Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog

This Time, It's The Real Edie Sedgwick

For those of you who just can't get enough of Edie, you may want to check out The Museum of Moving Image's line-up of Edie movies.   Beginning this weekend, "The Real Edie," which is curated by David Schwartz offers a unique chance to brush up on your Warholiana.  We asked David a few questions about the festival. 

1.  Why, in your opinion, has there been such renewed interest in Edie?
Of course, the release of FACTORY GIRL, with Sienna Miller as Edie helped to renew interest. But there seems to always be interest in anything related to Andy Warhol. And in a way, Edie's self-consciousness, the way she allowed her daily life to be filmed constantly by Warhol, seems very modern. She also had an inimatable sense of style that remains incredibly fresh.
2.  Which Edie movie is your favorite, and why?
BEAUTY #2 is not just one of my favorite Edie Sedgwick movies, but one of my all-time favorite movies. Edie sits on a bed flirting with one man while verbally sparring with her ex-boyfriend, who taunts her from offscreen. And during all this, she's always aware of, and playing for, the camera. It's simple but complex, and sexy and funny.
3.  Was Edie your favorite Warhol Superstar?
Yes. She had a fascinating blend of beauty, charisma, and distance. She seemed to always be both present and absent, like Warhol himself.

Here's today's schedule:
Poor Little Rich Girl
Saturday, March 31, 2:00 p.m.
1965, 67 mins. A two-reel documentary portrait; in the first reel, out of focus, Edie does her morning routine, applying make-up and exercising. The second reel, in focus, feels like a revelation: Edie smokes pot, tries on clothes, and talks with an off-screen Chuck Wein.

Restaurant
Saturday, March 31, 3:30 p.m.
1965, 34 mins. Edie Sedgwick and friends drink and talk as they await a meal.
Followed by Screen Test Reel #10 1964-6, 40 mins. This reel of Warhol's Factory screen tests includes Edie Sedgwick, Jane Holzer, Lou Reed, John Ashbery, Jonas Mekas, and Paul Morrissey.

Vinyl
Saturday, March 31, 5:00 p.m.
1965, 70 mins. Warhol's adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, filmed in a corner of the Factory, stars Gerard Malanga as Alex. But Edie Sedgwick, a non-speaking extra, steals the show.

Space
Saturday, March 31, 6:30 p.m.
1965, 70 mins. Warhol's constantly moving camera roams around its characters, in a mélange of talking, food fights, and folk singing.
Preceded by Match Girl 1966, 25 mins. Directed by Andrew Meyer. Sedgwick is mythologized by Vivian Kurz, who plays the self-destructive "Match Girl" in this allegorical film, narrated by Warhol.

Take The Service Elevator to The Basement

So, for those of you who've been dying to get a drink in the basement, The New York Post lets us in on the secret. 

A room key isn’t a guarantee, however. At Hotel Chelsea, a VIP elevator brings special guests through Star Lounge’s employee entrance. But not every tenant gets the royal treatment.  “We want to keep the hotel’s mystique,” claims Star Lounge owner Charles Ferri, whose tabletops see plenty of stiletto heels once the poppy DJ starts spinning. “But residents getting in, it depends.”

In other words, just take the service elevator through the laundry room. It’s really no surprise that they want the artistic cache of the hotel without the artists.  That’s the way the whole city is going.  They want to be cool and hip and creative, but without the creative people around. 
   

MidWesterners Love the Chelsea or Do They?

Here's a tourist who recently sprung for one of our palatial renovated rooms--and she was not disappointed!  Notice how she's totally down with the funky odors in the halls, unlike some people we know.  Well, we hope she found the creative inspiration that she was looking for here amongst the "still kicking creaks"--whatever, or whomever, the hell she means by that.

I refuse to stay at hotel chains in NY when there are an infinite number of more interesting places to be that are really no more expensive.  On my last trip I decided I needed creative inspiration so I booked a room at Hotel Chelsea, historic host to folks like Jasper Johns, Joan Didion, Dee Dee Ramone, and Janis Joplin (the list is infinite).  Chelsea, but considering the borg-like ethics of Manhattan developers, I was grateful for the lived in smell and the still kicking creaks.  Besides, only the halls smell like everybody’s homes rolled into one (people do still live there after all).  The hotel rooms smelled like hotel rooms.

