The Archdiocese of New York says it has agreed to sell the land beneath the Palace Hotel on Manhattan’s East Side to the hotel owner for $490 million — part of a real estate haul meant to fund a global settlement for church sex abuse survivors.
The deal became public just days after Cardinal Timothy Dolan announced the archdiocese would establish a $300 million fund to compensate survivors of sexual abuse as it seeks to negotiate a settlement with more than 1,000 people who allege they were abused as minors by priests and other church officials.
“The sexual abuse of minors long ago has brought shame upon our Church,” Dolan said in a letter to parishioners, adding the church was now looking to “provide the maximum amount of compensation to the greatest number of victim-survivors, and help them heal and move forward.”
Officials confirmed part of the Palace sale would go to that fund, and the remainder would repay loans taken to fund previous settlements.
Another $100 million for the survivors fund comes primarily from the sale of the archdiocese’s former headquarters at 1011 First Avenue, announced late last year.
The Palace plot, located a block from St. Patrick's Cathedral at 455 Madison Ave., represents one of the most valuable assets in the archdiocese’s real estate portfolio. The new owner, Lotte New York Palace, declined to comment about the sale.
This is not the first time the archdiocese has leveraged property to pay for the abuses of some of its clergy. In 2017, it announced plans to mortgage a piece of property behind St. Patrick's Cathedral for $100 million to cover out-of-court sex abuse settlements.
The archdiocese is in discussion to sell additional assets, including unused land in upstate New York.
