Obama, U.S. delegation nix Waldorf-Astoria stay, citing Chinese cyberespionage concerns

President Obama and the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly won't be staying at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel amid cybersecurity concerns, the Associated Press reported.

The luxury hotel has served as U.S. officials' operational base during the UN's annual assembly for decades and even features the abandoned "Track 61" train platform once was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt and other VIP guests. Last year, a Chinese firm with strong ties to Beijing purchased the hotel with sale terms allowing a “major renovation,” raising U.S. officials' suspicions of Chinese eavesdropping and cyberespionage, according to reports.

The delegation will stay at the New York Palace Hotel instead.

The State Department didn't specify a reason for the switch but made it following a review “to take into account changing circumstances” that included “possible security concerns,” department spokesperson Mark Toner told the AP