The evacuations on Tuesday surrounding an unstable building in Midtown Manhattan are forcing travelers to navigate barricades and street closures and scramble for alternative accommodation.
At least two hotels near the unstable building have been evacuated: the Hampton Inn Manhattan Grand Central, on East 43rd Street, and the Westin New York Grand Central, on East 42nd.
On East 43rd Street, Christy Walls, a traveler from West Virginia, huddled over a pizza with her two children and college roommate, their backpacks stacked on the ground. The group was supposed to check in for a stay at the Hampton Inn, but the hotel had been evacuated and blocked off by street barricades.
“We’re standing on the street with security and police. I don’t want you to cancel it because I need a room,” said her friend, Emily Oehler, who was on the phone with the hotel’s corporate office.
Ms. Walls, in New York for a two-night stay to see “The Outsiders” on Broadway, said they were trying to get their reservation switched to another Hampton Inn. One hotel had already turned them down.
“We just need a place to stay,” Ms. Walls said.
Paul Maurizio, the front desk manager at the nearby Little Charlie Hotel, on Second Avenue near East 45th Street, said no officials had told them to evacuate their building but said that the hotel had gotten phone calls from stranded travelers and had offered at least one a room.
Amir Karamuja and his family were sleeping in the Westin hotel when they were awakened early in the morning by “constant sirens” that felt like more than normal New York City noise, Mr. Karamuja said. They were evacuated from the hotel around 11 a.m.
The family spent the day wandering around the city. Mr Karamuja said that after 4 p.m. hotel staff couldn’t confirm whether the hotel would be open for the night. Because they were traveling from Slovenia with young children, Mr. Karamuja said the family couldn’t wait any longer. They rebooked a five-night stay elsewhere, and were allowed back into the Westin to quickly grab their bags.
At the southern end of the street closures, Nika Whitsett, visiting from North Carolina, spent an hour searching for a way to the Westgate New York Grand Central, on 42nd Street near Second Avenue, with her partner and mother. After fielding advice from a stranger, scouring Google Maps for an alternative route and asking several police officers for help, they found a path up First Avenue.
“We got to keep on trucking,” said her partner, Charlotte Jackson, while lugging heavy suitcases through midtown Manhattan.
The group was in town for a five-day cruise to Bermuda that departs on Thursday. Ms. Whitsett said they’d planned to see the city, eat and hang out before setting off. “But we’ll have to see now,” she said.
Once they reached the corner of First Avenue and 42nd Street, Ms. Whitsett told a police officer at a barricade that they were supposed to check into the Westgate. The officer let them pass.
After weaving past barricades, police cars and fire trucks, the guests were met by someone in a hotel uniform who helped them to the hotel.
“This is crazy!” said Pam Alston, Ms. Whitsett’s mother. “We came for a cruise and ran into all this.”
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