Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog

A Reign of Confusion

All of the residents of the Chelsea received this notice in their mail box today. 

TO PREVENT ANY CONFUSION please be advised that BD Hotels is no longer the managing agent of the Chelsea Hotel.  All inquiries should be directed to David Elder, Office of the Manager.

I asked Glendon, the new director of operations what the meaning of this was and he insisted that it was a hoax. But how are we to know???  As one resident noted, "it’s like Donald Trump’s apprentice is running the hotel."  "Amateur hour," I believe he said.

“Options within Realism” Features Three Works by Bernard Childs

  Childs was born in Brooklyn and began his life as an artist in Italy in 1951.  The earliest of his paintings that still exist are dated 1952, the year he moved to Paris. He was in the 1959 Documenta II, the same year the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam gave him his first museum show.

     In 1966, he settled at the Hotel Chelsea with his wife Judith and commuted to Paris until the end of the 1970's.  He completed and signed his last painting here at the Chelsea in November of 1984.
     The photo is of "Karma", 1965, oil and graphite on linen (36x28-5/8 inches). Another 1965 painting and one dated 1977 are also hanging in this brilliantly installed exhibition of artists from many countries and a number of generations.

“Options within Realism,” is on display at Jason McCoy Inc until August 17 and showcases the work of a variety of modern masters and contemporary artists. The gallery is on the 11th floor of the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street (Northeast corner of 57th and Madison).  Summer schedule: Monday-Friday, 11 am to 5 pm.

Linda Troeller's Atmosphere

Linda Troeller's new memoir, Atmosphere was recently featured in the Village Voice and the New York Times.  Linda has lived at the hotel since 1994 and her book documents the period from her arrival until 2006. In an interview in Chelsea Now Linda calls her work "an artistic interpertation of the atmosphere of the Chelsea." Below is one of her beautiful moody photographs of Christo, Jean-Claude and Stanley Bard.

 

Christo and Jean Claude, like many of the artists in the book, wrote a love letter to the Hotel.

Dear Chelsea Hotel,

In 1964 a Paris gallerist told us that when we were going to go to NYC she said artists always stay at the Chelsea Hotel. We came for an exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery and needed to construct the storefront piece for the show in our room, as we had no money to rent a studio. Since we were from France, we weren't sure if this was allowed so Christo would use his hand saw late at night. One of the storefronts needed a doorknob and we loved the one on our bathroom door, so we exchanged that one for one from the local hardware store. The piece is now in the collection of the Hirshorn Museum in DC.

Christo and Jean Claude, Artists

Sign Sign Everywhere a Sign

1. Casebeer, Joe & Tosh checked in. 2. BD Hotels got tacky. 3. Casebeer & Joe got rowdy. 4. David Edler got a sign. 5. The missing rosettes were mourned. 6. The original "Bring Back the Bards" banner reached a milestone. 7. Check out the "Bring Back the Bards" flickr pool for photos from around the world.

 

Bartleby the Scrivener vs. Klingon Death Rays

     The article in The New York Observer devotes several paragraphs to the claim that Stanley is a bad businessman.  Mainly, it’s board member Marlene Krauss – Harvard MBA in case you missed that – who is taking Stanley to task:  “Frankly, it’s time that somebody watched what Stanley is doing.”
     Somebody should watch what Marlene (Harvard MBA, '67) is doing as well.  Her Summer Infant company has recently been sued for poaching employees from a competitor and stealing trade secrets. In a separate case, Summer Infant was sued for patent infringement as well.  Summer Infant had to recently recall 5,000 of their Garden Play Yard crib rail toys because they posed a hazard of cuts and puncture wounds.  Most hilariously, Summer Infant Baby Monitors were recently found to be receiving NASA broadcasts from the Space Shuttle!  What is this woman doing to our children?
     Anyway, Marlene (Harvard MBA, ’67) never made a peep when the Chelsea was in the middle of a depressed neighborhood and Stanley was still managing to turn a profit. It’s only now that the property is so valuable that she gives a damn and is “embarrassed to pass it on…” to her children. At least it won’t be as bad as puncture wounds and Vulcan Mind Probes. Resistance is Futile!
    I do at least like the headline on this piece, apparently an editor’s sly joke; “Nasty Checks into the Chelsea!” You can say that again.

