In New York, abandoned businesses in both bustling city districts and quiet rural towns signify the state’s economic transformations and the challenges of urban renewal and rural decline. These forsaken venues, from historic storefronts in urban neighborhoods to once-thriving resorts in the countryside, mirror the ongoing struggle to balance economic growth with the preservation of community identity and heritage.
In New York, abandoned businesses in both bustling city districts and quiet rural towns signify the state’s economic transformations and the challenges of urban renewal and rural decline. These forsaken venues, from historic storefronts in urban neighborhoods to once-thriving resorts in the countryside, mirror the ongoing struggle to balance economic growth with the preservation of community identity and heritage.
Greene County
Cold Springs Hotel
The Cold Springs Hotel in Tannersville, New York, was constructed in the 1890s and abandoned by the 1960s. It collapsed in 2017.
Sullivan County
Ambassador Hotel
The Ambassador Hotel opened in 1913 1 by Charles and Lillian Brown 3 in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The Browns had also owned the Hotel Arthur and would later open Brown’s Hotel nearby.
The Merl family later acquired the Ambassador. 3 In 1948, it was one of the first hotels in the area to offer daycare for the children of the guests. On May 18, 1956, the Moulin Rouge opened. 4 The nightclub featured seating for 1,200 patrons and was considered on par with the Copacabana of New York, Town & Country of Brooklyn, and Chez Paree of Chicago.
The Ambassador Hotel burned in 1963, leaving behind just an elevator shaft that remained intact until the late 1970s. 2 The Moulin Rouge nightclub, which remained operational in a separate building after the fire, closed after the 1966 season.
The Catskills Playland Amusement Center, a religiously-centered amusement facility, opened on the property in the late 1980s. 3
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Sources
- “Smatter O’ Facts.” Daily News [New York], 19 Apr. 1953, p. 13T.
- “Borscht Belt Is Still Slipping, But Some Hotels Are All Right.” Daily News [New York], 27 Aug. 1973, p. C6.
- Forsyth, Bruce. “A third serving of borscht – The changed face of America’s Jewish Vacationland.” Canadian Military History, 2022 Jul.
- “Moulin Rouge Undergoing Extensive Grooming for May 18 Premiere at the Ambassador Hotel.” Greenpoint Home News, 26 Apr. 1956, p. 7.
