St. Moritz Hotel, Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

The old St. Moritz on-the-Park, today the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, is a hotel located at 50 Central Park South (59th Street), on the east corner of Sixth Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1930.

St. Moritz on-the-Park was erected on the site of the old building of the New York Athletic Club, demolished about 1928. The Club moved to a new building at 180 Central Park South, corner of 7th Avenue.

The hotel was designed by architect Emery Roth (1871-1948) and constructed by the Harper Organization, representing Harris Uris and Percy Uris. The interior was designed by Laurence Emmons.

Construction started about 1929, completed in 1930, with 33 floors above ground, 113 m high and a panoramic view of New York City.

The St. Moritz on-the-Park opened on October 16, 1930, as a luxury hotel managed by S. Gregory Taylor (1888-1948). It was advertised to contain 1,000 rooms, with some terrace apartments and three penthouses (875 rooms were reported in October, 1931). A huge painting of the St. Moritz resort town in Switzerland was in the lobby. The dining room was located on the 31st floor. It offered accommodations to both transient guests and permanent residents. There was the famed Café de la Paix, Rumplemayer’s sidewalk cafe. The Sky Saloon, on the 31 floor, opened in May, 1931.

In the late 1931, the St. Moritz ran into financial problems, with unpaid interest and taxes. Foreclosure suits were brought by the Bowery Savings Bank. The Engadine Corporation, headed by Gregory Taylor, took over the hotel in 1932. In 1985, the St. Moritz, then with 775 rooms, was purchased by Donald Trump from Harry Helmsley. In 1988, it was sold to Alan Bond and, in 1990, the hotel was operated by the Interstate Hotels Corporation. In 1999, the St. Moritz was sold to the Millennium Partners, headed by Christopher M. Jeffries that partnered with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. The hotel was remodeled and renamed The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, when reopened in April 2002. The structure on the first 27 floors was reinforced and replaced, while the upper floors were torn down and rebuilt. The twelve upper floors were converted into eleven condominiums.