This 13-story luxurious hotel was built in 1913 by lace manufacturer and financier Gustavus Sidenberg, who named it after his wife, Theresa. During its first 28 years, the Hotel Theresa catered exclusively to a wealthy white clientele. Both its guests and staff were white—just like its gleaming, white façade.
But Harlem was changing. As thousands of Black Americans moved north during the Great Migration, the neighborhood evolved—and so did the hotel. In the 1940s, the Hotel Theresa integrated, hiring Black staff and management, and opening its doors to African American guests.
At the time, even the most celebrated Black performers were often barred from midtown hotels. They could headline at venues across the city but were not allowed to stay or dine in the very hotels where they entertained.
The Theresa became a haven. Legends like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, and Count Basie found not just a place to sleep, but a place where they were welcomed. Its lobby buzzed with famous athletes, artists, and political leaders. It became a glamorous hub of Harlem’s Black social life—earning the nickname “the Waldorf of Harlem.”
In 1960, the Hotel Theresa made international headlines. Fidel Castro arrived in New York to speak at the United Nations and initially checked in at the Shelburne Hotel in Midtown. But after a dispute over an alleged $10,000 (or $20,000) in damages—including reports of chickens being cooked in hotel rooms—Castro and his entourage relocated to the Hotel Theresa, renting 80 rooms for just $800 a day.
Below is a quote from BBC article by Tony Perrottet entitled Fidel Castro’s secret love affair with NYC.
I asked the doorman, an African immigrant named Raymond Larry, if he knew that señor Castro had once caused a ruckus in the hotel.
“Of course,” he laughed. “The Cubans were keeping live chickens in the rooms!” Larry said he had worked at the hotel for 15 years, and had heard the stories of 1960 from elderly doormen present at the time. “Castro was cooking them up and throwing the bones out the window. They landed on people’s heads! It was crazy!” A comic confrontation ensued, Larry explained, as the hotel managers allegedly demanded a $20,000 security deposit (roughly $165,000 in today’s money) for possible damage.
The Theresa became the epicenter of a diplomatic spectacle. World leaders streamed through its doors, including Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and Malcolm X.
The hotel’s chapter as the “Waldorf of Harlem” came to a close in 1971, when it was converted into an office building, now known as Theresa Towers—a New York City Landmark and a proud monument to Harlem’s vibrant past.
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