Online reviews and stories from friends who have suspiciously vague recollections of parties there had me a little worried—no coffee makers in the room because they can be used to cook meth (who knew?).  But the hotel website won me over. I especially like the resident blog, which is like eavesdropping on conversations in the hall. 

You’re never denied the reality of living in an old building at the....

Slammin' Hot Female Muscle at the Chelsea

From Lori Braun's website, "Chelsa Hotel where the guy from the Sex Pistals killed himself. Taken by Brian Moss of shemuscle.com I'm such a rocker!" If you want to know more, she's got a blog.  Besides the bizarre spelling, there is a slight mistake in her sentence above.  Does anyone care to hazard a guess?  First prize: a years subscription to shemuscle.com!

Holly Bower at the Chelsea

Holly Bower represents a piece of the Chelsea's artistic and activist heritage. She was the first woman still photographer to be admitted into the photographer's union.  Filmmaker Seppo Korpippa, (who, by the way, has the same Finnish publisher as Charles Bukowski) tells us how the footage below came about:

I met photographer Holly Bower in Chelsea Hotel in november 1990. I was in New York with the group pf people form Finnish cultural buraucrats. We visited museums, Carnegie Hall, Martha Graham Dance School... After some days I got enough and took a taxi to Chelsea Hotel. One bird form the group wanted to come with me. We met Holly at the downstairs restaurant El Quojote. She invited us to her apartment and we were having good time. I think that it was the best part of the trip.

I have visited New York many times since that but I have never went back to Chelsea Hotel. I wonder what Holly is doing nowadays? Maybe I should try to find it out when I go next time to NYC...

Cheers from Helsinki, Finland where spring came early this year!

Seppo Korpipaa

Chelsea Debouch Contributes to Stock Market Crash

James Altucher lived in the Chelsea for three years, beginning in 1995 (the same year we moved in).  When he was getting ready to move in, his grandmother cautioned him not to mention that his grandfather had stayed here in 1929 and trashed his room in a pillow fight (Financial Times, March 6, 07).  She was worried that somebody might try to charge James for the damage!
     James dismisses his grandmother’s concerns, and while at first we might be tempted to go along with him here, on further reflection it is perhaps imprudent to reject the wise counsel of the elderly.  Perhaps, after all, the grandmother has heard tell of our illustrious proprietor.  In any event, she’s right: Stanley probably would have tried to charge him.
       And what’s all this nonsense about a pillow fight?  Sounds like the sanitized version of the story.  I suspect that flappers and bootleg liquor came into play at some point during the evening’s festivities.  Surely James’ grandfather was gallivanting through our hallowed halls with a lamp shade on his head, at the very least!  That’s the Chelsea Spirit, Grampa! -- Ed Hamilton

All Tomorrow's Parties: March 26 - April 1, 2007

Monday, March 26, at 7 and 9:30 pm
The Chelsea debut of the June Bridell Variety Hour.  There’s dancing, singing, lip-syncing and a Diana Ross impersonation.  This fabulous show was previously only performed in living rooms.  But now, for only a $10.00 cover and a $15.00 food/drink minimum, you can attend June’s coming out party.  The 7 pm show is nearly sold out, so hurry.  Reservations (212.206.0609) are taken from 4:00 pm to 2:00 am daily.
The Hideaway Room @ Helen’s, 169 Eighth Avenue (between 18th & 19th Streets), NY NY


Tuesday, March 27, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m.
The small gallery, Protest Space, will host a benefit exhibit to support ”Time’s Up“, the direct action environmental group.  Artists include Seth Tobocman, Sam Sebren, Ellen Levin, Youme, Flash Light, Dave Tree and many more. 
The gallery is located at 511 West 20th St., ground floor.  646-734-4771

If you are headed to San Francisco in the near future here's an exhibit that you don't want to miss, "R. Crumb's Underground".  The show features early work, collaborations old and new, and the world premiere of his “spool” drawings.  The exhibit opened on March 16 and will run through July 8, 2007. If you aren't in San Francisco, you can check out these photos from the exhibit.
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA

