Ian Reisner Getting Second Chance at Gay-Friendly Hotel

Not everyone gets a second chance. But Ian Reisner is trying his hand at launching a LGBTQ-friendly hotel in Hell’s Kitchen once more.

The Parkview Developers managing partner signed a lease to take over the property at 510 West 42nd Street, the New York Post reported. Reisner plans to make it into a hotel, restaurant and nightclub.

The property was formerly home to the Playboy Club, which didn’t last a year before closing down in 2019. There was also the 103-room Cachet Boutique Hotel NYC, which closed down last October.

Reisner is in discussions with an unnamed boutique hotel operator based in Europe to open the hotel in September. Until then, it’s expected to operate as an Airbnb — presumably, a legal one — beginning as soon as this month.

The main restaurant would span 7,500 square feet and be open throughout the day; another 3,000-square-foot restaurant is expected to open in the fall. A 14,000-square-foot entertainment space, meanwhile, would include a supper club, dance space and mixology bar.

It’s a return to roots for Reisner, who co-founded Out NYC in 2012. It was billed as an “all-singing, all-dancing gay hotel.” The music came to a screeching halt in 2015 when Reisner hosted then-presidential candidate Ted Cruz, an ardent opponent of gay marriage, at his home.

Reisner said he was “chased out of the business.” In 2016, Merchants Hospitality bought the long-term lease for $40 million.

Reisner predicted success for this particular second act, citing the evolution of the Hudson Yards neighborhood and saying the area was “better now.”

This may also be a good time for the hotelier to return to the fold at the Hell’s Kitchen site. The city’s crackdown on Airbnb and short-term rentals has opened the door for hotels, especially as tourism returns to the city post-pandemic.

— Holden Walter-Warner