Hey, it's the Bowery Boys.

Hey.

Hi there. Welcome to the Bowery Boys. This is Greg Young.

And this is Tom Myers. Happy New Year, Greg.

Same to you. Now, on our show, we often tell stories about New York landmarks and notable spots

that have closed or that have been demolished. For example, our show last month on Bob Dylan's

Greenwich Village featured a list of nightclubs

that are no longer around. Their history. But we wanted to brighten things up in the new year with

the announcement of a reopening of a New York landmark, which you don't get that often. The

return of the famed Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Park Avenue,

which after being closed for so many years is reopening this spring.

And you can even right now make reservations to stay at the Waldorf Astoria starting in the fall.

Yes, although this newest iteration of the Waldorf Astoria comes with condos.

There's still a hotel there.

There are, in fact, 375 rooms, but there are also luxury apartments up on the top floors.

But to mark this occasion, we thought that we would actually go back and dust off our own

history of the Waldorf Astoria, which is an episode that we recorded back in 2016.

Of course, this isn't merely a story of lavishly appointed rooms or glamorous evenings at the

cocktail bar, although, of course, we're going to have

a lot of that going on in this show. The cocktails are there. Yes, yes, no worries. Never fear.

But the Waldorf was one of the most important privately run businesses in 20th century New York,

thanks to its role in American politics and international relations.

...