February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Employees and supporters are now fighting the subsequent announcement that most of the hotel rooms will be converted into condominiums and retail space.
The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council said that 1,100 porters, cooks, chambermaids and doormen have already received notice that they will longer have a job “on or around” April 30 of this year, and among those affected will be the Irish and Irish Americans who work, stay and play in the area.
The union, which represents workers throughout the city’s hospitality industry, has launched a campaign as well as a Web site, www.savethepaza.com, where people can pledge their support, leave messages about their experiences at the hotel, and wish them well wit their plight.
Though the announcement of the hotel’s closure came last week, the union is continuing to drum up support from local political figures and celebrities.
Taking up almost an entire city block, the hotel’s location across from Central Park, between Central Park South and 58th Street on Fifth Avenue, has long been a draw for the hotel.
“We’re continuing the campaign to save the hotel,” said John Turchiano of the N.Y. Hotel and Motel Trades Council.
“It’s a New York City icon,” he said. “It serves the city better as a hotel rather than residences for rich people.”
A doorman’s tale
On Monday afternoon, doorman Mickey Pierce was stationed in front of the Plaza as he has been for the last 20 years.
Dressed in the cape and jacket that identifies him, he talked about the importance of preserving the iconic building as a hotel.
“We’re the only hotel that’s a landmark,” he said. “We’re not like any other.”
Designated a New York City Landmark in 1969, the Plaza is the only New York City hotel to be designated as a National Historic Landmark.
This will preserve the building’s outer shell, but the interior was never designated a landmark.
In response to that, the union recently applied to landmark the interior to prevent any construction from taking place.
“Once it’s calendared, they can’t touch it,” said Turchiano, who said they expect the hearing for landmark status should be scheduled this week.
Pierce, whose mother was an O’Manion, arrived in New York from Ohio with aspirations of becoming an actor. He landed work with the Plaza’s security team and worked there until a doorman position opened up.
Pierce said the coalition’s main concern is that there should be more than 150 rooms, what the El-Ad Group has allotted for hotel space. The hotel currently has 805 rooms.
“This has to be a hotel,” Pierce said. “And there have to be more than 150 rooms.”
“Those hotel rooms are going to be on 58th Street,” he said, pointing to the hotel’s east fa