Four Seasons
Not that I was a regular by any stretch of the wallet but knowing the Four Seasons was due to close I just had to go there for one last Old Fashioned. Which soon turned into glasses of champagne at the farewell party in the Pool Room . . . a long story but no use turning away from good research when presented on a platter and so my summer evening stretched into the late night of fond farewell to the mid-century modern cherry on the midtown New York cake.
Opening in 1959 it made it all the way to summer 2016. I walked past there the other night where the interior is now a building site as new management does whatever to create whatever in the landmarked space while all the original furniture, tableware, glasses etc etc were sold at auction. An incredible collection of mid-century design royalty shattered and long-term staff to find new jobs.
These photos are a mix of iPhone and Fuji.
Great post (photographs) Patti……CHANGE and The New…..that is what New York is all about!
Thank you so much Burgess. I suspect Aby Rosen, the owner of the building, had a beef with the restaurant management and decided his cheque book was big enough to show them who’s the big boss in town.
These images are incredible Patti 😀 I love your term “no use turning away from good research when presented on a platter” LOL. You look like you had a great time.
Sweet of you to say thank you so much Joe. It was a brilliant evening the more so for being so unexpected!
Great series and story.. the swimmer in the pool is my fave!
Big thank you Pat! The swimmer in the pool had a lovely story to tell – her father took her there as a young girl and always she had the dream of swimming in the pool and this she finally did. Her father was very much with her in spirit.
Love them, Patti. Especially the last shot!
Thank you so much Pierr, he’s certainly debonair!
How very sad to see this old beauty, a Mad Men icon go. Thank you Patti for the beautiful photos. Cheers and much love!
Such a pleasure to see you here Lanier! Can you believe the new management are hoping to create the ultimate Mad Men experience. Er . . . .?
xx
Don Draper will be proud!
Thanks for the story…
My pleasure and thank you Gil!
fascinating captures, Patti, have a timeless feel to them, like they are taken mid-century 🙂
Hahaha back in time to when modern was new, thank you Alexandra!
wonderful captures and looks like a lot of fun! compose a beautiful day ~ smiles hedy 😀
Thank you Hedy for your smile and kind words!
You tell a fine story with your images, Patti. It looks like a classic evening. Sad to see it close.
Thank you Jane. It was one of those places that was “always there” until it wasn’t. The restaurant owners are relocating to another nearby location while this space is being re-outfitted by another group. You should look up the auction list for the fittings etc – eye popping!
Wow! Just looked it up– amazing haul. I’ll take those Barcelona chairs, please. 🙂
Some of these photos are absolute classics. I particularly liked the one of the two ladies at the dressing (or make-up?) table.
Fabrizio
Thank you so much Fabrizio, imagine if those walls could talk!
Totes maze, gorgeous girl, from start to impeccable finish. Love them. xx
Absolutely touched, thank you dearest Gaynor!
And not only, but also, I was watching on DVD the final episode of the first season of Elementary later on the same day that I had viewed your photos. (I didn’t see the series when it aired on telly.) I couldn’t believe it when Moriarty and Watson had their meeting in exactly the place that you had taken the shots! I knew that pool! I knew that balustrade! And those panels! I had to restrain myself from phoning you right there and then. But what a coincidence to see them on exactly the same day! xx
Gosh those two sure get around don’t they! You’ll have to come back to NYC Gaynor and we can go visit the re-vamped space now that you are more familiar with it.
Thanks for taking us there, Patti. The Peter Sellers movie, The Party, springs to mind looking at these.
A little Peter Sellars sure went a long way with that party didn’t he . . . . Thank you Lignum!
Great job, Patti. I love the classic look of images.
Very much appreciated, thank you Carlos!
A special place, a special event, a special story which you narrated very well with your talented photography. And the beauty of the black and white adds a special feeling, something between nostalgic and joyful. I really like the first photo, the bartender break, he seems ready to go we do not know where…so many stories in your pictures, great! And the under water…wow…
robert
Thank you so much Robert for your kind words. The bartender in the first and the waiter in the final shot had both been there for years, I’m sure/hope they have been snapped up somewhere else. Word at the party had it that the closure of the Four Seasons was like that of Penn Station making way for Madison Square Gardens – you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
Hi Patti! Always fun to see you posting…I regret never having been there and read about the closing with much sadness. So glad you caught some final frivolity, including the woman who decided total immersion was the only way to experience the event. The photo of the two black women, the first and last photos – oh, and the couple kissing – all are terrific examples of Patti in fine form!
We should have gone here when you were in town and now we can’t even say next time. . . .
Lovely to hear from you Lyn and thank you so much for enjoying the spirit of the occasion!
Excellent set!
Thank you so much Alexander!
It looked like a good party. Smart people. The man in the white suit and with a cane looked like something out of Casablanca.
A great party yes Gerard and all the better for having chance discovered it – no anxiety about what to wear etc, way too late for that, but I guess for some people i.e. the man in the white suit, it’s an effortless situation!
A very good “reportage”.
I couldn’t help but think that you had stepped into a parallel universe…
🙂
(Which it may be…)
More than happy to report from any number of parallel universes, thank you so much Brian!
Take care… 🙂
So much to see and love in these photos, Patti, all absolutely superb. Fantastic capture of the woman in the pool – and
loved learning her story. You have such mad skills, my friend!
Sincerely touched by your kind words Stacy, you would have had a ball there!
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Fabulous series and post Patti. I love your style.
What great photos! I had lunch there once…
So great to hear from you and of course you have been very much in my thoughts re the recent election . . . . .
Did you enjoy your lunch?
It was an amazing lunch. It was years ago, but I still remember the Nantucket scallops.
Not sure that the menu changed that much between the years
Fun photos! I loved them all, but the man in the last photo is interesting – he kind of floats out of the darkness…
somewhat bittersweet – the history so rich, the story rather sad with the loss of jobs for so many and the change of an era with the closing of this place…. how awesome that you were able to be there, though. and thanks for sharing your platter with us 🙂
Brilliant!
Nice storytelling through your photos! Hope you are well and have yourself a great Christmas holiday
Excellent pictures.
Hello Patti, and Happy New Year!
I heard a story about the closing of the Carnegie Deli and thought of you.
Have you ever taken photos there?
The photos here are great! End of an era, yes?
That hot tub in the middle of the party is a hoot!
hi Patti, belated greetings for a 2017 – trust you made it safely to this side of the new year! cheers and blessings. xx
wishing you a very happy new year, Patti 🙂 hugs!!
A great evening out with you, Patti!
Oh to have been a fly on the wall Patti then and times past 🙂 Super memories captured here
This is so great!!!
great photo documentary… …and, again, very close to the people.
You shoot a party like no one else can.
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