The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was a 33-story hotel overlooking Central Park. It was designed by McKim, Mead & White and built in 1927. Along with other buildings in the area, such as the Sherry-Netherland Hotel and the Plaza Hotel, the Savoy-Plaza was representative of the Beaux-Arts architectural style, which had its heyday in America in the early 20^th century. Paramount Pictures founder Adolph Zukor and his wife occupied the penthouse at the top of the Savoy-Plaza for many years. The top of the building was sometimes referred to as his rooftop chateau, with its distinctive double chimneys and slanted roof.¹ In 1958, the Savoy-Plaza was purchased by Hilton Hotels and continued to operate under the name The Savoy Hilton. In August 1964 it was announced that the new General Motors Building would replace the hotel. After failed protests and boycotts of G.M. products, the hotel was demolished in 1965, and construction began on the 48-story General Motors Building, designed by Edward Durell Stone.²

The Savoy-Plaza Hotel was never designated a New York City Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and was demolished.

The Action Group for Better Architecture in New York was a leader in the fight to save the Savoy-Plaza Hotel. They held a “Funeral March” for the hotel at Grand Army Plaza on Fifth Avenue. Led by Elliott Willensky of the Cornell University College of Architecture, about 100 students and faculty of various architectural schools gathered in the rain to protest the demolition. They carried signs with slogans such as “Landmarks Preservation Weak” (in reference to Mayor Wagner designating a week in the fall of 1065 "Landmarks Preservation Week"), “Don’t Blast the Past,” and “Renege of Rampant Wrecking.”³ In addition, women of the elite class of New York became involved in the efforts to save the hotel, calling for a nationwide boycott of General Motors products (the company headquarters was replacing the historic building), from home appliances to cars.⁴

• Oral History with Norval White
  New York Preservation Archive Project
  174 East 80^th Street
  New York, NY 10075
  Tel: (212) 988-8379
  Email: info@nypap.org