WINNIE'S JAZZ BAR in NYC and Women's History Month

Women's History Month is just around the corner in March. Our readers will enjoy the story of a woman who made her mark on New York and lives on through Winnie's Jazz Bar on 63 West 38th Street in the Refinery Hotel. Winnie's Jazz Bar was named after the one and only Winifred T. McDonald, whose pioneering spirit forever impacted New York City's Garment District.

As one of the most notable neighborhoods centralized in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the development at the time in which the Garment District was able to flourish has been something that has lived on to this day. In synchronization to the rise of women's rights, Winifred T. McDonald was able to further impact those working in the district at the time and for years to come.

In the early 1900s, the 38th Street block between Fifth and Sixth Avenues was filled with fashion houses, shops, and industrial buildings, including the Colony Arcade building. Colony Arcade was home to many millinery firms churning out hats for the fashionable women of the Big City. When the Lord & Taylor department store opened down the block in 1914, the neighborhood became a magnet for visiting and local shoppers. Businesswoman and entrepreneur Winifred T. McDonald quickly recognized the potential for revenue and turned the 20,000 square foot bottom floor of the Colony Arcade building into a tearoom for women and restaurant for men. With the ideal location in the heart of the Garment District, when fashion flourished, so did McDonald's business.

In 2013, the former Colony Arcade building was transformed into Refinery Hotel and their lobby bar, Winnie's Jazz Bar, named as an homage to the enterprising woman who historically gave the space it's first taste of hospitality. Winifred is honored today on the bar's cocktail menu; the Milliners Tea for two was served at the former Tea House and inspired by the cultural melting pot of New York at the time.

The refined cocktail list and the eloquent decor are just some of the many aspects that seek to acknowledge the Colony Arcade's past and Winifred T. McDonald's historic strides for the hospitality industry.

For more information on Winnie's Jazz Bar, please visit https://winniesnyc.com/.

Photo Credit: Credit Jenna Murray/IGC Hospitality

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