In 1973, the first Monopoly World Tournament took place at Grossinger’s Hotel in Liberty, New York. Less than a decade-and-a-half later the hotel—the Star Beet of the Borscht Belt—closed for good.
About a week-and-a-half ago, the derelict remains of the grand resort were engulfed by a great fire. Sic transit gloria mundi!
I learned of the fate of Grossinger’s remains from this report by NPR: https://www.npr.org/2022/08/19/1118549797/huge-blaze-engulfs-grossingers-hotel-inspiration-for-dirty-dancing
The headline of the article proclaimed that Grossinger’s was famous because it supposedly inspired the movie “Dirty Dancing”:
A huge blaze engulfs Grossinger's Hotel, the location that inspired 'Dirty Dancing.'
Three lines of the article were about the movie, but only one sentence told the reader what the hotel was all about:
Hundreds of thousands of vacationers made their way to the Catskills to visit the spot.
But who were those vacationers? On that NPR is shtum.
The New York Times, to its shame, in the headline for its fire report also saw fit to link Grossinger’s to the same crappy movie:
Catskills Hotel That Inspired ‘Dirty Dancing’ Suffers Devastating Fire.
And the Times waited seven paragraphs to answer what NPR declined to say—that Grossinger’s was part of “a vibrant vacation scene for a primarily Jewish clientele.”
And what did they come for?
Not to buy the deed for the Boardwalk or to pass Go and collect $200.
But for rest, relaxation, lots of good food, and great entertainment (so many comedians, singers, and actors got their start in the Borscht Belt).
It wasn’t the goyishe dirty dancers who quaffed the red stuff in the Borscht Belt.
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The flames that engulfed the remains of the great Grossinger’s Hotel were not as hot as I was when I read the NPR article (and later saw the Times headline).
Here are some other headlines:
Fire hits vacant Grossinger's hotel, once a Catskills jewel that became 'Dirty Dancing' inspiration
ABC
Building at the Catskills' famed Grossinger's resort, an inspiration for "Dirty Dancing," burns down in massive fire
CBS
And in the ultimate disgrace:
Fire destroys building at Grossinger’s Catskills resort, the inspiration for ‘Dirty Dancing’
NY Jewish Week
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Who needs the Christian Nationalists to eliminate the Jews when a pop culture reference can make decades of a strong cultural heritage disappear?
Your parents spent their honeymoon at Grossinger's.
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