But gentrification is about displacement. This was even deeper.

This was about disenchantment, that feeling of belonging and then loss that has gripped pockets of New York City as waves of wealth stream through communities, moving poorer people to the fringes.

Ian Schrager, a famed curator of night life best known for Studio 54, and his partners bought the backyard land for $50 million in 2012 as he expanded his footprint in the boutique hotel industry.

The hotel, called Public, is “the best thing we’ve ever done,” Mr. Schrager said in a promotional video. “It’s based upon a simple but very important, revolutionary idea: luxury for all. Just think about it. It means that everybody is entitled to participate in a luxury experience, giving them everything they need and everything they want.”