Abandoned and Demolished Catskills Resort! What Happened to Grossinger’s?
New York Yankees great Yogi Berra once said "The future ain't what it used to be" and man was he right.
There is a place here in New York State that, at one time, attracted Hollywood Stars, legendary athletes such as Berra, comedy kingpins and regular folks like you and me. Well over 100,000 people each year would visit this gem that was an inspiration for the 1987 movie Dirty Dancing. Today this "Queen of the Catskills" is gone but not forgotten.
Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel in Liberty, NY was not only part of the 'Borscht Belt' resorts that flourished from the 1940's to the 1980's, some could argue that Grossinger's was the best of the best. Over 1,000 acres featuring a golf course, airport, post office and a 600 room hotel.
It was not unusual to see Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Taylor, Milton Berle and other celebrities at Grossinger's. Some were there to perform while others went because it was the place to be seen. The resort itself became famous in 1952 when they were the first resort to use artificial snow on their slopes.
Like all of the classic resorts in the Catskills, times changed and business suffered. As the 80's rolled into the 90's air travel became more accessible and many younger vacationers started heading to more tropical locations and Grossinger's closed it's doors in 1986.
The resort buildings were demolished in 2018 but before being knocked down several "urban explorers" made their way inside what was left of Grossinger's. Scroll through the pictures below to see what the resort looked like in it's prime and well as the "after" pictures, before demolition.