Renovations of the Plaza Hotel have been kept under wraps since the building was sold for a residential conversion.
But “The Plaza,” a collection of photographs by Laura Salierno, shows drastic changes to the iconic hotel.
Salierno’s photos show the rooms at the landmark hotel stripped of their original furnishings from the early 1900s. The photos can be seen at the online Raandesk Gallery of Art at raandeskgallery.com and will be on display at Punch & Judy at 26 Clinton Street on the Lower East Side through March 10.
The photographs detail the aftermath of a public liquidation sale of the furnishings held in the fall of 2005. The Plaza Hotel was sold in 2004 to Elad Properties, an Israeli development group, and is being converted to a mixed condo and hotel-condo development. Elad has been mum about buyers and prices at the renovated property.
“I walked around looking at what was being done to the Plaza,” said Salierno. “There is so much history. The Plaza Hotel was visited by so many people.”
“Everyone knows the Plaza and has some sort of relationship with the hotel,” said Jessica Porter, Raandesk Gallery owner. “It’s really moving to see the photographs all together. She captures the feelings of transitions and change in the shadows. There is emptiness and yet there is something alive in the space.”