title: 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

text: After the first standing restart, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen were involved in an incident where Verstappen overtook Hamilton off the race track, shortly before a crash involving Sergio Pérez, Charles Leclerc, Nikita Mazepin, and George Russell resulted in a second red flag period. This left the cars lined up with Verstappen in first, Esteban Ocon in second, and Hamilton in third. Initially, Masi offered to re-order the cars with Verstappen and Ocon switching places but was later amended to offer to move Hamilton to second and Verstappen to third, which left the proposed order as Ocon, Hamilton, and Verstappen. This was proposed in lieu of an investigation into Verstappen overtaking Hamilton at the first standing restart, and was only offered to Red Bull Racing and not put to the other two teams involved in the changing on the restart order, Alpine (Ocon's team) and Mercedes (Hamilton's team).


title: 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

text: On lap 37, Verstappen made an illegal overtake on Hamilton. Verstappen was told to let Hamilton past by the stewards. He decided to slow down to a crawl before the upcoming DRS (drag reduction system) detection point, in order for Verstappen to be able to activate DRS and be back on the attack right away. Hamilton was not warned that Verstappen would let him pass and was surprised by Verstappen's sudden dramatic drop in speed, and failed to avoid running into the back of Verstappen, damaging Hamilton's front wing endplate and Verstappen's diffuser. Following the race, the stewards gave Verstappen a 10 second time penalty for the incident.


title: 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

text: As both Hamilton and Verstappen had collided together for the third race in the season, Hamilton heavily criticised Verstappen in the post-race interviews, accusing his title rival for being "over the limit" in both his driving and title defense. Verstappen meanwhile hit out at the sport following the incident and the post-race penalties applied to him, claiming F1 is "more about penalties than racing".


title: 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

text: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner compared the actions of race director Michael Masi to "like being at the local market", and added: "It felt like today the sport missed [Masi's predecessor] Charlie Whiting." Formula One chief Ross Brawn said that Masi dealt with the situation in a pragmatic way. Masi commented: "I wouldn't call it a deal, as from a race director's perspective I have no authority to instruct the teams to do anything in that situation. I can give them an offer, [I have] the ability to do that but the choice is theirs. The stewards are obviously empowered to give penalties, but I can give them my perspective. That's why I offered them the ability to give that position up."


title: 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

text: Russell, who retired as a result of the accident at the first restart and is also the director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, called for changes to be made to the track for safety. Norris, who was initially running in the points but dropped out during the red flag periods before recovering to 10th, meanwhile slammed the red flag tyre change rules, calling for the "unfair" rule to be changed and cited previous races where he ended up in similar situations.


title: Bodyguard

text: A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects a person or a group of people — usually witnesses, high-ranking public officials or officers, wealthy people, and celebrities — from danger: generally theft, assault, kidnapping, assassination, harassment, loss of confidential information, threats, or other criminal offences. The personnel team that protects a VIP is often referred to as the VIP's security detail.


title: Bodyguard

text: Most important public figures, such as heads of state, heads of government, and governors are protected by several bodyguards or by a team of bodyguards from a government agency, security forces, or police forces (e.g., in the United States, the Secret Service or the Diplomatic Security Service of the State Department). In most countries where the head of state is also their military leader, the leader's bodyguards have traditionally been royal guards, republican guards and other military units. Less-important public figures, or those with lower risk profiles, may be accompanied by a single bodyguard who doubles as a driver.


title: Bodyguard

text: A number of high-profile celebrities and CEOs also use bodyguards. In some countries or regions (e.g., in Latin America), wealthy people may have a bodyguard when they travel. In some cases, the security personnel uses an armoured vehicle, which protects them and the VIP.


title: Bodyguard

text: The role of bodyguards is often misunderstood by the public, because the typical layperson's only exposure to body-guarding is usually in heavily dramatized action film depictions of the profession, such as the 2018 British TV series "Bodyguard", in which bodyguards are depicted in firefights with attackers. In contrast to the exciting lifestyle depicted on the film screen, the role of a real-life bodyguard is much more mundane; it consists mainly of planning routes, pre-searching rooms and buildings where the client will be visiting, researching the background of people that will have contact with the client, searching vehicles, and attentively escorting the client on their day-to-day activities.


title: Bodyguard

text: The role of a bodyguard depends on several factors. First, it depends on the role of a given bodyguard in a close protection team. A bodyguard can be a driver-bodyguard, a close-protection officer (who escorts the client), or part of an ancillary unit that provides support such as electronic "bug" detection, counter-sniper monitoring, pre-searching facilities, IED detection and background-checking people who will have contact with the client. Second, the role of a bodyguard depends on the level of risk that the client faces. A bodyguard protecting a client at high risk of assassination will be focusing on very different roles (e.g., checking cars for IED devices, bombs, watching for potential shooters, etc.) than a bodyguard escorting a celebrity who is being stalked by aggressive tabloid photographers (e.g., the role will be to ask the photographers to maintain their distance and block the path of aggressive cameramen). Some bodyguards specialize in the close-quarter protection of children of VIPs, to protect them from kidnapping or assassination.


title: Bodyguard

text: In some cases, bodyguards also drive their clients. Normally, it is not sufficient for a client to be protected by a single driver-bodyguard, because this would mean that the bodyguard would have to leave the car unattended when they escort the client on foot. If the car is left unattended, this can lead to several risks: an explosive device may be attached to the car; an electronic "bug" may be attached to the car; the car may be sabotaged; the car may be stolen; or city parking officials may simply tow away the vehicle or place a wheel clamp on the tire. If parking services tow away or disable the car, then the bodyguard cannot use the car to escape with the client in case there is a security threat while the client is at their meeting.


title: Bodyguard

text: The driver should be trained in evasive driving techniques, such as executing short-radius turns to change the direction of the vehicle, high-speed cornering, and so on. The car used by the client will typically be a large sedan with a low center of gravity and a powerful engine. In some countries, large SUVs such as Chevrolet Suburbans are used for VIPs. At a minimum, the vehicle should have ballistic glass in the windows, some type of armor reinforcement to protect the client from gunfire, and a foam-filled gas tank. "Run-flat tires" (which have either extremely stiff sidewalls or a resilient filler to allow driving a limited distance while flat, usually at reduced speed, without permanent damage or hazard) and armor protection for the driver are also desirable.


title: Bodyguard

text: The car may also be equipped with an additional battery; dual foot-pedal controls, such as those used by driving instruction companies (in case the driver is wounded or incapacitated), a PA system with a microphone and a megaphone mounted on the outside of the car so that the driver can give commands to other convoy vehicles or bodyguards who are on foot; fire extinguishers inside the vehicle in case the vehicle is struck by an incendiary weapon (such as a Molotov cocktail); a reinforced front and rear bumper, to enable the driver to ram attacking vehicles; and additional mirrors, to give the driver a better field of view. In Latin American countries, many armored cars will come with a siren and lights to use in situations where they need to get out of places quickly. Decoy convoys and vehicles are used to prevent tailing. In the event the convoy holding the client is compromised and ambushed, decoy convoys can also act as a reinforcement force that can counter-attack a force that is attacking the primary convoy. Some clients rotate between residences in different cities when attending public events or meetings to prevent being tailed home or to a private location.


title: Bodyguard

text: Depending on the laws in a bodyguard's jurisdiction and on which type of agency or security service they are in, bodyguards may be unarmed, armed with a less-lethal weapon such as a pepper spray, an expandable baton, or a Taser (or a similar type stun gun), or with a lethal weapon such as a handgun, or, in the case of a government bodyguard for a Secret Service-type agency, a machine pistol. Some bodyguards such as those protecting high ranking government officials or those operating in high-risk environments such as war zones may carry assault rifles.


title: Bodyguard

text: In addition to these weapons, a bodyguard team may also have more specialist weapons to aid them in maintaining the safety of their protectee, such as sniper rifles and anti-materiel rifles (for anti-sniper protection) or shotguns.


title: Bodyguard

text: Osama bin Laden's personal security detail consisted of "bodyguards...personally selected by him." Their "arsenal included SAM-7 and Stinger missiles, AK-47s, RPGs, and PK machine guns."


