I ’ L L TAK E MANHAT TAN AND B ROOK LYN
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THE BEEKMAN HOTEL If you did a Hotel 23andMe on The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel, the ancestry of its address, 5 Beekman Street, is a testament to the hotel’s cultural heritage. > 1761 The Chapel Street Theatre, where Shakespeare’s Hamlet had its New York debut in 1871. > 1830-1850s Clinton Hall: whose members included literary luminaries Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain, and Henry David Thoreau. Edgar Allan Poe published his paper The Broadway Journal here. NYU’s inaugural classes began in 1832. > 1881-1883 Temple Court was built, modeled after a London building of the same name. One of Manhattan’s original skyscrapers, and elevator buildings, completed the same year as the Brooklyn Bridge. Fast forward: The building had been abandoned for decades. Its magnificent nine-story atrium and pyramidal skylight had been walled off and boarded up. The building was bought in 2012 and Randolph Gerner from Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects began restoration work on Temple Court. > 2016 The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel opens, designed by London architect and interior designer, Martin Brudnizki. The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel was designed to become a neighborhood gathering spot, breathing life into FIDI and Lower Manhattan after business hours and on the weekends. Culinary
star power is on hand with Tom Colicchio at the helm of the Beekman’s Bar Room, Temple Court and Alley Cat and there’s Keith McNally’s Atrium. Today is Sunday, the stock market is closed and Lower Manhattan is quiet. Enter the Bar Lounge. The silky sounds of a jazz duo caress the lounge at Sunday Jazz Brunch. Sink into the velvet armchairs, lean back, and look up at the marvel of the historic masterpiece, a nine-story atrium decorated with Victorian cast iron railings and balustrades. Observe the gentle movement of the clouds through the peaked skylight. Majestic glass door bookcases are stacked with works by Camus, Dickens and O’Henry and writers’ ephemera, a nod to Clinton Hall’s literary footprint. Katherine Gass, the hotel’s art curator’s handpicked selection adds a whimsical contemporary twist to portraits of the famous writers who crafted their words onsite. The sophistication of the lounge is rich and inviting. Essentially, you won’t want to leave. The brass-toned bar chairs are cushioned in stunning green leather. Not only will you want to take a seat at the bar, you’ll want to find out where you can buy these handsome stools. The lounge is a happening, and once you’ve been to The Beekman you’ll understand why even on a Monday afternoon every seat at the bar is filled and the lounge is buzzing with energy. Very simply, The Beekman is more than a hotel; it’s a destination. The Bar and Lounge are an elegant slip into another era, but The Alley Cat Amateur Theatre is not to be missed. Designed by famed NYC nightclub impresario, Serge Becker, with Japanese fare by chef Tom Colicchio, The Alley Cat Amateur Theatre is an insanely cool speakeasy lounge accessible through a backstage alley. Hamlet
would have loved the Alley Cat! 123 Nassau St, New York, NY. 212/233-2300 thebeekman.com
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