Click on images to enlarge Hotel Astor 1511-1515 Broadway, between 44th and 45th Streets New York, N.Y. 10036                   The Palm Garden ("L'Orangerie")   The Hotel Astor was a venerable institution in the heart of Times Square for more than six decades. Plans for the grand hotel were conceived in 1900 by William C. Muschenheim and his brother, Frederick A. Muschenheim, at a time when the area—then known as Longacre Square—was beyond the fringe of metropolitan life. It would be a few years before the new subway would extend up Fourth Avenue, across Forty-second Street, and northward along Broadway. New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs had moved the paper's operations to a new tower on 42nd Street in the middle of Longacre Square, and Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. to build a subway station there and rename it Times Square. The theatre district would soon occupy magnificent new auditoriums along Forty-second Street, and electric lighting transformed this strip of Broadway into the "Great White Way."     Roof Garden Built at a cost of $7,000,000 on land leased from William Waldorf Astor (great-grandson of John Jacob Astor, the fur trader), the 11-story, 35,000-square-feet Hotel Astor was designed in the French Renaissance "Beaux Arts" style by architects Charles W. Clinton and William H. Russell, who imitated many features from the old Waldorf=Astoria on Thirty-fourth Street. The Hotel Astor opened in September 1904, dazzling guests with its enormous public rooms, most decorated with themes. A a year later the elaborate roof garden was opened.   Large Ballroom   The Large Ballroom (or Banquet Hall), located on the ninth floor, was opened with a dinner in connection with the Hudson-Fulton celebration. Measuring 50 feet wide by 85 feet long, the Banquet Hall was decorated in the style of Louis XV and featured a high groined arch ceiling in ivory white and old gold, supported by grouped caryatides. A gallery ran along the south and west sides, affording a fine view of the room, which could accomodate 500 diners. The smaller ballroom, seating 250, was decorated in the later Louis XVI period and could be joined with the larger ballroom as needed. Still another adjoining room, "The College Hall", could also be opened into the ballroom so that up to 1100 persons could be seated. The Palm Garden, or "L'Orangerie", located in the rear of the ninth floor lobby, was intended to represent an Italian garden. Its ceiling, painted to represent a Mediterranean sky, was partly concealed by vine-covered pergolas. Blue lighting, hanging lamps draped in vines, swaying fern baskets, and scenic pictures of the out-of-doors further enhanced the perception. The Hotel Astor was demolished in 1967 to accomodate One Astor Plaza, a 50-story office tower.                 Austin Organ Company Hartford, Conn. – Opus 252 (1910) Electro-pneumatic action 4 manuals, 103 stops, 72 ranks 3 four-manual consoles (two movable)       controlling all organs Automatic player                 AUDITORIUM ORGAN                 Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes 16   Major Diapason 61 4   Octave 61 8   Principal Diapason 61 4   Harmonic Flute 61 8   Small Diapason 61 8   Dulciana 61 8   Viole d'Amour 61 8   Vox Angelica [TC] 49 8   Gross Floete 61 8   Trumpet 61 8   Doppel Floete 61   Harp 8   Claribel Flute 61                    Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Bourdon 73 4   Flauto Traverso 73 8   Diapason Phonon 73   Dolce Cornet, 3 ranks 183 8   Violin Diapason 73 2   Flageolet 61 8   Viole d'Orchestre 73 16   Contra Posaune 73 8   Echo Salicional 73 8   Cornopean 73 8   Viole Celeste 73 8   Oboe 73 8   Vox Seraphique [TC] 61 8   Vox Humana 73 8   Hohl Floete 73   Harps [sic] GT 4   Violina 73   Tremulant                   Orchestral Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Contra Viole 73 4   Flute d'Amour 73 8   Geigen Principal 73 2   Piccolo 61 8   Dulciana 73 16   Double Oboe Horn 73 8   Concert Flute 73 8   Clarinet 73 8   Unda Maris [TC] 61 8   Cor Anglais 73 8   Quintadena 73   Tremulant                   Solo Organ (Manual IV) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Violone 73 4   Flute Overte 61 8   Grand Diapason 73 16   Tuba Major 61 8   Melodia 73 8   Harmonic Tuba * [ext.] 12 8   Flauto Major 73 4   Tuba Clarion * [ext.] 12 8   Dulciana 73 8   Orchestral Oboe 73 8   Gross Gamba 73 8   French Trumpet 73 8   Gamba Celeste 73   Chimes 30 notes 4   Principal 73                     Pedal Organ – 32 notes ("Augmented") 32   Magnaton   16   Bourdon   16   Magnaton   16   Lieblich Gedacht   16   Open Diapason   8   Gross Flute   16   Second Diapason   8   Flute Dolce   16   Violone   8   Violoncello   16   Contra Viole   16   Trombone                   Accessories Balanced Crescendo Pedal, not moving registers, adjustable Balanced Swell Pedal, operating on Auditorium and L'Orangerie Organs Balanced Orchestral Pedal, operating on Auditorium and L'Orangerie Organs Balanced Solo Pedal Sforzando Pedal, not moving registers, adjustable Great to Pedal, Reversible Solo to Great, Reversible                 L'ORANGERIE ROOM ORGAN                 Orchestral Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, all enclosed 8   Open Diapason 73 8   Clarinet 73 8   Concert Flute 73 8   Vox Humana 73 8   Viole d'Amour 73   Zylophone [sic] 8   Unda Maris [TC] 61   Chimes 4   Octave 73   Carillons 4   Harmonic Flute 73   Tremulant                 Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Lieblich Bourdon 73 2   Piccolo 61 8   Horn Diapason 73 8   Horn 73 8   Rohr Floete 73 8   Saxophone 73 8   Viole d'Orchestre 73   Harp OR 8   Viole Celeste 73   Chimes OR 4   Flauto Traverso 73   Tremulant 4   Violina 73                     Pedal Organ – 32 notes ("Augmented") 16   Major Bass 8   Violoncello 16   Lieblich Gedacht 8   Flute                 Sources:      "The Hotel Astor", article in Architects and Builders Magazine, November 1904, Vol. VI, No. 2.      "Hotel Astor Builder Anticipated Growth", article in The New York Times; January 12, 1930, p. 154.      "The Hotel Astor and Associated Curios". The Astor Collection at the University of Virginia website: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA04/ranger/astor_collection/newyork.html      Ochse, Orpha. Austin Organs. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2001. Photos:      Austin Organ Company brochure, courtesy Jeff Scofield.      New York Architecture Images website: www.nyc-architecture.com | NYC AGO Home Page | Back to NYC Organs List |