New Yorker Hotel (1930)
When it opened on January 2, 1930, the New Yorker was among the largest hotels in the world. Today it is remembered most for the inventor Nikola Tesla, who lived in room 3327 from 1933 until his death on January 7, 1943 — a decade spent in faded elegance a few blocks from his electrical legacy at Penn Station.
At a glance
A 43-story Art Deco tower at 481 Eighth Avenue, designed by Sugarman & Berger and opened on January 2, 1930. The hotel was conceived for the era of mass travel: over 2,500 rooms served by an underground power plant, multiple ballrooms, and a radio broadcast facility made it a city within a building. Its rooftop silhouette — a setback tower with Art Deco crown — anchors the west side of Penn Station approach.
Key facts
- Address: 481 Eighth Avenue (at 34th–35th Streets), New York, NY 10001
- Year opened: January 2, 1930
- Architects: Sugarman & Berger (Henry B. Sugarman, Adolph Berger)
- Height: 43 stories
- Original rooms: over 2,500
- Notable resident: Nikola Tesla, room 3327, 1933–1943
- Designation: New York City Landmark; National Register of Historic Places
History
Sugarman & Berger designed the New Yorker as a full-service residential hotel for an era that expected hotels to function as complete urban environments. The building opened with a ballroom seating over 1,500, eight smaller event spaces, its own underground coal-fired electrical generating plant — one of the largest private power systems in Manhattan — and a radio broadcast studio. More than 2,500 rooms at competitive rates made it a democratic alternative to the grander hotels of Park and Fifth Avenues.
The building’s most celebrated resident was Nikola Tesla, the inventor of the alternating-current electrical system. Tesla moved into room 3327 in 1933 as his finances dwindled; the hotel, out of deference to his fame, progressively reduced his rates. He spent the last decade of his life there, conducting correspondence, feeding pigeons in Bryant Park, and occasionally receiving journalists. He died in room 3327 on January 7, 1943. A commemorative plaque marks the connection.
In 1976 the Unification Church purchased the building and used it as a conference center and publishing headquarters for several decades. The hotel returned to mainstream hospitality under subsequent ownership and now operates as a full-service hotel and hostel complex.
What you see
The tower rises from an Eighth Avenue base with characteristic Art Deco verticality: narrow brick piers alternate with recessed spandrel panels, the whole stepping back in compliance with the 1916 zoning law as the building reaches its upper floors. The crown carries restrained geometric ornament in buff brick and terracotta, more austere than the exuberance of the Chrysler Building three avenues east. It reads as a building of serious purpose rather than civic display.
The street-level entrance on Eighth Avenue retains bronze canopy supports and lobby metalwork from the original 1930 fitment. The former ballroom, used variously over the decades, is identifiable in upper-floor section by its double-height interior. The building’s relationship to the Penn Station neighborhood — the convergence of commuter rail, subway, and long-distance bus — makes it a peculiarly New York monument: grand and practical at once.
Practical information
- The New Yorker Hotel is an operating hotel; lobby access is available to guests and visitors.
- A blue plaque on the building commemorates Nikola Tesla’s residence (room 3327). Interior tours to Tesla’s room are not routinely available.
- Rates vary; the hotel also operates a hostel-style section at lower price points.
- Penn Station is one block east; the area is active around the clock.
Getting there
Penn Station (approximately 2 blocks south at 31st–33rd Streets between Seventh and Eighth Avenues) serves Amtrak long-distance trains, NJ Transit commuter rail, and Long Island Rail Road. The A/C/E and 1/2/3 subway lines stop at 34th Street–Penn Station, directly across 34th Street. JFK International Airport is approximately 15 miles southeast via the A train (Jamaica transfer). LaGuardia (LGA) is approximately 9 miles northeast. Newark Liberty (EWR) is approximately 11 miles west via NJ Transit from Penn Station. The Empire State Building is approximately 0.3 miles east on 34th Street.
Nearby
- Empire State Building (1931) — Art Deco landmark, approximately 0.3 miles east at 34th Street and Fifth Avenue
- Penn Station / Madison Square Garden — approximately 2 blocks south at 33rd Street
- James A. Farley Post Office Building (1914) — McKim, Mead & White Beaux-Arts colonnade, across Eighth Avenue at 33rd Street
- Macy’s Herald Square (1902) — 1 block east at 34th Street and Broadway
Sources
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report, New Yorker Hotel
- National Register of Historic Places, New Yorker Hotel
- Jonnes, Jill. Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World. Random House, 2003
- Dolkart, Andrew S. Guide to New York City Landmarks. 4th ed. Wiley, 2009
- White, Norval, and Elliot Willensky. AIA Guide to New York City. 5th ed. Oxford University Press, 2010
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