Gerald Adds Value

Gerald DeCock shows off his 10th floor apartment and Mr. Bard lets you in on how to score your own place at the Chelsea.

"At the Chelsea Hotel, renting is equivalent to a tenured position at an Ivy League college, a kind of golden (spangled?) handcuff. Stanley Bard, the managing director since the 1960's of this 19th-century grande dame - and who turned 71, he said proudly, last Thursday - handpicks his tenants like a club impresario at the velvet rope. "I want them to be here," he said. "I want them to stay forever."

There is no waiting list, he said, "but we go through great expense and detail to decide whether someone would be good for the hotel."  New York Times, June 19

 "People ask me how I can wake up to all this every day," Mr. DeCock said. "But I love it. All this color puts me in a fantastic mood, and I am grateful for it every day."   All of this for only $2,700 per month.