Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog

Hotelier Ira Drukier Says “Bring Back the Bards”

I love the way Richard Born and Ira Drukier insist on acting like they are just regular guys, rather than greed-crazed sociopaths who think nothing at all of tearing asunder the fabric of the city as they lay waste to long-standing communities and devastate human lives.  In a recent interview with the  New York Observer's Chris Shott,  the self-delusional duo reveal that they think the tenants of the Chelsea Hotel were mad at them for no reason better than the fact that they mopped the floors.  Well, gee, there was the matter of the 17 tenants they forced out.  That’s 17 big reasons.  Also, they plopped spoiled brat Glennon Travis down in here, ostensibly to “manage” the place, though really to drive residents crazy with his obnoxious personality so they too would move out.  They neglected necessary repairs, purposely letting the place run down, and imposed restrictive policies designed to crush the free spirit of the Chelsea.  And, despite their claims, they didn’t even really clean the place all that well.
     Even outside our little, once-vibrant artistic community, Born and Drukier are guilty of bringing the illegal-billboard-packing Hotel Gansevoort to the Meatpacking District, ruining that neighborhood in the process.  And they are now in the process of driving the tenants out of the Riverview/Jane Hotel, as they did at the former Pickwick, now saddled with the heinously insulting name of “The Pod.”  (I’ll bet the tenants of the Riverview take issue with B&Ds claim not to have forced anyone out of there as well.  B&D say the only ones being asked to leave are those who don’t pay their rent, but of course Born and Drukier have a nasty habit of raising tenant’s rents to a level that they can’t pay.)

At least Drukier has one thing right: Stanley Bard is the only person capable of running this place—even though the reason Drukier said it is no doubt simply to get Marlene Krauss’s goat.

In other highlights of the article: I chortled over Drukier’s claim that there was no economic reason behind their taking on the Chelsea Hotel’s management, particularly when coupled with Born’s admission that all they’re fighting about now with Marlene is money.  Well, at least the fact of their apparently capricious firing (they were getting rid of tenants, just like Marlene wanted them too) should give other potential management teams pause.

B&D have some good advice for present manager Andrew Tilley, when they say:  Hang on tight to that pole!  They know that Tilley is having a hell of a time balancing the needs of the tenants with those of the owners (Marlene and Elder)—since the main desire of the owners is to throw out the tenants.  Maybe Tilley should take pole dancing lessons across the street at the Sheila Kelly S-Factor. -- Ed Hamilton   (Photo -- Those were the days)

Prepare For A Cold Winter

With all of the possible repairs needed around the Chelsea Hotel the first item on Andrew Tilley’s agenda is to inspect all fireplaces and chimneys.  Gee isn’t it funny that he waited until the end of November to do this.  Heat in many rooms is sporadic at best as many contain tiny radiators and drafty 125 year old windows.  Because of this, a number of residents have to depend on their fireplaces for a valuable source of heat.  Shutting them down on the eve of what promises to be a very cold winter is simply not an option.

For a lot of tenants, using an electric heater is not an option either as the wiring will not support  them.  How about an upgrade on the 125 year old wiring system of the building.  We think that this a much more pressing problem than the fireplaces.  Although the Chelsea has periodic fires the fireplaces have never caused even a single one while the electrical system has been implicated in several. 

Tilley has claimed repeatedly that he will repair residents rooms if they have problems and bring them to his attention.  For the most part, he’s been pretty much all talk in this regard.  Therefore, we propose to start a list of repairs that need to be carried out in the tenant's apartments in this building.  We would appreciate your help in this regard. Please send us a list of any repairs in your apartment that you feel the management undertake.  You don’t have to tell us your name or your apartment number if you don’t want to our plan is to send this list to the HPD and see if we can’t get some real repairs around here, instead of these fake ones designed to harass people.

Hotel Occupancy Rates Lower Than a Snake's Belly

According to industry forecasters, in 2009 U.S. hotels are expected to fill the smallest percentage of rooms since 1988, the year they started tracking this data.  The projected average occupancy rate is 58.3%.  (Source: USA Today)

The Chelsea is apparently no exception.  It’s been awful quite around here and we have heard from a staff member that occupancy rates have recently sunk below 30%.  We don’t know for certain, but this seems close to the occupancy rates experienced during the months following 9/11.  It makes you wonder then, with such a drop in tourists, why are they still continuing to try to evict permanent residents.  Just last week another round of three day notices were delivered. 

Stanley was able to partially remedy the situation by renting to more permanent tenants during the months immediately following 9/11, but don’t expect the new management to go that route.  They would apparently rather take a loss than to see any more bohemians running around here.    

