A look at the iconic Knickerbocker Hotel

From Luxury Listings NYC: Midtown’s storied Knickerbocker building is being returned to its original use as a palatial playground for the extremely prosperous. Back in 1906, the illustrious John Jacob Astor IV spent an incredible $3.3 million to open the Knickerbocker Hotel at Broadway and 42nd Street. The hotel quickly became a favorite retreat for society figures and the idle rich, with its famous bar — said to be the birthplace of the martini — earning the nickname the “42nd Street Country Club.” [more]