It's Official - Gaiety Building to be Razed

[likembig]

New York Post

 

FADED GLORY: The classic HoJo's, which has seen better days, will become a retail center.

 

April 19, 2005 -- Times Square's Howard Johnson's, a neon-lit, fast-food landmark in the Crossroads of the World for 50 years, will soon be razed to make way for a glamorous new retail development, The Post has learned.

 

No closing date has been set, but the favorite eatery of Times Square sentimentalists "will not likely see another New Year's Eve ball-drop," a source said yesterday.

 

The four-story building with the winking blue and orange lights at Broadway and 46th Street "will soon come down," confirmed Cushman & Wakefield real-estate broker C. Bradley Mendelson, who represents the new owner, Jeff Sutton's Wharton Acquisitions.

 

Longtime owner Kenneth Rubinstein and his family just sold the HoJo's site at 1551 Broadway, next-door 1555 Broadway, and a building on West 34th Street to Sutton for "more than $100 million," Mendelson said.

 

Don't expect another low-cost eatery: Sutton is the owner of such "trophy" retail venues as the Fifth Avenue sites of Hugo Boss, American Girl Place, and the new Abercrombie & Fitch.

 

Sources said he plans to level both Broadway buildings and construct a gleaming new "retail box," similar to the nearby Toys "R" Us, that will "offer a world-class branding opportunity for international or Fortune 500 companies."

 

The site is not large enough to support an office tower, however, and the new store will not be much larger than the existing buildings.

 

The Times Square HoJo's is the last of the once-sprawling nationwide chain's New York City locations, and the only one left of the three that once served the Theater District.

 

Its blue-and-brown booths, old-fashioned counter and bar serving $3.75 cocktails — "except premium brands" — seems an anachronism amidst the "new" Times Square's concentration of media and financial skyscrapers, hip hotels and bright electronic displays.

 

The grungy but cozy spot for fried clams and open-faced tuna sandwiches is flanked by more recent landmarks, such as the giant Bank of America supersign, the W Hotel and Toys "R" Us with its indoor Ferris wheel.

 

The Rubinsteins owned the HoJo's franchise as well as the buildings.

[JT Brooklyn]

At least no more "Idle Rumors" about the return of the "G" to it's Roots. IMHO..This is not the climate in NYC for it to POP-UP anywhere, with the Rents etc being what they are. Even with a $25-30 Cover. Which will not be that easy to get, except from a few guys..It will be interesting to see if the Straight Times Square Club Survives also? :+

[beefeater]

>At least no more "Idle Rumors" about the return of the "G" to

>it's Roots.

 

I thought you guys posted that the sign on the door said it was moving to a new location. That doesn't sound like an "Idle Rumor". Any more information on that?

[mercury40]

Imagine all the stories we're going to tell our "grandkids" when we walk past the new Sutton building, home of the former Gaiety Theatre... "hey gramps, tell me again who Trevor was?"

[JT Brooklyn]

The "G" is gone..and Time to Move On..Some "Rumors" are just Wishful Thinking and tend to become Boring Very Fast! It's Time for the "Stripper Shuttle Bus" to Montreal...:+

[Cooper]

They are still serving up those famous "fried clams" and it's business as usual at the landmark HoJo's on Braodway and 46th. A recent NY Times article reported that demolition isn't scheduled till this summer... I still can't understand why the Gaiety evacuated so suddenly on March 17, 2005.

[+ BOZO T CLOWN]

[image]http://www.computer-guru.com/images/BOZO.GIF[/image]

******BOZO T CLOWN******

 

NY TIMES: APRIL 24, 2005:

 

[link]http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/nyregion/thecity/24gaie.html[/link]

 

 

BOZO :+

[JT Brooklyn]

Thank You Bozo..IMHO. The Article shows alot of Respect for a form of Entertainment, that even some in the Gay Community have looked down upon in the past...:+