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IN THE EARLY 1940s, THE 2,500-room New Yorker Hotel struggled to find rooms for thousands of large-living visitors eager to hear Benny Goodman performing big band tunes or to spot Joe DiMaggio breezing through the lobby. Today, the landmark is turning to college students and therapists to fill its 40 historic stories.
Under a newly signed five-year lease with dormitory provider Educational Housing Services, the New Yorker is converting 169 hotel rooms on the 24th through 27th floors into dorms for 220 undergraduate and graduate students.
"It levels out the revenue for us, especially after the past couple of years when things have been so rocky," says Kevin H. Smith, the hotel's general manager.
The New Yorker's central location at 481 Eighth Ave., at West 34th Street, sold Educational Housing Services. Newmark & Co. Real Estate Inc. represented Educational Housing in the deal.
The Manhattan-based company provides housing for schools like the Fashion Institute of Technology and the American...