One of the first “slab” buildings in New York, the New York Hilton hotel has been towering over 6th Ave for more than 50 years. It is still the largest hotel in New York.
Morris Lapidus was the original architect, but he had a conflict of interest because he was designing the Americana (now the Sheraton) a block away. So William Tabler stepped in to complete the innovative building. Hotel historian Mark Young told Overnight New York in 2013:
The windows were designed so you could lean out and look down the street. The technique was called Vista Vision, and it was creative back then. It cost more than plate glass, but it gave the customers something extra.
The building opened in 1963 with 2153 rooms. A 90s renovation knocked that down to 1980.