Piri Thomas Weighs In: The Trustees Have Been Doing Us Dirty

  The Village Voice spoke to writer Piri Thomas about his dealings with Hotel Chelsea layabout David Elder. Here's what he had to say:

When reached at his California home, Thomas—who is battling his step-son David Elder, the man who residents say orchestrated the boardroom coup that ousted hotel lifeblood and long-time hotel manager Stanley Bard—was surprised that he has become a cause celebre among hotel residents. He couldn't believe that his once obscure case had been thrust into the spotlight after languishing in the courts for years.

But Thomas said he hoped to prevail:
"The trustees have just been doing us dirty," Thomas said. "They have been spending all the money so that we won't have any. It's just been terrible."

Thomas' wife, Suzie Dod Thomas, said she didn't want to comment on the case outright but clarified some information that's been reported. The next big date in the case is August 20 when a court-appointed mediator will consider Thomas' motion to have Elder removed as a trustee of the estate, she said. The appeal regarding the $1.2 million is indeed still pending, she said.

Revelatory Work

Where have all of the revelatory poets gone,
long time passing? 
Where have all the revelatory poets gone
long time ago?
Where have all the revelatory poets gone?
Replaced by BD Pod People every one.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Credits: Legends of the Chelsea, Snap Films 

Luca Brasi Sleeps with the Shrimp Tails and Lobster Shells (The Blog's Response to the Observer's Story)

“Oh my God!” thought David Elder as he sat in his purloined office at the Chelsea Hotel.  “My strategy of befriending the members of the Chelsea community doesn’t seem to be panning out.”  Elder had just tuned in to the blog to see that we had reported on his recent attempt to (in our humble opinion) defraud his stepfather, author Piri Thomas, of $1.2 million.  “The old man will be dead in a couple of years anyway,” Elder thought indignantly.  “What the hell does he need money for!?” 

But Elder was not without a conscience, and soon enough, the enormity of his foul deed overwhelming his tiny brain, he sunk into self pity and wallowed around there for awhile.  “Born and Druckier said they’d make me a billionaire real estate tycoon!” he whined aloud.  “They didn’t say that nobody would like me!”

But Elder was quick to rally his defenses.  He had been watching The Godfather the night before, and all at once a brilliant idea to get sympathy struck him like a bolt out of the blue.  He ran next door to the El Quijote, all the way through the dining room and into the kitchen, where he began to root around in the trash can behind the dishwashing machine.  Sorting through the slimy mess, with a whoop of triumph he soon extracted his prize.

            The mailman, who arrived the next day, was less than enthused.  As he pulled the soggy, dripping, poorly wrapped package from his mailbag and handed it across the front desk, the mailman, who was perhaps Italian, or who had at least watched the movie more closely, declared, “It’s supposed to be a raw fish, you meathead! Not a half-eaten cooked one with a bunch of sauce and gravy all over it!  And Mama Mia!  Put it in a plastic bag or something so it doesn’t get all over the other mail!”

Elder ignored the unprovoked film criticism.  “Ooooh, a package for me!” he exclaimed, trying his best to act surprised.  “How wonderful!  What could it be?” 

As he unwrapped it, or rather as it fell apart in his hands, he thrust it out at arms length and grabbed his heart.  “Holy Mackerel!!!” he cried in mock terror.  “Mercy me!  The Saints preserve us!”

            Bearing the reeking, sopping mess before him, Elder ran out from behind the desk, green beans and a stray potato skin trailing off onto the carpet.  “Stanley, Stanley!” he cried.  “Look, look!  Those evil Bohemian mobsters sent me a fish in the mail!”

“That’s terrible, David,” said Stanley, characteristically unconcerned.  “Why don’t you go out on the street and get some fresh dog poop and put it in front of your door as well.  That’ll really show ’em!”

EXTRA:

            In related news, Born and Druckier are laughing their asses off because they were able to get this stooge to take the heat off of them while they work on more important matters—like how to throw us all out into the street and chop up the rooms into cookie-cutter boxes to maximize floor space. -- Ed Hamilton

The New York Observer: Nasty Checks Into the Hotel

An article in today's issue of The New York Observer spotlights the recent changes at the hotel.  Mr. Bard's right. This place is nuttier than ever.  Marlene Krauss, once again, points out that she attended Harvard Business School and therefore knows everything there is to know about running a business.  No quotes from Elder, but through a spokesperson he confirmed that he received a fish head and revealed that someone sent him dog poop.  (Photo: Chris Shott, New York Observer)

