You know what sucks about room service, besides the obscene prices? Too slow! There you are, waiting around in bed forever for someone to bring you everything you desire! But all that tedium will be a thing of the past at the new Grand Hyatt Market which just opened today. The New York Times reports that it's a "reinvention of room service," where guests can just grab things like salads, pastries and hot meals and go. You know, like a...store? more ›

Apparently, a successful robbery M.O. means attempting it again less than 24 hours later and the Grand Hyatt, which is just east of Grand Central Terminal, was the victim of two robberies. NY1 reports that on Tuesday night, "Investigators say a man carrying a blue duffle bag went up to a hotel clerk, passed a note saying there was a bomb in the bag, and demanded money." The Post says the note read "I have a bomb. Remain calm. Empty your register and no police"—the clerk gave him $1,000. Then yesterday afternoon, the same robber came back, giving a similar note to another clerk, who also complied and gave him $1,000. Cops are investigating and ask that anyone with information contact CrimeStoppers by calling 1-800-577-TIPS or texting TIP577 to CRIMES. more ›

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama made a campaign swing into our neighborhood yesterday, drawing a crowd of thousands to Yanitelli Center at St. Peter's College, and as well as supporters to a fund-raiser in Midtown last night. At St. Peter's, He told the audience, "I'm not running because of long-held ambitions. I'm running because of what Dr. (Martin Luther) King called the 'fierce urgency of now.'" more ›

If you've ever struggled to figure out which direction you're facing when you step out of a subway station (and there are no landmarks or sun to guide you), you won't have those problems at four subway stations in Midtown anymore. That's because the Department of Transportation and the Grand Central Partnership are placing temporary directional compass decals outside them. more ›

Obama held his first big NYC fundraiser last night, and its being feted as a blowout success-- more than a million dollars raised, and wild adoration from his legion of fans: more ›

Watch out for the traffic around the Grand Hyatt tonight - Senator Barack Obama will be in town for a big fund raiser. As you may know via emails and news coverage, the response to a $100/ticket Obama fund-raiser "aimed at young people" was so overwhelming that the venue had to be changed from the Grand (former Au Bar) to the Grand Hyatt. more ›

Score one for the Daily News for noticing UN Secretary General transportation habits. During a breakfast with business leaders, Ban said he wanted diplomats to take the subway like Mayor Bloomberg. But Ban himself was driven "the mere eight blocks" with his driver parked illegally in the "No Standing" zone outside the Grand Hyatt. more ›

We love NY1, it's true. But Bucky at Animal magazine might love NY1 more - specifically Bobby Cuza - as he has a Flickr set of photos titled "Stalking Bobby Cuza." Gothamist might have a photo set like that of our own, if we didn't have such bad luck with restraining orders. But the real bonus with Bucky's photos taken during the transit strike press campouts at the Grand Hyatt is that you see Arthur Chi'en, now on Channel 11. more ›

On the first day of the transit strike, we asked you if you crushed on any local news reporters while watching non-stop coverage. And according to our highly unscientific straw poll, NY1's Bobby Cuza takes the top honors. Which makes sense, since he seemed to be on the air every possible moment! Gothamist really did love scrappy NY1's one-two-three punch of Cuza at the Grand Hyatt (where the negotiations were usually taking place)Rebecca Spitz in the studio, and Dean Meminger at TWU headquarters, as we would debate whether or not to go to bed or keep watching to see if something new would happen. (For the record, the big announcements happened at 3AM - when the strike was announced - and midday - when the transit workers returned to work.) Not that Gothamist necessarily wants some crazy emergency to see these kids in round-the-clock action again, but they were awesome. more ›

The MTA and Transport Workers Union are supposedly talking again at the Grand Hyatt in Midtown, after a day of threats and fines, yet no action. To summarize: Justice Theodore Jones threatened to jail union leaders for contempt (and the strike) which threw the Post into a tizzy, the Mayor called the union a bunch of "frauds," and Governor "Not Doing Nothing" Pataki said talks would only begin when the strike ends. MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow reiterated their last offer (though their last offer last Friday wasn't really their last offer) and TWU President Roger Toussaint said the union would talk if the MTA dropped its pension demands (an employee contribution of 6% of the salary). Dare we hope these two crazy kids can work it out? For the sake of 7 million commuters? more ›

Are we just 46 minutes away from a transit strike? NY1 says a strike is imminent, as the union president Roger Toussaint has left the Grand Hyatt where the TWU and the MTA had been negotiating to go the union headquarters (the NY Times.com's headline without a story as yet "Union Officials Confer After Rejecting Latest M.T.A. Offer"). Basically, we won't know anything until Toussaint speaks at headquarters. more ›

The MTA says their current offer is their "final offer" to the Transit Workers Union. And what's the offer? Three percent each year over a three year contract; the union wants 8% more. And benefits-wise, the MTA would ask new hires to pay 1% of their pay to go towards their health plans (workers do not do this now). Finally, the MTA wants to increase the retirement age from 55 to 62 after 30 years of service, whereas the TWU wants to lower the age to 50 after 20 years of service, for new hires; the TWU says there would be "two tiers" employees, which they don't want. (Here are some more of the union's demands, which include child care and the MTA's excessive challenges to the TWU's arbitration.) more ›

'cause a strike would be damn gritty. more ›

This sounds bad: The NY Post reports that a "utility vault under the Grand Hyatt is in danger of collapsing — which could damage the hotel's foundation and leave it without any power." The Grand Hyatt is essentially connected to Grand Central Terminal, and it's sort of one of those anonymously and ugly buildings you ignore because Grand Central is so arresting. Of course the Hyatt and Metro-North (the Hyatt would have to fix the vault by passing into the MTA's property - Grand Central) are saying things are fine and safe, that the Hyatt won't collapse and that they're fixing the problem (installing new steel beams), but since there have been a variety of collapses in the past months, from buildings to retaining walls, Gothamist can't help but wonder what other madness is waiting to happen. more ›

Dateline, Hong Kong
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