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards that protect high-risk clients may wear body armor such as kevlar or ceramic vests. The bodyguards may also have other ballistic shields, such as Kevlar-reinforced briefcases or clipboards which, while appearing innocuous, can be used to protect their client. The client may also wear body armor in high-risk situations.


title: Bodyguard

text: For a close protection officer, the primary tactic against sniper attacks is defensive: avoid exposing the client to the risk of being fired upon. This means that the client should ideally be within an armored vehicle or a secure structure. As well, when the client moves between a vehicle and a building, the client must be moved quickly to minimize the time window in which a sniper could take a shot and use a flanking escort of close protection officers to block the view of the sniper and any potential shot that the sniper may take. The use of offensive tactics against snipers will occur very rarely in a bodyguard context because it is very difficult for bodyguards to attempt to locate and fire back at a distant, concealed, or camouflaged sniper, even if the security detail has a carbine rifle or scoped sniper rifle in the trunk of the car.


title: Bodyguard

text: A bodyguard team protecting a high-profile politician who is at risk of attack would be based around escorting the client from a secure residence (e.g., an embassy) to the different meetings and other activities they have to attend during the day (whether professional or social), and then to escort the client back to their residence.


title: Bodyguard

text: The day would begin with a meeting of the bodyguard team led by the team leader. The team would review the different activities that the client plans to do during the day, and discuss how the team would undertake the different transportation, escorting, and monitoring tasks. During the day, the client may have to travel by car, train, and plane and attend a variety of functions, including meetings and invitations for meals at restaurants, and do personal activities such as recreation and errands.


title: Bodyguard

text: Over the day, the client will be exposed to a range of risk levels, ranging from higher risk (meeting and greeting members of the public at an outdoor rally) to low risk (dining at an exclusive, gated country club with high security).


title: Bodyguard

text: Some planning for the day would have begun on previous days. Once the itinerary is known, one or more bodyguards would travel the route to the venues, to check the roads for unexpected changes (road work, detours, closed lanes) and to check the venue. The venue needs to be checked for bugs and the security of the facility (exits, entrances) needs to be inspected. As well, the bodyguards will want to know the names of the staff who will have contact with the client, so that a simple electronic background check can be run on these individuals.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards often have training in firearms tactics, unarmed combat, tactical driving, and first aid. In multi-agent units (like those protecting a head of state), one or more bodyguards may have training in specific tasks, such as providing a protective escort, crowd screening and control, or searching for explosives or electronic surveillance devices ("bugs"). Bodyguards also learn how to work with other security personnel to conduct threat or risk assessment and analyze potential security weaknesses.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards learn how to examine a premises or venue before their clients arrive, to determine where the exits and entrances are, find potential security weaknesses, and meet the staff (so that a would-be attacker cannot pose as a staff member). As well, some bodyguards learn how to do research to be aware of potential threats to their client, by doing a thorough assessment of the threats facing the client, such as a protest by a radical group or the release from custody of a person who is a known threat. Close protection officers also learn how to escort a client in potentially threatening situations such as crowds that become unruly.


title: Bodyguard

text: The military forces in many countries offer close protection training for the members of their own armed forces who have been selected to work as bodyguards to officers or heads of state (for example, the British 22nd Special Air Service Regiment). As well, there are a number of private bodyguards training programs, which offer training in all aspects of close protection and including the legal aspects of body-guarding (e.g., use of force, use of deadly force); how to escort clients; driving; searching facilities and vehicles, and so on.


title: Bodyguard

text: An hour prior to leaving with the client to their first appointment, the driver-bodyguard and another bodyguard remove the cars that will be used to transport the client from the locked garage and inspect them. There may be only one car for a lower-risk client. A higher-risk client will have additional cars to form a protective convoy of vehicles that can flank the client's vehicle. The vehicles are inspected before leaving.


title: Bodyguard

text: Once the cars have been inspected and they are deemed to be ready for use, they are brought into position near the exit door where the client will leave the secure building. At least one driver-bodyguard stays with the cars while waiting because the now-searched cars cannot be left unattended. If the convoy is left unattended, an attacker could attach an IED or sabotage one or more of the cars. Then the bodyguard team flanks the client as they move from the secure residence to the car.


title: Bodyguard

text: This moment is considered critical, as 60% of such attacks happen when the protected person is in or around the vehicle. Once this sort of attack is perpetrated, 75% of them are successful.


title: Bodyguard

text: The convoy then moves out towards the destination. The team will have chosen a route or two and in some cases, it may involve three routes that are designated for travel along, which avoids the most dangerous "choke points", such as one-lane bridges or tunnels, because these routes have no way of escape and they are more vulnerable to ambush. In some cases, if the client has to travel by train, the bodyguards will inspect the rail car they are traveling in and the other cars they will use. Traveling on foot to a destination is very dangerous because of the lack of cover and control over the environment.


title: Bodyguard

text: When the convoy arrives at the location, one or more bodyguards will exit first to confirm that the location is secure and that the staff who were booked to work that day are the ones who are present. If the location is secure, these bodyguards signal that it is safe to bring in the client. The client is escorted into the building using a flanking procedure. If the client is attending a private meeting inside the building, and the building itself is secure (controlled entrances) the client will not need to have a bodyguard escort in the building. The bodyguards can then pull back to monitor the client's safety from a further distance. Bodyguards could monitor entrances and exits and the driver-bodyguard watches the cars.


title: Bodyguard

text: If the client is moving about in a fairly controlled environment such as a private golf course, which has limited entrances and exits, the security detail may drop down to one or two bodyguards, with the other bodyguards monitoring the entrances to the facility, the cars, and remaining in contact with the bodyguards escorting the client. Throughout the day, as the client goes about their activities, the number of bodyguards escorting the client will increase or decrease according to the level of risk.


title: Bodyguard

text: After the day's activities, the client will be brought back to the secure residence location. Exiting from the vehicle and walking to the door exposes the client to risk, so the distance is kept as short as possible to cut down the time it takes to reach the door. Once the client is inside, the bodyguards assigned to the overnight detail will take up their positions outside or inside the residence. The vehicles are then parked in a locked garage (to prevent tampering, sabotage, or IED placement). Some team members may spend additional time doing maintenance on the equipment used by the team. The TL (team leader) will ensure that all equipment is checked and packed away for the next day and ensure the radios are being charged for the next day's operation.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards often work long shifts in order to provide 24-hour protection, and shifts often include evenings, weekends, and holidays. Since bodyguards follow their clients throughout their daily activities, the work locations may range from indoor office meetings or social events to outdoor rallies or concerts. Bodyguards often have to travel by car, motorcycle, train, and airplane to escort their client. In some cases, international travel is required, which means that a bodyguard must have appropriate travel documentation.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards often have backgrounds in the armed forces, police or security services, although this is not required. The exception to this is in the case of bodyguards protecting heads of state; in some countries, these bodyguards must be trained in military bodyguard training programs. Military experience in foot patrol and convoy escort through urban areas in conflict or war as in Afghanistan, Iraq, West Bank, Northern Ireland, Beirut and Basque country is considered to provide the expertise that may be difficult to replicate in training.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards must be physically fit, with good eyesight and hearing, and they need to have a presentable appearance, especially for close protection work for dignitaries and heads of state. A driver's license is usually required so that the bodyguard can double as a driver. In the United Kingdom and some other countries, bodyguards have to have a license or certification with the SIA, which involves identity and criminal record checks. To be a bodyguard in an agency protecting a head of state, a bodyguard will have to undergo extensive background and loyalty checks.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards need to be observant, and retain their focus on their job, despite distractions such as fatigue. As well, they need to be able to work as member of a team, with assigned tasks, or be able to act independently, and adapt and improvise an appropriate response if the need arises. Bodyguards need to be able to recognize potentially dangerous situations and remain calm under pressure. A bodyguard has to have a strong dedication to their protective role. Since bodyguards often have to collaborate or coordinate their protection with other security forces, such as local police and other private security guards, bodyguards need good interpersonal and communications skills. Since bodyguards accompany their clients throughout their day, the bodyguard will be privy to the private life of the client, which means that a bodyguard has to show discretion and maintain confidentiality.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards often have training in firearms tactics, unarmed combat, tactical driving, and first aid. In multi-agent units (like those protecting a head of state) one or more bodyguards may have training in specific tasks, such as providing a protective escort, crowd screening and control, or searching for explosives or electronic surveillance devices ("bugs"). Bodyguards also learn how to work with other security personnel to conduct threat or risk assessment and analyze potential security weaknesses.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards learn how to examine premises or venue before their clients arrive, to determine where the exits and entrances are, find potential security weaknesses, and meet the staff (so that a would-be attacker cannot pose as a staff member). As well, some bodyguards learn how to do research to be aware of potential threats to their client, by doing a thorough assessment of the threats facing the client, such as a protest by a radical group or the release from custody of a person who is a known threat. Close protection officers also learn how to escort a client in potentially threatening situations.


title: Bodyguard

text: The military forces in many countries offer close protection training for the members of their own armed forces who have been selected to work as bodyguards to officers or heads of state (e.g., the British RMP – Royal Military Police, Close Protection Unit). In the private sector, there are a vast number of private bodyguard training companies, which offer training in all aspects of close protection relative to their local laws and threat level, including the legal aspects of physical protection (e.g., use of force, use of deadly force), how to escort clients, driving drills, searching facilities and vehicles, etc.


title: Bodyguard

text: In the United Kingdom, the industry is highly regulated by the Security Industry Authority and requires an individual to obtain a level 3 vocational close protection qualification and pass an enhanced criminal record background check in addition to attending a recognized first-aid course prior to a license being issued. Most UK security firms will request that operatives hold an SIA license, even if operations are conducted outside of the UK. The SIA model has been adopted and modified by nearby countries Ireland and France. In France bodyguards require a CNAPS (Conséil National des Activitées Privée de Sécurité) license to operate legally as a bodyguard. Both the SIA and CNAPS have come under heavy criticism over the years for failing to assist license holders and meet their primary objectives of "raising the standards" in the private security industry.


title: Bodyguard

text: In other countries with no specific regulations, training providers are allowed to shape their programs according to their needs. Heavy focus on physical training and shooting, neglecting intelligence and the strategic part of the job for marketing reasons, has been recently criticized as useless and called "bodyguard amusement tourism" by the International Association of Personal Protection Agents (IAPPA).


title: Bodyguard

text: In countries where the head of state is a military leader or dictator, the leader's bodyguards may also be part of an elite military unit. Such was the case with the Somatophylakes in Macedon, Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany, the former Iraqi Special Republican Guard, or the Praetorian Guard in the Roman Empire and its later iteration as the Varangian Guard in the Byzantine period, or the Housecarls of Scandinavia and then Anglo-Saxon England.


title: Bodyguard

text: The British monarch has at least three traditional bodyguard corps in service, known collectively as the Sovereign's Bodyguard.


