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Just who is Donald J. Trump's Prince, and why has he come now to buy into the Plaza Hotel? Prince Walid bin Talal is the Saudi ruling family's most prominent -- and most adventurous -- international investor, with large stakes in Citicorp, Four Seasons Hotels, Fairmont Hotels, Euro Disney and Saks Fifth Avenue, which is controlled by Investcorp of Bahrain.

Eloise can stay! Owners of The Plaza hotel announced a deal yesterday that saves the hotel's grandest public spaces - including the famed Palm Court where a portrait of the fictional Eloise hangs nearby - and secures hundreds of union jobs. "This is another good day for New York," said Mayor Bloomberg, who was credited by both sides with coaxing out a deal during a raucous announcement packed with cheering union workers in the hotel's ornate Grand Ballroom. Under the plan, which must still be approved by Local 6 of the hotel workers union, new owners Elad Properties agreed to...

The Associated Press Updated: 7:20 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2005 NEW YORK - The Plaza Hotel, a Fifth Avenue landmark and luxurious host to kings and queens, presidents and stars for nearly a century, will soon close to be transformed into fancy apartments, stores and a scaled-down hotel operation. The 805-room Midtown hotel with views of Central Park will shut its doors April 30 and reopen late next year with about 150 hotel rooms, 200 condominiums and new retail space. Miki Naftali, the president and chief of Plaza owner Elad Properties, made the announcement Wednesday, declining to disclose how much...

IN A CLINK STINK By DAREH GREGORIAN August 28, 2004  Welcome to New York. Two protesters arrested for unfurling a Bush-bashing banner at The Plaza say they were mugged and manhandled during their harrowing overnight imprisonment in the bowels of Manhattan Supreme Court. "We were robbed and I was assaulted," Cesar Maxit, 28, said of his and David Murphy's night in the holding cells of 100 Centre St. "They wouldn't even leave us 50 cents to make a phone call." ---Snip--- Murphy said he was fine rappelling down The Plaza — but frightened in jail. "I was really scared,"...

August 27, 2004 -- Four activists who hung a huge banner on the front of the swanky Plaza hotel yesterday in an early protest of the Republican National Convention face up to 25 years in prison because a cop was severely hurt during the quartet's roundup. [snip]Thies said gawkers on the street below burst into applause when they saw what the sign said. The banner stayed up on the hotel for just over a half-hour until cops took the activists into custody. One of those cops, seven-year veteran Sgt. Joseph Diaz, cut open his leg when he fell through a...

A group calling itself the Uptown Girls, came to the convention to protest a little unprepared. They rappelled off the walls of the Plaza Hotel and hung this banner that said truth and underneath said Bush. With an arrow next to truth pointing to the right and an arrow next to Bush pointing to the left. A graphic design mishap that probably misrepresented the protestor’s own sentiment. Fox and Friends 08/27/04

A protestor identified as Terra Lawson-Remer (upper right) lowers herself to a waiting police officer after she helped unfurl a banner on the facade of the Plaza Hotel in New York on August 26, 2004. The 60-foot banner, with the words 'Truth' and 'Bush', was said to be critical of the Bush/Cheney administration's poor record of leadership. Two members of a protest group called Operation Sibyl rappelled down the facade to unfurl the banner. The Republican National Convention starts in New York on August 30. REUTERS/Peter Morgan A protestor identified as Terra Lawson-Remer (top) lowers herself to a waiting police...