In the 19th century, on Napoca Street, which at that time was called Hay Street, at number 1, there was an inn called “Național”. On its place was put into use in 1895, the “New-York” hotel. It is a monumental building, made in eclectic style – neo-baroque style with classicist elements. In the interwar period, the magazine “Gândirea” operated here. During the Second World War, for a while, this used to be the Gestapo headquarters (Secret Police of Nazi Germany). After the Second World War, it functioned as the headquarters of various institutions, as students dormitory, so that, in 1960, it returned to its original functionality, that of a hotel, under the name of “Continental”.
The cafe shop on the ground floor of the hotel has been, over time, the center of the literary-artistic life of Cluj.