The Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.(Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)

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The White House confirmed Friday that President Obama is ending the practice of staying at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City amid security concerns in the wake of the hotel's purchase by Chinese interests.

Instead, Obama will stay at the New York Palace Hotel when he visits the city this month for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.

"I don't have a lot of information to share about this," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. "Obviously, there are range of consideration that influence where the president will stay when he's not at the White House. Those consideration include everything from available space, to cost and to security."

In recent months, officials expressed worry about surveillance security in light of the Chinese purchase of the Waldorf.

Presidents have used the hotel for decades.

The Associated Press, which first reported the story, cited unnamed officials as saying that "the change is due in large part to concerns about Chinese espionage."

Reports the AP:

"U.S. officials have pointed to Hilton's sale of the Waldorf-Astoria to China's Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion last year as having prompted the security concerns and on recent overnight trips to New York, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry have all shunned the Waldorf for other hotels. ...

"Terms of the sale allow Hilton to run Waldorf for the next 100 years but also call for 'a major renovation' that officials say has raised eyebrows in Washington, where fears of Chinese eavesdropping and cyber-espionage run high."

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