A famous NYC meeting-spot clock survived demolition and is now hiding inside a Midtown coffee shop!
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A famous NYC meeting-spot clock survived demolition and is now hiding inside a Midtown coffee shop!
Hopeful romantics waiting for their dates, weary travelers with their luggage, and literary luminaries meeting their editors all shared a common meeting place in the lobby of Manhattan's lost Biltmore Hotel: under the clock. This iconic meetup spot was at the entrance to the Palm Court dining room where a large gilded arch stood, topped with an ornate timepiece. That bronze clock—and a Guastavino-tiled tunnel—are the only visible remnants of the hotel you can see today.
The Biltmore Hotel opened on New Years Day 1913. Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore designed the 26-story, Neo-Classical building. It was intended to be part of a larger development for the neighborhood called Terminal City. This master plan, which called for cultural institutions, office buildings, hotels, and more, never fully came to fruition, and many of the structures that were built have since been demolished or renovated beyond recognition—such as The Biltmore Hotel.
(Left) Image via Wikimedia Commons, Detroit Publishing Company Collection (Right) The Strong National Museum of Play
Inside, the hotel contained one thousand rooms and amenities such as a roof garden, one of the first indoor swimming pools, Turkish baths, and sometimes in the winter, ice-skating on the terrace. The H-shaped design of the hotel made it possible for most rooms to have outside exposure.
One of the best amenities was the ease with which guests could come and go using the hotel’s connection to Grand Central Terminal. Elevators could sweep guests directly into the hotel from the terminal below. When you visit the Biltmore Room inside the terminal today (also known as the kissing gallery), you are right below where the hotel once stood.
One of the most famous features of the hotel was the golden clock located in the lobby. It served as a meeting place for clientele like J.D. Salinger, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and Henry Ford. It stood at the entrance to the Palm Court.
The hotel flourished until the mid-1900s when demand for offices in Midtown started to increase. In the 1970s, developers Paul and Seymour Milstein purchased the hotel with the intention of turning it into an office building. They closed the hotel in the summer of 1981 and construction began.
As the building was stripped down to its steel skeleton, the beloved gilded clock was relocated across the street to the lobby of the Milford Plaza Hotel, another Milstein property at the time (now Row NYC). In 1984, the former Biltmore Hotel reopened as 335 Madison Avenue and the clock was returned to the lobby, though in a much less glamorous position. For years it sat above the office building's security desk behind a pane of glass.
In 2023, 335 Madison got another makeover. After an extensive interior renovation by SHoP Architects, the building debuted as 22 Vanderbilt. The renovation consisted of new offices, an atrium lobby, and luxury amenity spaces such as a two-story library retreat, a fitness center, and a terrace.
There was also a new home for the iconic clock. Inside the lobby cafe, aptly named The Clock Coffee Shop, you can find the clock sitting prominently on a central shelf, above an espresso machine and coffee makers.
Untapped New York recently visited the clock (and picked up some delicious coffee drinks) while we were guiding a private tour all about the clocks of Grand Central Terminal. While making our drinks, the baristas enthusiastically gathered around Chief Experience Officer Justin River's Ipad to see historical images of the clock they work beside each day. One employee said the clock on display is a replica, but we're pretty sure it's the original. We are waiting for comment from the building owners to confirm.
See the clock on your next Midtown coffee break! The Clock Coffee Shop is open 7:30 am - 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.
From hidden tennis courts to the remnants of a lost movie theater and an office-turned-speakeasy, uncover the secrets of New York City's iconic train terminal!
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*Please note that this tour does not visit The Clock Coffee Shop.
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