Carlyle Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, is a combination luxury and residential hotel located at 35 East 76th Street on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue, in the Upper East Side
area of New York City
. The hotel is designed in Art Deco
style and was named after Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle
.
Owned since 2001 by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the Carlyle is a cooperative
with 180 rental rooms and suites
and 60 privately owned residences.
. Designed by architects Bien & Prince, it originally opened as a residential hotel, with apartments costing up to $20,000 a year. Apartment hotels had become increasingly popular since World War I. As the economy boomed and skyscrapers rose, New York was transforming so quickly that owning a townhouse began to fall out of fashion. The new thirty-five floor hotel "was to be a masterpiece in the modern idiom, in which shops and restaurants on the lower floors would give residents the convenience and comforts of a "community skyscraper". However, by the time the Carlyle was ready to open its doors, the 1929 stock market crash had decisively ended the boom times. The new hotel struggled, went into receivership in 1931 and was sold to the Lyleson Corporation in 1932. The new owners kept the original management, which was able to dramatically improve the propterty's financial situation through maintaining high occupancy and rates favorable to the hotel's costs. However, the hotel's reputation at this time was "staid rather than ritzy".
The next postwar boom allowed the hotel to take on new high-society prominence. In 1948, the Carlyle was purchased by New York businessman Robert Whittle Downing who began to transform it from a "respectable" address to a "downright fashionable" one, frequented by elegant Europeans. That year, Harry Truman became the first president to visit the Carlyle; each of his successors through Bill Clinton
followed suit.
, who owned an apartment on the 34th floor for the ten years prior to his death. He stayed at the apartment in a well-publicized visit for a few days just prior to his inauguration in January 1961. Marilyn Monroe
was sneaked in through the service entrance on East 77th Street. After famously singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President
" at Kennedy's birthday gala at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, Monroe reportedly used a warren of tunnels to enter the Carlyle secretly with Kennedy and friends. Years later, longtime bellman Michael O'Connell recalled, "Those tunnels. President Kennedy knew more about the tunnels than I did". The Carlyle was the last place John F. Kennedy, Jr.
ate breakfast before departing on his ill-fated plane trip to Martha's Vineyard with his wife and her sister.
The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was organized in a meeting held at the Carlyle. Malcolm X
expressed his concerns with having a white man in charge of this new fundraising organization during a November 10, 1963 speech, Message to the Grassroots. He described the hotel (rather than just one suite) as being owned by the Kennedy family.
The hotel is also the source of the name for the Carlyle Group
, as it was the location where that firm's founders first met in the mid-1980s.
Despite its brushes with history, the hotel retained a reputation for discretion; in 2000, the New York Times called it a "Palace of Secrets".
performers - notably George Feyer
from 1955–1968, and Bobby Short
from 1968-2004. Woody Allen
and his jazz band have been playing weekly at the café since 1996. Other artists who have performed at the Café Carlyle include Elaine Stritch
, Judy Collins
, Barbara Cook
, Eartha Kitt
, John Pizzarelli
and Jessica Molaskey
, Keely Smith
, Rita Moreno
, Douglas Hodge
, Marin Mazzie
and Jason Danieley
, Debbie Reynolds
, Beverly Peer
, Melba Moore
, Christine Ebersole
, Lea Salonga
, Kelli O'Hara
, Sutton Foster
, Paulo Szot
, Barb Jungr
, and Ute Lemper
. Steve Tyrell
has been the featured performer in December through New Year's Eve for several years. According to Joe Heller in an article in the New York Times, The Carlyle is the regular residence of Mick Jagger, when he is in New York.
The Café Carlyle is noted for the murals by Marcel Vertes
, which were cleaned in the summer of 2007 as part of a renovation and redecoration of the café. The renovation and redecoration was done by interior designer, Scott Salvator, and marked the first significant alterations to the Café since its debut in1955. During the renovations the Café was closed for three months and was widely praised after reopening in September 2007. Salvator removed the dropped acoustical ceiling, exposing two feet of newly found space which allowed for a modern sound and a lighting system, making it appeal to a younger generation.
The Carlyle Restaurant was formerly known as Dumonet at the Carlyle.
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
area of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The hotel is designed in Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style and was named after Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
.