title: Bodyguard

text: In India, VIPs are protected by the National Security Guards (NSG), an elite Counter-terror unit as well as Central Paramilitary Forces like the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) all operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India). The protection of the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's immediate family members are entrusted with the Special Protection Group (SPG). SPG was formed as a specialized unit in the protection of the Prime Minister and his family members, after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in 1984. Former Prime Ministers also get the protection of SPG for a period of 5 years, after stepping down from the post. The President's Bodyguards, which is a mechanized regiment of the Indian Army is the ceremonial bodyguard of the President of India. Persons with lower threat levels are given security cover by Delhi police in the Capital and respective state police forces elsewhere.


title: Bodyguard

text: In Pakistan, the President and Prime Minister receive close protection teams from the military's elite Special Service Group unit. President Pervez Musharraf, as civilian head of state, was due to have this withdrawn after retiring as Chief of Army Staff, but the Pakistan Army has retained his close protection unit.


title: Bodyguard

text: In Turkey, there are two main services tasked with close protection. The Prime Minister of Turkey is protected by the "Karşı Saldırı Timi'nde" (KST), an elite counterattack team, a subunit of the Office for Protection of the Prime Minister (Başbakanlık Koruma Dairesi Başkanlığı). The Office for Protection of the PM is itself a service of the General Directorate of Security (Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü), the civil police force of Turkey. The President is closely protected by the "Cumhurbaskanligi Muhafiz Alayi", the 2,500-strong Presidential Guard Regiment of the Turkish Army, subordinated to the 4th Army Corps. It consists of specially selected personnel and is charged with the duty of protecting the President (and members of his family), security of the Presidential palaces, and also the manning of the Turkish President's mode of transport (e.g., pilots for TC-ANA, the presidential plane etc.).


title: Bodyguard

text: In the United States, the Secret Service safeguards the lives of the President, his family, and other executive officials, including former presidents and vice-presidents, the latter for a limited time. Another agency, the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, is responsible for protecting U.S. missions and their personnel overseas, as well as selected dignitaries in the U.S., including the Ambassador to the United Nations, the Secretary of State, and visiting foreign dignitaries other than heads of state. While the Secret Service's close-protection role is its most visible, its historic role as agents of the United States Treasury (although they are now agents of the Department of Homeland Security).


title: Bodyguard

text: In the UK during 1913–1914, the suffragette movement protested in an attempt to gain women the right to vote. After suffragette leaders were threatened, activists formed an all-female close protection unit to protect the leaders of the Women's Social and Political Union both from harassment by the general public and from arrest under the so-called Cat and Mouse Act. In the modern UK, the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department of the Metropolitan Police is responsible for the security of the Sovereign.


title: Bodyguard

text: In the Vatican, the Pope and other senior Vatican officials are protected by the Pontifical Swiss Guard, Swiss mercenary soldiers who act as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards. After the May 13, 1981, assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II by Mehmet Ali Ağca, the guards were given enhanced training in unarmed combat and firearm use. The pope's chief bodyguard is the Inspector General of the Corps of Gendarmerie of Vatican City.


title: Bodyguard

text: In the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, most bodyguards are former or current police officers, or sometimes former military or other government agency personnel.


title: Bodyguard

text: The brave and fiercely protective bodyguard who is willing to die to protect his master has long been depicted in fiction. The character of the Scottish hero Quentin Durward appears in stories as the bodyguard of the King of France. The character Charles d'Artagnan appears in stories as the bodyguard of the French Crown. The character Atticus Kodiak is a professional bodyguard who acts as narrator and protagonist in a series of novels by Greg Rucka. Bodyguards also appear in "Usagi Yojimbo", Stan Sakai's anthropomorphic-rabbit samurai based upon Miyamoto Musashi and in the "Artemis Fowl series" of children's books.


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards are also depicted in a number of films and television programs. In an episode of "" entitled “”, Captain Kirk and his landing party are exchanged with their counterparts from a savage parallel universe. Aboard the Imperial "Enterprise", junior officers conspire to assassinate senior officers as a means of advancing in rank. Therefore, the Imperial Kirk is shadowed by a number of (presumably very well paid) security officers loyal only to him. He refers to these men as his “personal guard”.


title: Bodyguard

text: Japanese director Akira Kurosawa's film "Yojimbo" depicts a samurai bodyguard in Japan. "The Bodyguard" (1992) is a film about a bodyguard who protects a celebrity singer. Gogo Yubari is O-Ren Ishii's bodyguard in the film "". In the science-fiction/fantasy "Star Wars" films, MagnaGuards are General Grievous' bodyguards. Being a bodyguard is also a duty performed on special occasions by the Jedi Knights. In the film "Lord of War", the main character's brother protects him while he makes arms deals in war-torn countries.


title: Bodyguard

text: In the motion picture "My Bodyguard" (1980), high school student Clifford Peache (Chris Makepeace) is bullied by Melvin Moody (Matt Dillon). Clifford asks school outcast Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin) to be his bodyguard. In the action-comedy film "Shanghai Noon", martial arts star Jackie Chan plays the role of an Imperial Guard of China on a mission to America to help rescue a princess.


title: Bodyguard

text: In the film "Man on Fire" (2004), John Creasy (Denzel Washington) is a burnt-out ex-CIA officer and counter-insurgency operative who grudgingly becomes the bodyguard of a young girl (played by Dakota Fanning). When kidnappers attempt to snatch the girl, Creasy is severely wounded in a gun battle. The film depicts his perseverance in attempting to continue to protect the girl despite his gunshot wounds until he becomes unconscious. When he recovers, he goes on a revenge rampage in Mexico City. The character Sam, in the Netflix film "Close", is another bodyguard who perseveres in protecting her client after being injured in the line of duty.


title: Bodyguard

text: Several films have been made about the Secret Service's role in guarding the President of the United States, such as "In the Line of Fire" and "The Sentinel".


title: Bodyguard

text: Bodyguards are also depicted in television shows, comics, and other media. "Bodyguard" is a Japanese television series starring Reiko Takashima. In the UK, "Bodyguards" was a late 1990s British television series about a specialized Close Protection Group that protected members of the UK government. More recently, "Bodyguard" follows the story of a war veteran suffering from PTSD who becomes a specialist protection officer in the Metropolitan Police Service, and assigned to protect an ambitious Cabinet minister.


title: Bodyguard

text: On the E! television series "The Royals" (2015–present), HRH Prince Liam Henstridge (William Moseley) is protected by Marcus Jeffrys (Ukweli Roach), his no-nonsense bodyguard and confidante. Moreover, Liam's sister, HRH Princess Eleanor Henstridge (Alexandra Park) is protected by bodyguard Jasper Frost (Tom Austen) – who is also blackmailing her for sex and having an affair with HRH Queen Helena Henstridge (Elizabeth Hurley) on the side.


title: Bodyguard

text: In the "Mortal Kombat" fighting game series, "Sheeva" is the personal protector of Sindel. "Suki" is a Japanese manga about a relationship between a teenage girl and a 32-year-old bodyguard. In the 2009 videogame "", the main character Luis Fernando Lopez works as a bodyguard for the nightclub owner Anthony "Gay Tony" Prince. In the 2012 video game "Dishonored", the player takes the role of Corvo Attano, a bodyguard of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, and gets framed for her murder. In the 2011 video game , the player takes the role of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer who begins the story as a reluctant bodyguard of King Foltest of Temeria.


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: Damn the Torpedoes is the third studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released on October 19, 1979. This was the first of three Petty albums originally released by the Backstreet Records label, distributed by MCA Records. It built on the commercial success and critical acclaim of his two previous albums and reached #2 on the "Billboard" album chart. The album went on to become certified Triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: In 2003, the album was ranked number 313 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, and 231 in a 2020 revised list.


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: Petty's recording contract was assigned to MCA when his distributor ABC Records was sold to MCA in 1979. Petty contended that his contract could not be assigned to another record company without his permission and was therefore voided. MCA responded by suing Petty for breach of contract which prompted him to declare bankruptcy as a tactic to void his contract with MCA. The matter was settled with Petty signing a new recording contract with Backstreet Records, an MCA subsidiary label. The album, co-produced by Jimmy Iovine, was recorded at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys and Cherokee Studios in Hollywood. The title is a reference to a famous quote by Admiral David Farragut: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!".


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: The album was a breakthrough for Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was their first top 10 album, rising to #2 for seven weeks and kept from #1 by Pink Floyd's "The Wall" on the "Billboard" albums chart. Tom Petty's response to Westwood One about being anchored at #2 was "I love Pink Floyd but I hated them that year". It yielded two songs that made the top 15 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart, "Don't Do Me Like That" (#10) and "Refugee" (#15). Thanks to the new co-producer Jimmy Iovine, "Damn the Torpedoes" proved to be a major leap forward in production.


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: Critical reception generally reflected the commercial success of the album. The original review in "Rolling Stone" raved that it was the "album we've all been waiting for – that is, if we were all Tom Petty fans, which we would be if there were any justice in the world." "Village Voice" critic Robert Christgau said, "This is a breakthrough for Petty because for the first time the Heartbreakers ... are rocking as powerfully as he's writing. But whether Petty has any need to rock out beyond the sheer doing of it—whether he has anything to say—remains shrouded in banality. Thus he establishes himself as the perfect rock and roller for those who want good—very good, because Petty really knows his stuff—rock and roll that can be forgotten as soon as the record or the concert is over, rock and roll that won't disturb your sleep, your conscience, or your precious bodily rhythms."


