Hotel St. George

Hotel St. George, founded by Captain William Tumbridge in 1885, was once the largest hotel in New York City. The hotel is located in the heart of the scenic Brooklyn Heights Historic District, the first such designated neighborhood in New York City. Its various constituent buildings mostly survive and were built between 1885 and 1929. The historic building is now being used as student housing for surrounding colleges, especially New York University, Pace University, St. Francis College, and the New York Law School. It houses over 1,400 students, and occupancy will increase with the building continuing to being refurbished and repaired. The building is open only to its student residents, and has several lounge areas and one communal kitchen to be shared with the resident occupants. Attached to the building on the Clark Street side is a four floor "Eastern Athletic" gym that is separately owned.

For the building in Boston, Massachusetts, see Boston Hotel Buckminster.

Henry Street entrance
Hotel St. George
Portrait of Captain William Tumbridge at estimated 21 years old.
Neon sign

It is located atop the New York City Subway's Clark Street station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (2 and ​3 trains), one stop from Manhattan. The station's sole subway entrance continues to function inside the hotel itself, right before the main door leading to the former ballroom and guest check-in.

History and description

The St. George is a collection of surviving buildings constructed predominantly from 1885 to 1929; the St. George occupied a full city block bounded by Clark Street, Pineapple Street, Hicks Street and Henry Street. The main building, St. George Tower, stands over 30 stories tall and is now a residential cooperative building. It once drew celebrities, athletes, and every presidential hopeful flocking to its many ballrooms (the Colorama Ballroom being the largest banquet room in the world) and the largest indoor salt-water pool in the United States. From 1975–1976, several political prisoners, exiled from Chile by dictator Augusto Pinochet, stayed at the Hotel St. George. Many of them became U.S. citizens and important Latino figures in the United States. The last remaining portion of the hotel operating as such was burnt down in a fire in August 1995.[1][2] although its signage remains for historical purposes.

The hotel was originally created by Union Navy Captain William Tumbridge in 1885. After making a name for himself with his stockbroker company Tumbridge and Co, the captain sought to create the grand hotel. The St. George hotel was one of the most popular places to visit, with a swimming pool and a bar located inside the building.

The hotel was also famous as being one of the main hotels housing service personnel before being shipped overseas in World War II. Consequently, it was a place many families last saw their loved ones.

The 100 Henry Street entrance, also known as the "Weller Wing" of the St. George and previously the hotel main entrance, is now part of Educational Housing Services (EHS), which provides dormitory service to NYC area university students. This same entrance also allows access to the EHS-owned "Studio Wing". In 2005, EHS expanded their St. George operations and opened a new wing of the building at 55 Clark Street known as Clark Residence constructed over the site of the hotel building destroyed by fire in 1995. EHS houses 1,200 domestic and international students.[3] Street level house shops, restaurants, and charming neighborhood shops occupy the street fronts on Clark and Henry. The subway entrance is located on the Henry Street entrance.


In media

Columbia Records (now Sony Classical) used the Grand Ballroom at the Hotel St. George as a venue for several famous recordings by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. Among them are Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, recorded on January 28, 1957; Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, 1958; and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris, 1959.

The famous "Luca Brasi sleeps with fishes" part of The Godfather was filmed in the once famous and glamorous bar of the St. George.[4]

The hotel is a featured subject of a song by The Hassles (featuring and written by Billy Joel), and recorded in 1968; it can be heard on The Hassles' album, Hour of the Wolf, and on the bootleg Billy Joel compilation, entitled Billy Joel Sings.

References
  1. "Fire and Arson -- Prevention and Fire Scene Preparedness". www.interfire.org.
  2. "The St. George Hotel Fire". www.fdnewyork.com.
  3. "NYC Student Housing Locations - Student & Intern Housing in NYC: EHS Educational Services". NYC Student Housing Locations - Student & Intern Housing in NYC: EHS Educational Services.
  4. St. George Tower Oral History Experiment
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