Marmont East?
GET ready for New York's version of the Chateau Marmont. Hotelier Andre Balazs, owner of the historic Hollywood inn, was spotted "checking out" the interior of the Chelsea Hotel on Tuesday. The Chelsea's owners just turned its operation over to powerhouse BD Management, and we hear Balazs, with his knack for historical preservation, will have a role in running and restoring the place. Now all he has to do is figure out how to entice people who have long lived there for little to no rent to vacate. (Via New York Post)
Nice to know that Stanley so willingly "turned over" the Hotel that he owns and has run for 50 years. As for the promised "enticements," bring'em on Andre!
Little to no rent? The Post is Evil.
Posted by: Former Resident | June 22, 2007 at 11:47 AM
My God, they're going to turn it into another Chateau Marmont, once a lovely and authentic place, now a luxury museum and reeking of fakery. I don't think Balazs gets it, the idea of authenticity and community and genuine creation.
I too would like to know who is paying little or no rent. This strikes me as disinformation from the "investors" (Heirs) to counter the accurate reporting being done elsewhere. And that doesn't bode well.
Posted by: sparkle | June 22, 2007 at 11:52 AM
Since when it it little or no rent here? Some of us pay well over market and don't complain b/c we know its because these corporate cockshiners are pressuring Stanley. We figured it would eventually ease up, so we're considering having them to court and force them to LOWER the rent, if possible. And as for the 'enticements', this is my home and THEY are the trespassers, so they'd better have extremely deep pockets if they think they're going to dislodge anybody from this hotel. And even then we'd be back the second they came to their senses and reinstates Stanley and David who are the backbone of this place. If the other owners don't see that now they will see it eventually and by then it'll have cost them all a pretty penny to pull off this so-called 'coup'.
Posted by: PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY | June 22, 2007 at 01:19 PM
Well, we'll just keep up the pressure until they get tired of it. Got some chalk? Write GREED KILLS on the sidewalk outside, or whatever else seems suitable. Next time I'm up in New York I'll be stopping by with a few friends for a little lobby party -- with cameras galore. I'm sending postcards and ecards as suggested. These people don't understand and appreciate what it was that made the reputation of the hotel, that attracted so many artists and inspired so much art. You can't fucking design it. Stanley knew. They'll never know.
Posted by: Former Resident | June 22, 2007 at 01:57 PM
My rent -- always competitive with market prices, but many friends stayed in hotel rooms at the chelsea and those were affordable for people. Middle class people. Working people. The hotel is not going to be a place for real people anymore.
Posted by: lp | June 22, 2007 at 02:31 PM
As one former tenant said: ..
"Do not go gentle into that good night
Rage, Rage against the dying of the light!"
- Fellow tenant, neighbors, artists, free-thinkers -
We Must Unite against the corporate pin-heads!
Let Us Take Back The Hotel!!
and restore Stanley to is rightful throne.
Posted by: Dylan's Ghost | June 22, 2007 at 08:04 PM
I think this Page 6 item likely came from Balazs himself or his formerly "silent" partner Drukier. Do you think he and his masters are setting the stage for evictions, spreading the idea (twice now in the Post) that the Chelsea is full of people with free apartments and cheap apartments? Is he also trying to imprint the idea that he and the partners will be making every effort and offering everything possible (enticing) to get people to leave? I smell the odor of Rubenstein PR.
Posted by: Chelsea | June 23, 2007 at 01:22 AM
Put Rubenstein PR on the Get Well Card list.
And if they rip anything apart, try to get the pieces thrown away and keep them. Someday we will get this place back, and need to reassemble the hotel.
Posted by: Former Resident | June 23, 2007 at 02:08 PM
Here';s the Rubenstein website:
http://www.rubensteinpr.com/
Contact Info:
Main Number: 212-843-1900
New Business: 212-843-9222 | Email: RRuben@rubensteinpr.com
Email: hr@rpr1.com
Send them get well cards. Apply for a summer internship! Send them the chain letters that get sent to you! Assholes.
If they rip anything apart in the hotel, try to get the pieces thrown away and keep them. Someday we will get this place back, and need to reassemble the hotel.
Posted by: Former Resident | June 23, 2007 at 02:14 PM
Here's the email for Andre Balazs company:
info@hotelsab.com
Posted by: Former Resident | June 23, 2007 at 02:42 PM