An historic Brooklyn Heights hotel is on its way to becoming Brooklyn’s Waldorf Astoria all over again and, at a Purim party in the building this past weekend, our photographer could not help but get shots of the impressive restoration in progress.
The storied Bossert Hotel, which sits on the corner of Montague and Hicks streets and famously hosted the victory party for the World-Series-winning Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, has sat fallow for decades, but is on its way to becoming a world-class tourist destination once more.
Lumber magnate Louis Bossert built the 14-story hotel in 1909. Jehovah’s Witnesses bought it in the 1980s and used it for visiting members of the church and it also housed a number of permanent residents.
Real estate developers David Bistricer and Joseph Chetrit bought the property in 2012 with promises to return the Italian renaissance revival building to its former glory and, if the gleaming details in the lobby are any indication, they meant it.
Tarps and partitions still line the grand main floor and most of the other levels are in the midst of gut renovations, with the exception of the 13th floor, where longtime tenants are still bunking down.
