NEW YORK (WABC) -- As the Waldorf-Astoria goes, so does the world...and the latest episode of our series, "The Skyline."
Perhaps the most famous hotel on the planet, the Waldorf-Astoria has played host to presidents, celebrities and many of the world's most influential people for nearly a century. The seeds of the country's major equality movements were sewn in its halls. And it's thanks, in part, to one of the hotel's first managers, Lucius Boomer.
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David Freeland, author of "American Hotel: The Waldorf-Astoria and the Making of a Century" - explores Boomer's mysterious upbringing in a Florida cult, and how the experience may have influenced Boomer's perspective when he went out on his own. It's a perspective that eventually led to a deal between the Waldorf Astoria and the United Nations that changed the course of New York City...and beyond.
The Waldorf-Astoria is closed for renovations but is slated to reopen as the 375-key Waldorf Astoria New York and condominium residences, in late 2024.
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