Thursday, March 29, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny say goodbye to Tuesday and hello to Thursday with Kino 41. Kino 41 starlets: Amanda Leopore, Lady Fag, Moondust, Furey and Andre J. Cine Sounds & Show:  TBD .  Life is Like a Movie. Stop by every Thursday for your close up.
135 West 41st, NY NY

Saturday, March 31, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Celebrate the publication of Stefan Brecht’s 8th Avenue Poems (Spuyten Duyvil Press), a collection of poems that he wrote about his walk to and from the Chelsea Hotel and 8th Avenue (onestar press) a collection of photographs that he took along the route.  The event will be held at the Poetry Project.  Author Robert Nichols will read. (Photo of Stefan Brecht by Maggie Hopp, 1979)
The Poetry Project, St. Mark’s Church, East 10th St. NY NY

Hotel Chelsea Newsmakers

Nobel prize winning poet Derek Walcott has a new compilation out, Selected Poems. Derek was on NPR last week.

Painter and pool shark Phillip Taaffe is profiled in The New York Times.

A bunch of the people from the Chelsea are featured in the travel section of today's London Times.

Tim Sullivan & The Supertones Rock Puerto Rico

That's Tim Sullivan in the baseball ball hat!  If you dig The Supertones and want to hear more check out youtube.com.

Keepin' It Real: Drunk & Beyond

Please extend a warm welcome to Jonny Where.  Maybe he'll hang out and play his guitar for us in the lobby.  And if the spoil sports at the desk object, he can play it in the halls.  Long live Rock and Roll -- Drunk & Beyond!

Hi,

I enjoy your blog. We will be staying at the legendary pad named the Hotel Chelsea during the last weekend in March this year. I've been there before when I recorded my first album in 06, but this will be Sophie's first visit.

I was sort of miffed when I finally navigated my way "home" last summer. The night doorman at 4 am demanded not just my key, but also my ID to let me in. Well ...  he busted me for being drunk and beyond, but I presented both keys and ID. (Ed note: more big ole meanies)

I was mad at first, but when I finally hit that thing they call a bed, I felt good that not just any drunk gets in. So I'm comin back with my future wife,  Sophie. I think we'll be ok.

We'll be hanging out 3/24-26 is all, but I'd like to meet you if its convenient. I like to keep it real in NY. Real experience, even bad, is better than no experience at all. And of course, much better than a phony experience.

keep on keepin it on.
jonny where
http://www.myspace.com/jonnywhere

Dominatrix Discover Big Ole Meanies at the Chelsea

We knew that you had to pay a fee to do a photo shoot around here, but hey can't they make an exception for a dominatrix?

Known as a bohemian hotel with each room being different and with a lot of character. I thought such a free wheeling establishment wouldn’t mind if we took a few shoots of a fetish video and some photos. Wow was I wrong. They were big ole meanies.

But I did get some shots in before we were booted.

 

"Sleeping in Chelsea": Art Imitates Life

Diede In't Veld is the second student we've stumbled across in recent months who approached the Chelsea about shooting a project here, but couldn't afford the rates.   Diede's film, "Sleeping in Chelsea" is about a businessman who discovers an ad in the paper that reads "Hotel Chelsea More than just a hotel, a place where you can live out your secret fantasies."  Ok, we'll buy that.  Then, imagine our shock when the businessman checks into the Chelsea Savoy down the block to experience his fantasies.  People are always mistaking these other simarily named hotels--which seem to be so named deliberately in an attempt to create confusion -- for the Hotel Chelsea.  This is surely a case of art imitating life.  The film is NSFW.

Here's a short e-interview with the filmmaker.
How'd you get the idea for your film?
I got the idea from a short story in a magazine actually. It was a story about a guy mixing up two hotels. Because I wanted both hotels to be in the same street and have almost the same name we came to Chelsea.

Who are some of the filmmakers you admire and why?  I admire David Lynch a lot. I love the mind-games he plays with the viewer an absurdistic way of telling a story. It always keeps me interested because in his stories litterly anything can happen. I love that. 

