The headline in the April 18 issue of the Hotel Voice, the
weekly newspaper for the Hotel, Motel and Club Workers of New
York, boasted: "The Plaza is saved! Union reaches deal that
preserves many jobs; Mayor Bloomberg to convene panel on
Condominium Conversions."
The article started off, "Eloise can stop packing her bags.
It looks like there will be a Plaza Hotel in New York City for
the next 100 years or more."
Now, why isn't my heart going pittypat over that prospect?
Perhaps it's because I wasn't thrilled with how the battle to
secure the victory over the new owners of the Plaza, Elad
Properties, was waged. It doesn't augur well for the prospect of
businesses looking to invest in the city if labor unions can
conjure up huge rallies by using fear tactics on their members
and misleading the public.
Under the terms of the agreement, there will be an 18-to-24-month
renovation project that will create 150 condominiums along with a
full-service, 350-room hotel. Mr. Bloomberg announced after the
agreement, "This is another good day for New York."
Is it really? The Plaza is a very nice hotel with a beautiful
Grand Ballroom and treasured public places, like the Palm Court
and the Oak Room. The owners paid $675 million for the Plaza and
planned to spend $350 million for the renovation. One has to
wonder if they would have purchased the 98-year-old hotel if they
had known what awaited them.
As for the union saving the jobs for its members, the hotel is
still going to be closed for the next year or so, and what will
these workers be doing? According to the agreement, at least 350
employees will retain their jobs when it reopens, and there will
be a generous double-severance-pay package for those who decide
not to return. How likely is it that these workers will be living
on their severance-pay packages for that entire time? My guess is
that they will find other jobs because - surprise, surprise - new
hotels are springing up all over the city.
One Staten Islander whom I meet regularly riding the ferry took
umbrage at a previous column I wrote expressing the opinion that
owners of private property should have the right to determine
what should be done with it. My fellow commuter said rather
testily, "These people just come to New York to make money
and they don't care about and they don't know anything about what
makes this city great. They're going to tear down a great
landmark for a bunch of million-dollar condos."
I've given his statement a lot of consideration and come to the
conclusion that it's a lot of rubbish. It's not buildings that
make this city great. It's the people who are responsible for the
city's je-ne-sais-quoi identity, and they don't have to be born
here to love it. Dorothy Parker was a Jersey girl. Indeed, I'm
not sure if any of those who sat at the Roundtable at the
Algonquin were New York-born and bred. Tom Wolfe was born and
raised in Richmond, Va. Bobby Short was born in Danville, Ill.
Was Broadway Joe Namath a native? I think not. Our own mayor is
from Massachusetts, isn't he?
Well, I was born here at Manhattan and have seen great beautiful
buildings disappear and monstrosities take their place, and it
didn't make any dent in my feeling for my hometown. I remember
the Roxy, the Lorelei, and the great German restaurants on East
86th Street. I've lived in neighborhoods that have completely
disappeared, but a building is still only a building. The energy
of the city comes from those people who believe that, "if I
can make it there, I'll make it anywhere."
There is one thing about this Plaza affair that I find
particularly ironic. The Plaza is not a budget hotel. It caters
to high-end guests and those able to afford deluxe accommodations
and services - in other words, the well-off. As much as certain
politicians like to demonize the "rich," the unions and
the politicians who jumped on their bandwagon to save the hotel
jobs have inadvertently proven what we conservatives have always
known: Rich people provide jobs.
So pardon me if the loss of a Plaza or another landmark would not
send me into fits of deep depression.
The only city buildings whose destruction broke my heart were the
Twin Towers.