Jerry Weinstein Gives One of His Famous Tours

The public loves the Chelsea but they don’t love corporate hotels.  Can you imagine this sort of tour being given at the so called Pod Hotel or any other of BD’s glorified flophouses.  The public like the hotel because it’s old and quirky and genuine.  There’s no place else like it on earth.  There’s a million places like the Pod Hotel or the Maritime and nobody would give a good God Damn if they were wiped from the face of the earth tomorrow.   It’s all just part of the plastification and Disneyification of New York which has gone much too far.  Even in this throw away society some things should be off limits.  (Photos from Jerry's 7/22/07 92nd Street Y tour of the Chelsea Hotel)

 

Club Med for Rats

Reportedly BD Hotels plan to open a spa in the basement of the hotel.  We hope this will replace Star Lounge which genuinely needs replacing with something or the other.   We think however that the spa is intended to complement Star Lounge.  It will be a place where the millionaires can recharge their batteries after a night of hard partying at Star Lounge.  I suppose they think they will be able to stumble upstairs and flop out at the hotel in between but we intend to do our best to make sure that such a revolting development never eventuates.   Aren’t there enough places where these vein and deluded wastrels can be parted from their money on the dubious promise that their misspent youth can be rejuvenated? 

As AHCB # 3’s medium reported to us earlier an elemental spirit has long made its residence in the Chelsea Hotel’s basement.  We feel fairly certain it is already pissed off by being kept awake by the insipid dance music being blasted at all hours in Star Lounge.  We hope that this will prove to be the last straw.  Hopefully when it sucks the rich layabouts with their cucumber eye patches and mud pack facials down the cosmic sewer hole into Hell the rest of the building will remain standing.  And it will be simply as if we have flushed a toilet beneath the withered bum of our superannuated dowager of 23^rd Street. -- Ed Hamilton

Where's Stanley?

Earlier today, right by the benches near the elevator, facing out so you could read it was a white board alerting people that Stanley Bard is no longer the Manager of the hotel.  It was quickly taken down.   But not before somebody got a picture.  Surprise, surprise people want to talk to the man who has been running the hotel for 50 years.  Imitations just don't cut it.  Accept no substitutes. 

Family Values: Creativity, Anti-Gentrification and Rockin’ Tee Shirts

Joe, Casebeer &  Tosh booked their room back in April before the despicable hostile takeover of the hotel.  In other words, the reason they wanted to come to the hotel was for the Bard family and the Chelsea Hotel family, not for the 99 cent Internet room specials that BD is promoting to drive up the short-term occupancy rate.  When they found out about the take over they didn’t know whether to come to the hotel or not because they certainly didn’t want to be seen as supporting BD in any way.  They decided to come on anyway and show their support for the Bards.  Since they are peaceful folks torches and pitchforks were out of the question.  These great tee-shirts are what they came up with.Leave it to the Chelsea tourists to find a creative solution.    (Some residents may recognize this family as they lived here at the Hotel in 2000 & 2001.  Joe is a musician and Casebeer is a painter. Be sure to welcome them home.)





















(Photo: Tosh, Casebeer & Joe check in to the Hotel wearing their "Bring Back the Bards" tee-shirts designed by Casebeer. Click through to read their fascinating story!)

Something Fishy At the Chelsea

It seems that the Mafia has targeted David Elder.  We've received multiple reports that the NYPD Bomb Squad was called to the hotel Friday because Chelsea Hotel layabout and Board Member David Elder received what he thought was a suspicious package.  Turns out it wasn't suspicious at all it was just a dead fish head. Man, that could really ruin your day.  I hope he doesn't find a dead horse's head in his bed tonight. Have a nice weekend, David.

Filmmaker Theresa Duncan Reported Dead

Filmmaker Theresa Duncan, a friend of the Chelsea Hotel and fellow blogger, has reportedly died.   The LA Observed reports that she killed herself in New York. Her boyfriend Jeremy Blake is reported missing. In her 2005 interview with us she talks about her favorite Hotel Chelsea story and speaks hopefully of a future that would include returning to the Chelsea.

Well, it's a place that many legends passed through, and I'm very impressed that genius director Stanley Kubrick used to visit sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke's apartment here when they were making "2001," but my favorite story is the great night I spent with my boyfriend Jeremy Blake there.

