's owner, leased the building and site to the hotel-holding company Westmont Hospitality Group. In 2009, a PANYNJ spokesperson said that Westmont Hospitality Group decided not to renew the lease for 2009.{{dead link|date=June 2014}} Fickenscher, Lisa (September 25, 2009). [http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/200900925/FREE/909259988 JKF[sic]]sic] "Airport Hotel to Close in December". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved November 4, 2012.

With the expiration of the lease in late 2008, PANYNJ resumed control of the building and leased the facility to Highgate Holdings for one year, although the PANYNJ preliminary 2010 budget issued in 2009 indicated that an estimated savings of $1 million per month would be achieved by PANYNJ with the reported closing of the hotel due to "declining aviation activity and a need for substantial renovation".[http://www.panynj.gov/press-room/press-item.cfm?headLine_id=1248 "Port Authority Releases Preliminary 2010 Budget"]. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. December 3, 2009. Retrieved November 4, 2012. "Closing the Ramada Plaza Hotel at JFK International Airport because of declining aviation activity and a need for substantial renovation. The closing will save the agency $1 million per month." The hotel closed on December 1, 2009, with almost 200 employees made redundant and the PANYNJ hoping to construct a new hotel on the airport property. Until TWA Hotel opened within the former TWA Flight Center in 2019, there was no on-site hotel at JFK Airport.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/business/twa-airport-hotels.html|title=Where Weary Travelers Can Lay Their Heads, and Watch Planes Go By|last=Negroni|first=Christine|date=2019-06-17|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-11-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

=Use as temporary housing=

A series of nearby airplane-crash incidents, the flights of which originated at the airport in the 1990s and 2000s, caused the hotel to be casually referred to as the "heartbreak hotel" when the facilities would be used as the temporary central housing and gathering place for family members of passengers and crew, as well as the media.Adamson, April (September 4, 1998). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140308211411/http://articles.philly.com/1998-09-04/news/25757670_1_twa-flight-twa-disaster-family-members "229 Victims Knew Jet Was in Trouble Airport Inn Becomes Heartbreak Hotel Again"] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140308211411/http://articles.philly.com/1998-09-04/news/25757670_1_twa-flight-twa-disaster-family-members Archive]). The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 9, 2014.[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/17/smn.21.html "Hotel Near JFK Airport Is Familiar with Airline Tragedy"]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20141229183915/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0111/17/smn.21.html Archive]) CNN. November 17, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2014.

The crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996 originated the use of the hotel facilities for guest housing, bereavement-related services and news gathering for crash-incident-related purposes.{{cite news | first=John | last=Leland | authorlink=John Leland (journalist)| title=Grieving at Ground Zero | url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/102546 | work = Newsweek | date=August 5, 1996 | accessdate=January 14, 2010 }} Ying Chan, Jose Lambiet and Jere Hester of the Daily News wrote that for the families the hotel became "a makeshift grief counseling center".Chan, Ying; Lambiet, Jose; Hester, Jere (July 20, 1996). "[http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/heartbreak-hotel-kin-wait-weep-jfk-ramada-article-1.731576 "A Heartbreak Hotel for Kin{{spaced ndash}} They Wait, Weep at JFK Ramada]." Daily News. Retrieved March 9, 2014. Many waited there for the remains of their family members to be recovered, identified and released.{{cite news | first=Rachel L. | last=Swarns | title=For Crash Victims' Families, A Painful Return to Routine | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/08/07/nyregion/for-crash-victims-families-a-painful-return-to-routine.html | work = The New York Times | date=August 7, 1996 | accessdate=February 26, 2010}}{{cite news | first=Lisa | last=Gray | title=After the Crash | url=http://www.houstonpress.com/1997-10-23/news/after-the-crash/4 | work = Houston Press | page=4 | date=October 23, 1997 | accessdate=March 3, 2010 }} U.S. President Bill Clinton visited the hotel while it housed TWA Flight 800 next of kin. The hotel also hosted families of Swissair Flight 111 (1998), EgyptAir Flight 990 (1999)Carey, Michael (November 1, 1999). [http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s63344.htm "Crash of EgyptAir Flight 990"]. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140311034303/http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s63344.htm Archive]). ABC. Retrieved March 9, 2014. and American Airlines Flight 587 (2001) victims.

References

Notes

Sources

Dunford, Martin. The Rough Guide to New York City. Penguin Books. January 2, 2009. {{ISBN|1848360398}}, {{ISBN|9781848360396}}.
Successful Meetings, Volume 51. Bill Communications. 2002.
World Hotel Directory 1998. Pitman Publishing. September 30, 1997. {{ISBN|0273627635}}, {{ISBN|9780273627630}}.