Owned since 2001 by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, the Carlyle is a cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
with 180 rental rooms and suites
Suite (hotel)
A suite in a hotel or other public accommodation, denotes a class of luxury accommodations, the key feature of which is multiple rooms. Many properties have one or more "honeymoon suites", and sometimes the best accommodation is called the "presidential suite".Suites offer multiple rooms, with more...
and 60 privately owned residences.
Out of the Depression
The Carlyle was built by Moses Ginsberg, maternal grandfather of Rona JaffeRona Jaffe
Rona Jaffe was a popular American novelist, publishing numerous works from 1958-2003. She may have been best known for her controversial novel, Mazes and Monsters...
. Designed by architects Bien & Prince, it originally opened as a residential hotel, with apartments costing up to $20,000 a year. Apartment hotels had become increasingly popular since World War I. As the economy boomed and skyscrapers rose, New York was transforming so quickly that owning a townhouse began to fall out of fashion. The new thirty-five floor hotel "was to be a masterpiece in the modern idiom, in which shops and restaurants on the lower floors would give residents the convenience and comforts of a "community skyscraper". However, by the time the Carlyle was ready to open its doors, the 1929 stock market crash had decisively ended the boom times. The new hotel struggled, went into receivership in 1931 and was sold to the Lyleson Corporation in 1932. The new owners kept the original management, which was able to dramatically improve the propterty's financial situation through maintaining high occupancy and rates favorable to the hotel's costs. However, the hotel's reputation at this time was "staid rather than ritzy".
The next postwar boom allowed the hotel to take on new high-society prominence. In 1948, the Carlyle was purchased by New York businessman Robert Whittle Downing who began to transform it from a "respectable" address to a "downright fashionable" one, frequented by elegant Europeans. That year, Harry Truman became the first president to visit the Carlyle; each of his successors through Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
followed suit.
Rise to prominence
The Carlyle became known as "the New York White House" during the administration of President John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, who owned an apartment on the 34th floor for the ten years prior to his death. He stayed at the apartment in a well-publicized visit for a few days just prior to his inauguration in January 1961. Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
was sneaked in through the service entrance on East 77th Street. After famously singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President
Happy Birthday, Mr. President
"Happy Birthday, Mr. President" is a song sung by actress and singer Marilyn Monroe on Saturday, May 19, 1962, for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, at a celebration of his forty-fifth birthday, ten days before the actual day of his 45th birthday . Sung in a sultry voice, Monroe...
" at Kennedy's birthday gala at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, Monroe reportedly used a warren of tunnels to enter the Carlyle secretly with Kennedy and friends. Years later, longtime bellman Michael O'Connell recalled, "Those tunnels. President Kennedy knew more about the tunnels than I did". The Carlyle was the last place John F. Kennedy, Jr.
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. , often referred to as John F. Kennedy, Jr., JFK Jr., John Jr. or John-John, was an American socialite, magazine publisher, lawyer, and pilot. The elder son of U.S. President John F...
ate breakfast before departing on his ill-fated plane trip to Martha's Vineyard with his wife and her sister.
The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was organized in a meeting held at the Carlyle. Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
expressed his concerns with having a white man in charge of this new fundraising organization during a November 10, 1963 speech, Message to the Grassroots. He described the hotel (rather than just one suite) as being owned by the Kennedy family.
The hotel is also the source of the name for the Carlyle Group
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is an American-based global asset management firm, specializing in private equity, based in Washington, D.C. The Carlyle Group operates in four business areas: corporate private equity, real assets, market strategies and fund-of-funds, through its AlpInvest subsidiary...
, as it was the location where that firm's founders first met in the mid-1980s.
Despite its brushes with history, the hotel retained a reputation for discretion; in 2000, the New York Times called it a "Palace of Secrets".
Entertainment and dining
The hotel's Café Carlyle has featured a number of well-known jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
performers - notably George Feyer
George Feyer (pianist)
George Feyer was a classically trained pianist who turned to 'light' music upon graduating, and released a series of top-selling "Echoes of..." records on Vox Records. Feyer was born György Fejér, but westernised his name after leaving Europe...
from 1955–1968, and Bobby Short
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip "Bobby" Short was an American cabaret singer and pianist, best known for his interpretations of songs by popular composers of the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Noel Coward and George and Ira Gershwin.He...
from 1968-2004. Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
and his jazz band have been playing weekly at the café since 1996. Other artists who have performed at the Café Carlyle include Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
, Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, John Pizzarelli
John Pizzarelli
John Paul Pizzarelli, Jr. is an American jazz guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader. He has had a lengthy career as a recording artist, performing for a variety of labels that include Telarc Records, RCA Records and Chesky Records, among others...
and Jessica Molaskey
Jessica Molaskey
Jessica Molaskey is a professional singer of torch songs and show tunes. She has appeared in a dozen Broadway shows such as the revival of Sunday in the Park With George and Cats and has premiered theater pieces off-Broadway, including the Jason Robert Brown 1995 musical Songs for a New World, and...
