Ian Schrager | |
|---|---|
 Schrager in 2012 | |
| Born | July 19, 1946 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Syracuse University St. John's University |
| Known for |
|
| Spouses |
|
| Website | ianschragercompany |
Ian Schrager (born July 19, 1946) [1] is an American entrepreneur, hotelier and real estate developer, credited for co-creating the "boutique hotel" category of accommodation. [2] Originally, he gained fame as co-owner and co-founder of Studio 54. [3] [4]
Schrager grew up in a Jewish family in New York City. [5] [6] His father Louis owned a factory in Long Branch, New Jersey, which manufactured women's coats and was an associate of Meyer Lansky whose nickname was "Max the Jew". [7] [8] Louis Schrager died when Ian was 19. His mother, Blanche, died when he was 23. [6]
In 1968, he graduated from Syracuse University with a B.A. and then earned a J.D. from St. John's University School of Law in 1971. [7] [9] While at Syracuse, he was a member and eventual president of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity. It was through this fraternity that he met fellow brother Steve Rubell, with whom he would eventually go into business. [10]
In the early 1970s, Schrager with Steve Rubell and Jon Addison bought 15 Lansdowne Street in Boston for a discotheque (the former The Ark, later Boston Tea Party). [11] [12] [13]
In December 1975, after practicing law for three years, Schrager partnered with Rubell to open Enchanted Garden, a disco in Douglaston, Queens. [14] Seeing the success of Enchanted Garden, Schrager and Rubell decided to open a nightclub in Manhattan. In January 1977, Schrager and Rubell signed the lease for the Gallo Opera House which last served as a CBS television studio. Six weeks later, Studio 54 opened. [15] The club's design drew on the venue's existing theatrical infrastructure allowing Schrager and Rubell to experiment with set and lighting design. [16] The club often hosted "one-night-only" theme parties at which the club's interiors were reconfigured with intricate sets and performance art installations.[ citation needed ]
In December 1978, Studio 54 was raided after Rubell had been quoted as saying that only the Mafia made more money than the club brought in. In June 1979, Rubell and Schrager were charged with tax evasion, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy for reportedly skimming nearly $2.5 million in unreported income from the club's receipts, in a system Rubell called "cash-in, cash-out and skim." Police reports state that cash and receipts were in the building and were hidden in the ceiling sections of Rubell's office, where both he and Schrager worked.
A second raid occurred in December 1979. The pair hired Roy Cohn to defend them, but on January 18, 1980, they were sentenced to three and a half years in prison and a $20,000 fine each for the tax evasion charge. On February 4, 1980, Rubell and Schrager went to prison, and Studio 54 was sold in November of that year for $4.75 million. On January 30, 1981, Rubell and Schrager were released from prison to a halfway house for two and a half months.
On January 17, 2017, Schrager received a full and unconditional pardon from President Barack Obama. [17]
After Studio 54, Schrager and Rubell opened their next nightclub, Palladium, in the old Academy of Music building in New York City. They enlisted world-renowned Japanese architect Arata Isozaki to reimagine the old music hall into a nightclub, while still maintaining the space's integrity. Palladium was the first of its kind in that art was the focal point of the club's experience. He collaborated with artists Francesco Clemente, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Kenny Scharf, and Keith Haring to create a curated environment. Large video installations lining the dance floor were "undeniably powerful" as part of the art and architecture; throughout the night, multiple dynamic installations were featured as the screens were raised and lowered like pieces of a stage set. [18] Schrager recognized the power great architecture had to influence an environment; working with Arata was just the beginning of his dabbling in architecture. He has since worked with architects, artists and designers such as Philippe Starck, Herzog & de Meuron, Andree Putnam, Julian Schnabel and John Pawson. [16]
Turning their attention to hotels, they found that their "on the pulse," keen instincts for the mood and feel of popular culture gave them a unique perspective that would allow them to significantly impact the hospitality industry just as they had done with nightlife. In 1984, Schrager and Rubell opened their first hotel, Morgans Hotel, named after John Pierpont (JP) Morgan's Morgan Library & Museum next-door. The instant hit introduced the boutique hotel category, becoming a "worldwide phenomenon." [16] [3] [4]
Following the success of Morgans Hotel, they opened the Royalton Hotel and Paramount Hotel, both designed by Philippe Starck. With these properties, Schrager introduced "lobby socializing" where the hotel lobby became a new kind of gathering place for hotel guests and New York City residents alike, and "cheap chic" was affordable luxury offered in a stylish, sophisticated environment. [19]
Schrager stayed in the hotel business and went solo after he lost his partner Steve Rubell, who died of early exposure to AIDS on July 25, 1989. [20] Schrager is also credited with inventing the "urban resort" concept with his Delano Hotel in Miami and Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, also designed by Starck. These were followed by the Hudson Hotel in New York, where he fully realized his concept "hotel as lifestyle", which he continued to refine, expanding to cities such as San Francisco with the Clift Hotel and London with the St. Martins Lane Hotel and the Sanderson Hotel, all designed by the prolific Starck. [19]
In June 2005, Schrager sold most of his stake in Morgans Hotel Group. Despite stepping down as chair and CEO, he retained $4 million in consultant pay and perks through end of 2007. [21] [22]
On Valentine's Day 2006, the namesake $MHG received an initial public offereing of $360 million underwritten by Morgan Stanley, with Schrager cashing in his remaining 450,000 shares for another $9 million. [21] Morgans Hotel Group was a publicly traded company on NASDAQ for over a decade.