Valuable Garbage Defaced: Freedom of Speech Banned at Chelsea; Street Violence Approved

“Last Thursday night Debbie inscribed the paper tacked up on the elevators on each floor with the wildly inflammatory slogan: “Bring Back the Bards”.  The next morning at about  9:30 AM two policemen came to our door.  The security cameras had caught Debbie in action!  (At least we know now that the cameras work.  We were really worried about that because it seems they were conveniently inoperative when security goons were beating another resident.)  “The management wanted us to ask you not to do that anymore,” the cops said.  
    “Why not?” Debbie asked.  “It was just a piece of paper.”  
     "Of course it’s NOT A CRIME to write on a piece of paper,” the cops said, “You’re not damaging their property in any way, and they were just going to throw that paper away.  But they felt insulted.”  It was clear that the cops thought that the whole thing was a joke and that their time was being wasted. 
      “Do you know about the situation with Star Lounge and all the fights outside the hotel?” Debbie asked, redirecting their attention to a more important issue.  “Yeah, we’re monitoring the situation,” the cops said.  (Significantly, our security guards have not been calling the cops when they witness fights in front of the hotel, endangering hotel and neighborhood  residents alike.)

So, basically, management (which I guess means either Andrew Tilley or Arnold Tamasar or both) called the cops on Debbie for defacing garbage!  The Chelsea  Hotel has a proud history of radicalism and dissent.  Have we really sunk so low that not even this polite, mild mannered exercise in the Freedom of Speech is to be tolerated? 
     Oh, another thing the cops said was that the management said they would have to take that paper down each night and put up new the next day!  That’s going to get pretty expensive, given that they’ve already been painting (and “repairing”) the elevators for a number of months with no end in sight.  First they painted them gold; then they primered them; then they painted them black; and when that experiment didn’t work, they primered them again, then painted them a lighter shade of gold.  Now we’re back to the primering stage again.  At one point, they looked really good, but I don't even remember what point that was anymore.  Bring Back the Bards!

The One That Got Away From Stanley Bard

Hello from Louisville Kentucky. I'm the artist who didn't give my painting to Stanley Bard.  I see you have included this tidbit in your blog. I am proud to be a part of it. We talked before your reading at Ear X- Tacy last Thursday. I am really enjoying your excellent book 'Legends of the Chelsea Hotel", it brings back many memories. I lived in room 607 for a year, beginning in July of 1988, than returned to the Chelsea about 6 months later to live with a girl I had fallen for, she living on the 8th floor, in a large room with a kitchen and private bath, towards the back of the building. I read in your book where one of the illustrious Chelsea residents, was it Madonna, or Joplin, stayed in 822, and I wondered if that was the room where I stayed with my girlfriend, whose name was Audrey. Stanley liked me for my Midwestern attitudes, for my habit of paying the rent on time, for renovating my room at no cost, but he probably did not think the same of me after Audrey and I left the Chelsea for a Brooklyn apartment in Red Hook about 6 months after I moved in with Audrey, in the middle of the night (her idea). No telling if she ever paid her rent, like so many others mentioned in the book. But, she was born and raised in NYC, and she seemed to know something I didn't, at least about the Chelsea Hotel. If I remember, Stanley was rather fond of Audrey, in a fatherly way. I wonder if he remembers me. Again, it was a pleasure meeting you and Susan. sincerely, Bob Higgins  (Maybe Stanley Bard will write in and let us know if he remembers Bob.)

    

After the Flood, 1988, by Bob Higgins

Ongoing Patterns of Violence at Star Lounge

We are disappointed to learn of further incidences of violence outside the Star Lounge recently.  This is especially disconcerting in light of the fact that the Chelsea Hotel management (Arnold Tamasar and Andrew Tilley) had earlier been informed of this ongoing problem and chose to take no action.  These violent incidents appear to take place in plain view of if not with the outright collusion of both the bouncers at Star Lounge and most disturbingly the security guards employed by the Chelsea Hotel. 

This potentially explosive situation impacts not only the Chelsea Hotel but the entire neighborhood as we feel it is only a matter of time before a neighborhood resident is caught up in what is fast becoming a nightly free for all and seriously injured.   Though you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of the thugs who hang out at the Star Lounge there are families with small children as well as old people who live in this area and they shouldn’t have to walk through crowds on their way to and from their homes. 

A number of residents at the Chelsea Hotel have gotten together and drafted a petition calling on community leaders to remedy this situation.  You can help by signing this petition.  Contact Michele Zalopany at the Chelsea Hotel to let her  know that you want to sign the petition or print out a copy of the petition and sign it and deliver to Ms. Zalopany at the Hotel.  Copies of the petition were posted around the hotel earlier this week, but they were torn down.  So, if you signed one of those copies your signature has been lost and you might want to sign again.

Additionally, please contact Senator Tom Duane or Speaker Christine Quinn and express your concerns about the noise, disorder and violence associated with Star Lounge.  Here is a sample letter you can sign and send to the Senator or to Speaker Quinn.  Remember, this is not just a Chelsea Hotel issue.  These concerns impact the entire Chelsea neighborhood.

