Defunct Borscht Belt Hotel May Rise Again

By Renee Ghert-Zand January 23, 2012

Old Borscht Belt hotels never die…they just get boarded up until a new buyer comes along to save them. At least that’s the story when it comes to the Nevele, which closed its doors in the Catskills back in 2009.

The Nevele may indeed have a new lease on life if a sale to the Manhattan-based Claremont Investments LLC goes through. A state judge was to hold a hearing on the sale of the 432-room resort on Monday. Claremont is hoping to work with a casino developer to restore the property, and is betting on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s support for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ban on gambling on non-Indian land in New York State.

The Nevele, located in Wawarsing (near Ellenville, NY), was first opened in 1903. According to local lore, the name of the hotel came from the backward spelling of “eleven” — the number of school teachers in the 19th century who discovered the waterfall situated on the hotel’s property.

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