The Riverview
Hotel is on
Jane Street in
New York City's West Village, right on the
Hudson River. It originally housed mostly
sailors. While not genuinely
seedy, the vending machine next to the front door does sell
condems alongside potato chips and pretzels, and the elevators are hand cranked.
The Riverview Hotel
Ballroom is said hotel's auditorium, which was abandoned and unused until the
off-Broadway phenomenon
Hedwig and the Angry Inch ran there. In the movie version of Hedwig, during the
montage sequence in which Hedwig teaches Tommy how to be a
rock star, at one point he wears a t-shirt that says "Riverview Hotel" on it.