BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 23, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE)—The Embassy Suites Hotel(R) New York City, a new restaurant, Unity, and the United Artists Battery Park Stadium 16 multiplex in Battery Park City officially have reopened. The extensive mixed-use complex, which also includes a 20,000 square-foot health club, a variety of restaurants, and retail shops, was shuttered after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
Approximately 90 percent of the current hotel staff have returned to the positions they held prior to September 11th, as have many of the restaurant and retail employees. Hotel and Unity restaurant staff assisted rescue and recovery workers from Ground Zero in the days and weeks following the attack, when the hotel served as a triage and rest area.

Forest City Ratner, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Unity restaurant and United Artists Theatres/Regal Entertainment Group hosted a re-opening celebration last Thursday, May 16, in which Governor Pataki participated. Festivities included special free screenings of “Star Wars: Episode II-Attack of the Clones,” and musical entertainment by Buster Poindexter and his Spanish Rocket Ship.

From May 8 to 12, the United Artists/Regal, the Embassy Suites Hotel and Unity restaurant hosted a number of events and screenings at the first annual Tribeca Film Festival, which was conceived and organized by Tribeca Entertainment Co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal.

The first hotel to open in Battery Park City, in June 2000, the Embassy Suites Hotel New York City resumed operation in Lower Manhattan on May 1st. The only upscale all-suites hotel based in the downtown area, the Embassy Suites Hotel New York City includes 463 two-room suites; a 15-story sunlit atrium; a new restaurant, Unity, that showcases American cuisine; 15,000 square feet of conference/event space; and nine retail outlets totaling 180,000 square feet.

Hotel suites provide each guest with a spacious living room and private bedroom, minibar, three telephone lines, two televisions, web TV, and complimentary high-speed Internet access. Tastefully appointed suites range in size from 450 to 800 square feet, larger than many apartments in Manhattan. Many suites offer panoramic views of the Hudson River, New York Harbor and the Statue of Liberty, or the sweeping architecture of the Financial District.

Reflecting Lower Manhattan`s worldwide reputation as a center for the arts, the hotel commissioned many notable artworks prior to its June 2000 opening, including the atrium`s dramatic 11-story centerpiece by Sol Lewitt (measuring 100` x 80`), and paintings and murals by world-renowned artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelly, Julian Schnabel, Jeff Koons and Ross Bleckner. Each guest suite exhibits prints by the artists Elizabeth Payton, Sara Sosnowy and Mary Heilmann.

The hotel`s newly designed 120-seat restaurant and lounge, Unity, features traditional American cuisine with a modern twist, accompanied by a comprehensive international wine collection. The name of the restaurant was conceived from a note inscribed in the dust on the window of the restaurant—“Unity Cafe”—immediately following 9/11, when the restaurant served as a brief respite from the Ground Zero site and a gathering place for rescue workers seeking refuge and a quick meal.

With Hudson River views and seasonal outdoor dining, Unity`s culinary offerings are being prepared at the direction of Executive Chef Walter Plendner, Certified Master Chef Brad Barnes—one of only 59 Certified Master Chefs in the United States—and Restaurant Chef Gary Moran.

Forest City Ratner Companies is an affiliate of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, the largest, publicly-traded development company and a major mixed-use property owner in the United States. With 30 completed projects totaling seven million square feet and $1.7 billion, FCRC has another ten projects in construction totaling 3.5 million square feet and $1 billion. Three million additional square feet are in active development. The Embassy Suites Hotel and the Hilton Times Square added over 900 rooms valued at over $250 million to the company`s portfolio.

Embassy Suites Hotels, the nation`s leading all-suite upscale hotel brand, topped the upscale segment with the “Highest Guest Satisfaction Among Upscale Hotel Brands” award in the J.D. Power and Associates 2001 Domestic Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study(SM). Embassy Suites Hotels is part of Hilton Hotels Corporation, an internationally recognized, preeminent hospitality company. The company develops, owns, manages or franchises more than 2,000 hotels, resorts and vacation ownership properties.

To make reservations at an Embassy Suites Hotel, travelers can call 1-800-EMBASSY or visit www.embassysuites.com.

——-