Murray Hill Hotel, New York

The Murray Hill Hotel was located at 112 Park Avenue, between East 40th Street and E 41st St., in Murray Hill, Manhattan, one block from the old Grand Central Station. Built in 1884 and demolished by 1948.

The seven-story building was designed in Victorian style by architect Stephen Decatur Hatch for Hugh Smith, who acquired the block front on Park Avenue, between 40th and 41st streets. Hunting & Hammond were the first proprietors.

Hatch also designed Gilsey House on Broadway. Murray Hill Hotel was constructed of brownstone, granite, cast iron and red brick, with corner towers capped with tiled pyramidal roofs. The interior of the Murray Hill Hotel was finely decorated. There were 600 rooms and two courtyards. The hotel opened on October 19, 1884.

In 1910, Benjamin L.M. Bates bought the hotel. In 1936, the hotel was leased by the Grand Union Hotel Management Corporation for ten years.

In 1939, it was announced plans for a skyscraper that would replace the old Murray Hill Hotel. Demolition was announced in the early 1946. The building was owned by the Murray Hill Operating Company, a subsidiary of the Pershing Square Building Corporation. There were about 300 permanent tenants in the hotel. They appealed for cancellation of the eviction notices, but the hotel was closed in the early 1947 and it was razed by 1948. The new and smaller Murray Hill Hotel was built on West 35th Street. In 1949, the 100 Park Avenue building, with 36 floors above ground, was completed on the site.