I’m not sure but it might be the Hudson. What was interesting about it is that part of it has been made over into a very swank travellers’ hotel, while the remainder is a very modestly priced long-term residency hotel. In the NPR story they said that the long-term residents are not allowed into the other part of the hotel. They have traditional brass room keys while the guests on the other side get modern card-keys, like most hotels have these days. Anyone wanting to get into the modern part has to show their key, and if they had the old fashioned kind of room key, they’re not allowed in.
I have a couple of questions about this. Which hotel is it, and are the long term residents really not allowed to set foot in the common areas of the other side of the hotel? Is the general public at large allowed to come in from off the street and, for example, have a drink in the bar or a meal in the restaurant? In L.A., most better-class hotels are happy to have locals come in off the street if they want to spend some money. Is it the case that the general public is allowed in that NYC hotel, but the long-term residents, apart from everyone else who lives in Manhattan, are not allowed to exit their side of the hotel, go around the block, and enter the refurbished part like anyone else? Or is this hotel entirely off limits to all except registered guests?