Have you ever been to the famed Hotel Chelsea?  Well the funny thing was that when we scouted the locations, I didn't know that the Chelsea hotel was so famous! Not until I went in and asked if we could shoot in a room for a night. It was a student film with a corresponding budget, so when he named the price I was kinda struck. I would have preferred to shoot the int. scenes there but that obviously was not an option for us. So we choose for the Chelsea Savoy to shoot which gave us more financial room.

First we didn't want to shoot with a permit for the External part, but I choose to get one because the street is a very much wanted location. That turned out to be a good decision because in that week there were 3 feature films shooting in that same street where  we shot the next  morning with a tiny crew and a small 16mm camera.

How would you describe the difference between the Savoy and the Hotel Chelsea? The hotels are incomparable. The Chelsea Savoy is a nice but simple hotel with really not anything special. The Chelsea is a whole different thing with the history and designs etc.

Do you think the Chelsea Savoy offers the services portrayed in your film?

Off course not... But I think it's a great fantasy for many men.

Last Comic Standing is The Comic Who Hasn't Frozen To Death

Since the Gotham Comedy Club opened we at the Chelsea Hotel have had to put up with vans and tractor trailers lined up from one end of the street to the other, blocking us in and cutting off our light and air.  But what the hell — we’re used to it from the film crews shooting at the hotel.   And I must admit the crowds waiting on line are a lot more orderly than those for the club that used to be in that space.

But now, the comedians have taken to camping out on the street in front of the hotel!  There they were last night with blankets, chairs, the whole works waiting for their turn to audition.  Actually the clowns started assembling while it was still light.  It went down into the 20s last night, so I guess my only question is: is it worth freezing your silly ass off just to get up on stage and make a fool out of yourself for 2 minutes.  -- Ed Hamilton

Room Service and Beyond

At the Trump International on Columbus Circle you can get room service from Jean Georges for about $800 for a dinner for two, and a chef named Kyle will prepare it in your kitchenette since you wouldn’t want your toast to get cold on the trip up from the restaurant  (Bruni, NYT, March 14, 07).  Here at the Chelsea you can get egg sandwiches and coffee for about $6 from the Aristocrat, which Stanley Bard will be pleased to tell you is the best deli in New York.  They’ll deliver your cigs and beer too if you’re really lazy, so you can barricade yourself in your room and never come out—at least not until you kick that pesky drug habit.  Though it’s true this place has been gentrified of late, we’re still struggling to keep it real here at the Chelsea.  At The London NYC, your room service will be staggered; here your delivery man will be staggering. -- Ed Hamilton

The Cruel Message of New York

There was a toothless old man, probably a former junkie, staying in the transient room next door.  I ran into him coming out of the shared bathroom late at night.  “Where you visiting from,” I asked, stupidly.

“I’m not visiting from nowhere,” he said.  “I’m from New York.  Brooklyn, New York.”

            “How you like the Chelsea?”

            “I’m paying $125 a night!  Can you believe that?  And I’m not getting any heat!  That’s wrong, that’s illegal and that’s dangerous!” he raved.

            “Yeah, that sucks,” I said.  $125 a night was the lowest rate I’d heard in awhile, however.  I guess they know they couldn’t get any more out of him.

            “How, about you, what you paying?” he asked.

            I told him.

            “Man, you’re fucking crazy!  Oh, but I guess you’re not from around here, are you.”

            “No, I’m from Kentucky.”

            “Oh, a rube, eh?” he said, jokingly.  “Listen, my friend, they’re taking you for a ride.  You can get an apartment for much less than that.”

            “Yeah, I know.  But I kind of like it here.”

            “Hey, to each his own.  You getting any heat in your room?”

            “No, not much,” I said.

            “Oh, OK,” the old man said, relieved, “I thought it was special for me.”

            “No, I don’t think so.  Nobody gets any.”

            “I thought they were trying to send me a message,” he said.

            Yeah, like, get out while the gettings good.  Leave while you still have a chance.  But of course that’s the same message they’re sending everybody. You don’t have to be a paranoid former junkie to see that.