The same year, he launched the Ian Schrager Company, which owns, develops and manages hotels, residential and mixed-use projects. Since then, he has collaborated with Julian Schnabel to transform the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City (which he no longer owns). Schrager has also built two residential properties: 40 Bond and 50 Gramercy Park North. 40 Bond was designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron as their first residential project in America. [23]
Schrager has a new hotel brand, Public. [24] Schrager's Public Hotel Chicago opened in 2011. It was Schrager's first new project as an independent hotelier since 2005, after selling Morgans Hotel Group. Schrager later sold the Chicago hotel in 2016 to Gaw Capital Partners, based in Hong Kong. [25] On June 7, 2017, Schrager opened the 367-room Public Hotel New York, at 215 Chrystie Street in the Bowery district. Public Hotel New York claims to have the fastest hotel wi-fi in New York City, which is free. [26] The idea behind Public New York is "luxury for all," charging an inexpensive rate for quality and service. Most recently, it was chosen as the location for the afterparty for Garden of Turkish Delights, the first solo show in New York by esteemed Turkish artist, Sarp Yavuz, in cooperation with Trotter and Sholer, an emerging fine art gallery in NYC’s Lower East Side. [27]
Schrager's most recent venture is EDITION Hotels, a partnership with Marriott International, intending to create a new brand of hotel with about 100 properties to be located in cities throughout North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. [28] EDITION currently has hotels in London, Miami Beach, New York City, Sanya (China),Tampa, West Hollywood, Tokyo (two properties in Toranomon and Ginza), Barcelona, Bodrum, Rome, Madrid, Shanghai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, the Mexican Riviera and Reykjavík, Iceland. [29] According to their website, new hotels are slated to open in Jeddah, Nayarit, Fort Lauderdale, Bali, Dubai, Milan, Lake Como, Doha, Nashville, Scottsdale, Kuala Lumpur, and Detroit. [30]
On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the Times Square EDITION in New York City would be closing permanently on August 13 after only 1 year in operation after going into foreclosure in December 2019, with financial problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic on New York and the global travel industry. [31] However, it reopened in June 2021.
Schrager married Rita Noroña, a Cuban ballet dancer, on Valentine's Day in 1994. [32] They have two daughters. [6] [33]
On November 15, 2008, he married Tania Wahlstedt (née Garcia-Stefanovich), a former ballerina with the New York City Ballet. She has two daughters from a previous marriage and they have a son together. [7]
In June 2022, Schrager was recognized by the International Hospitality Institute on the Global 100 in Hospitality as one of the 100 Most Powerful People in Global Hospitality. [34]
Philippe Starck is a French industrial architect and designer known for his wide range of designs, including interior design, architecture, household objects, furniture, boats and other vehicles. His most popular pieces were made in the 1980s and the 1990s.
Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and former nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened as the Gallo Opera House in 1927, it served as a CBS broadcast studio in the mid-20th century. Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened the Studio 54 nightclub, retaining much of the former theatrical and broadcasting fixtures, inside the venue in 1977. Roundabout Theatre Company renovated the space into a Broadway house in 1998.
Steve Rubell was an American entrepreneur and co-owner of the New York City disco Studio 54.
Boutique hotels are small-capacity hotels that provide more personalized service than typical hotels. They typically have fewer than a hundred rooms, and are considered more "trendy" and "intimate", often due to their location in urban areas. They will usually also display a strong sense of aesthetic, and have a unique, un-homogenized character. They may be themed too, such as by having a focus on nature, environment, cuisine, history, community and cultural immersion, attentive service, or well-being.
