There are at least two new security guards in the building, apparently hired in retaliation to an ongoing harassment suit being brought by a resident against David Elder. (It may also have had to do 
with Sunday’s Page Six Magazine article on the hotel in which many residents openly called for the return of the Bards.) I saw one of the guards standing by the desk yesterday when I went out in the afternoon, and then Debbie and I saw him by the door when we went out last night. Dressed in black pants and a white shirt, he’s medium height, slightly portly, with graying hair and a goatee. When we came into the hotel later in the night, he was standing by the door again, and then when we went upstairs to our floor he seemed to follow us up, as he was in our hall not five minutes later, saying “There’s been a report of a gathering in the hall.” There was no one in the hall except for Debbie who was taking out the trash. (And he said his name was “John”! This seemed like a nasty inside joke, Ha Ha Ha.)
Well, since when are hallway gatherings prohibited in the Chelsea Hotel ?! This seemed like borderline harassment itself. And then when we went back downstairs to look into the matter, we noticed another security guard! This guy, dressed the same, was a huge, 6’3” African American guy. Two security guards!? For a Monday night?! At the Chelsea Hotel, of all places!?
So what we, as legal, long-term, rent-paying residents of the hotel demand to know is: Who are these people? Who hired them: Andrew Tilley or David Elder? What company are they with, and are they bonded and insured? Whoever is responsible for the hiring of these guards is deliberately creating an atmosphere of overt hostility toward the residents of this hotel, to let us know that we are being watched, and that we are not wanted here.
Did I mention that this is the Chelsea Hotel ? Never in a million years would this have happened under Stanley. I don’t even recognize this place anymore. -- Ed Hamilton
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