Ed Hamilton

Tenant Activist Challenges Gut Renovation Loophole

When I read the Voice article about Peckham on October 3, I was so outraged that I knew I had to do something. The result can be found in this week’s Chelsea Now.
     Going into the job, I figured that Peckham would be kind of a crank and a nut job—because how else to explain the Voice’s scurrilous attack.  I was prepared to argue that, hey, what matters are his rights, not whether you like him personally.  So I was pleasantly surprised when I found that Peckham was actually a nice guy—albeit one under an immense amount of stress and strain due to the fact of his building being torn down around him.  He has chosen to fight, rather than to knuckle under like most of us would, and for that he deserves the greatest respect.  His case is important because it challenges the use of the gut renovation loophole in the demolition provision.  The so called “phony demolition” allows landlords to toss rent-stablized tenants out of their apartments. 
     Which makes the Voice hatchet job all the more puzzling.  That the paper has been going downhill for several years now is no secret, but until that article it had always maintained some pretense of being an objective newspaper.  The author of the piece in question, Kristen Lombardi, blames it on her editor, David Blum, saying he was tired of “poor tenant” stories and so directed her to write a “poor landlord” story instead.  Well, Blum got what he deserved, ignominiously canned from the Voice. 
For the sake of affordable housing in New York let’s all hope Peckham wins his case. — Ed Hamilton   

All Tomorrow's Parties: March 19 - 25, 2007

Wednesday, March 21,
It's the first day of Spring. The Shake Shack reopens.  Enough said.   Be the first in line.
Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, 23rd Street at Fifth Avenue, NY NY

Thursday, March 22, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny say goodbye to Tuesday and hello to Thursday with Kino 41. Kino 41 starlets: Amanda Leopore, Lady Fag, Moondust, Furey and Andre J. Cine Sounds: Sammy Jo & Show:  fashion presentation for marco hall and show by Andre J .  Life is Like a Movie. Stop by every Thursday for your close up.
135 West 41st, NY NY

Friday, March 23, 11:00 - 5:00
Leonard Barton, son of Irene Zevon, has re-opened the Bravura Gallery after a short hiatus with an exhibit of works on paper.  The group show includes art by his mother and his step-father, Russian painter, Nahum Tschacbasov.  The show runs throug April, 2, 2007.  Later this year, the gallery will dedicate an exhibit to Zevon's work.   (Photo: Big Fish Eat Little Fish by Nahum Tschacbasov (color etching), Final state (1947). NYC, Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

The Bravura Gallery, 22 Nugent Street, Southhampton

Saturday, March 24, 11:00 - 6:00 p.m.
The Daniel Reich Gallery has a show of new works by Anya Kielar titled Lady.  Our neighbor across the way, James Wagner, really appreciated Kielar's work which was part of the Armory show. Lady runs through April 14. (Photo: Daniel Reich website)
Daniel Reich Gallery, 537 A, West 23rd St., NY NY

If you have an event appropriate for "All Tomorrow's Parties" send an e-mail to [email protected]

The Sights and Scenes of Harry Smith

Several of Harry Smith's films are being screened today at the Anthology Film Archives. You may want to check out MAHAGONNY, which will be shown at 7:00 p.m. Much of the film was shot at the Chelsea Hotel.

From the Archives' website, "Smith worked obsessively on MAHAGONNY for over ten years, shooting it from 1970-72 and editing it from 1972-80. Based on the Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht opera RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY, the film was an epic, four-screen projection which the filmmaker considered to be his magnum opus and described as a mathematical analysis of Marcel Duchamp's "Large Glass."
MAHAGONNY is an allegory of contemporary life; it explores the needs and desires of man amid the rituals of daily life in New York City. Smith's New York, like Brecht's Mahagonny, is a place where everything is permitted and the only sin is not having enough money. Much of the film takes place within the Chelsea Hotel and contains invaluable portraits of important scenesters such as Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith and Jonas Mekas. These appearances are intercut with installation pieces from Robert Mapplethorpe's studio, New York City landmarks of the era, and Smith's unique, visionary animation.
This 35mm print represents the completion of an ambitious preservation project by Anthology Film Archives and The Harry Smith Archives. The film was originally shown ten times at Anthology in 1980 on four 16mm projectors with the filmmaker present at each screening. This recently restored print is a composite of all four original 16mm masters (and the Weill soundtrack) that have been optically printed into a single "tiled" 35mm film image."

