Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 218; Hotel History: Raymond Orteig and Charles Lindbergh

Stanley Turkel | August 20, 2019

By Stanley Turkel, CMHS Hotel History: Raymond Orteig and Charles Lindbergh Raymond Orteig (1870-1934) was the New York City hotel owner who offered the $25,000 Orteig Prize to the first aviator to fly between New York City and Paris. In 1919, Raymond Orteig, a practically unknown New York City hotel owner, issued an extraordinary challenge to the fledgling flying world. Enthralled by tales of pioneer aviators, the French-born Orteig, who owned the Brevoort and Lafayette Hotels in New York City, offered a purse of $25,000 to be awarded to “the first aviator who shall cross the Atlantic in a land or water aircraft (heavier than air)...