Over the weekend we went around photographing all the festive holiday decorations spread throughout 
the Hotel Chelsea. In keeping with this year's theme of the Sawed-Off Holidays, many people went for the minimalist look, taking care not to overshadow the small Christmas tree in the lobby. And in fact the vast majority of our residents played it safe in this regard by simply not decorating at all.
Another thing we noticed, with some alarm, was the extent to which black paint has been applied to many of the building's previously colorful, idiosyncratic doors. Why black, of all colors? Wasn't the chocolate brown (the color of most of the doors) depressing enough? It makes the place look a lot less interesting, that's for sure. It's too bad we hadn't thought to photograph the doors earlier.
Our door wasn't too special, though it did have some really big numbers on it. (We intended this less for decorative purposes than to keep drunks from mistaking the room for their own and stumbling in upon us in the middle of the night.) The workers removed the numbers while we were out of town, and then, when we asked where they were, they didn't know what we were talking about.
Anyway, congratulations to those who were able to resist this push toward conformity. Though most of the colorful doors probably weren't the work of the present tenants, we sincerely hope that people repaint. (You will need several coats to cover the black!) And if the blackguards haven't made it to your floor yet, be vigilant.
And, oh, though I seem to have gone off on a tangent here, I meant to ask you to write in and vote for your favorite holiday door or suggest a different door. The winner gets a lifetime subscription to Living With Legends, delivered to their computer daily, free of charge! Ed Hamilton
Doors # 1, 2, 3 & 4 
More doors here
Doors 5, 6, & 7
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