Asbestos Threat at Chelsea Hotel Revealed

     Legends has recently been able to obtain the court documents filed in BD’s suit contesting their termination by Marlene Krauss.  Among the more disturbing revelations is BD’s claim that there is still asbestos in the building.
     This is a ticking time bomb, and it is outrageous that the residents of this building have not been informed.  This could affect the health of each and every resident in the Chelsea Hotel.  (I guess now we know why you’re seldom around.  For God’s sake, there are children and ill people living here, Marlene.) When were you planning on telling us this?  We demand to be informed of the full extent of the asbestos threat.

Here is the relevant passage from the letter.

Comments

[Old & Crappy]

I'm not surprised by this. Marlene Krauss and David Elder do not care about the tenants. They care about making a buck.

[lady]

There is asbestos in the hotel. The linoleum in the apartments is made of asbestos. There is a test kit you can get at the home depot to check it out.

[Jack Jones]

No big surprises here.

Other facts Marlene may want to consider:

Most of the electrical wiring is old, (Or isn't up to code) some of it is faulty and even dangerous..........

The plumbing.......is ancient.

There is also a lot of very old paint....(Lead?)

The elevators need to be replaced......

And the mouse and rodent problem is out of control.....

If I have left anything out just fill in the blank, _____________________________________,

Have a nice day Marlene,

JJ

[Another ByStander]

Just the sort of info to get the Hotel completely shut down by the NYC health department.

Everyone evicted due to health reasons.
3 years cleaning out the building of HazMats.

All residents displaced.
Nothing for the Bards and Marlene Krauss and everyone else to fight over.

Everyone out!
The building has been declared by the city of NY a toxic wasteland!

Pack up your things,
The end is near,

we also know there is asbestos in the hotel. we served papers on bd's lawyers stating the same and they had no response -- nada.

Still no manager. What's going on? I guess nobody wants to work with Marlene Krauss and David Elder after this fiasco with BD....

Right,I wouldn't expect to see a new manager there for a very, very long time. B&D are well-respected in the NY hotel community (although not in the bohemian community) - so nobody is going to work with the Chelsea Hotel now. I don't think Krauss and Elder will ever find a manager (at least not anyone with more brains than Elder) who would take on the project. Plus there really is no reason to manage the place anyway, without a loan there is no money, and without a certificate of non-harassment, they can't legally renovate. Fewer and fewer tenants are paying rent, and the hotel can't command the big rates it once did for hotel rooms. The next manager would be fed to the wolves: Dealing with an onslaught of rent overcharge lawsuits and building violations doesn't sound like fun. Plus any manager not named Stanley Bard will surely be greeted with disdain from residents. The inmates have clearly taken over the asylum. Time to bring back the Bards, or hold elections among tenants for new manager.

[Rob from Aus]

* coughs* *calls lawyer to prepare asbestosis suit against BD*

They probably put the asbestos in to stop Edie burning the entire Hotel to the ground. As amusing a thought as that may be, I don't like the idea of y'all living with asbestos. Time to irritate BD by drawing public health attention to the issue and demanding safe removal.

As to the rodents mentioned by another commentator, I caught a mouse in my room and released it onto 23rd St a couple of years ago. {I decided the mouse had as much right to be there as I did and that it's grand parents probably knew Dee Dee} If the problem has gotten worse public health officials have to be notified and BD petitioned to institute pest management as a matter of urgency.

What was charming under Stanley's watch is now good cause to hassle the BD monster! :)

The Bards knew about this a long time ago, just like all the other problems listed above. Of course back then, it was "charming". Bring back the Bards? Stop kidding yourselves.

[LP]

Two thoughts...

They did want to take out a mortgage,which they likely wouldn't be able to repay, opening up the hotel to bankruptcy and BD ownership...

They are not above using the asbetos issue to get residents out of the hotel, under the guise of concern.

Do not leave. Make them clean this place up, but do not let them use it as a pretense to remove tenants.

We were willign to put up with a lot to live in the hotel as it was under the Bards.

We are not willing to put up with anything under the new regime.

Where is the asbestos?

Krauss and Elder didn't notify anyone, or by appearances do anything about it.

Let's sue the board, use the proceeds to clean up the hotel, and hire Stanley and his family to run it again.

A class-action lawsuit just waiting to happen. Won't be long before tenants are getting soliciations in the mail from personal injury lawyers

[wage slave]

If there is any asbestos near my apartment, it would have to breach ten coats of paint to enter my air.

Never had a problem with plumbing that wasn't fixed within a day by Steve.

Never had an electrical problem, and I run a lot of appliances.

Had mice. Got a cat. Problem solved. Had rats in my previous non-chelsea apartment.

[OneofTHOSEpeople]

there is one large reason that there is still asbestos in the hotel, think about it folks,
because whoever was in charge for this WHOLE TIME NEVER DID A SINGLE THING ABOUT IT. and believe me.... they knew.

the bards are not innocent bystanders in this whole mess.
which is exactly what it is, a mess. BD was here for how long and couldn'
t fix it, the bards were here for 50yrs and did nothing to fix it.
---
btw Ed,, it's ok if you don't print this because everyone at the hotel is going to see this anyway once the new advertising campaign is released.
the only people who aren't aware of this are the tenants, unfortunately.

what new advertising campaign?

will the hotel be offering two asbestos lungs for the price of one?

Thank you Marlene. Something was done, but not finished. Can't wait for the new propaganda campaign.

[wage slave]

Think about this One of THOSE people. Despite whatever problems individuals had at the hotel (and most did not), we still prefered it to your version of the hotel. What does that say to you. Think about it. HARD.

[Miss H]

If the asbestos is in the lineoleum, that may be why the lineoleum was replaced in the hallways with hardwood some years back. None of the rooms I ever lived/stayed in had lineoleum. I too would like to know where the "alleged" asbestos is and whether its "alleged" location poses any genuine health threat. Wer do not have all the facts yet and I don't see the two minor heirs rushing to give us the facts, do you? In any event, I'd take asbestos in lineoleum over Marlene Krauss and David Elder in charge of the Hotel Chelsea any day of the week. Your mileage may vary.

[Dont Panic]

Most linoleum installed previous to 1979 contaisn some asbestos or has an asbestos backing. If it is in good shape it poses no threat. Asbestos is still used in certain products used in home construction as well as automobiles. Most old buildings contain some asbestos. I am surprised Bd hotels does not know this.

Here are some links for further information:

http://www.ehs.washington.edu/ohsasbestos/index.shtm

http://www.thehartford.com/corporate/losscontrol/TIPS/580-502.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/libby/inhome.html

i know exactly where the asbestos is, in great quantities, and it ABSOLUTELY poses an immediate threat to health and safety. waiting for a concensus to form here before dialing 3-1-1 to report it

Wait! There's an asbestos problem and Krauss and Elder aren't forthcoming about what it is exactly? Not even a note in the mailbox. No, instead they are holding back in order to use it as a manipulative tool in a marketing campaign. This says it all.

[just me]

If Stanley knew about a serious asbestos problem and did nothing, that sounds bad. Stanley and his kids did a lot for me so I would have to have all the facts and hear Stanley’s story before I could make a judgment call. Did the two heirs not know about it until they took over? They don’t know much about the place so maybe. What have they done about it? Why aren’t they giving us information? Something is very fishy.