Read more about Harry Smith:
Harry and the Zombie

St. Patrick's Day with George Chemeche

BEWARE OF AN IRISH LOVER

To cheer up my Irish lover,
I offered a night of booze and laughter,
which the bottle sucker approved without dispute.
True to my solemn word,

I booked our adventure in the Russian Tea Room.
A reckless move, too fancy for a poor spender like me.
My Irish flower, aroused by caviar and red ambiance,
tippled three double-gins at the speed of an eye wink.
My wallet had seen better days after I honored the bill.

To keep our romance alive, we took a limo ride
through Manhattan's traffic lights.
Tickled by the limo’s stocked up bar, my thirsty date,
Wasted no time to recycle its contents into a shikker waste.
My nerves stretched to the limit whenever the smart chauffeur
smiled at the mirror. I could see the bankruptcy smiling at me.

Dempsey’s Pub is an Irish tavern where the Irish drink
till double they see. I took her word and joined the roaring crowd
Alas, she was too merry to count the rounds.
I felt drowsy and worn out, a junior Boy Scout among jubilant ex-patriots.

Tavern on the Green is a class shrine amid all-year sparkling trees.
The price is right, if you're Getty or Rothschild.
Kindled by the gleaming bottles, meticulously lined to shine on her face, 
she toasted three to life and drummed four rums for the road.
I snapped one schnapps to redeem my shattered dreams.

Dead drunk, my cheerful gal, at last,
kept mumbling the same old schmaltz,
"The best things in life are free."
Are you telling me?!

Copyright 2007 George Chemeche

A Mystery Worthy of Agatha Christie

Sad news.  It appears that yet another of the Chelsea’s tormented creative souls has shed its mortal coil.  Yes, that’s a skeleton on the roof of the Synagogue next to the hotel.  Judging by its advanced state of decomposition I would say that the owner of the corpse must have jumped – or been pushed – from one of the upper levels of the fire escape months ago.  Though its strange that no one would have seen – or smelled – the putrefying remains until now, this can perhaps be accounted for by the thawing of the winter’s frost.  On the other hand, then the body wouldn’t have rotted so fully.  A truly puzzling case.  Call in Hercule Poirot.  Equally mysterious is the fact that the skeleton appears to lack a skull.  Perhaps the body was decapitated by the chain-link fence and the head bounced in somebody’s window – and under their bed, where their cat feasted on it for weeks.

Are there any bohemians unaccounted for? -- Ed Hamilton

Rene Ricard's Exhibit Postponed

Rene Ricard has informed us that his exhibit, which was scheduled to open on Friday, March 16, has been postponed.  He hopes to announce a new date shortly. 

Joe Bidewell Jams With Nico

After we wrote about the BBC Chelsea Hotel documentary last week, Joe Bidewell (he's the guy jamming behind Nico in the film) wrote to give us a a few behind the scenes details. Here's his letter: (Photo: Joe is in the center)

Yes, that is me playing 'chelsea girls' w/ nico.  I'm strumming my then-new '79 strat through an mxr distortion box and a small amp. I still like the sound of that particular recording.  Nico's performance is spot-on, in my opinion.  We rehearsed for that taping in my room # 332.  The bbc filmed us in a bigger, nicer suite on another floor in the hotel.

The scene where Burroughs and Warhol are eating dinner, with the fellow reporting details to the camera at the door - nice editing, bbc.  That British crew literally moved in and lived at the Chelsea for weeks, maybe longer - a month or two - just to shoot all the footage, and to get it right.

They seemed to really enjoy themselves.  It was fun having them around.  Some of the crew came to one of my performances at a club called s.n.a.f.u., just around the corner from the Chelsea.  It was owned by lou tatoo, and the walls were adorned w/ Robert Mapplethorpe prints.  Quentin Crisp did a sort of performance/reading @ s.n.a.f.u. around that time as well.

I'm happy my song 'dream hotel' (inspired by the Chelsea made the final cut.  I miss the Chelsea, of course. Hello to Stanley, David, Jerry and everyone.  Joe Bidewell

Chelsea Hotel: Still #1 in Rock and Roll

Time Out magazine has released its rankings of the 50 greatest New York musicians of all time, and guess what, the Velvet Underground is #1!   Surely this confirms our claim to be the greatest rock and roll Hotel of all time! (Nico, was a hotel resident.)  Also on the list are the Ramones -- who surely should be ranked higher than #11 -- Patti Smith (who lived here with Robert Mapplethorpe), and Madonna (who famously shot her sex book in room 820).  Ornette Coleman who entertained at the Shirley Clarke plaque ceremony is on the list.  Check out the list for other Chelseaites.