Morgans Hotel Group was a global, publicly-traded hospitality company founded by Ian Schrager and specialized in the boutique hotel category. Its foundations were laid in 1984 with the opening of the namesake Morgans Hotel in New York City. MHG was listed on the NASDAQ exchange for over a decade.
Morgans Hotel was the world's first boutique hotel, located at 237 Madison Avenue in New York City. Founded by Studio 54 cofounder Ian Schrager as the first property in the Morgans Hotel Group, it opened in 1984.
The Hudson New York was a boutique hotel located along West 58th Street, in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. The hotel closed in November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is slated to be converted into 438 below-market apartments by a co-living firm.
The Paramount Hotel is a hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46th Street, between Eighth Avenue and Broadway. The Paramount Hotel is owned by RFR Realty and contains 597 rooms. The hotel building, designed in a Renaissance style, is a New York City designated landmark.
The Palladium was a movie theatre, concert hall, and finally a nightclub in New York City. It was located on the south side of East 14th Street, between Irving Place and Third Avenue.
Gramercy Park Hotel was a luxury hotel located at 2 Lexington Avenue, in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, adjacent to the park of the same name. It was known for its rich history. Originally opened in 1925, the hotel ceased operations in 2020 and was purchased by MCR Hotels in 2023 with plans to re-open in 2025.
The Royalton Hotel is a hotel at 44 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The hotel, opened in 1898, was designed by architecture firm Rossiter & Wright and developed by civil engineer Edward G. Bailey. The 13-story building is made of brick, stone, terracotta, and iron. The hotel's lobby, which connects 43rd and 44th Streets, contains a bar and restaurant. The upper stories originally featured 90 apartments, but these were replaced with 205 guestrooms when Philippe Starck and Gruzen Samton Steinglass Architects converted the Royalton to a boutique hotel in the 1980s.
Michael Gabellini, FAIA, is a minimalist architect, interior designer and partner of Gabellini Sheppard Associates with Design Partner, Kimberly Sheppard and Consulting Partner, Daniel Garbowit. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, he won the National Design Award for Interior Design in 2006 and has also been recognized with the Progressive Architecture Award and awards from the American Institute of Architects, the International Interior Design Association, among other professional societies and publications.
Richard "Richie" Paul Kaczor was a DJ during disco's infancy in the 1970s.
Jack Wishna was an American businessman and photographer. He was the president and CEO of CPAmerica, a consulting firm for gambling, hotel, and leisure organizations, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was also a founder of Rockrena Inc., which launched Rock City Club, a social music network.
A Night at Studio 54 is a compilation album released by Casablanca Records in June 1979, featuring disco music played frequently at New York City's famous nightclub Studio 54. Conceived by the record label and direct response television company I&M Marketing with the co-operation from Studio 54 founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, A Night at Studio 54 was also a double album, with its music segued between tracks by disc jockeys Marc Paul Simon and Roy Thode for continuous playing, reminiscent of the nightclub itself. The album was originally going to contain crowd noise recorded at the club too, but the idea was dropped before release as it brought a decrease in sound quality.
TJ Fisher is a Southern author, documentarist and social critic who lives in New Orleans, Louisiana and Palm Beach, Florida.
The Hotel St. Moritz was a luxury hotel located at 50 Central Park South, on the east side of Sixth Avenue, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The structure was extensively rebuilt from 1999 to 2002, and today it is a hotel/condominium combination known as The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.
Ben Pundole is an entrepreneur, hotel manager, and editor-in-chief for the online travel magazine AHotelLife.com. Pundole has been involved in the startup and development of many hotels and hotel chains, including Edition Hotels, Morgans Hotel Group, Ruschmeyers, Surf Lodge, and King & Grove. He is known for his work in the food and beverage, marketing, nightlife and events of boutique and lifestyle hotels, and has been featured in The New York Times.
Studio 54 is a 2018 American documentary film directed by Matt Tyrnauer, examining the meteoric history of the Studio 54 nightclub, an extravagant disco venue infamous for hedonistic excess. Those responsible for the club's wild success reflect on the scene they sparked in 1977. Discotheque co-owner Ian Schrager recounts his role at the center of it all, including the club's fraudulent accounting and legal consequences.
Mark Harvey Fleischman was an American businessman. He is best known for being the onetime owner of Studio 54.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
