The Plaza Hotel will shut its doorways for at least 4 years beginning in January 2027 , with operator Fairmont Hotels and Resorts saying the 18-story Fifth Avenue landmark wants a top-to-bottom restoration of its historic facade . City Buildings inspectors discovered the facade unsafe in their newest review, the motive a sidewalk shed already hugs the building.
The information ricocheted far beyond Manhattan within hours.
“I woke up this morning to many, many messages of, is this true? Is this happening? Did you hear this?” Julie Estes, founder of occasion manufacturing firm SOP House, who has labored occasions at the Plaza since 2007, instructed The Post.
“It’s not just the most iconic hotel in New York. It’s the most iconic hotel in the world,” she added.
So who comes out forward, and who gets caught holding the bag? The Post breaks it down.
The Plaza Hotel will close in January 2027 for at least 4 years so its operator, Fairmont, can restore the landmark’s deteriorating facade, which metropolis inspectors not too long ago flagged as unsafe. NurPhoto via Getty Images
THE WINNERS
The Waldorf Astoria
The exterior of the renovated and newly opened Waldorf Astoria. Joe Thomas
Talk about timing. Park Avenue’s other legend reopened last yr after a closure courting to 2017 and a makeover pegged at roughly $2 billion , and it now seems like the default vacation spot for anyone who had their coronary heart set on the Plaza.
Leslie Wilson, senior EVP and managing director at Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, sounded downright bullish.
“With The Plaza preparing to close for an extended period, we expect renewed attention on New York’s historic luxury properties with high levels of hotel services,” Wilson said, calling the Waldorf “a unique combination of residential living and world-class hospitality that few properties can replicate.”
The Pierre, the Mandarin and the old-guard ballrooms
Couples chasing white-glove, Gilded Age glamour have other locations to flip, and Estes rattled off a short checklist.
“The Pierre is right next to the plaza and it has a wonderful history in the city,” she said. For something sleeker close by, “the Mandarin’s really close by as well.”
The Rainbow Room landmark restaurant, which opened in 1934 during the Great Depression and is now owned by Harry Cipriani, is positioned on the sixty fifth ground of 30 Rockefeller Plaza at Rockefeller Center. Corbis via Getty Images
She also pointed to the Rainbow Room, which she described as “another fantastic, iconic ballroom in our city that has gorgeous views,” along with Cipriani’s grand halls on forty second Street, Wall Street, Broadway and South Street. Some of those rooms are smaller, but they carry the same pedigree, she said.
Pricing shouldn’t scare off Plaza defectors either. Venue minimums plus catering tabs land in roughly the same territory across the high tier, Estes said, because “they’re all of a similar caliber.” A typical wedding ceremony at these venues runs $250,000 to $500,000.
And Aman New York, the hushed luxurious retreat inside the Crown Building a few blocks down Fifth, sits prepared to soak up deep-pocketed company who would otherwise have checked in across from Central Park.
Billionaires’ Row and Central Park South
Douglas Elliman’s Michael Passaro, who has brokered quite a few offers inside The Plaza, expects patrons to drift to the supertalls along 57th Street and the towers of Central Park South.
“I don’t think many people are gonna be too thrilled about going to look at The Plaza in the near future,” he said.
Bargain hunters
A apartment at The Plaza lodge last asking $23 million. Rich Caplan
Roughly 29 Plaza condos are already on the market, Passaro said, and he suspects a few more homeowners are quietly procuring theirs.
“I think it is going to be difficult to sell in the building over the next couple years,” he said, predicting that “buyers will be able to find deals from certain sellers.”
“Negotiability, I think it’s just gone up for anybody that’s looking possibly to purchase in the building,” he added.
Owners who can wait it out
Patience could repay. “They’ll have a fully restored facade that protects the building’s values for decades,” Passaro said of long-haul homeowners, who could money in huge once a polished Plaza reopens.
“It’s a short-term inconvenience for a long-term gain,” he said.
THE LOSERS
Brides and get together planners
Anne Hathaway, left, and Kate Hudson seem in a scene from the 2009 movie “Bride Wars,” set at the Plaza Hotel. 20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Weddings at venues like this are typically locked in six months to a yr or more forward, according to Estes, since the venue is the first factor {couples} nail down. That leaves lots of 2027 celebrations instantly homeless.
“People dream of having a wedding or an event there,” she said.
The silver lining, she said, is that the high-end distributors who work Plaza occasions have a tendency to rally when a venue falls through. “They band together and they shift and really work as a team to make the change as easy and smooth as possible for the client,” Estes said.
The workers
Bellhops and a doorman wait to greet company at The Plaza Hotel. Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Hotel and Gaming Trades Council said in a assertion that the 378 members working at the lodge will be ready to return to their jobs at the same pay when it reopens. Four years is still a long time to wait.
Estes said the destiny of longtime workers, including the lodge’s in-house CPS Events staff that books every gala and wedding ceremony, is the industry’s high speaking level. Staff had heard “there were some rumblings,” she said, but “I think the actual announcement of it was rather sudden.”
She supplied one vibrant spot. “I think it’s a really great time to be looking for an opportunity or a position in the industry,” Estes said.
Condo homeowners and renters
Maira Nazarbayev inside a contested Plaza Hotel apartment. Chad Rachman/New York Post
The residents of the Plaza’s 181 condos aren’t being compelled out, according to Passaro, whose shoppers in the building checked with management and doormen. But they will lose the lodge facilities and companies, plus dwell behind scaffolding for years.
Gone too, Passaro said, is “the vibe and the energy of such an iconic property.”
Selling won’t be straightforward. Passaro closed a $10.625 million sale in the building in February 2025, and the purchaser relisted the residence about a yr later. Many models haven’t been up to date since the condos first hit the market 20 years in the past, and patrons balk at intestine jobs.
“It’s been a little bit of a challenge to get people excited about doing a renovation because obviously the costs have gone up drastically,” he said.
Tourists and vacation diehards
Tourist at The Plaza. Laurent Faux
Out-of-towners who deliberate a pilgrimage to the lodge where Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister famously checked in on his dad’s credit card in “Home Alone 2” have one last window. Passaro expects the lodge to be mobbed through the holidays as New Yorkers and guests grab a farewell cocktail at the Palm Court.
As for when the doorways reopen, even the brokers are hedging. Four years could simply stretch to 5 or six, Passaro said, including that “nobody knows.”
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