Grossinger's, the legendary Catskills resort where Long Islanders vacationed in decades past, may get a second life

 

The legendary Catskills resort Grossinger's, which defined the "Borscht Belt" era for generations of Long Islanders and other New Yorkers seeking summer getaways, is making a comeback of sorts — 40 years after its closing.

The South Florida real estate giant PPG Development, which bought the abandoned 1,200-acre property in June for $14.75 million, said it is reimagining the resort in Sullivan County, transforming it into the site of a boutique hotel and cottages surrounded by golf courses, a world-class equestrian center and more than 250 private homes, complete with spa and wellness center offerings and restaurants. 

In a recent filing with the Town of Liberty Planning Board, the new developers unveiled a plan that includes a lodge with about 50 hotel rooms, a series of "resort cottages" with about 50 units to be owned and operated by an independent entity, and a sport operations center called the Ridgetop Club.

"Grossinger's is being reimagined as a premier year-round resort and residential community in the heart of the Catskills," PPG said in a statement on its website. "Building on the legacy of the original Grossinger's resort, the new development is designed to create a modern destination for families, residents, members, and visitors."

The original Grossinger's was founded in the 1910s by Polish immigrants Asher Selig Grossinger and his wife, Malka Grumet Grossinger, and later was expanded into a giant summertime resort anchoring the destination resort region catering largely to American Jews under the direction of their daughter, Jennie Grossinger. 

The landmark resort had more than three dozen buildings, a main dining room that seated more than 1,200 guests fed by two kosher kitchens, and even its own post office and airstrip, according to historical websites, among them Catskills Borscht Belt Museum in upstate Ellenville.

Judy Garland, Eddie Fisher, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles and Tony Bennett all became regulars on the so-called Borscht Belt resort circuit.

Heavyweight champion boxer Rocky Marciano trained at Grossinger's. And Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Robinson and Robert F. Kennedy all were guests at one time or another at the 600-room resort, according to the websites.

In 1952, Grossinger's became the first resort in the world with artificial snow for skiing, according to BBC News.

Great Neck resident Gladys Thompson Roth, who grew up in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, recalled going to Grossinger’s as a young girl with her sister, Jocelyn, and parents Sarah and Meyer Thompson.

"It had fresh air, people who were like you — a very compatible atmosphere," Thompson Roth, 103, said Tuesday.

Thompson Roth, an artist and poet, said: "I remember that Grossinger’s was very friendly and embracing. It was wonderful, sedate ... and, it was very Jewish."

Rhonda Verteramo, 70, of Plainview, said she and her sister, Judi, who lives upstate, spent summers hitchhiking around the Borscht Belt. Verteramo, whose maiden name was Weissman, grew up in Whitestone, Queens. 

"When they closed they sold all the furniture — and my sister bought some of the original furniture from the rooms at Grossinger's and she now has a whole set of it in her house," Verteramo said.

Asher Selig Grossinger is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens. His biographical page on the cemetery website notes he referred to the resort as "The Waldorf of the Catskills" and said that during its 72-year existence, Grossinger’s had many names — among them Long Brook House, Grossinger's Terrace Hill House, Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel and, at its peak, simply the "G."

Before her death in January, Elaine Grossinger Etess, granddaughter of the Grossinger's founders, served as an honorary chair of the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum. The museum website notes the entire Borscht Belt scene was "born out of bigotry." One of its original hotels, The Nicols, said in a 1902 ad in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that the facility was for "Gentiles Only" and "No Hebrews Allowed."

The hotel was later purchased by the Grossinger family, who added it to Grossinger's Resort complex. The landmark resort inspired the fictional Kellerman's Mountain Resort in the hit movie "Dirty Dancing."

Jennie Grossinger died in 1972 and descendants eventually sold the property for about $9 million in 1986, leading to the demolition of most buildings on the site — though the golf course remained operational until 2017.