For those of you who don't know Henry Chung, he seems like a man to get to know. He's the guy 
behind those hot new Chelsea Hotel t-shirts and the redesigned bath products (an improvement over the Lisa brand soap that we had around here forever). And, it seems that we can thank him, in part, for the existence of the blog, since he set-up the free Wi-Fi in the lobby. (I hope Henry didn't have anything to do with those new folio statements we received in our box this month, but we'll have more about that later.)
What do you do?
What do I do? Wow. That's a loaded question. Have you ever met anyone in New York that has given a short answer for that one? I don't think I have. For the Hotel Chelsea I suppose I could best be described as a "facilitator". I help out with getting things done that maybe the management doesn't
have the time to research or take care of or the know-how to do, like getting T-shirts designed, bringing Wi-Fi access to the Hotel lobby, designing the new bath products, setting up the new reservations/property management system, etc. They throw ideas at me and, if I can, I'll try to take those ideas to fruition. My background is in fine arts photography, and by day I'm usually a new media developer. I'm a crime fighter by night. Hahaha. Just kidding.
I probably cause more trouble than I could possibly prevent!
Do you have a personal connection with the Hotel?
I used to have friends who live here, but they've long since moved away. Other than that, I really don't have a personal connection other than I LOVE the place and its history. I hope that my contributions to the Hotel will be lasting, and that will become my personal connection with the Hotel.
For as long as I’ve lived in the Chelsea, they have sold one type of t-shirt -- a black shirt with an image of the hotel on the front. What do you think of that shirt?
Ahh, that one. That was before my involvement with the tees. I think that shirt was designed and manufactured by someone else who one day just showed up and asked if the hotel wanted to sell them. I don't think she even had any connection to the hotel other than that she was obsessed with it. Well, at least that's the story that I heard. Those shirts are long gone, and I don't think that we can get any more. They were nice, but dated in terms of t-shirt fashion, in my opinion.
How were you able to introduce an entire new line of Hotel Chelsea t-shirts?
It was actually their idea at first. I just brought the designs to the table. We started with different designs, mostly with an image of the hotel on the front. They didn't sell very well, and were, well,
quite frankly, not hip enough. Too bad, too, since the illustrations were quite nice. And the artists that did the illustrations embedded subliminal messages in the art (tee hee hee). On a whim, I prototyped
one with just text and it was a hit right away. It wasn't long before we decided to expand the line to different color combinations. I encourage everyone reading this to go buy one. They're hip and really
nice ;)
Which Hotel Chelsea tee is your favorite and why?
It would have to be the words tee, in green. Why? Because I'm a wordy kind of guy and it's not easy being green.
Do you think all of the residents should be required to wear one of your shirts?
Oh, that would just look silly. Besides, do you honestly think you could coordinate the folks here to all do the same thing?
Do you think that there is a creative energy in the Chelsea?
I think there certainly is. I don't think it is as intense as it once had been. It has definitely changed even in the short time I've been around, but the creative energy is definitely here. It's different
than before, I suppose, but I don't think necessarily worse. Just different. We live in a much different time now.
What’s the best/worst thing that has ever happened to you at the Chelsea?
The best thing would just be that I'm here at all!
What’s your favorite Hotel Chelsea story?
Well, it would have to be a story that involved a guy, a hustler that he picked up who then ripped him off, the cops, getting busted by the guy's boyfriend, and the alibi that went all to hell as we all
watched the surveillance tapes together. Aside from that, I don't think I could really talk about it.
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