courtesy: Berlin Rosen
People usually don’t blink an eye when they see something that looks a bit out of place in Times Square, however it was hard not to notice a vintage airplane rolling into the pedestrian plaza.
The 1958 Lockheed Constellation “Connie” airplane bound to become a cocktail lounge at the TWA Hotel “landed” in Times Square at Broadway and 45th Street on Saturday, March 23rd.
The fuselage of the fully restored plane, which was disassembled and trucked from Maine in October 2018, made a trip through the city to be filmed for an upcoming documentary The Rebirth of the TWA Flight Center helmed by Peter Rosen, celebrated director of 2016’s PBS presentation Eero Saarinen: The Architect Who Saw the Future.
courtesy: Berlin Rosen
Connie returned to JFK after her Times Square appearance and is undergoing her final makeover into a cocktail lounge to be situated on the tarmac outside the TWA Hotel.
When the hotel opens May 15, 2019, guests can order drinks and snacks inspired by the 1960s and check out the cockpit, which has authentic, flippable switches and controls.
courtesy: Berlin Rosen
TWA Hotel, JFK Airport’s only on-airport hotel, will also feature:
- Six restaurants, including the Paris Café, and eight bars, including The Sunken Lounge
- An Intelligentsia coffeebar and coffee carts throughout the hotel grounds
- High-end retail outlets
- 50,000 square feet of event space, including a 15,000-square-foot ballroom
- A rooftop pool and observation deck
- The world’s biggest hotel gym: a 10,000-square-foot fitness center
- Museum exhibitions on TWA, the Jet Age and midcentury modern design curated by the New-York Historical Society
A national treasure that helped New York City usher in the Jet Age, the TWA terminal was designated a New York City landmark in 1994 and listed on the National and New York State Registers of Historic Places in 2005.
