Former Keller Hotel

New York City has long been one of the world's busiest ports and in the late 1870s, the area along West Street became the heart of the city's maritime industry. The construction of the Gansevoort Piers and Chelsea Piers transformed the Hudson River waterfront, bringing in not only freighters but large transatlantic liners as well. Each year saw thousands of seamen enter the city through the Hudson River waterfront.

With so many people arriving on the waterfront each day, the area along West Street saw a great demand for hotels, particularly hotels that catered to sailors. The hotel at 384-385 West Street began with William Farrell, a coal merchant who bought the lots in 1897-98. The building was designed by Julius Munckwitz, the German-born architect who is most well-known for designing the Boat House in Central Park.

Originally the hotel was known as the Knickerbocker Hotel. That iteration was in business until 1910, afterward operating under several different names. Beginning in the mid-1930s, the building housed transient sailors. As the maritime industry began to decline in the mid-twentieth century, the Keller was transformed into a single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel, while the corner storefront housed a popular gay bar. For a time in the 1990s, the Keller also served as a welfare hotel.

The bar, which occupied the right-hand storefront, took on a life of its own. In operation from 1956 to 1998, it was said to be the oldest leather bar in the city, and one with a reputation for a particularly hard-drinking clientele.

The Keller Hotel building was landmarked in 2007 due to its status as one of the last remaining waterfront hotels and its status as the only remaining building designed by Munckwitz. The building has been under renovation for several years and plans for its future use are not certain as of this writing. Developers had planned to use the building as a high-end hotel but earlier in 2020, they submitted a request for permits to develop it into condominiums.

A Luckless Landmark, Village Preservation . March 6th 2014. Accessed October 14th 2020. https://www.villagepreservation.org/2014/03/06/a-luckless-landmark/.

Keller Hotel , Landmarks Preservation Commission. Accessed October 14th 2020. http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2212.pdf.

The Keller Hotel in the West Village Files Plans to go Residential with BKSK Architects Steering Revamap , City Realty . May 4th 2020. Accessed October 14th 2020. https://www.cityrealty.com/nyc/market-insight/features/future-nyc/the-keller-hotel-west-village-files-plans-go-residential-bksk-architects-steering-revamp/44321.