9. There’s a Bank Vault in the Basement of the New Yorker Hotel

The New Yorker Hotel was built atop the site of the former Manufacturer’s Trust Company Bank, which agreed to the demolition of their building as long as they were given space inside the New Yorker Hotel for their operations. They were also given free rent for fifty years, until 1980. As such, a bank space was built inside the basement and second floor of the New Yorker Hotel. Kinney himself did the schematics to make the bank vault connect to the hotel portion, and the creativity has paid off. The bank vault area will re-open as a bar sometime this year, dubbed The Bar Below. For the renovation into the bar, designers took the doors off the safety deposit box and glued them onto the wall to gain a few feet. The terrazzo floor is partially original to the bank.

Fun fact: Manufacturer’s Trust Bank was acquired several times, merging into new companies that would eventually become the ubiquitous Chase Bank. The bank space laid fallow for decades after.