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: Subsequent appraisals have remained positive, with AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine regarding it as "one of the great records of the album rock era". "Rolling Stone" placing it at number 313 on "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list in 2003, the list's 2012 edition had it ranked 315th, and the 2020 edition ranked it at number 231. In 2000 it was voted number 537 in Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums".


title: Damn the Torpedoes (album)

text: On November 9, 2010, a deluxe edition of the album was released on three formats, a 2×CD set, a 2×LP (180 g) deluxe package and a Blu-ray Audio disc package. Digital download available in numerous audio codecs in audiophile quality 96 kHz/24bit through resellers such as HDTracks. All the tracks (original and unreleased) were remastered from the original analog master tapes by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering Studios in Hollywood.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: Drones is the seventh studio album by English rock band Muse, released on 5 June 2015 through Warner Bros. Records and the band's own Helium-3 imprint. The album was recorded between October 2014 and April 2015 at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, with orchestral sections recorded at Officine Meccaniche in Milan, and was produced by the band and Robert John "Mutt" Lange. "Drones" is a concept album following a soldier's abandonment, indoctrination as a "human drone", and eventual defection. It also comments on the Obama administration’s drone program. After their previous albums incorporated orchestral and electronic music, Muse aimed to return to a more straightforward rock sound musically.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: "Drones" received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its instrumentation but criticised its concept and lyrics. It topped 21 international charts, including the UK Albums Chart (where it became Muse's fifth consecutive number-one album) and the US "Billboard" 200. It sold over a million copies worldwide in 2015, making it the year's 19th-bestselling album. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, it won the award for Best Rock Album. The album was listed on 41 in the NME albums of the year 2015. Diffuser.fm named it the 42nd best of the year.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: It was supported by an expansive world tour with appearances at several festivals and arenas, lasting from 2015 to 2016 and grossing $88.5 million from 132 shows. A concert film of the tour, entitled "", was released in cinemas in July 2018.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: On their previous albums "The Resistance" (2009) and "The 2nd Law" (2012), Muse incorporated orchestral and electronic music. In December 2013, they released the live album and video "Live at Rome Olympic Stadium"; songwriter Matt Bellamy said the band wanted the release "to capture some of the extremes of what we've been doing since we want to go in a different direction in the future."


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: Muse began writing their seventh album soon after the Rome concert. Bellamy stated that the album "should be something that really does strip away the additional things that we've experimented with on the last two albums... I kind of feel like it will be nice to reconnect and remind ourselves of just the basics of who we are." The band felt the electronic side of their music was becoming too dominant. According to bassist Chris Wolstenholme, some of the music on "The 2nd Law" was "somewhat of a bore to play live, and I'm not too certain how much of it worked for our shows ... The logical step was to strip away all the outer layers and go back to the way we started. Sometimes, making things simpler makes them more powerful."


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: In October 2014, Muse entered the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver. After having self-produced their previous two albums, Muse worked with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange to spend less time mixing and reviewing takes and focus on performance. Tommaso Colliva and Rich Costey served as additional producers. After having used several different bass guitars and effect pedals for "The 2nd Law", Wolstenholme used only one bass guitar and a small number of pedals, hoping to find a cohesive sound.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: The first recording session ended on 19 October, with the band calling it "emotional". Muse re-entered the studio in November 2014. On 1 April 2015, drummer Dominic Howard and mixer Rich Costey indicated on their Instagram accounts that they had finished mixing the album. The result was a simpler, more consistent rock sound with less elaborate production and genre experimentation.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: "Drones" has been described as featuring alternative rock, hard rock, progressive rock, and progressive metal. It is a concept album about the dehumanisation of modern warfare. The story begins with "Dead Inside", where the protagonist loses hope and becomes vulnerable to the dark forces of "Psycho". He eventually defects, revolts and overcomes his enemies.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: Answering fan questions on Twitter in September 2014, Bellamy said the album's themes include deep ecology, the empathy gap, and World War III. In March 2015, he said:


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: In an interview in the same month, Bellamy described "Drones" as "a modern metaphor for what it is to lose empathy ... through modern technology, and obviously through drone warfare in particular, it's possible to actually do quite horrific things by remote control, at a great distance, without actually feeling any of the consequences, or even feeling responsible in some way."


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: On 26 January 2015, Muse revealed the album title in an Instagram video featuring a mixing desk with audio samples and a screen stating "Artist – Muse, Album – Drones." They also began using the hashtag "#MuseDrones" on Twitter and Instagram. On 6 February, American artist Matt Mahurin announced he had created artwork for the album. On 8 March, the band shared a snippet of the new song "Psycho" and mentioned "mixing with a very tight deadline".


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: On 12 March, Muse released a lyric video for "Psycho" on their YouTube channel, and made the song available for download with the album pre-order. Critics have described "Psycho" as a hard rock and glam rock song with elements of nu metal.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: On 23 March, "Dead Inside" was released as the album's lead single with a lyric video on Muse's YouTube channel. On 18 May, Muse released a lyric video for "Mercy" and released the song on Spotify. On 29 May, a lyric video for "Reapers" was released on YouTube, followed by "The Handler" on 2 June and "[JFK]" with "Defector" on 3 June.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: In an album review for "The Observer", Kitty Empire commented that the pacy song "exposes the overlap between the unfeeling destruction of drone warfare and the unfeeling destruction wrought by people tearing each other apart," referring to Muse frontman Matt Bellamy's break-up from fiancée Kate Hudson. She also compared Bellamy to Yngwie Malmsteen, noting that the song contains "meaty riffs."


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: "Drones" was released on 5 June 2015 in Europe and 8 June in the United Kingdom under Warner Bros. Records and Helium-3. On 3 November, Muse released "Revolt" as the third single from the album along with a music video on iTunes. The fourth single "Aftermath" was released on 11 March 2016, and on 16 April, the final single "Reapers" was released as a 7" single for of Record Store Day.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: From 15 to 24 March 2015, the band played the Psycho Tour, six concerts in small venues in the UK. Starting with Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2015, the band embarked on the Drones World Tour in support of the album, which led to the release of the live video "". Bellamy confirmed they would tour North America in late 2015 and Europe in 2016, and also said they would be flying drones over the audience during the shows. However, two concerts in San Diego and Las Vegas were rescheduled due to "technical and logistical" challenges, while the drones were not used at all in three gigs, and one gig in Detroit saw several drones fail simultaneously. From 15 to 24 March 2015, the band played the Psycho UK Tour, six concerts in small venues in the UK. The Psycho Tour was a short tour by the English rock band Muse during March 2015. The tour was first hinted at by guitarist and lead vocalist Matthew Bellamy's Twitter on March 10, 2015, with the tour being officially announced the next day on the band's Facebook page, along with the lyric video for "Psycho".


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: The dynamics of this tour were different from what Muse had used in the past few tours, where they relied heavily on theatrical stage-craft and production, this tour took the band into smaller venues around the UK and the United States, the stage design was only a simple lighting rig and, for all but one concert, a backdrop displaying the cover art of their upcoming album. The band had not played in many of the venues since the "Origin of Symmetry" tour which took place from 2001 to 2002. The band was supported by Marmozets on the tour. Part of the tour also took place outside the UK in the United States.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: In May 2015, the band embarked on the Drones World Tour in support of the album, which led to the release of the live video "". Bellamy confirmed they would tour North America in late 2015 and Europe in 2016, and also said they would be flying drones over the audience during the shows. However, two concerts in San Diego and Las Vegas were rescheduled due to "technical and logistical" challenges, while the drones were not used at all in three gigs, and one gig in Detroit saw several drones fail simultaneously. During the first leg of the tour, the band had their debut performance at Download Festival, which they also headlined. The new tour stage set up featured 11 LED pillars which could be manually pushed back and forth by members of the crew to accommodate the show. Bellamy compared this set up to The Resistance tour on his Instagram. An updated version of this set was used for the remaining dates in 2017, complete with new lighting rigs and lasers.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, "Drones" has an average score of 63 based on 25 reviews. "Kerrang!" gave "Drones" a perfect score, calling it "a claustrophobic classic that sharpens the focus of what is possible in the name of high-minded rock." "Q" wrote that despite Muse's stated goal of returning to their roots, ""Drones" is anything but back-to-basics garage rock... befitting of its proggy conceptual narrative about state mind control, it's an album of rambling interests." David Fricke of "Rolling Stone" called the album "a truly guilty pleasure" and praised its "chunky update of the guitar-bass-drums charge" of the band's earlier albums as "what Muse do best." The "NME" wrote that the album's "trademark Muse themes of brainwashing, warmongering superpowers, suppression of The Truth and the urgent need to fight the hand that bleeds us still resonate in 2015, but obliquely ... Muse's music once more matches [Bellamy's] adventurous intrigue."


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: AllMusic wrote that "it's hard to avoid [Muse's] conclusion that war is bad, but this inclination to write everything in bold, italicized capital letters is an asset when it comes to music." Kitty Empire of "The Observer" wrote that despite the "trite" lyrics and "confusing" plot, some of "Drones" was "fist-pumpingly ace; a timely restatement of the need for popular music to evoke both thought and dopamine rush." Ian Cohen of "Pitchfork" found that "Drones" lacked subtlety and criticised its lyrics, writing, "Whatever pleasure can be generated from Bellamy's admirable melodic sense and overblown hooks is negated by Muse's insistence that they're profound rather than fun." Oliver Keens of "Time Out London" called the album's handling of the drones subject matter "tactless and crass" and its story "as dull as dog food – told with the wishy-washy flim-flam of a frothing conspiracy theorist ... We used to moan that musicians didn't write about politics anymore. Based on this effort, maybe that's for the best." "Rolling Stone" named it the 38th best album of 2015, calling it a "searing commentary on our era's vague dread, computer-driven death from above and Orwellian political climate ... It was the year's most convincing howl from the abyss.".


