The Plaza.

As The Great Gatsby, the most hyped movie since, well, Iron Man 3, steamrolls into theaters, two hotels are proudly trumpeting their Gatsby connections.

Most obvious is The Plaza. When Daisy suggests Gatsby, Tom, Jordan and Nick drive to Manhattan, they beeline for the Plaza, a favorite of F. Scott Fitzgerald and wife Zelda. “They lived at the Biltmore but drank cocktails at the Plaza – orange blossoms spiked with bootleg gin,” writes Sally Cline, author of Zelda: Her Voice in Paradise, in New York magazine. Ernest Hemingway once told Fitzgerald to “leave his liver to Princeton and his heart to the Plaza” – or so the Plaza website tells us.

The Plaza appears as a high-profile supporting player in the movie, even though the interior scenes depicting the hotel were recreated in a studio. That hasn’t stopped the hotel from happily linking its fortunes to the film – and Fitzgerald. (more…)

Stumptown joe.

It’s billed as the guide that tells you where people actually go when they’re in New York. Well, up to a point. Foursquare’s new Best of New York Guide is based on where people linked to Foursquare go – and that ain’t everyone (or everywhere).

Still, Foursquare, the location-based social networking website for smart phones and other mobile devices, is all about places. And like many crowd-sourced guides, it’s intriguing, if short-sighted. It doesn’t list hotels, but I found hotel connections as well as tips for restaurants, places to hang out and, most important, coffee. Read on and be prepared to spend your time in Brooklyn and Manhattan below 59^th Street – way below.

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Give me Liberty . . .

There’s nothing shy about the Statue of Liberty, standing proud and tall on her very own island. It’s just that in a city of skyscrapers she’s not exactly the tallest act in town. But starting on October 28 you’ll be able to see more of her — and more of the view from her island — than in years when Lady Liberty’s crown reopens after a year of renovations. Or to quote pageant coach Victor Melling in Miss Congeniality, “‘You ‘are’ the crown!”

The crown will be open each week from Thursday through Sunday. You can take a ferry from Battery Park in lower Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Ferries run daily from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Our favorite way to see Ms. Liberty is from a hotel, of course, even if we’re not as close as, say, Robert Cummings in Saboteur.  (more…)