Luxury UES Hotel Donates All Furniture To Sandy Relief Effort
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A swanky Upper East Side hotel undergoing a complete renovation has used the opportunity to pitch in to the Superstorm Sandy relief effort.
More than 3,600 pieces of furniture that used to be part of the Loews Regency Hotel on Park Avenue and 61st Street have been donated to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City.
On Wednesday, a storm-damaged Coney Island senior center received a truckload of rugs, appliances, TVs and furniture, Crain's New York Business reported.
The Surfside Senior Center has not yet reopened, after taking on more than 2 feet of water in Sandy's storm surge, Crain's reported.
The Loews Regency closed on New Year's Day for the renovations and is scheduled to reopen this fall.
Loews Hotels & Resorts originally planned to sell off the furnishings through a liquidator, according to the paper.
But after Sandy hit, the company reconsidered and decided instead to donate the conference tables, refrigerators and other furniture.
"A week after the storm, we realized that there was going to be a tremendous need to help people rebuild their homes and community centers," Loews Hotels chairman Jonathan Tisch said. "We made a decision to work with the Mayor's Fund and give them access to the entire building."
In addition to the senior center, the donated furnishings will go to temporary homes for those who were displaced because of the storm and non-profit organizations impacted by Sandy.
"A significant part of the city's rebuilding effort is focused on providing the necessary support to nonprofits and service providers in the most storm-impacted communities," said Mayor's Fund president Megan Sheekey in a written statement.
The furniture from the Loews Regency Hotel is about 10 years old, according to hotel officials.
"As we started to see the pain and dislocation that Superstorm Sandy was causing, we immediately knew that we needed to donate as much as we could of the pieces that were coming out of the hotel," Tisch added.
The Mayor's Fund has already committed nearly $30 million to Sandy relief efforts, according to the fund's website.
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