Carlyle Hotel, New York

The Carlyle is a luxury hotel located in Madison Avenue at East 76th Street, Upper East Side of Manhattan. It opened in 1930. It is a cooperative with about 190 guest rooms and suites, and 60 privately owned residences. World leaders and celebrities are regular guests here. Every U.S. president, since Truman, has stayed here.

The thirty-five story tower, overlooking Central Park, was built by Polish-born Moses Ginsberg, head of Calvin-Morris Corporation. He had bought the east blockfront of Madison Avenue from 76th to 77th Streets and, in the early 1929, he filed plans to build a hotel and an apartment tower on the place. Ginsberg also built, in 1930, the 13-story co-op at 133 East 80th Street, corner of Lexington Avenue. The Carlyle was completed in October 1930.

The Carlyle was designed in Art Deco style by architectural firm Bien & Prince. It was named after Scottish essayist Thomas Carlyle. The Carlyle Hotel and the 14-story Carlyle House (50 East 77th Street), both designed by Bien & Prince, are closely matched and you might not realized that they are separate yellow brick and limestone buildings.

In 1931, The Carlyle was auctioned off, victim of the 1929 stock market crash. In 1932, it was sold to the Lyleson Corporation, which kept the original management. In 1948, the real estate investor Robert Whittle Dowling (1895-1973) purchased The Carlyle and transform it into a fashionable address. President Kennedy purchased an apartment on the 34th floor in The Carlyle’s tower when he was a Senator. It was also the residence for Diana, Princess of Wales, when she visited New York.

In March 1967, the hotel was purchased by a partnership of Jerome L. Greene, Norman L. Peck, and Peter Jay Sharp.

In March 1999, the intention to sell the Carlyle was announced by Jerome L. Greene, who was then the hotel's managing partner. Mr. Greene died on May 27, 1999, and ownership was transferred to Mr. Peck. On December 28, 2000, The Carlyle was sold to Maritz, Wolff & Company, an investment group which owns half of Rosewood Hotels and Resorts. The Carlyle retained the same classic feel and is the Rosewood's flagship New York hotel.