The 47-floor building located on the northwest edge of Rockefeller Center at Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street has hosted every President since John F. Kennedy as well as the Beatles during their 1964 visit to the Ed Sullivan Theater. The first world's first handheld cell phone call was made by hotel guest Martin Cooper in front of the hotel in 1973.
History
The project was developed by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the Rockefeller Group, and the Uris Building Corporation. The original architect was Morris Lapidus and he proposed to build a curved Fontainebleau Hotel-style building. However, Lapidus had to withdraw since he was also designing the competing Americana Hotel (now the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers) a block away.
William B. Tabler was then tapped to finish the project and he designed it with slabs. It opened on June 26, 1963 and offered 2,153 rooms, making it the largest in the city.
On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper made the world's first handheld cellular phone call in public when he called Joel S. Engel at the hotel with a 2 pound Motorola DynaTAC phone. Cooper, a Motorola inventor called his rival at Bell Labs to tell him about the invention. The cell phone base station was next door atop the Burlington House.
The hotel owned the property immediately west of it which was the site of the Adelphi Theatre where episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed. The Adelphi was torn down in 1970. In 1989, an office tower, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, was built on the site. It is connected to the Hilton with a walkway and keeps the Hilton's Sixth Avenue address even though it is midblock and closer to Seventh Avenue. Exterior shots of Elaine's workplace in Seinfeld show the building.
In 1990, a $100 million renovation decreased the number of guest rooms to 1,980. It was renovated again in 1991–1994 and underwent another $100 million renovation in 1998–2000, including a total overhaul of the lobby, the addition of an 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) Precor USA Fitness Center on the Fifth Floor. In 2007, the hotel completed its fourth renovation. It now has 47 suites on floors 42 through 44. Each suite includes between 600 to 2,000 square feet (190 m2) of space.
The project was developed by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the Rockefeller Group, and the Uris Building Corporation. The original architect was Morris Lapidus and he proposed to build a curved Fontainebleau Hotel-style building. However, Lapidus had to withdraw since he was also designing the competing Americana Hotel (now the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers) a block away.
William B. Tabler was then tapped to finish the project and he designed it with slabs. It opened on June 26, 1963 and offered 2,153 rooms, making it the largest in the city.
On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper made the world's first handheld cellular phone call in public when he called Joel S. Engel at the hotel with a 2 pound Motorola DynaTAC phone. Cooper, a Motorola inventor called his rival at Bell Labs to tell him about the invention. The cell phone base station was next door atop the Burlington House.
The hotel owned the property immediately west of it which was the site of the Adelphi Theatre where episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed. The Adelphi was torn down in 1970. In 1989, an office tower, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, was built on the site. It is connected to the Hilton with a walkway and keeps the Hilton's Sixth Avenue address even though it is midblock and closer to Seventh Avenue. Exterior shots of Elaine's workplace in Seinfeld show the building.
In 1990, a $100 million renovation decreased the number of guest rooms to 1,980. It was renovated again in 1991–1994 and underwent another $100 million renovation in 1998–2000, including a total overhaul of the lobby, the addition of an 8,000-square-foot (740 m2) Precor USA Fitness Center on the Fifth Floor. In 2007, the hotel completed its fourth renovation. It now has 47 suites on floors 42 through 44. Each suite includes between 600 to 2,000 square feet (190 m2) of space.
