George Washington Hotel

The Freehand New York Hotel is located at 23 Lexington Avenue (between 23rd Street and 24th Street) in Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. History Located adjacent to the Baruch College and School of Visual Arts campuses, the hotel was opened in 1928 as the George Washington Hotel. At different times it has been used both as a brothel and as a boot-legging house during Prohibition. In the 1980s, the hotel was raided by the police. For a period of time the building was in receivership; its demolition was prevented by support from a local historical society. The hotel was later purchased at auction, and space was leased to not-for-profit Educational Housing Services in the mid-1990s. Much of the space was under sublease to the School of Visual Arts except for apartments still occupied by original (non-student) tenants who pay stabilized rent, and who are still protected under NYC rent laws. SVA broke the sublease and built a new dorm on 24th Street in mid-2016. The ground lease for the property was bought by investment firm Alliance Bernstein in 2016. The company developed the property into a hotel which is now known as the Freehand/New York. In 2019 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.