It was in a vast and powerful snowstorm, and we had been dating three months or so. I remember before we went to bed we were making out in the window, looking out at the street filling up with snow, it was almost completely quiet and we were overlooking  the electric Chelsea Hotel sign, and how it was lit up and haloed by all this snow, and I remember later the wild noises that the hotel made late that night, like some madman in the basement playing a church organ made with the hotel's old radiator pipes.

     Since that night we've been together ten years now, and Jeremy has had shows at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum and all over the world and I've written some stuff I'm really proud of and I'm about to make this great rock and roll film for kids....And our fantastic night in the Chelsea was the night of fireworks in December 1995 that kicked it all off.

We moved to L.A. in 2002 for work, but we'll be back to make my film early next year and I've been thinking about us taking a place in the Chelsea for our eight month stay. It's a good luck place for us and for our work.

Save Piri Thomas

Our friends over at "Save Piri Thomas" have started a countdown to August 6th and here's why.   
According to the records of the Los Angeles Superior Court, Piri has indeed asked a judge to rule on David Elder's obvious unfitness to serve as his Trustee.

The hearing will be held at 8:30AM on August 6th in Department 11 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (unless Elder continues to hide his face).

Stay tuned to find out what you can do to help.

One Month Post Ouster: Stanley Bard Talks to Gothamist

In an extremely revealing interview, Stanley Bard talks about what the past month has been like for him. He also discusses his fears for the future of the Chelsea Hotel and its residents.
     Also, the plot thickens regarding Board Member David Elder's demented shenaganins. Let's just review what we've learned about the scoundrel of late: 1. He helped push the Bard family, owners of the hotel, out of their management roles; 2. He's withholding money from elderly author Piri Thomas; and 3. He's dating a tenant.  As to this final item: is this a perk of his new job?  We wonder what her rent is. Will her art work appear in the lobby? But enough about Elder for now.  We don't want Marlene Krauss and BD Hotels (aka: Two Guys with Bank Books) to feel left out, now do we?  We've got a lot of fun stuff to look forward to:  SEC filings, patent infringement claims, accusations of hiring employees away from direct competitors, celebrity lawsuits -- and the transmission of NASA broadcasts via baby monitors! Gentlemen, start your engines.

Grand Ball Room to Become Youth Hostel?

  Earlier this week we noticed some very suspicious renovations going on in the Grand Ball Room.  Oddly, given the fact that they seem to be partitioning the space, we don’t see a permit on file at the Department of Buildings for this work. (We feel pretty certain that one is required.  Be sure to call the DOB and complain.) The Grand Ball Room, in addition to being a beautiful historical room with striking and unique wood moldings in the shape of gargoyles on the ceiling, was artist Richard Bernstein’s home for many years.  Some sources report that he moved to the Chelsea in the early 60s. Could this renovation be a surrepititious effort to take a rent stabilized room off of the rolls?

Artist Richard Bernstein designed the award winning covers of Andy Warhol's Interview magazine for 15 years. In total, he designed 120 covers. He also did covers for Time magazine and for albums by the singer Grace Jones, another former Chelsea resident.  Bernstein was found dead in his room on October 18, 2002.  We haven’t heard any reports of his ghost haunting the place, but this renovation seems like something that might conjure up an angry bohemian spirit.  BD Hotels believes in living dangerously.

In the years following Bernstein’s death, the room served as the scene of a well attended art exhibit by resident painter Robert Lambert.  Resident/gallery owner Daniel Reich held several avant garde art shows in the space. 

With all of the price chopping going on around here we figure they'll probably top the partitions with chicken wire, stick a cot and a TV in them, and charge winos $20.00 per night. Maybe they figure there's a niche, since they helped gentrify the Bowery with their overpriced boutique hotel down there.  (Thanks to Artie for the photos below.)

 

Skeleton Key to the Chelsea Closet

UPDATE:  Vote now to support Piri Thomas and help send David Elder back to California!

