Lafayette Hotel, February 3, 1937.

The Lafayette Hotel consisted of three historic townhouses which functioned as the hotel (first at the Martin Hotel, then the Lafayette) from the 1880s until 1953 when they were demolished.

During and after the First World War, the hotel became a favorite gathering location for airmen (both American and French stationed in New York). The owner of the Lafayette, Raymond Orteig, was the person who offered up the prize money for the first trans-Atlantic flight, won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927. The ground floor cafe was a well-known spot for writers and artists of the bohemian movement. The building was depicted not only by Berenice Abbott in this photograph by also by painter John Sloan.