One hundred years ago, the Longacre Hotel at 157 West 47th Street advertised “Rooms $1, With Bath $1.50” on the side of its building. It was only recently uncovered, but get a glimpse while you can – it is about to vanish all over again.
The sign for the Longacre was discovered when the new Times Square Edition by Marriott Hotel, going up at the northeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street, took down a three-story walk-up, according to the New York Post.
However, the more than $1 billion hotel project will soon cover the sign once again – the hotel with interiors by Ian Schrager opens in 2018.
The sign makes the old Longacre sound like a steal – and it was. Around the time the sign went up – sometimes between the wars – $1.50 a night was about $34.50 in 2016 dollars. That’s a pretty spectacular deal compared to multi-thousand-dollar a night rooms rising next to it today. [NYP] –Christopher Cameron