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: The "Daily Telegraph" wrote that "It's more than a little Spinal Tap, but if I was a teenage boy this is exactly the kind of thrilling madness that might turn me on to a moribund genre." The "Evening Standard" gave it four out of five and wrote: "Prog phobics might dismiss it as latter-day Pink Floyd with a dash of Noam Chomsky. But Bellamy's maturing songwriting has become more accessible, less prone to bluster. Drones is the fearsome sound of Muse at their monumental best."


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: On the UK Albums Chart, "Drones" debuted at number one with sales of 72,863 copies, the third-highest opening of 2015 up to that point. It was Muse's fifth consecutive number-one album in the UK. It remained at number one in the second week, selling 24,445 copies (996 from streaming), bringing total sales to 97,308. It sold one million copies worldwide in 2015 and was the 19th best-selling album of the year. By 2016, it had sold approximately 170,000 copies in UK, 230,000 copies in the US, and 192,000 copies in France.


title: Drones (Muse album)

text: "Drones" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 in the week ending 14 June, earning 84,200 album-equivalent units in its first week (including 79,400 copies on traditional sales, 26,000 on single sales and 3.3 million on single streams), surpassing estimations. The album replaced "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" by Florence and the Machine in the previous week, the first time two British artists had debuted consecutively at number one on the US chart since 1956. Its traditional sales took "Drones" to number one of the Top Album Sales chart.


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: Wheatfield with Crows () is a July 1890 painting by Vincent van Gogh. It has been cited by several critics as one of his greatest works.


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: It is commonly stated that this was van Gogh's final painting because Vincente Minnelli’s 1956 biopic “Lust for Life” depicts van Gogh painting it shortly before killing himself. His final painting in actuality was "Tree Roots." The evidence of his letters suggests that "Wheatfield with Crows" was completed around 10 July and predates such paintings as "Auvers Town Hall on 14 July 1890" and "Daubigny's Garden". Moreover, Jan Hulsker has written that a painting of harvested wheat, "Field with Stacks of Wheat" (F771), must be a later painting.


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: The Van Gogh Museum's "Wheatfield with Crows" was painted in July 1890, in the last weeks of van Gogh's life. Many have claimed it as his last painting, while it is also possible "Tree Roots", or the previously mentioned "Daubigny's Garden", was his final painting.


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: "Wheat Field with Crows," made on a double-square canvas, depicts a dramatic, cloudy sky filled with crows over a wheat field. A sense of isolation is heightened by a central path leading nowhere and by the uncertain direction of flight of the crows. The windswept wheat field fills two-thirds of the canvas. Jules Michelet, one of van Gogh's favorite authors, wrote of crows: "They interest themselves in everything, and observe everything. The ancients, who lived far more completely than ourselves in and with nature, found it no small profit to follow, in a hundred obscure things where human experience as yet affords no light, the directions of so prudent and sage a bird." Kathleen Erickson finds the painting as expressing both sorrow and a sense of his life coming to an end. The crows are used by van Gogh as a symbol of death and rebirth, or of resurrection. The road, in contrasting colors of red and green, is said by Erickson to be a metaphor for a sermon he gave based on Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" where the pilgrim is sorrowful that the road is so long, yet rejoices because the Eternal City waits at the journey's end.


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: About 10 July 1890 van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo and his wife Jo Bonger, saying that he had painted another three large canvases at Auvers since visiting them in Paris on 6 July. Two of these are described as immense stretches of wheatfields under turbulent skies, thought to be "Wheatfield under Clouded Sky" and "Wheatfield with Crows", and the third is "Daubigny's Garden". He wrote that he had made a point of expressing sadness, later adding "extreme loneliness" ("de la solitude extrême"), but also says he believes the canvases show what he considers healthy and fortifying about the countryside (and adds that he intended to take them to Paris as soon as possible).


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: Walther and Metzger, in "Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings", state that "There is nothing in van Gogh's words to support a simplistic interpretation along the lines of artistic "angst" and despair – nor is there any evidence for the widely-held belief that it was this painting that van Gogh had on his easel at the time he killed himself." They refer to a June 1880 letter of van Gogh's, in which he compared himself to a bird in a cage, and remark: "The crows in the painting, in other words, were an altogether personal symbol closely associated with van Gogh's own life".


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: These painting are all examples of van Gogh's elongated double-square canvases, used exclusively by him in the last few weeks of his life, in June and July 1890.


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: The painting is held in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, as is "Wheatfield under Clouded Sky".


title: Wheatfield with Crows

text: "Wheatfield with Crows" was stolen and quickly recovered in 1991 along with 19 other van Gogh paintings; the painting was "severely damaged" during the heist.


title: Trystan Gravelle

text: Gravelle was born in the Welsh village of Trimsaran in Carmarthenshire. He attended Ysgol Gyfun Y Strade. He was a member of the Llanelli Youth Theatre between 1997 and 1999 before becoming a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.


title: Trystan Gravelle

text: In 2010 he performed D.C. Moore's monologue Honest at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at Milne's Bar as part of the Assembly programme.


title: Trystan Gravelle

text: In 2011 he appeared opposite Rhys Ifans and Vanessa Redgrave in the feature film "Anonymous", which contests the authorship of Shakespeare's plays, as Christopher Marlowe. Gravelle missed attending the film's London premiere due to starring in a London production of Mike Bartlett's National Theatre production "13".


title: Trystan Gravelle

text: In 2012 he joined the main cast of the ITV period drama series "Mr Selfridge" as Victor Colleano, assistant manager of the department store's restaurant. In the summer of 2012 he was named one of the 'Stars of Tomorrow' by "Screen International". Gravelle filmed "Mr Selfridge" between April and October, and the series débuted in the United Kingdom in January 2013.


title: Trystan Gravelle

text: In 2018 Gravelle played the vampire, Baldwin Montclair, in the Sky One Production "A Discovery of Witches".


