York City. After Prohibition in the United States came into effect in 1919, the Biltmore's bar was closed and replaced with a lunch counter. The hotel remained successful through the early 1920s, amid rapid increases in Grand Central's passenger traffic following the terminal's completion. Bowman announced in July 1924 that the grill room, bar, and men's clubroom would be replaced with stores at a cost of $500,000. By then, the upper-class residences that had characterized the adjacent portion of Madison Avenue in the 19th century were being replaced with retail establishments. Warren and Wetmore designed the modifications. These storefronts were initially leased to tenants in the clothing and textile industries, such as the Gotham Silk Hosiery Company and Edward Gropper Inc., as well as a drug store. Bowman continued to operate the New York Biltmore until he died in 1931, and David Mulligan took over as Bowman-Biltmore's president the next year. During the 1930s, the Biltmore was one of the most expensive hotels in New York City, along with the Chatham, Park Lane, Roosevelt, and Waldorf Astoria. The Canadian Club of New York moved to the Biltmore in 1930, and the Traffic Club of New York relocated its clubhouse to the Biltmore's 18th and 19th floors in 1934. After New York state repealed a Prohibition-era ban on standing bars in May 1934, Bowman-Biltmore Hotels installed a long bar at the Madison Avenue end of the hotel, replacing a haberdashery there. The bar opened in 1936 and was initially open only to men; its guests included New York governor Al Smith. Realty Hotels operation 1930s to 1950s The New York Central canceled Bowman-Biltmore's lease of the Biltmore Hotel in December 1934. The railroad formed a holding company called Realty Hotels Inc. to operate the Biltmore, and Realty Hotels' president David B. Mulligan became the Biltmore's managing director. The New York Central retained full ownership of the Biltmore and other properties around Grand Central Terminal. The Bowman Room, a nightclub at ground level, opened at the hotel in October 1936. When the Chatham and Park Lane hotels became part of the Realty Hotels chain in 1940, Frank Regan, who had managed the two other hotels, took over the Biltmore's management. The Biltmore was booked to capacity during World War II, when politicians and members of the U.S. Armed Forces frequented the hotel. Regan renovated all of the hotel's rooms in the 1940s,