, Keely Smith
Keely Smith
Keely Smith is an American jazz and popular music singer who enjoyed popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She collaborated with, among others, Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra.-Career:...
, Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno is a Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress. She is the only Hispanic and one of the few performers who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony, and was the second Puerto Rican to win an Academy Award....
, Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge
Douglas Hodge is an English actor, director, and musician who trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Hodge is a council member of the National Youth Theatre for whom, in 1989, he co-wrote Pacha Mama's Blessing about the Amazon rain forests staged at the Almeida...
, Marin Mazzie
Marin Mazzie
Marin Joy Mazzie is an American actress and singer known for her work in musical theater. She was nominated for the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and Olivier Award for her role as Lilli/Katharine in Kiss Me, Kate, and won the Outer Critics Circle Award...
and Jason Danieley
Jason Danieley
Jason D. Danieley is an American actor, singer, concert performer and recording artist. He is married to fellow Broadway star, Marin Mazzie-Biography:...
, Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
, Beverly Peer
Beverly Peer
Beverly Peer was an American jazz double-bassist.Peer played piano professionally early in his career before switching to bass. He worked with Chick Webb from 1936 to 1939 and continued to play in the orchestra under the direction of Ella Fitzgerald. In 1942 he joined Sabby Lewis's orchestra...
, Melba Moore
Melba Moore
Beatrice Melba Smith , known by her stage name, Melba Moore is an American disco, R&B singer and actress. She is the daughter of saxophonist Teddy Hill and R&B singer Bonnie Davis.-Early life:...
, Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole
Christine Ebersole is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Ebersole was born in Winnetka, Illinois, where she attended New Trier High School...
, Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga
Lea Salonga-Chien is a mezzo-soprano singer and actress from the Philippines well known for originating the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards.She was the first Asian to play the roles of Éponine and...
, Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara
Kelli O'Hara is an American actress, singer, and songwriter.O'Hara has been nominated for three Tony Awards: for her performance as Clara Johnson in The Light in the Piazza; for her performance as Babe Williams in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of The Pajama Game, where she starred...
, Sutton Foster
Sutton Foster
Sutton Lenore Foster is an American actress, singer and dancer. Foster has received two Tony Awards, in 2002 for her role of Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie and in 2011 for her role of Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes...
, Paulo Szot
Paulo Szot
Paulo Szot is a Brazilian opera baritone singer and actor. In 2008, he made his Broadway debut as Emile De Becque in a revival of South Pacific. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance in the musical, becoming the first Brazilian to receive...
, Barb Jungr
Barb Jungr
Barb Jungr is an English singer-songwriter, composer and writer, of Czech and German parentage. She is perhaps best known as a chansonnière, or singer of chansons—in the sense of classic, lyric-driven French songs; in the broader sense of European songs in the cabaret style; and in the even...
, and Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper
Ute Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
. Steve Tyrell
Steve Tyrell
Steve Tyrell is an American jazz musician.-Early career:Upon moving to New York City at the age of 18, he was made head of A&R and promotion at Scepter Records...
has been the featured performer in December through New Year's Eve for several years. According to Joe Heller in an article in the New York Times, The Carlyle is the regular residence of Mick Jagger, when he is in New York.
The Café Carlyle is noted for the murals by Marcel Vertes
Marcel Vertès
Marcel Vertès was a Hungarian costume designer. He won two Academy Awards for his work on the 1952 film Moulin Rouge....
, which were cleaned in the summer of 2007 as part of a renovation and redecoration of the café. The renovation and redecoration was done by interior designer, Scott Salvator, and marked the first significant alterations to the Café since its debut in1955. During the renovations the Café was closed for three months and was widely praised after reopening in September 2007. Salvator removed the dropped acoustical ceiling, exposing two feet of newly found space which allowed for a modern sound and a lighting system, making it appeal to a younger generation.
The Carlyle Restaurant was formerly known as Dumonet at the Carlyle.