The Doral Arrowwood Resort, one of the premiere Hudson Valley venues for decades, is now just days away from shutting down.
The venue was renowned for weddings and conferences. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton prepared at the resort for her final 2016 presidential debate.
On Friday, resort employees left the venue with boxes. All 275 workers were notified on Christmas Eve that they would lose their jobs in just two weeks.
The resort’s mortgage was taken over by a new lender that no longer wants to fund expenses for the bankrupt business. The total mortgage debt sits at an estimated $57 million.
On top of 275 people out of work, about 35 parties are also out of a deposit after receiving cancellation notices from the resort. One soon-to-be-bride told News 12 that losing the deposit "adds to the difficulty of finding a new place."
The Crowne Plaza of White Plains took to Facebook to reach out to couples who are now scrambling to find replacement wedding venues.
The Village of Rye Brook is taking an estimated $600,000 hit in property tax and hotel occupancy tax. The Blind Brook School District is now losing $1.1 million a year, with the second half of that bill due at the end of January.
“It was done without any notice except at the last week of December to the village and I don’t think that’s acceptable," says Sen. Shelley Mayer. State law requires employees to receive 90 days-notice. Sen. Mayer is now working with the Department of Labor to see if there is any legal recourse.
The county is working to help employees find new work while the tourism bureau is offering to help couples locate new wedding venues.