• Browse the boutiques of NoLiTa; get your limited-edition trainers and vinyl in the East Village; take in art and culture in SoHo; see a show on Broadway; have a cocktail at the 60 Thompson roof terrace… and that's just before dinner. This is truly the city that never sleeps. And nor should you.
The Whole Story
60 Thompson is the latest project by the Pomeranc Group, a company that started out in the 1950s. Ironically, given its ideal location on a rare quiet stretch right in the heart of SoHo, this project was originally meant to be uptown on the West Side, in the exact location of the Hudson Hotel in fact. The people at Pomeranc had set their hearts on this Upper West Side building only to discover, at the eleventh hour, that they had been outbid by Ian Schrager. Feeling thoroughly dejected, Jason Pomeranc and his brothers took a cab downtown to have lunch at SoHo's Lucky Strike, and it was while they were dining that they noticed a "for sale" sign on a rundown garage across the street. Not only was the location perfect, but it offered the opportunity to knock down and start from scratch - a plus for a real estate developer, because it not only makes a project cheaper and quicker, it offers the chance to custom-design.
At thirteen stories, 60 Thompson is one of the highest buildings in the area, and the planning stage was not without its hurdles. In order to secure permission to build high, New York property law dictated that Pomeranc and his brothers had to buy "air rights" from all their neighbours. "I own all the air on this block," Jason Pomeranc jokingly boasts. At least he is able to laugh about it now. Size aside, 60 Thompson is also no slouch when it comes to design. The architect who designed the building, Steven Jacobs, was a pioneer in turning SoHo and Tribeca's industrial spaces into residential lofts. For the interiors Pomeranc turned to Thomas O'Brien, head of Aero Studios, whose past work includes apartments for high-profile clients such as Giorgio Armani and Donna Karan. The interiors take their cue from the work of Jean-Michel Frank, but O'Brien's primary inspiration for the lobby space - a long rectangular hall on the second floor (first floor if you are European) - was, oddly, an old photo of Burt Lancaster lounging on an impossibly long couch at his home in Malibu. Hence the deep-buttoned velvet banquette that stretches the entire length of the hotel. The design of the guestrooms isn't quite so original - I've seen similar in Paris -but they are very comfortable and, importantly, quiet. As is increasingly the norm, the high-tech end is well catered to, with a DVD-playing television and broadband internet access. Being one of the tallest buildings in SoHo also means there are great views from the hotel's rooftop, where the terrace bar has become a SoHo summer destination in its own right. As for the restaurant manager - let's just say he's not on my Christmas card list.
The Rooms
A Deluxe King with a hardwood floor is especially charming. (Rooms ending in '3' have hardwood floor, from 33 on the third floor, right up to Room 123.) The higher you go, the better the view, of course: eighth/ninth up have unrestricted city views.