Our next hotel was The Frederick, just a short walk away from The Roxy.

It was previously called the Cosmopolitan Hotel Tribeca. It’s a historic hotel located at 95 West Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York City. The building was built in 1844-45 by a tobacco merchant James Boorman. Early on it was called the Girard House and it was renamed the Cosmopolitan in the 1860s. It was originally located across from the southern depot of the Hudson River Railroad.

The building is part of the TriBeCa South Historic District. It contains Gothic elements as well as an Edwardian rooftop and an Art Deco storefront. Over the years the building has been substantially modified. The interior has been entirely redone. The original red brick was painted beige in the late 19th century. A seventh floor was added in 1989.

Forgotten New York describes it as follows:

New York City’s oldest extant hotel building is hiding in plain sight at the busy corner of West Broadway and Chambers in Tribeca. Recently redubbed as a luxury hotel called The Fredrick, the Cosmopolitan Hotel’s pedigree goes all the way back to 1845.

That year, a tobacco merchant named James Boorman built a boarding house at the corner. At the time, Chambers Street was a tree-lined route on which personnel working for City Hall and neighboring endeavors lived. The building then at #122 Chambers was said to have been the first house in NYC with a bathtub. As commercial businesses started to fill in the area, Boorman built his new boarding house so travelers doing business at these places had a way to spend the night. What became the Cosmopolitan was originally 4 floors with New Orleans-style ironwork at the second floor. It wasn’t originally called the Cosmopolitan but initially was known as the Frederick and then the Girard House.

In the 1860s it gained two floors and changed its name to the Cosmopolitan (the seventh floor was added in 1989). It remained a respectable place for decades but by the 1960s, it was single-room occupancy called the Bond, just above homeless-shelter status. Its fortunes went on the upswing again as Tribeca became a hip neighborhood, and recently, new ownership has renovated it into a luxury place called the Frederick once again. It’s shown above with 56 Leonard, the “Jenga Building,” looming over it on the left.

The late great Christopher Grey discussed the building in the NY Times in 2009 and added some vintage postcard views.

A nice breakfast in the adjoining restaurant, Serafina was included in the room price.

Below some pictures taken in my room

Taken with a Sony RX100M3 and Sony RX10 IV

Down in the basement right next to Django, The Roxy has its own movie theater. It’s called Roxy Cinema. Its website describes it as:

A hat tip to the 1920s motion picture palace, Roxy Cinema is an Art Deco-inspired arthouse cinema located in downtown Manhattan specializing in first-run independent films, rare archival prints and 35mm cult classics. It also runs special cultural programming including film series, director and actor Q&A’s, and artist collaborations. With its gourmet concession stand, you can also purchase craft cocktails, beer and wine, popcorn and candy to enjoy during the movie. Whether you’re a couple dropping in for a casual date, or an enthusiast coming to see a favorite director, the Roxy Cinema is an old-school moviegoing experience for modern-day audiences.”>A hat tip to the 1920s motion picture palace, Roxy Cinema is an Art Deco-inspired arthouse cinema located in downtown Manhattan specializing in first-run independent films, rare archival prints and 35mm cult classics. It also runs special cultural programming including film series, director and actor Q&A’s, and artist collaborations. With its gourmet concession stand, you can also purchase craft cocktails, beer and wine, popcorn and candy to enjoy during the movie. Whether you’re a couple dropping in for a casual date, or an enthusiast coming to see a favorite director, the Roxy Cinema is an old-school moviegoing experience for modern-day audiences.

This is what’s showing as I’m writing this.

Taken with a Sony RX100M3

The first night we stayed at The Roxy. This was largely because we were going to spend the evening in Django, the jazz club in the basement.

The hotel’s website says this about its history:

For the action-seekers, attention-getters and rabble-rousers, The Roxy Hotel New York and its surrounding neighborhood have long been a hub of creativity. Consider that steps away, in 1978, the Mudd Club was the nexus of the city’s underground music and art scene with a gallery curated by Keith Haring. The Talking Heads were performing at Tribeca’s Ocean Club. Then came the era of The Odeon, Keith McNally’s still-open dining destination, catering to the movie and financial people colonizing Soho and Tribeca’s lofts.

The Tribeca Grand was the first major hotel in an area home to boldface celebrities and a dynamic mix of restaurants, shops, financial institutions and thriving independent film companies. Envisioned by Soho Grand owners Leonard and Emanuel Stern to be a sister property, Tribeca Grand long thrived.

In 2015, it was time for a second act. The name “The Roxy Hotel New York” was born, a name with its own scintillating New York history. Evoking the spectacular 1920s movie theater and the legendary ‘90s dance club, The Roxy is an electric destination for music, film, and art. The guest rooms were fully renovated to give a wink to the past, yet are modern and uniquely “Roxy”. And with venues like Paul’s Cocktail Lounge, Roxy Bar, The Django jazz club, Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee, and Roxy Cinema New York, the hotel continues to be the pioneer it was born to be.

In 2000, the Tribeca Grand Hotel established itself as the first major hotel in the area to embrace the cultural hotbed it was at the center of. Celebrities, art & film productions, restaurants, new luxury shops and more all intersected and met to play together. In 2015, the hotel took on a new name, The Roxy Hotel New York, paying homage to its artistic origins and entertaining history.

Tribeca stands for the “Triangle Below Canal,” a coveted, affluent area in downtown New York. Walk through it and you’ll see a plethora of industrial, cast-iron buildings, some of which attracted artists in the ‘70s and ‘80s for their vast scale, now converted to luxurious lofts and boutique hotels. Tribeca also maintains a quiet, village feel with cobblestone streets, lush, pristine parks, and access to the Hudson River waterfront. One World Trade Center is just 13 blocks south.

The neighborhood has continued its tradition of being home to world-renowned restaurants, upscale boutiques, and home design stores. Tribeca animates at night with those looking for a bit more substance than the pubs and clubs. For that persuasion, The Roxy Hotel has long been a beacon. The hotel has always had film and music in its bones, including a longtime involvement with Tribeca Film Festival. It has hosted many screenings and events, as well as live performances by bands like Blood Orange, The XX, and LCD Soundsystem. Today, with its electric new name, plus new offerings like The Django Jazz Club, the Roxy Cinema, and Jack’s Stir Brew Coffee, The Roxy Hotel ushers in an exciting new era.

The lobby (next six pictures) is really impressive.

Some pictures taken inside my room.

Taken with a Sony RX100M3