January 02, 2008
Long-delayed Plaza reopens, but only in Law & Order
 The Plaza hotel is once again open and has already hosted a debutante silver-and-white ball.
Trouble is, that's only true in the pretend world of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Last night's new episode featured the death of a rich girl who gets beaten to death after skipping out of the Plaza into Central Park to get drunk with another debutante.
In the real world, there's still a red velvet rope blocking the entrance, along with construction equipment inside and out of the landmark structure at Fifth Avenue and Central Park South.
The SVU writers had reason to believe the hotel would have been open by now. In April 2005 it shuttered for an "18-month" condo/hotel conversion.
But its October 1, 2007 centennial celebration was an outdoors-only affair and the December 3 reopening date long touted on the hotel website passed without a peep.
NewYorkology dropped by the Plaza right around then and was told by a doorman that while some condo residents had moved in, it was looking like February or March for the hotel.
The Plaza's reservations page now states:
The Plaza is scheduled to debut this winter. Due to limited availability, reservations are currently being accepted for Mar. 1, 2008 and beyond. Online room rates for that night start at $865.
However, in mid-December USA Today's Hotel Hotsheet blog reported that a spokeswoman for the Plaza ballroom was "taking reservations for January."
So the debutantes should still get their turn first.
Earlier: The Plaza centennial: fireworks, 12-foot cake, no hotel
Murder at the Met, 'CSI: NY' style
January 2, 2008 12:28 PM in Architecture, Hotelology, Midtown
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