The Abandoned Resorts of the Catskills | Abandoned America Podcast

Season 1, Episode 9
Premiere: May 9, 2022
Guest Host: Matt Lambros
Music by: Rival Consoles
Photo Gallery: The Empire Hotel
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The Catskills region of New York has had two different periods of incredible popularity among vacationers and two different periods of decline that saw many of its greatest resorts left in ruins. In this episode I'm joined by guest co-host Matt Lambros, creator of the After the Final Curtain podcast, website, and book series, and we'll explore what led to its establishment as the place to get away from the city in the late 1800s, and what led to many of the most popular hotels left being left vacant. We'll talk about its subsequent rise as the Borscht Belt and how so many huge resorts from this period like the Pines, the Concord, and Kutsher's that were so influential in American culture were abandoned and eventually destroyed. We'll also cover some wild stories from the area's heyday, like poet Oscar Wilde getting publicly beaten with a sunflower and a bitter, years-long war over fried chicken.

Links:
After the Final Curtain Website | Podcast | Facebook | Twitter
"Catskill Resorts: Lost Architecture of Paradise" by Ross Padluck