American mogul who met tragic end built secret entrance to historic hotel
Located on the depths of New York's subway system, is a secret doorway with the word 'Knickerbocker' sat at the top of its frame, which are the remnants of a historic hotel thought to be the home of the dry martini
A secret entrance to an iconic hotel can be found in the deep and dark depths of the New York subway system.
The Knickerbocker Hotel was built by one of America's wealthiest men, John Jacob Astor IV, who commissioned the guilded joint in 1901, five years before it opened to the public. The hotel, which is an example of Beaux-Arts architecture, was located at the corner of Broadway and 42nd street in Midtown Manhattan, near Times Square and the Theatre District. It was a popular destination for the great and good of the city, and is even rumoured to be the birthplace of the martini.
Sadly, the Knickerbocker closed in 1921, in part due to financial pressures caused by Prohibition and the death of Astor, who perished on the Titanic. The hotel was turned into offices for Newsweek magazine. Since then, it has been restored and reopened to the public.
But a secret entrance to the hotel remains. Located in the renovated Times Square Station next to the shuttle train, there is an inconspicuous door with 'Knickerbocker' written above it in capital letters. There have been many rumours about the door's use, whether it be providing access to the hotel's basement, a secret doorway or direct entrance for people on the downtown platform of the Interborough Rapid Transit subway line, in place at the time.
A video of the secret doorway and passage went viral on social media platform, TikTok, in 2021. In the video,John Friia - who runs the account called Here in NYC - shows the location of the door and shares history of the hotel. He says: "While the entrance is now sealed, it used to take people directly to the bar of the famous Knickerbocker Hotel."
The hotel had over 500 rooms, in addition to restaurants and bars that could cater for 2,000 people. It reopened in 2015 — and now hosts events, including a great view of the ball dropping on New Year's Eve. After spending decades as an office building and landing a coveted spot on the National Register of Historic Places, the Knick reclaimed its coveted corner on 42nd and Broadway as a leading Times Square hotel in 2015.
To visit the doorway, head outside of the Times Square subway station and head to the subway entrance at the southeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street. The door can also be seen from the shuttle platform, across the end of Track One. It is adjacent to the MetroCard machines.