at the hotel in 1962, within a passageway known as the Pullman Corridor. The same year, amid competition from other hotels, the Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt hotels formed an alliance to attract conventions with 1,500 to 5,000 guests. The alliance allowed the three hotels to host a single convention across 4,000 guestrooms, 90 meeting rooms, 15 restaurants, and of exhibit space. By then, rail traffic had begun to decline with the beginning of the Jet Age and the construction of the Interstate Highway System, and there was also rising demand for office space in Manhattan. During this decade, Realty Hotels replaced about half of the manually operated elevators at the Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt, and it renovated these hotels as part of a $22 million modernization plan. Realty Hotels' president said the renovations had helped attract new and returning customers to the hotels. Thomas J. Kane was appointed as the hotel's managing director in 1968. After the Plaza Hotel opened its formerly men- only Oak Bar to women in 1969 following a series of protests by some women, the Biltmore became the scene of similar protests. The bar's patrons attempted to discourage women from entering by staring at any who tried to enter and applauding until they relented and left. After a 1970 court ruling against gender discrimination, women began entering the bar. The Biltmore initially did not rename the Men's Bar, prompting complaints. The New York City government ordered the Biltmore's managers to rename the bar in 1973, and a New York Supreme Court judge subsequently upheld this decision. The Barclay, Biltmore, Commodore, and Roosevelt began showing in-room movies in 1972. As part of a small refurbishment project, Realty Hotels renovated the main dining room in the mid-1970s. The Palm Court reopened in 1975 as a bar named "Under the Clock", a reference to the famous expression "Meet me under the clock", which the hotel claimed to have been inspired by the famous clock at the Palm Court's entrance. The Biltmore Bar closed permanently at the end of June 1977. 1970s sale The New York Central had experienced financial decline during the 1960s, merging with the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 to form the Penn Central Railroad. Penn Central continued to face financial issues and failed to make mortgage payments. By late 1970, the Biltmore Hotel was facing foreclosure, as were several other buildings that Penn Central owned around