Demolition of The Courtesy Hotel, West Hempstead, NY

The Courtesy Hotel was anything but a courtesy to the neighborhood. It was a scandalous, seedy motel frequented by drug addicts, prostitutes and deviants. There had been numerous rapes there, overdoses and who knows what else. It was not just an eyesore, it was disgusting. Everyone knew about the Courtesy and everyone wanted it gone, for years. Well, that day finally came, on May 12th, 2011. I stopped by the watch  it go, but I was a slow process, so I didn't stick around for the entire horse-and-pony show. It was as exciting as watching paint dry. Very anti-climatic. I almost LOL'ed when the excavator's very first move was to pick up and drop a large lobby plant, most likely fake, in a huge terra-cotta pot.

The Courtesy Hotel, view from the south when I first arrived.

The old bowling Alley to the east of the hotel.

All Photos © 2011 Suzanne Hayes. May be used with credit and proper copyright notice.