Creeping Black Death Threatens Lower Floors

The sinister  doorway undertaker got to our poor portal while we were out of town.  Other residents have been surprised to come home and find their previously cherry doors buried beneath a heavy coat of dreary, depressing black paint.   Lately, however, some of the hotel’s residents have begun to fight back against this virulent Black Plague.

Here we see that artist Arthur Weinstein has taken a courageous stand against the encroachment of conformity.  Fight the power, Arthur.  Resist doorway oppression!

All Tomorrow's Parties: March 12 - 18, 2007

Monday, March 12, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Don't know if it's true or not, but they're advertising free barbecue all day long over at Madison Square Park.  9 a.m. - Kingsford(r) Breakfast of Champions. Sample a signature charcoal-grilled breakfast item.  5 p.m. -  Sample regional BBQ recipes that have been cooking all day, while learning tips and techniques from the pitmaster himself. (via NewYorkology)
Madison Square Park,  23rd at 5th Ave., and Broadway, NY NY

Monday, March 12, 8:30
Patti Smith will be officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame during a ceremony at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. For the first time ever, the ceremony will be broadcast live by VH1 Classic and streamed live by AOL at http://spinner.aol.com/rockhall.

Thursday, March 15, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny say goodbye to Tuesday and hello to Thursday with Kino 41. Kino 41 starlets: Amanda Leopore, Lady Fag, Moondust, Furey and Andre J. Cine Sounds & Show:  TBD .  Life is Like a Movie. Stop by every Thursday for your close up.
135 West 41st, NY NY




Friday, March 16, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Rene Ricard's art will be on display at Gallery Sensei until March 29.  The opening reception is tonight.
Gallery SENSEI  34 EAST 1ST STREET (BETWEEN 1ST/2ND AV).



Sunday, March 18, 12:00
The Algonquin Round Table Walking Tour returns. Visit more than 20 places associated with the Vicious Circle, their old speakeasies, offices, apartments, and more. The 2-hour walk celebrates Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, George S Kaufman, Harpo Marx, Edna Ferber, Franklin P. Adams, Heywood Broun, Harold Ross, Robert Sherwood, Marc Connelly and the rest of the Vicious Circle.   Of course, Dorothy was friends with several Chelsea writers. The walks are led by Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, author of A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York (Roaring Forties Press). It is recommended walkers wear comfortable shoes as the walk encompasses approximately 30 blocks.
Meet in the Algonquin Hotel lobby, 59 West 44th St., NY NY

The Chelsea as Vanishing Point: Jean Baudrillard RIP

French Philosopher Jean Baudrillard died earlier this week.  Rita Barros, who photographed Baudrillard and his wife, for her book, 15 Years: Chelsea Hotel, recalls her excitement at meeting Baudrillard in his Paris studio and preparing dinner for him here at the Chelsea. We're happy to learn that he didn't like "The Matrix," feeling that the film makers had misunderstood his ideas.  We just thought it was boring.

When I got to Paris on assignment to photograph Jean Baudrillard I was quite excited. I could finally discuss or at least ask him some questions that he had raised with books like Simulacra and Simulations. It was a warm afternoon and I vividly remember his small studio, books piled all over the place. He opened the door with a wide smile and announced that he was ready for the real image of himself. Time was short and the conversation got postponed to a later date.

Years later he called to say he was staying at the Chelsea so I made dinner for him, his wife and João Pedro a Portuguese common friend. He was very disappointed with the treatment of his ideas in the film “The Matrix” and wanted nothing to do with the whole hysteria.

The next trip to New York I got to photograph him in the hotel. He loved to stay here, better than a fancy place without a soul. “This hotel is a vanishing point of New York” he told me.

And now Baudrillard has vanished but his photo remains, a sign of the real for the real itself…..

