At the turn of the last century, all the world came to Broadway to shop, dine, flirt, find amusement, and meet acquaintances, wrote Henry Collins Brown, curator of the Museum of the City of New York. In 1897, the Hotel Martinique on Broadway opened amidst the boom of hotel and theater life. Broadway was said to have a champagne sparkle with an artistic glow, and the trend setting culture found on this famous boulevard flourished. Around the same period, Pennsylvania Station, Macy’s, and the extended PATH train made their celebrated debut. It was the perfect time for William R.H. Martin, owner and namesake of the Hotel Martinique, to submit plans to dramatically increase the size of the Hotel Martinique. Martin hired the Hotel Martinique’s original architect, Henry Hardenberg for the redesign and expansion. Hardenberg, a slender man, who favored a starched high collar and pearl stickpin, was known as one of the greatest architects of his time for building Castles in the Air. His artistry was built on structural strength that has endured for generations. Just steps from the Martinique, construction of the Empire State Building began on March 17, 1930. Just over a year later, President Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C. officially opening and turning on the Empire State Building’s lights for the first time. At that same moment, guests celebrated at the Martinique, by lifting  Their glasses and toasting their new neighbor, the Empire State Building. On the register of Historic Hotels of America, the Martinique still stands amidst the excitement of Midtown Manhattan, near the Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Penn Station, Macy’s Flagship Store at Herald Square, Chelsea Art Galleries, and SoHo Bistros and Restaurants. Just as it was during the Gilded Age, the Hotel remains a symbol of Grand Hospitality, in the same stunning Beaux Art Building of 1896.