Brooklyn couple’s 75th brings them back to honeymoon site

Married in '45, groom was army medic, so chose Midtown hotel for short honeymoon

June 16, 2021 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Maurice and Sally Goller today, at the same hotel (under a different name) where they honeymooned back in 1945. Photo courtesy of Jessica Murray

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As the Westgate New York Grand Hotel in Midtown Manhattan prepares for its official reopening date of June 22, it has invited back as its first guests a Brooklyn couple who originally honeymooned at the hotel back in 1945.

Maurice and Sally Goller, both from Brighton Beach, were also both students at Abraham Lincoln High School when a teacher moved Sally to the track team’s table in the cafeteria because she was too loud. Maurice, a member of that track team, introduced himself and they soon went on their first date — a movie and stroll along the Coney Island boardwalk, along with some Nathan’s hot dogs and French fries, according to the hotel.

The two of them married on Oct. 20, 1945, in a small ceremony at a neighborhood deli, then enjoyed a three-day honeymoon at the hotel, then known as the Hotel Tudor, for $6.25 a night. By this time, Maurice was a medic and a corporal in the World War II-era U.S. Army, although the war had just ended the previous month.

Maurice and Sally Goller in the 1940s. Notice Maurice’s jacket, likely a track team jacket from Abraham Lincoln High School. Photo courtesy of Jessica Murray

While the couple, now in Long Island, have usually taken vacations on their anniversary, last year, on their 75th anniversary, they had to stay home because of the pandemic. Therefore, the couple, now 95 and 93 respectively, are celebrating their 75th a year late, at the hotel.

“We couldn’t be more happy to be a part of Maurice and Sally’s story,” said a statement from the hotel management. The two will likely feel at home, since the just-renovated hotel is furnished with Art Deco furniture, and the legs of the desk in the rooms are designed to look like an old-time radiator.

The couple’s legacy is carried on by their granddaughter and grandson, Abigail Lehman and David Lehman, co-founder of Photo-Start, an organization that helps children living in distressed areas by teaching them life skills through photography.