Dig this, Happy Chelsea Campers:  our favorite Lovecraftian abomination, board member and Hotel Chelsea layabout David Elder, apparently has a long and distinguished history of separating artists from their money.  When David’s mother died in 1986, she left her 16% interest in the Chelsea Hotel to David and his two siblings in trust.  However, the trust stipulated that Piri Thomas, her husband and David’s stepfather, was to receive all income from the trust for as long as he lived. 
     David and his siblings didn’t care for that arrangement and have refused to hand over the 1.2 million that the trust has generated in income, forcing Piri to sue for the money.  Though the court called David and his siblings’ argument that the income was principal “absurd,” and ruled against them, they have tied it up in appeals.
     Piri Thomas grew up poor in Spanish Harlem and wrote the now classic autobiography “Down these Mean Streets” about his childhood there.  A true artist and social activist who worked with drug addicts, Piri is a former Chelsea Hotel resident and a friend of the late painter Herbert Gentry. 
     Sickeningly, the elderly Piri was even forced to pay $494,000 in taxes on the income he still can’t collect.  (Check out the court filing for all of the details.) David’s mother, a social welfare lawyer active in women’s right and health care issues, must be rolling over in her grave. 
     I'm not a lawyer, but wouldn't the fact that David stands to benefit from the trust make him fiduciarilly unfit to administer?  Someone with a legal background might want to check this out.
     Oh, by the way, David, you are more than welcome to weigh in with your side of the story.  -- Ed Hamilton

Stanely Bard: Patron of Punk Rock

     Musician/Blog reader Don has been staying at the Chelsea off and on for 10 years.  Don had already reserved a room for later this month when he got the word that the Bards had been ousted from their management role.  Don decided to call and talk to Stanley and/or one of the old time staff members.  (Tourists, that's a great idea.  When you call, make sure to ask for someone other than the new management!  Do what you can to let them know that they're now welcome.)  But, now Don has a problem. Should he request the reduced rates that were listed on the blog and on the Hotel Chelsea official website?  Well, Don has been spending his hard earned money to stay here and we think he deserves a break.  Perhaps when he checks in he could wear a tee-shirt or a badge or do something else creative to show his support for the Bards. Afterall, that's one of the things that's keeping Stanley around.   From Don's comment:

"...Anyway, I call the hotel and  ask the guy who picked up how long he had been working there(I had to make sure he wasn't one of THEM) got the responce I wanted and pressed on...though he told me what I read had been true, Stanley would be in on Monday. So, once again I call, get Stanley on the phone and after an outpouring of praise for his love of artists and the hotel and wondering if I should cancel my room (  I wouldn't want you to stay anywhere else! says Mr.Bard.) I feel a little better, At the very least Stanley is still there. I guess if I have a point, it would be that although the rate drop is good for artists, I can't see why the new management would do this. Just to throw everyone off? I also don't know if I should call and see if I'm getting those rates."

The picture above demonstrates, by the way, that Don already knows to come prepared for his stay at the Chelsea.

News Roundup: Part IV

A list of articles about the ouster of the Bards that have appeared since last Saturday, July 7.

MSM: Sunday Times (South Africa's largest daily paper), Financial Times, New York Times

Blogs: The Shophound, (Shophound thinks we have a "buzz generating restaurant" in our future here at the hotel), Newyorkology, NY Mag, curbed, blogchelsea

Coverage from prior weeks:  Parts I, II, & III

The Mailbag

Despite the beautiful, sunny weather here in Oakland, CA, my spirits are low.  I have just heard about th e firing of the Bards from the board of the Chelsea Hotel.  A dark day indeed.  My husband and I are both artists, and recently stayed at the Chelsea for the first time.  We felt so welcome there, met a long-time resident, and reveled in the art and history on display throughout the building.  The Chelsea is a very special place because although it has its own aura of cool, it does not reek of the exclusivity and shallow hipster vibe so common throughout the “boutique” hotel concept.  The efforts of the Bard family have kept the creative atmosphere of this icon/landmark/HOME of so many artists and musicians alive, despite the gentrification of the neighborhood.

The thought of turning the Chelsea into another Marmont or Maritime breaks my heart.  It is a family threatened with being torn asunder.  Please keep it whole, especially for those full-time residents, as well as us visiting artists, so we may continue to come back to our home away from home.  (Photo: Gothamist)

Allyson Hollingsworth
Oakland, CA
__________________
Hi,
Just wanted you to know that I am a huge supporter of the Chelsea Hotel and am sickened by the recent change in management. I actually just visited the hotel yesterday, and Mr. Bard was very welcoming.

It's my absolute goal to call the hotel home at some point, and I can only hope that the new management group doesn't drastically change the place that you already call home.

If my support can help in any way, please let me know. Thanks, and good  luck!

