George Washington Hotel (New York City)

The building you are approaching at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street began its life in 1928 as the George Washington Hotel. Its developer, Harry Barth, envisioned a grand sixteen-story residence for single young professionals, but the timing proved catastrophic. Construction finished just as the stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression, forcing the hotel into bankruptcy shortly after it opened its doors. Despite its rocky financial start, the hotel secured its place in cultural history by serving as an affordable, storied home for creative minds. During the 1930s, the poet W. H. Auden and novelist Christopher Isherwood took up residence here, and Auden famously dedicated a poem to the building. Its guest rooms and public spaces have hosted a wide spectrum of figures, ranging from political refugees and students at the nearby School of Visual Arts to the musician Dee Dee Ramone. The building has experienced a volatile evolution, transitioning through periods as a bootlegging hub during Prohibition, a suspected site for political meetings, and eventually a long-term residence hall for students. By the early 21st century, it faced a cycle of disrepair and legal disputes before a massive renovation transformed it into the boutique hotel that occupies the space today. You can still see the original architectural character in the honey-colored brickwork and the decorative stone base that survived these many decades of change.