Manhattan's new Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel opens.At the opening ceremony of the Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel on August 20th, the Honorable Mayor Giuliani and John Fitzpatrick There have been a number of people named John Fitzpatrick:
Francis "Frank" McCourt (born August 19, 1930) is an Irish-American teacher and author. , Irish author of Angela's Ashes. Also sharing in the toast was Anna Manahan, Tony-winner for Best Feature Actress for her leading part in The Beauty Queen of Leenane. The Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel is the first hotel to open in the Grand Central area in 15 years. Other guests at the opening ceremony include John Cambell, Irish Ambassador to the UN; Brian Leehey, vice president of the Allied Irish Bank in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : Adrian McDaid, Deputy Consulate General consulate general n. pl. consulates general The consulate occupied by a consul general. of Ireland; and New York City's Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen Thomas Von Essen was appointed the 30th Fire Commissioner of the City of New York by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani on April 15, 1996 and served in that position until the end of the Giuliani Administration on December 31, 2001, nearly four months after the September 11, 2001 attacks. and Police Commissioner Howard Safir. The cocktail Rudy's Run was created for and named after the Mayor by the new 155-room hotel's management for his "great winning run in cleaning up the city and improving the quality of life." Ingredients are: one part Bailey's Irish Cream; 5 oz. pineapple juice; one part Peach Schnapps schnapps n. pl. schnapps Any of various strong dry liquors, such as a strong Dutch gin. [German Schnaps, mouthful, schnapps, from Low German snaps, from ; and two parts blue Curacao, shaken, not stirred "Shaken, not stirred" is a famous catch phrase of Ian Fleming's fictional British Secret Service agent, James Bond and his preference for how he wished his martini prepared. . But if you ask Frank McCourt what Rudy's Run is made of, he'll say what he told the guests at that evening, "The main ingredients of the drink are faith, hope and charity
The charming luxury property with the cheery Irish atmosphere offers guests eight suites, two garden suites and a penthouse with a fireplace. The Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel's warm and intimate lobby features a full-service concierge desk and two inviting fireplaces. A centerpiece of the hotel is the Wheeltapper, a quaint, old-world Irish pub with features that evoke the memory of the Irish workers who built much of the American railroad system. A Wheeltapper was a professional who was responsible for inspecting the trains' wheels for faults or cracks after arriving in the station. He was equipped with an instrument with which he would tap each wheel. A particular sound would indicate to him whether the wheel was sound or cracked. The interiors of the Wheeltapper are railroad-themed and were designed and shipped from Ireland by the Irish Pub Company. The Wheeltapper serves an authentic Irish breakfast of rashers and black and white pudding and "pub grub." The Fitzpatrick Grand Central Hotel represents the third New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. property in six years for the Dublin, Ireland-based Fitzpatrick Family Group of Hotels. The firm owns and manages The Fitzpatrick Manhattan Hotel at 687 Lexington Avenue and manages the private British Airways-owned Fitzpatrick East 55th Hotel at 127 East 55th Street. In addition to the Manhattan properties, The Fitzpatrick Family Group of Hotels owns and operates three hotels in Ireland, namely Fitzpatrick Castle in Dublin, Fitzpatrick Bunratty Hotel and Fitzpatrick Hotel Cork. The total cost of the purchase and transformation of the structure into a first-class hotel was $27 million. The hotel is expected to generate an estimated $19 million annually for the New York City economy. Originally built as a hotel in 1916, three years after Grand Central Station opened, the structure became an apartment complex, then an office building in 1949. The owners, in a joint venture with Blackacre Capital Group, L.P., made use of the City's Industrial and Commercial Incentive Program in acquiring the site in September of 1997. Allied Irish Bank provided the funding. |
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