Robin Reetz
______________________

Mr. Hamilton,

I'm minorly (okay, majorly, bizzarely) obsessed with the Chelsea.  Perhaps it's better to label it as "love" rather than "obsession".  I started getting my haircut there just to have an excuse to go, though I'm still kind of too chicken to hang out in the lobby not knowing anyone.  It's been kind of a pipe dream of mine to live there at some point, and I'm trying to deal with the fact that this dream is slowly atrophying due to the recent changing of the guard (even though I read that the board insisted on not accepting any new long term tenants two years ago, but we'll pretend like I could have managed it somehow).  Like everyone's been saying, this recent change is more than just a matter of business; it calls into question whether or not this world really values artists and thinkers anymore.  This terrifies me as an aspiring writer, makes me wonder whether it's really worth it to fight the good fight, whether or not anyone out there will help those of us in the arts in our inevitable times of need. 

Blah blah blah, things you already know.  Anyway, I'm basically writing to ask if you think it would be inappropriate to get involved in the guerilla campaign to save the hotel?  I've already written Mr. Bard a letter, which I will mail today, but as a non-resident, a mere admirer, would it be in poor taste to try to do something more?  (This is sort of rhetorical, but thanks for humoring me.)

Hope all is well, love to the blog,
Kelsey
__________________

MY GOD THAT’S JUST DREADFUL…Hope that you guys are all ok and they don’t change it…we can live in hope. long live the bard
Lisa Kreemers
Visual Art Teacher
Yolla District High School

A Bonafide Flophouse?

Two issues have come to our attention recently.  One is the alarming number of missing rosettes on the staircase railing. Somebody needs to look into preventing this mindless vandalism in the future. The second issue is that BD Hotels has now embarked on a rate cutting policy. Below are some of the rates we've heard about.

Shared Bath Studio: $99.00

Full Bath Studio: $129.00

Junior SUITE: $149.

One Bedroom Suite: $169.

TWO Bedroom Suite: Just $179.

They have also added a book online button to www.hotelchelsea.com so you can check the rates yourself.
Though we’ve long argued that rates should be lower in order for writers and artists and other creatively minded individuals who genuinely want to stay here.  This policy flies in the face of what’s being going on with the Board pressuring Stanley to raise rates to make more money. So what gives? Are they trying to turn this place into a bonafide flophouse? Also disturbing is the fact that another resident spotted an apparently homeless woman camping with her bags in the hallway.  On the other hand, perhaps they are trying to compete with other hotels that are offering lower rates to attract people during the sweltering month of July.  But since when has the Chelsea had to compete?  Maybe since they lost customers who don't want a corporate experience.
     Back in late December/early January the Bards ran a special where they lowered the rates but it was not nearly so drastic as this one -- more like a normal hotel discount -- and what's more it was specifically targeted to people on their mailing list, that is fans of the hotel.  Who are we targeting now?   

     Or, is this just a ploy to get the occupancy rates up so they'll look good on paper? 
     The reason we mention these two things together is that there could be some relations. While the rosettes started to disappear earlier this year the vandalism seems to have increased in the past month. People coming here who have no knowledge of the history of the hotel probably figure why not? after all it's a cool souvenir.  They don’t have any respect for the history of the hotel.  But does BD Hotels have any respect either? What are they doing to prevent this? 

    As for the rates, while we do think that the rates should be lower it’s not a fire sale and we don't need to compete for every clueless tourist on the face of the earth.  We want people to come here because they love the Chelsea not solely because it is cheap.  -- Ed Hamilton

Chelsea Bloggers Sell Out -- Again!

Okay, we confess: we're a corporate blog, bought and paid for by the owners of the Chelsea Hotel. That's why, when Stanley was in charge, we harped about roaches and fires and junkies in the bathrooms.  Then, when David Elder and Marlene Krauss staged their coup, we quickly switched our alliance, lauding our new overlord as, respectively, a Lovecraftian abomination and a mud wrestling proctologist.  Kudos, therefore, to Gary Lee of the WashingtonPost.com for being (actually, far from) the first to ferret out our dirty little secret.  Lee writes:
           I also looked at some independent hotels that publish their own blogs:...
           The colorful blog presneted by New York's Chelsea Hotel,.....
His feat is all the more noteworthy in that he (also, like the others) apparently uncovered this diabolical plot without actually having read our blog.
     Seriously, to set the record straight, we were the very first hotel blog in existence, and remain the only non-corporate blog.  (This claim in Gary's article that the Starwood blog is run by fans is bull. It's run by a "pr firm" rather than "fans".)