title: Trystan Gravelle

text: In 2022, he played Pharazôn in "" series on Amazon Prime. Co-star Morfydd Clark mentioned enjoying speaking in Welsh on-set with Gravelle and Owain Arthur.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt Hotel was a hotel at 45 East 45th Street (between Madison Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue) in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Named in honor of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, the hotel was developed by the New York Central Railroad and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and operated from 1924 to 2020. The 19-story structure was designed by George B. Post & Son with an Italian Renaissance Revival-style facade, as well as interiors that resembled historical American buildings. The Roosevelt was one of several large hotels developed around Grand Central Terminal as part of Terminal City.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The hotel building contains setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution, as well as light courts above the third story on Madison Avenue. The hotel was mostly constructed above Grand Central Terminal's railroad tracks, so different sets of columns were used for the lower and upper stories. The ground level largely contained stores, and the lobby, dining rooms, and other public rooms were one floor above ground. The third through 18th floors contained 1,025 rooms. When the Roosevelt opened, it contained several novel features, including a kennel for guests' pets, a child-care service, and an in-house doctor.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt Hotel opened on September 23, 1924, and was originally operated by New York United Hotels Inc., a subsidiary of the United Hotels Company. After New York United Hotels went bankrupt in 1934, Roosevelt Hotels Inc. took over the hotel. Hilton Hotels took over management of the Roosevelt in 1943, eventually acquiring full ownership of the hotel, and sold it to the Hotel Corporation of America in 1956 following an antitrust lawsuit. Realty Hotels, a holding company run by the New York Central, took over the hotel in 1964. Paul Milstein acquired the hotel in 1978 and leased the hotel to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) the following year. PIA and Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud bought the hotel in 2000, and PIA then acquired Prince Faisal's ownership stake. In 2020, the hotel closed permanently due to continued financial losses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt Hotel is at 45 East 45th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It occupies an entire city block bounded by Madison Avenue to the west, 46th Street to the north, Vanderbilt Avenue to the east, and 45th Street to the south. The land lot covers about with a frontage of on either avenue and on either street. Nearby buildings include 383 Madison Avenue to the north, 245 Park Avenue to the northeast, the Helmsley Building to the east, the MetLife Building and Grand Central Terminal to the southeast, and the Yale Club of New York City Building to the southeast.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The hotel was built above Grand Central Terminal's railroad tracks. It was one of several structures built above the railroad tracks during the early 20th century. Other such structures included the Hotel Marguery to the north, the New York Central Building (now Helmsley Building) to the east, and the Yale Club and Biltmore Hotel to the south.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt Hotel was designed by the architectural firm of George B. Post & Son for its original operator, the United Hotels Company. The hotel building is 19 stories high, and there are also three basement levels. Some contemporary sources describe the hotel as being 22 stories high, although this figure includes mezzanines and the ground story. According to plans published by "Architecture and Building" magazine, the hotel building is tall.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The hotel building contains setbacks to comply with the 1916 Zoning Resolution; it was the first major hotel in New York City to be developed after the resolution was enacted. The first three stories of the hotel occupy nearly the entire site. To the west, on the Madison Avenue elevation of the facade, there are two light courts above the third story, and there is a setback above the 18th story. To the east, on the Vanderbilt Avenue elevation, there is a light court at the center, as well as setbacks above the 11th, 15th, and 18th stories. On the 12th story, the rooms on the eastern wing contained French doors, which opened out onto roof gardens. Many of the rooms on the 16th through 18th stories also opened onto roof gardens.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: When the Roosevelt opened, it was characterized as having an Italian Renaissance Revival-style exterior. The hotel has a facade of Indiana limestone with terracotta trim, while the main exterior walls are made of light colored brick. The main entrance to the hotel was originally on 45th Street, though there were additional guest entrances on 46th Street and on Vanderbilt Avenue. Near the northern end of the Vanderbilt Avenue elevation was a service entrance. The ground level contained storefronts on three sides. The lowest horizontal course of the facade is made of black Belgian marble. The walls of the first story are made of grand antique marble from southern France, framing the storefronts. One contemporary writer described the ground-level storefronts as one of the "novel and salient features" of the hotel.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The structure uses of steel. The frame could carry a total load of , and the strongest individual column in the superstructure was capable of carrying . About two-thirds of the building's foundation sits above two levels of Metro-North Railroad tracks just north of Grand Central Terminal, rather than being attached to the bedrock itself. To avoid interfering with the railroad tracks under the hotel, most of the pillars in the steel superstructure are placed high above ground. With few exceptions, the hotel building and the tracks beneath it are supported by different frameworks. The foundations of the hotel building are all constructed atop vibration-absorbing lead pads.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The first story includes several spaces designed without columns, such as the main lobby, palm court, dining room, and breakfast rooms. The second story is surrounded by large trusses, creating large clear spans above the first story; the trusses are encased within thick partitions. Each of the trusses carries up to . Typically, the space between the trusses would have been usable only as storage space. By creating door openings between the trusses' diagonals, the hotel's structural engineers were able to add a full second story between the trusses. The trusses also redistribute the loads from the upper stories, since different sets of columns are used above and below the second story. The upper chords of each truss, corresponding to the second-story ceiling, contain footings for the upper-story columns, which rise 17 stories. The upper chords are divided into sections, each of which contains footings for two columns.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: On the third through 18th floors, each story contains central corridors surrounded by guestrooms. The slab-to-slab height of each story is , although the ceilings in each room are high. The superstructure is divided into square modules, each with two guestrooms, two bathrooms, and two dressing rooms. There are steel columns at each corner of each guestroom, which are hidden within partitions. The side walls of each corridor contain girders, which are also placed within partitions. The easternmost portions of each story, as well as the exterior wall on Vanderbilt Avenue, are cantilevered past the outermost set of columns. There are additional girders just below each of the upper-story setbacks; these girders support the columns above the setbacks.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: Near the center of the hotel were six passenger elevators, five service elevators, and one freight elevator. Garbage and laundry chutes were placed next to the service elevators. The Roosevelt Hotel produced much of its own steam, in contrast to other buildings in the area, which purchased steam from the New York Central Railroad because they did not have space for mechanical equipment. The Roosevelt purchased high-pressure steam from the railroad, but the hotel generated its own low-pressure steam using exhaust from engine generators, compressors, and auxiliaries.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: On the second floor, there was a telephone exchange with 75 trunk lines and a telephone switchboard with 98 lines. The Roosevelt originally contained teletype machines, which at the time of the hotel's opening were a novelty. When the hotel opened, its telephone booths were directly connected to the ventilation system; before air conditioning became popular, the ventilation system provided cool air to the booths during the summer.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt Hotel's interior was described as being in an "early American" style. Many of the public rooms were intended to resemble 18th- and 19th-century buildings in the former Thirteen Colonies. For instance, the hotel included replicas of decorative details from 18th- and 19th-century mansions, such as Homewood in Baltimore, Maryland; the Octagon House in Washington, D.C.; Gordon House in Savannah, Georgia; and Gibbs House in Charleston, South Carolina. The early American style was also chosen for practical reasons, as it was cheaper than any other architectural style, especially given the high costs of developing the hotel above the railroad tracks. Unlike in most buildings in the U.S., the first floor was one story above the ground floor.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt had of meeting and exhibit space, including two ballrooms and 17 additional meeting rooms ranging in size from . It had a business center, a concierge, fitness center, safety deposit boxes, valet laundry, valet or self-parking, and 15 retail tenants. The hotel originally had about , of which 69 percent was revenue-producing space such as storefronts, restaurants, and guestrooms. Some of the Roosevelt's "utility spaces" (such as the beauty parlor, barber shop, and Turkish bath) were placed above ground, rather than in the basement, as was common in older hotels. Members of the public could visit the lobby even if they were not guests of the hotel, and the lobby became a popular tourist attraction.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The hotel had three basements, which were excavated out of the underlying bedrock. Due to the presence of the railroad tracks, the basement levels only cover the western portion of the site; each basement level covered approximately . The lowest level was the third basement, which contained a heating plant, engine room, fan room, and guest laundry. The second basement contained a staff bakery, ice-making machines, and various storage rooms for housekeeping. There was also a garbage-sorting room and an incineration room on the second basement. The first basement included storage space for the ground-level storefronts, in addition to a kitchen, cafeteria, locker room, and service facilities for the hotel's staff. There were separate dining rooms for male staff, female staff, and second officers on the first basement level.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The first basement formerly contained a passageway leading directly to Grand Central Terminal. This passageway also connected the hotel to the New York City Subway's Grand Central–42nd Street station via the terminal's corridors. Additional passageways connected with other buildings such as the Biltmore and Commodore hotels, the Yale Club Building, the Graybar Building, and the Chrysler Building. The entrance to the passageway was from the first story, next to the elevators. The corridor was closed by the late 20th century, and the gate between the hotel and Grand Central Terminal was permanently locked by the beginning of the 21st century. A clothing store moved into the space formerly occupied by the passageway's entrance in 2008, and the corridor was sealed off around 2014.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The ground level covered about and contained the shops, as well as a restaurant and pantry. Immediately past the vestibule, a stairway ascended from the arcade to the first-floor lobby; this staircase was decorated with iron panels from New York City Hall. An arcade led between the 45th Street entrance to the south and the 46th Street entrance to the north. The arcade was decorated with sidelights, inspired by those in 18th- and 19th-century residence. A small flight of stairs led up from the arcade's northern end to the 46th Street entrance. Near the southern end of the ground story, another passageway led from the arcade east to the Vanderbilt Avenue entrance. A service lobby, at the northeast corner of the ground floor, led to the service and freight elevators.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: Also at ground level were storefronts along Madison Avenue, 45th Street, and 46th Street. There were 18 storefronts in total, consisting of six on Madison Avenue, seven on 45th Street, and five on 46th Street. The storefronts on Madison Avenue and 45th Street could be accessed both from the street and from passageways inside the hotel. The storefronts could also be accessed from the first story and the mezzanine due to the intricate floor layout.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: East of the arcade was a vestibule leading to a grill room on Vanderbilt Avenue; this vestibule was designed in a similar style to St. Paul's Chapel in lower Manhattan. The grill room was at the center of the Vanderbilt Avenue elevation and contained a dance floor surrounded by a slightly raised dining area. Originally known as the Vanderbilt Avenue Room or the Mayflower Grill, the grill room was subsequently known as the Roosevelt Grill, serving American food and regional specialties for breakfast. There was a pantry directly next to the grill room, below a kitchen on the first floor. The pantry contained a serving counter built atop a structural beam, which could not be removed because it spanned a set of railroad tracks. Before the hotel closed in 2020, the ground story also contained the Vander Bar, a bistro serving craft beers.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The first floor was the same size as the ground story and contained most of the public rooms. The main lobby was a double-height space, which had travertine walls and pilasters, as well as a plaster coffered ceiling painted in ivory and gold. Leading west from the main lobby, a small set of stairs led up to a lounge overlooking Madison Avenue, on the western side of the first floor. Known as the Madison Club Lounge, it measured wide and was patterned after a house in Coventry, Connecticut. The lounge was furnished in the Colonial style. An arcade led east of the main lobby, with a check room, porter's room, telephone room, and telegraph office. North of the main lobby was a "working lobby", which contained a reception desk on the western wall and passenger elevators on the eastern wall. To the north of the working lobby, a short flight of steps led up to a foyer for the Colonial Room, the hotel's breakfast room. The foyer's northern wall contained a life-size portrait of Theodore Roosevelt at its center. There was another lounge west of the foyer, named the John Alden Room; it contained fireplace mantels topped by large paintings that depicted romantic scenes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Evangeline".


