The Workers of the Plaza Make Plans To Move On

One of the city's most recognizable institutions, the Plaza Hotel, will close its doors on April 30 for a renovation. A number of employees expect to lose their jobs.

The New York Sun's Christina Rogers spent some time this week at the hotel talking to workers about their best memories of working at the hotel and their plans for the future.

There was a time when Artie Gobin would not let anything stand between him and his job as a waiter at the Plaza Hotel.

Neither a cold nor a death in the family would stop him. Not even in 1978, when a great blizzard dumped snow across the city and halted all train service, did he stay home. Rather than miss a day, Mr. Gobin put on his boots and walked to work, a trek that took two hours from his home in Astoria over the Queensboro Bridge.

"We were all so stubborn. We loved working at this place," he said as he stood in the hotel's Palm Court restaurant with a white cloth draped over one arm, thinking about his 33 years at the Plaza.

Now it seems Mr. Gobin and about 900 other workers will likely lose their jobs when the Plaza Hotel closes its doors for renovations on April 30. The new owners, Elad Properties, which bought the 800-room hotel for $675 million, plan to convert the building to 200 luxury condominiums, retail shopping space, and a 150-room boutique hotel employing about 160 people.

Because the new owners have made no promises to rehire current employees, and as union negotiations are unsettled, many workers are making other plans. Some have already started looking for other jobs. Some workers worry that their ages — a majority of workers are in their mid- to late 50s — will repel potential employers.

"Who is going to want me? I am an old man," a bar back at the Oak Room, Leo Hernandez, said.

Others worry that jobs they find will not pay as much. A Plaza employee can make anywhere from $30,000 to $100,000 a year with full medical benefits, although most annual salaries of the hotel's workers fall between $45,000 and $55,000, workers say. "I am going to have to work 18 hours a day just to maintain my standard of living," a Palm Court sous chef, Fabrizio Agresta, said.

With uncertainty looming, some say they will leave New York for Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Others plan to retire or change careers. But they said the loss of the camaraderie and sense of community they had at the Plaza could not be replaced. "These are not my co-workers," a Plaza doorman, Tony Guerrero, said. "They are my friends, my family."

A bell captain, Jerry Dimitratos, said he will finish his final days with the same care and dedication he has demonstrated for years. He said, "They may be closing, and we may be losing our jobs, but this is the Plaza, and we will continue to give our guests the best."