The Sanctuary Hotel Is A Temple Of Sin

September 19, 2011 at 9:15 AM | by ASchechter | Comments (0)

It looks like the Sanctuary Hotel is finally making headway with its planned rooftop bar, but not without some resistance from a nearby church. St. Mary the Virgin, which is located right next door, cannot stand the idea of so much alcohol consumption taking place less than 200 feet from the holy site�on a rooftop, no less! Apparently, the church has forgotten it is located in one of the busiest corners in the world. Surely, this would have come up at some point?

This isn't the first time a hotel has run into liquor license problems from a nearby place of worship. Back in 2009, it was the Ace that was being pressured by the Masjid Ar-Rahman mosque to move its bar. At which point co-owner Ken Friedman laughed. Now, we wonder what will be the response of the Sanctuary's big poppa, Hank Freid?

According to this piece in the New York Post over the weekend, the church is opposing the State Liquor Authority's decision to go ahead with the Sanctuary's rooftop bar (which, personally, we've been pretty excited about for a while now):

"The Rev. Stephen Gerth was stunned to learn that after initial denials, the SLA suddenly reversed course this summer and approved the hotel�s planned rooftop bar.
St. Mary�s says the state is obligated to look out for the best interests of the church, which sits between Sixth and Seventh avenues, and has at least a half-dozen bars and restaurants within a stone�s throw of its entrances on West 47th and West 46th streets -- including next-door neighbor Dervish, a Turkish eatery that serves booze."

So if the restaurants can do it, why not a hotel?

In our opinion, the real sin here is the price of a one-night stay in Times Square. We just checked rates on the hotel's website for a random Wednesday night in October, and the lowest we found was $305. For budget travelers, a cheaper option might be the pews at St Mary the Virgin.

[Photo: HotelChatter]

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