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: A palm room, main dining room, and dining terrace were on the south side of the first floor. The palm room was a triple-height elliptical tea room just south of, and a few steps above, the lobby. Designed in the Adam style, the palm room was the only public room on the first floor not designed in an early American style. Three steps led up from the palm room to the dining room, named for Hendrik Hudson. The main dining room was patterned after the mayor's office at New York City Hall. The dining room was furnished in the Chippendale style, and it contained three murals by N. C. Wyeth, which depicted Hudson's ship "Halve Maen". To the north were a pair of breakfast rooms, named for Pilgrim settlers John Alden and Myles Standish. The breakfast rooms were decorated with Colonial-style wallpaper and woodwork.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: There was a kitchen on the eastern side of the first floor, surrounded on three sides by the main dining room and breakfast rooms. The kitchen was divided into multiple sections, including a dishwashing division, butcher's shop, refrigeration room, waiters' pantry, and room-service pantry. The kitchen was directly above the ground-floor grill room and directly below the mezzanine-level ballrooms, allowing food to be delivered quickly to these rooms. Dumbwaiters and stairs led to pantries at ground level and on the mezzanine.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: There was a mezzanine level directly above the first floor, spanning . At the mezzanine level, a balcony overlooked the main lobby on three sides; it had an iron balustrade salvaged from an old residence on Irving Place in Manhattan. This balcony was accessed by a lounge directly above the working lobby. Also at the mezzanine level were a gallery and assembly room on 46th Street, as well as a ballroom that faced Vanderbilt Avenue. The double-height ballroom was originally known as the Colonial Ballroom; it later became the Grand Ballroom, which could fit 400 guests. The Colonial Ballroom included architectural details inspired by Southern mansions, a movie projection screen, and three Arthur Crisp murals that depicted scenes from the fairy tale Cinderella. Next to the Colonial Ballroom was the Terrace Ballroom, which could fit 175 guests. The north side of the mezzanine had six private dining rooms, served by a pantry directly above the kitchen. There was also a library dedicated in memory of Theodore Roosevelt. In addition, the west side of the mezzanine had a barber shop, a beauty parlor, and bathrooms.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The second floor covered and was surrounded by the trusses above the first story. It contained several small dining rooms and hotel offices. The dining rooms were placed along both Madison Avenue and 46th Street, while the executive offices and accounting department faced Madison Avenue. There was also a linen room, a fan room, and maids' dormitories on the second floor. At the center of the second floor was a Turkish bath. The maids' dormitories were connected to the housekeeper's and assistant housekeeper's offices via a passageway under the Turkish bath. Connecting with the Turkish bath were 50 guest booths, which were furnished as dressing rooms and were rented at a discount compared to the guestrooms. The booths were intended for guests who only wanted to stay for a few hours, and they also provided temporary guest accommodations when no guestrooms were available. Half of the booths contained cots. On the far eastern end of the second floor, a balcony overlooked the ballroom on three sides.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The guestrooms started on the third story, although part of this story contained a roof garden and ventilation fans for the upper stories. The third floor also contained a health clinic, which consisted of separate waiting rooms for guests and servants, as well as restrooms, treatment rooms, and suites for doctors. Above the 16th-story setback at the southeast corner of the building was a children's nursery, which contained a play area known as the Teddy Bear Cave. During sunny days, children were allowed to play on the adjacent rooftop. This made the Roosevelt among the first hotels in New York City with a health club and childcare center.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The 19th floor covered . It contained the hotel's paint, carpentry, print locksmith's, and electricians' departments, as well as dormitories for female staff. There was also a "guest valet room", where guests could iron and dry-clean their clothes. Above the 19th story was storage space for furniture, as well as a water tank with a capacity of . The rooftop also contained a dog kennel, the first such facility at any hotel in New York City. In 2008, the Mad46 bar opened on the hotel's roof, with its own entrance from the street.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The Roosevelt Hotel had been planned with 1,107 rooms on the third through 18th stories, which covered a total area of . By the time the hotel closed, it had 1,025 rooms, although other sources cited the hotel as having 1,015 rooms. On each of the guestroom stories, the elevators opened onto a elevator lobby with a floor clerk's desk. Corridors connected the elevator lobby to the guestroom; each corridor measured wide, the standard width of a carpet at the time. Rooms were arranged around the corridors on each story. Each room faced either the street or a light court, while the bathrooms in each room were placed near the corridor. On average, single bedrooms measured , while twin bedrooms measured .