Rita Barros

“It is no longer a question of imitation, nor of reduplication, nor even of parody. It is rather a question of substituting signs of the real for the real itself” Jean Baudrillard

Charles Bukowski: 8/16/20 - 3/9/94

  On the anniversary of his death, here's a rockin' tribute of sorts, by indie band, My Penis, to everybody's favorite drunken poet, Charles Bukowski.

Bukowski, as we've mentioned before, wasn't that impressed by his stay at the Chelsea. He didn't think it was much, but he figured maybe that was its charm. This from the man who checked into the hotel in just his socks because he got so drunk that he left his shoes on the plane.

Here, Bukowski reads his poem, "The Genuis of the Crowd"

Speaking of Bukowski, here's a shameless plug for a friend's book.  Bohemian New Orleans: The Story of the Outsider and Loujon Press, written by Jeff Weddle and due out in the Summer, traces the development of Loujon which was one of the first presses to print Bukowski's work.  Copies of some of the letters that Bukowski sent to Lou and Jon from 1964 - 1972 are available online and make for interesting reading.

Ed's Drunken Adventure

Check out this podcast that Ed recently recorded for TothWorld.  Ed reads his short story "The End of Sonny's Bar," a hair-raising tale of underage drinking and serious ass-whoopin' with a pool cue that was published in the Spring 06 issue of Limestone: A Journal of Art and Literature. First, Paul Toth reads a few letters from Arthur Rimbaud and promotes his forthcoming book--but don't worry, Ed is up next.  Paul is actively seeking writers and musicians to contribute to his podcasts. So, if you fit the bill send him an e-mail.

On a somewhat more sober note:

Pick up this week's issue of The Villager  or Chelsea Now for Ed's coverage of the Andy Warhol "Wake" at the Cynthia von Buhler Gallery.  Cynthia von Buhler and Anton Perich are shown in the photo at left.  I actually had a nice chat with Anton at a party here at the hotel Saturday night. He described how his bar-code-like image that was in the exhibit was created by a machine that he made in 1972.

Click through for the photo gallery from the event.

Meet Barry & James

We’ve mentioned before that the best benefit of having this blog, even though it’s a lot of work, is the nice people we’ve met, both within the walls of the Chelsea Hotel and throughout the neighborhood.

Barry Hoggard and James Wagner, who live on the other side of 23^rd Street, were brave enough to invite us over site unseen for drinks before the holidays.  We knew of their blogs, but we had never met them before.  They graciously gave us a tour of their impressive art collection.   And, like us, they dislike the changes that these corporate businesses are bringing to the character of the neighborhood and have resolved to do something about it.  To this effect, James has some news to announce! 

The giant, spinning, flood-lit pink cupcake perched above the curb on the top of an advertising canopy on West 23 Street has to be removed within 30 days. The city's Department of Transportation [DOT], which has the authority in these things as the safety guardian of our streets and sidewalks, has found that the owners' original permit for a conventional framed canopy expired in 2003 and that the mechanical structure appended to the awning the restaurant had built after 2003, is itself in violation of city statute.

In addition, James and Barry, have some awesome coverage of the Armory Show on their blogs.  Their favorite piece involved a toilet stall, a urinal and some “Lisa” soap.  I don’t what that says about James and Barry, but we’ll politely withhold comment.  After all, we’re big fans of the Lisa brand ourselves. The official soap of the Chelsea Hotel. It just sounds so much better than Dove or Ivory.  Why shouldn’t a soap have a nice feminine name?  We also have a dog named Lisa on our hall. And, even a girl.  We live on the floor of the Lisa. 

 

Jade Townsend Lisa Soap installation.

Hotel Chelsea "Lisa Soap" installation.

















(Photo by Robert Boyd of Barry Hoggard and James Wagner at Schroeder Romero, in front of a Kathe Burkhart (April 2003))

Chicken Fried Steak & William Burroughs at the Chelsea

Watch it now before it disappears!  Here's an eight minute clip from the 1981 Chelsea Hotel documentary which aired on BBC4 Saturday night.  As far as we can tell, the only person in the clip who is still alive is Joe Bidewell, who we once saw play at CBGB.  Joe accompanys Nico on guitar as she sings "Chelsea Girls."  Joe will be playing at Brown's Diner in Nashville, Tennessee this Saturday, March 10 at 8:30.