Roosevelt hotel permanently closes after coronavirus losses

New York: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)-owned Roosevelt Hotel in New York City closed its doors permanently on December 18 due to a severe loss of revenue caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Patch.com, an American news and information platform, reported.

The permanent closure was announced by the iconic hotel’s General Manager Marc Sternagel in an email sent to a local government official on Friday, according to Patch.com.

The closure will cause at least 431 employees to lose their jobs after they were initially furloughed in March, according to a notice filed with the state of New York. Television footage show the front doors of the hotel boarded up.

Hotel management first announced in October that the Roosevelt would close before the end of the year, “due to the current, unprecedented environment and the continued uncertain impact from COVID-19.”

The 1,000-room hotel, which opened in 1924, was named after President Theodore Roosevelt. It is located next the Grand Central Terminal, the train station.

The hospitality industry has been among the hardest-hit by the pandemic. About 7.5 million workers in the industry lost their jobs in April, CNN reported, and only about half had been hired back by early fall.

The Times Square Hilton and Omni Berkshire Place are among the other big-name hotels in New York City to close their doors for good due to economic fallout from the crisis. Roosevelt Hotel management did not respond to a request for comments.