Sohotel
in New York, United StatesCategory: Attraction
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341 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013, USA Print route »
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The Sohotel is a hotel on The Bowery at 341 Broome St. in New York, NYAt the southwest corner of the Bowery and Broome Street stands the oldest hotel in New York still functioning as a hotel. It is practically impossible to determine the exact age of the house on the Broome Street corner. Known throughout history as The Westchester, The Occidental, The Pioneer, and now as the "Sohotel", this building has long been a fixture in the Bowery, operating as a stop for travelers as far back as there are written accounts.
We know, however, that a hotel or tavern has been in operation on that corner for at least one hundred and twenty-five years. In 1805 it appears as the New Bull's Head, a few years later as the Upper Bull's Head, and between 1825 and 1830 as the Bowery House. The land on which the hotel stands has been from those days to the present time the property of descendants of the DeLancey's.
[By 1835] the name had been changed to Military and Civick Hotel, and the house was headquarters of the Equal Rights or Anti-Monopoly faction of the Democratic Party aka The Locofocos, supporting Jackson and opposing the United States Bank .
When operating as The Occidental, the hotel served as the headquarters for the famed rogue politician, Big Timothy Sullivan, where despite his dubious affiliations, was known to throw lavish banquets here while dining in the company of star athletes and powerful political figures.
The building was a three-story one until 1866, when a fourth story was added. With Big Tim Sullivan's death the building's prestige declined and it became just another cheap wayfarers' hotel; its name was changed to the Commercial and, except for its size, it differs little now from the other forty- and fifty-cent upstairs hotels of the Bowery -- a small, tile-floored office, shower baths and a faint odor of disinfectant.
The Sohotel New York at 341 Broome St. was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 20, 1986
By 2014 Sohotel has been fully renovated and has brought back the prestige of the old Bowery days.
