The Waldorf-Astoria and Rosary Shrine

The old Waldorf-Astoria in New York City closed it's luxurious doors in 1929 to make way for a modern hotel. At that time we were beginning to build what we thought would be a basilica to our Lady of the Rosary. The story goes that a friend working somehow at the Waldorf-Astoria dismantling site obtained for us 4 marble columns to hold up the baldicchino over the high altar and the doors that open up from the vestibule to the chapel. We do enjoy telling people that those doors come from the cocktail lounge!

We were always wondering what the columns looked like at the Waldorf and recently one of the sisters did a search online and found that the Waldorf-Astoria has a very generous collection of photos online from the old hotel. We're still looking for pictures of the cocktail lounge!