New York Hotel: The Hotel Pennsylvania is a hotel located at 401 7th Avenue in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In early January 2007, plans were announced to demolish the hotel, and replace it with an office tower. Owner Vornado Realty Trust intends to build a 2,500,000-square-foot (232,000 m2) building by 2011. Vornado's plans take advantage of the fact that the site is the only remaining area in Midtown Manhattan that would not require special permits for development of a new office project of that size. The investment bank Lehman Brothers is in talks with owner Vornado Realty Trust to lease the new office building and move its headquarters from its current location on 7th Avenue near Times Square.
Shortly after the announcement of Vornado's plans, the staff of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly, a magazine which sponsors biennial H.O.P.E. hacker conventions at the hotel, began investigating possible ways to save the hotel from demolition.
Preservation efforts have proven difficult thus far. Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 noted that while people overseas expressed concern over the fate of the hotel, "New Yorkers might not care enough to get involved. The hotel was old; the rooms weren’t as big and luxurious as other more modern facilities; and New Yorkers simply weren’t in a position to grasp the importance of such a place since they normally don’t need cheap and easily accessible hotels if they already live here."