A new marquee hotel has opened in Midtown Manhattan. This time it is no other than the Seminole Tribe’s own Hard Rock, which opened its first New York City hotel on West 48th Street this week.
The celebrities came out in droves to hail the arrival of the Hard Rock Hotel New York at a grand opening party that lasted until the wee hours of the morning.
The night started at NYY Steak, a fine steakhouse in a city well known for them.
Emceeing the event was Kenan Thompson of Saturday Night Live. Among the performers were John Legend – who had the honor of christening the stage of the hotel’s performance space – followed a DJ Cassidy set, during which he was joined by some of New York’s finest: Nas, Busta Rhymes and Fat Joe.
The night ended on the rooftop bar – RT60 – were both Charly Jordan and Zack Bia played sets.
Also present, of course, were the top brass of Hard Rock and the leadership of Florida’s Seminole Tribe.
The whole evening kicked off with a traditional blessing recited by tribe member S.R. Tommie (who is also the President of the largest Native American creative agency in the world).
For the traditional celebratory guitar smash – a Hard Rock tradition – Seminole Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. was on hand, accompanied by council representatives.
Chairman of Hard Rock International and CEO of Seminole Gaming Jim Allen was there. He pledged the group’s $100,000 donations each to two charities: South Asian Youth Action and the YWCA of Queens.