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: Originally, the rooms were decorated with molded wall panels; narrow metal trim, painted to match the tinted walls; and metal doors, finished in mahogany or walnut. The wallpaper, draperies and curtains, mirrors, furniture, and color scheme were all generally designed in the Colonial style. The Lincoln Furniture Company manufactured the original walnut furniture, while Alexander Smith & Sons manufactured the green carpets in each room. Some of the rooms also contained period furniture designed in the Adam style or the William and Mary style. Each bathroom had ceramic tiles and mechanical ventilation, and about half of the guest bathrooms had shower heads; these were all novel features at the time of the hotel's construction. By the 21st century, the rooms were decorated in a style reminiscent of 1920s architecture, with a red, gold, and white palette.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: As built, the upper floors contained four "royal suites". Each of these contained a drawing room; a dining room; three bedrooms with their own baths; a dressing room; a maids' room; and a pantry. These royal suites were decorated in the Colonial style, with furniture, wallpaper, four-poster beds, lights, and other furnishings. The Presidential Suite had four bedrooms, a kitchen, formal living and dining areas, and a wrap-around terrace. This was the only unit in the hotel with a terrace.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: In the 19th century, New York Central Railroad lines north of Grand Central Depot in Midtown Manhattan were served exclusively by steam locomotives, and the rising traffic soon caused accumulations of smoke and soot in the Park Avenue Tunnel, the only approach to the depot. After a fatal crash in 1902, the New York state legislature passed a law to ban all steam trains in Manhattan by 1908. New York Central's vice president William J. Wilgus proposed electrifying the line and building a new electric-train terminal underground, a plan that was implemented almost in its entirety. The old Grand Central Depot was torn down in phases and replaced by the current Grand Central Terminal. Construction on Grand Central Terminal started in 1903, and the new terminal was opened on February 2, 1913. Passenger traffic on the commuter lines into Grand Central more than doubled in the years following the terminal's completion.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The terminal spurred development in the surrounding area, particularly in Terminal City, a commercial and office district created above where the tracks were covered. Terminal City soon became Manhattan's most desirable commercial and office district. A 1920 "New York Times" article said, "With its hotels, office buildings, apartments and underground Streets it not only is a wonderful railroad terminal, but also a great civic centre." The Roosevelt was one of several hotels developed in Terminal City, along with other hostelries such as the Commodore, the Biltmore, and the Barclay.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The New York State Realty and Terminal Company, a division of New York Central, leased the city block bounded by Madison Avenue, 46th Street, Vanderbilt Avenue, and 45th Street to the United Hotels Company of America in June 1922. United Hotels had leased the site for 21 years, with options to renew the lease twice, and was planning a 15-story hotel there. The building alone was projected to cost $8 million, while the land and furnishings were to cost another $10 million. United Hotels announced the next month that the hotel would be named the Roosevelt and that it had awarded a general construction contract to the Thompson–Starrett Company. Niagara Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley oversaw the hotel's development, along with F. W. Rockwell.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The hotel was named for Theodore Roosevelt, the former president of the United States who had died shortly before the hotel was announced. The hotel's operators intended for it to be a tribute to the late president. According to "Hotel Monthly" magazine, the Roosevelt name was not only intended "to keep away from the gorgeous and extravagant", it also justified why the interior design was patterned after colonial American mansions. The Roosevelt was one of several large buildings developed around Grand Central Terminal in the early 1920s, along with other structures such as the Pershing Square Building and the Bowery Savings Bank Building.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: Construction started on November 18, 1922, when workers began demolishing the old Tiffany Studios. At the time, the Roosevelt was one of several hotels with over 1,000 rooms that were being developed across the United States. To finance the Roosevelt's construction, in December 1922, New York United Hotels Inc. received a $3.5 million loan. Early the following year, New York United Hotels Inc. began issuing gold bonds for the same amount. By early 1923, half of the storefronts had already been leased; the tenants included several women's clothing shops. The Roosevelt Hotel opened on September 23, 1924, with a party attended by 1,500 guests. It had cost $12,000,000 () in total. Edward Clinton Fogg was hired as the Roosevelt's first managing director.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: In December 1925, various members of the Roosevelt family dedicated a plaque in the lobby, honoring Theodore Roosevelt; the plaque depicted a Ding Darling cartoon that had appeared in the "New-York Tribune" after the former president died. To provide further financing for the Roosevelt, United Hotels issued $5.5 million in debentures in early 1927. Meanwhile, Hugo Gernsback started the radio station WRNY in June 1925 from a room on the Roosevelt's 18th floor. WRNY's transmitter, originally located on the 18th floor, was moved to the roof in 1926. WRNY relocated its transmitter to New Jersey in August 1929, and the radio station moved its studios to 57th Street the next month. United Hotels merged with Bowman-Biltmore Hotels in mid-1929, and John McEntee Bowman took over the Roosevelt's operation.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: By 1931, the Roosevelt Hotel had trouble paying rent on the site, and New York United Hotels notified the hotel's bondholders that it would not be able to pay interest on the bonds. This prompted one bondholder to file a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court in April 1932, claiming that New York United Hotels was insolvent and asking the court to appoint a receiver for the Roosevelt Hotel. New York United Hotels denied the allegations, and a state court dismissed the case because it had been brought by a minority bondholder. Within three months, 95 percent of New York United Hotels' bondholders had agreed to a reorganization plan for the hotel. The remaining bondholders sought a receiver for the hotel, but the New York Supreme Court again denied this petition. The Delaware Court of Chancery appointed three receivers for the hotel in December 1933, and several men proposed reorganizing New York United Hotels Inc. later the same month. The receivers paid an orchestra $2,500 per week to give daily performances in the grill room. Three minor bondholders filed another bankruptcy petition against the Roosevelt in January 1934, and a federal court approved a plan to reorganize the assets of New York United Hotels Inc.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: A corporation called Roosevelt Hotels Inc. offered to buy the hotel for $25,000 in March 1934, saying that New York Central held the hotel's mortgage and that the leasehold was worthless because the hotel's rent was overdue. Despite protests from bondholders, a federal judge approved Roosevelt Hotels Inc.'s bid, as there had not been any other offers for the hotel. Shortly afterward, New York Central agreed to drop its dispossession proceedings against New York United Hotels as part of the reorganization plan. The hotel company would replace all of its common stock, and the railroad would receive $1.3 million in new debentures. Another dining room at the Roosevelt also opened in 1934. Roosevelt Hotels Inc. signed a new lease for the hotel with the New York State Realty and Terminal Company in 1940.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: Hilton Hotels took over management of the Roosevelt in June 1943, when Conrad Hilton bought the majority of the outstanding common stock in Roosevelt Hotel Inc. The Roosevelt became the Hilton chain's first hotel east of Texas, although Conrad Hilton expressed interest in purchasing more hotels in New York City. Simultaneously, New York Central renewed Roosevelt Hotel Inc.'s lease for another 21 years. Conrad Hilton called it "a fine hotel with grand spaces" and made the Roosevelt's Presidential Suite his home. The hotel had a staff shortage by 1945, prompting hotel officials to request that guests make their own beds. In November 1947, the Roosevelt added TV sets to 40 rooms on the seventh through ninth floors, becoming the first hotel in the United States to provide permanent TVs in guestrooms.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: Hilton Hotels appointed Frank G. Wangeman as the hotel's general manager in 1951. Wangeman oversaw a $75,000 renovation of the hotel in mid-1952, adding by relocating a luncheon club from the 16th floor and consolidating some departments. In addition, the hotel's employee dormitories were converted to guestrooms, as an increasing number of employees had their own residences. The same year, the Realty Luncheon Club of New York moved into a clubhouse next to the Colonial Room. Roosevelt Hotel Inc.'s minority shareholders agreed in October 1952 to sell their stakes to Hilton Hotels, which purchased the hotel outright on December 31, 1952. Edward L. Buckley, who subsequently took over as the Roosevelt's general manager, announced in 1955 that the guestrooms would be renovated for $200,000. Hilton was installing air conditioners in all of the hotel's guestrooms by early 1956.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: After Hilton Hotels purchased the Statler Hotels chain in 1954, it owned large hotels in many major cities, including the Roosevelt, the Plaza, the Waldorf-Astoria, the New Yorker, and the Hotel Statler in New York City. Consequently, the federal government filed an antitrust action against Hilton in April 1955. To resolve the suit, Hilton agreed to sell three hotels in February 1956, including either the Roosevelt or the New Yorker. Hilton ultimately sold the Roosevelt to the Hotel Corporation of America (HCA) on February 29, 1956, for $2,130,000. HCA paid $750,000 as a down payment and assumed Hilton's leasehold on the site, which ran through 1964. HCA leased the land from the New Haven Railroad and the New York Central Railroad, the latter of which received most of the income from the site.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: When HCA purchased the hotel, workers were still installing air conditioning and televisions. By mid-1956, there was air conditioning in all public areas and 600 guest rooms, and there were televisions in 500 guest rooms. HCA announced plans to renovate the Roosevelt in late 1956, spending $8 million over the next eight years. The first part of the renovation to be completed was the Rib Room, which reopened as a luncheon room at the end of that year. In 1962, amid competition from other hotels, the Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt hotels formed an alliance to attract conventions with 1,500 to 5,000 guests. The alliance allowed the three hotels to host a single convention across 4,000 guestrooms, 90 meeting rooms, 15 restaurants, and of exhibit space.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: By early 1964, the trustees of the insolvent New Haven Railroad expressed interest in taking over the hotel to Realty Hotels, a holding company jointly run by the New Haven and the New York Central. Realty Hotels took over the hotel from HCA that April. During the 1960s, Realty Hotels replaced about half of the manually operated elevators at the Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt, and it renovated these hotels as part of a $22 million modernization program. Realty Hotels' president said the renovations had helped attract new and returning customers to the hotels. The People's Republic of China delegation to the United Nations moved into the hotel's 14th floor in 1971, at which point the hotel's popularity had begun to decline. The next year, the Riese Brothers Organization leased the first-floor dining rooms. The Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt began showing in-room movies in 1972. The Roosevelt Grill became the La Difference restaurant in 1977.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: The New York Central had experienced financial decline during the 1960s, merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form the Penn Central Railroad. Penn Central continued to face financial issues and failed to make mortgage payments. By late 1970, the Roosevelt Hotel was facing foreclosure, as were several other buildings that Penn Central owned around Grand Central Terminal. After Penn Central went bankrupt that year, the company sought to sell its properties, including the land below the Roosevelt Hotel. The buildings were placed for auction in October 1971. Penn Central received two bids for the hotel, including a low bid of $9 million from UGP Properties, but both offers were rejected. The proceedings were delayed for several years. Penn Central subsequently withdrew its offer to sell Realty Hotels' properties, including the Roosevelt. Instead, Penn Central spent $4.5 million renovating the Biltmore, Barclay, and Roosevelt hotels in 1976.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: In April 1978, Penn Central requested permission from a federal district court to sell the Biltmore, Barclay, and Roosevelt hotels for $45 million to Loews Hotels. A consortium of Middle Eastern investors subsequently offered to buy the hotels for $50 million. Loews raised its offer for the three hotels to $55 million, and a federal judge approved the sale at the beginning of June 1978. Carter B. Horsley wrote that Loews's purchase of the three hotels "may save their future". At the time, the hotel had 1,076 rooms, and Loews was contemplating closing the Roosevelt Hotel and using it as an office building. Instead Loews resold the Biltmore and the Roosevelt to developer Paul Milstein in July 1978 for $30 million, and Milstein began considering converting the two hotels into apartment buildings.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: In March 1979, Milstein leased the Roosevelt to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) through the latter's investment arm PIA Investments Ltd.. PIA partnered with Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in the transaction. The lease cost an estimated $35 million and was to run for 20 years. Prince Faisal and PIA were to pay $2.7 million to $4 million annually in rent, and they also obtained an option to acquire the hotel after 20 years at a set price of $36.5 million. The hotel's Colonial Room nightclub was destroyed during a fire in July 1980. Turner Construction renovated the hotel's interior in the late 1980s. Soon afterward, during the early 1990s recession in the United States, the Roosevelt began advertising to large associations and group conventions, which paid more than weekend visitors and tourists did. In addition, a mosque was founded within the Roosevelt's basement in the 1990s; "The New York Times" reported in 1998 that the mosque attracted hundreds of congregants each week.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: During the first sixteen years of PIA's lease, the hotel lost $70 million worth of business because its facilities were outdated. As a result, PIA closed the hotel for an extensive renovation on July 1, 1995, and the hotel building was temporarily covered in scaffolding. PIA planned to rebrand the hotel as the Radisson Roosevelt. The hotel had 1,031 rooms at the time of its closure, but PIA expanded the capacity slightly to 1,040 rooms. During the renovation, various decorations were taken out of storage and reinstalled, and parts of the hotel were retrofitted to accommodate disabled guests. The Roosevelt Hotel was one of several hotels in midtown Manhattan that was renovated in the 1990s. Though the project was initially planned to be completed in mid-1996 at a cost of $55 million, it ultimately cost $65 million (). The Roosevelt's operators began hiring employees in early 1997, receiving thousands of job applications for 700 positions. When the hotel reopened in June 1997, some of the public rooms were still undergoing renovations.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: After the renovation was completed, the Roosevelt again became profitable; by 2000, the hotel had an 84.8 percent occupancy rate and was earning $29 million annually. PIA exercised its option to purchase the hotel for $36.5 million in 1999, under the terms of its lease. By then, the Milstein family claimed that the hotel's value had increased to $250 million, and a legal battle resulted. The Milsteins agreed to sell the hotel only if PIA paid off a mortgage loan that the Milsteins had taken out on the hotel; this added $23 million to the $36.5 million sale price, for a total of $59.5 million. After a New York state judge ruled in PIA's favor in 2000, the Milsteins were required to adhere to the 1979 agreement and repay PIA and Prince Faisal the additional $23 million. By 2002, the hotel's occupancy rate had declined to 75 percent, and its annual profits had decreased to $12 million.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: PIA announced in February 2003 that it would place the hotel for sale. The airline wanted to sell the Roosevelt along with the Hôtel Scribe in Paris, but PIA delayed the sale by several months because of the Iraq War. Several developers, including Donald Trump, Harry Macklowe, The Related Companies, and Vornado Realty Trust, expressed interest in buying the Roosevelt. Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf indicated later that year that the sale might be delayed. At the time, there were rumors that the Roosevelt might be converted into an office building. Instead of selling the building, PIA spent around $3 million on relatively minor renovations. By the mid-2000s, there was increasing demand for the hotel's exhibition space. In 2005, PIA bought out most of its Saudi partner's stake in the Roosevelt and the Scribe, in exchange for $40 million and PIA's share of the Riyadh Minhal Hotel (a Holiday Inn located on property owned by the prince). After this transaction, Prince Faisal owned 1 percent of the hotel, while PIA owned 99 percent.


title: The Roosevelt Hotel (Manhattan)

text: PIA announced in July 2007 that it was putting the hotel up for sale once again, although several members of the Pakistan Senate opposed the sale. At the time, the airline had recorded a loss of $96 million during the first nine months of that year. Ultimately, the increasing profitability of the hotel resulted in the sale being abandoned in late 2007. By the following year, amid a decline in guests caused by the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the Roosevelt's managers started offering discounted room rates. The hotel's managers also added a bar on the 19th floor, known as Mad46, in 2008. The next year, an indoor lounge was added to the hotel's bar. By early 2010, Pakistani politicians were again contemplating placing the Roosevelt Hotel for sale. Instead, the Roosevelt underwent an $8.2 million renovation in 2011; the project included refurnishing each of the 1,015 units and the Madison Club Lounge. By then, "The Wall Street Journal" described the Roosevelt as "a midprice destination for tourists and industry conference organizers".