By that time, Hospitality Holdings had expanded to incorporate its first restaurant, Madison & Vine, an American bistro and wine bar within the Library Lodge on Madison Avenue at East forty first Road, in addition to Bookmarks, a rooftop lounge on the lodge. The corporate was bringing in $20 million a yr, based on an article in 2010 on the commerce website BizBash.
In 2016, he opened the Empire Rooftop, a lounge atop the Empire Lodge throughout from Lincoln Middle.
The identical yr, Mr. Grossich misplaced the lease of the Campbell House when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the terminal, signed Gerber Group, a New York hospitality firm, to function the house at the next lease. (Mr. Grossich’s firm was unsuccessful in a lawsuit that argued that the bidding course of had been unfair.) The corporate renamed it the Campbell Bar, deserted its gown code and traded the air of insider exclusivity for a extra commuter-friendly enchantment. “Earlier than, it may need been on the stuffier facet,” Scott Gerber, the chief govt of the group, mentioned in an interview with The Instances.
Along with his daughter, Mr. Grossich is survived by his brother, Keith, and a granddaughter. His marriage, to Elizabeth McGehee, resulted in divorce in 2012.
Over time, he held quick to his imaginative and prescient, no matter hurdles stood in his method. After town enacted its smoking ban, he utilized for a particular license that allowed unrestricted puffing on the Carnegie Membership, as a big proportion of the venue’s gross sales got here from tobacco merchandise. It remained a mecca for individuals who may discern the subtlest notes of a effective Cohiba.
Certain, patrons may carry their very own cigars as an alternative of selecting from the membership’s fastidiously curated choice. However as Mr. Grossich mentioned in an interview with The Instances in 2014, he didn’t encourage the apply: “That’s a little bit like bringing your personal eggs to a diner.”
