The site where NYC's Empire State Building stands was sold to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation in 1928 for a measly $15 million. Before that, it housed the largest hotel in the world. Who owned that hotel?

In 1893, William Waldorf Astor opened the Waldorf Hotel on the spot where the Empire State Building now stands. His cousin's hotel was next door, and when they combined the two, the resulting hotel had an amazing 1,300 bedrooms. In the 1920s, the Astors decided to move their hotel to Park Avenue, leaving the land available for sale.

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 10.2K views