Two Guys with Bank Books

  There’s an interesting article in a 2004 issue of the New York Times about two of our new overlords, Ira Drukier and Richard Born.  In what’s really little more than a puff piece, they brag that they are just “two guys with cell phones” who don’t even have any staff.  They just go around brokering deals and buying up properties, and then hire separate management teams to gut-renovate and run the places while they kick-back and rake in the dough. (Photo: Drukier and pals)

They seem to think this makes them sound hip and cool and free-spirited, but what it really makes them sound like is speculators.  There’s plenty of suits just like them, in other words, guys who only need a cell phone, but most of them trade stocks and bonds, rather than buildings where actual people live.  Ira Drukier even states, in an infuriatingly smug little gem: “And what we are doing is real estate, not life and death.”   But that’s exactly what it is, Mr. Drukier: our society wouldn’t tolerate it if you were trying to drive up the cost of food, and what you’re doing should be considered not less of a crime. -- Ed Hamilton

Bring Back the Bards

Long time Chelsea Hotel resident and mystery writer Sparkle Hayter has started a campaign to Bring Back the Bards.  Here's how you can join. Make a banner and take of photo of it and add it to the Bring Back the Bards flickr pool.  A good place to take pictures of your banner if you are in New York might be in the lobby of the hotel or behind the front desk.  But the most impressive thing about this campaign is that people are doing it all over the world!  The photo below is from Canada.

Marlene Krauss Plans to Bring Back Mark Twain & William Dean Howell

     In today's NY Times, Marlene Krauss talks about the future plans for the Chelsea Hotel which include "...cleaning it up and bringing it back to its former glory."  We hope that we're not part of the trash that gets swept out by Marlene Krauss' planned spring cleaning binge.  As for the former glory, it never left,  Marlene.  You just missed it!  Anyway how would you know since you've only been here a couple of times in your life.
     What era could Marlene be referring to anyway.  It's doubtful that she would have found the era of Warhol and Dylan all that glorious. 
    In the same story, Ira Drukier reports that "it's not the intent to turn this into a boutique-y hotel."  Well, ok, then why did your hire Andre Balazs?

News Roundup: Part III

A listing of stories that have appeared since last Saturday.

MSM: New York Times, Toronto Star, NY Post, The Villager, Raw Story,

Blogs: Finally, we don't have to do all of the work: Living with Leeches, curbed, libero, nymag.com, racked, vagablond,

Not Available Online: 1010 Wins -- The Joe Montone Show, Le Matin Bleu (Free Daily paper in Switzerland)

News Roundup: Part I and Part II

Peek-a-boo Living Room: The Jetsons Stand Naked

Born and Drukier (the new Chelsea overlords) are keeping busy bringing George Jetson and postmodernism to the West Village. They have chosen web designer Hani Rashi and Lise Anne Couture, known for creating “elaborate visual worlds” –which are probably really cool when you’re stoned—to design an eight-story, 24-unit condominium building at 166 Perry St. in the West Village.  No doubt, all the real designers were busy.  In a phone interview with the NY Sun, Born said, “We have exclusivity on them because they have never done a residential project, or any kid of project, in New York. Anyone living there  can be pretty much guaranteed there isn’t another chance to live in an Asymptote building”
     Wow aren’t they lucky! And Born says they’ll even be able to stand naked before the windows of this highly original glass tower. (After all, there’s only been about two dozen such monstrosities erected in the past five years.)  I’ll hazard a wild guess and say that some people past their undergrad years would prefer their building be designed by someone with a little more experience.  Please keep them out of the Chelsea, Mr. Born.
     Actually, on second thought, maybe there is some work for Rashi and Couture around here.  The hotel’s official website could use a little upgrading!  The could design a virtual lobby to look like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. And then once you’ve thrown us out into the streets we could hang out there in our imaginations. -- Ed Hamilton
(Photo: Gothamist) (Too late, some students in Australia have already designed a virtual Chelsea Hotel.)

A Bank in Capitol Fishing Tackle?

BD management has been moving slowly, however they have made a few opening salvos -- no doubt hoping that no one notices.  (Oh yes, we do notice.) One of the most obvious salvos of the new management, BD Hotels, is that they have painted the façade of the old Capitol Fishing Tackle, erasing the final traces of that august establishment (63 years in the same location before being forced out by a board ordered increase of the rent).  This is a sure sign that BD management intends to show the space. We’ve heard credible rumors that BD is trying to interest a bank in renting the space. Can you imagine? Tell all the bankers: count your money somewhere else! (Photos taken June 23 & June 30) Can this bode well for Dan's Chelsea Guitars?