 

Thanks to a tipster for sending in the photos.

 

Chelsea Hotel the Bellevue of the Sane?

Apparently Bellevue Hospital and the Chelsea Hotel have shared a number of former inmates: Eugene O’Neill, Edie Sedgwick, Charles Jackson, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and of course Sid Vicious.  We’ve always said that the Chelsea is the last stop before the nuthouse and a recent article in New York Magazine quips that “ Bellevue is the Chelsea of the insane,” but we of course take issue with that.  The Chelsea Hotel itself is the Chelsea of the insane.

Transplanted Chelseaites in Kentucky

I meet all kinds of Chelsea Hotel people and get to hear their stories when I'm out promoting my book, Legends of the Chelsea Hotel.  I was at the Kentucky Book Fair and I met this couple who had stayed at the Chelsea back in the 70s.  The man, said he had always wanted to stay at the Chelsea but his travelling companion had a lot of reservations due to the Chelsea's bad reputation.  He kept working away at her however and she finally agreed to stay at the Chelsea with one stipulation that they had to have their own bathroom so that she could take a bath. So the man readily agreed to this and arranged for a room with a bath.  And so they checked in but then the woman said that when she tried to take a bath green slime bubbled up out of the drain.  Gee, that happens all the time at the Chelsea.

Another man who came to my reading at Ear x-tacy Record Store in Louisville was an artist who lived at the Chelsea first in 1988 and then again in 1991.  He said that Stanley wanted one of his paintings but that he was reluctant to give it to him and it was good thing too because he later sold that painting to Brown Forman Distillries for a heafty sum.  Furthermore, this painter claims that he always paid his rent.  Boy that was a new one on us.  And yes, to answer your question they both bought copies of Legends.

At the Bookfair, I sat next to a lady selling Christian inspirational fiction and when people came by and looked at her books and decided that it wasn't for them I said well maybe you'll like this book, the Chelsea's got sex, drugs and rock & roll galore.

 

Yes, We Know David Elder is "Special"

We don't know if this refrigerator is coming or going, but it looks better than the one in our apartment.

     

Dave Tieghem Plays the Chelsea!

Listen to Dave Van Tieghem as he literally plays the Chelsea Hotel. We hope Andrew Tilley doesn't get after him for beatin up the furniture though he probably needs to buy some of that new boutique furniture for the room anyway. At the end of the video it seems like a resident must be knocking on the door telling him to shut up.

An I-Pod Docking Station in Every Room

On the first part of his most recent stay in New York, BBC Radio correspondent David Willis had the misfortune to check into one of those trendy boutique hotels.  About the experience he says:

”One of the effects of middle age is that things which once seemed funky and fun suddenly start to seem faintly ridiculous.”

Fleeing the ludicrous place with its “hipster-chic Alice in Wonderland décor” Willis was lucky enough to land a room at the Chelsea, and was immediately captivated:

“I took to wandering the corridors, marveling at the murals and the exotic smells emanating from the rooms.  I became enthralled by the building’s history and the larger-than-life cast of characters who once called the Chelsea home.”

Later, however, he talked to manager Andrew Tilley and was appalled to learn that the future of the Chelsea, “lies in flat screen televisions, in-house movies, mini-bars, and i-pod docking stations.”

Willis obviously gets it after only one brief stay here, so what's Tilley's problem? -- Ed Hamilton

A Way of Life Under Assault at the Chelsea Hotel and in New York

In Scott Stiffler’s Chelsea Now article about Andrew Tilley’s recent posting of eviction notices, Tilley is given the pull-quote to chastise us clueless Bohemians thusly: “It’s really quite simple: you live somewhere, you have to pay rent.”
    Wow, I'm so glad he cleared that up.  When I wrote about the matter a couple of weeks however, my point was that it was really low down of Tilley to spring these notices on tenants without warning the day after the bottom fell out of the stock market (no doubt resulting in huge losses to some of the very tenants who received the notices.) Macho Darwinian platitudes aside, from a social standpoint, the eve of a depression is hardly the time to be throwing people out in the street.

            Furthermore, it’s not to recover the small amount of money owed that Tilley put up these notices.  That wouldn’t make any sense, because the hotel would have to spend a huge sum in legal fees chasing after a few thousand dollars.  In fact Tilley would much rather the tenants in question didn’t pay.  That’s why he sprung these notices on people at a vulnerable time, when they may not have had ready cash at hand.  Tilley wants these residents out so he can convert their rent stabilized rooms to high priced hotel rooms that he can rent out by the night.

Let’s not miss the forest for the trees (or pretend to): while we are certainly concerned with the plight of individual tenants, the larger issue here is the preservation of affordable permanent housing in the Chelsea Hotel and in New York as a whole.  Our way of life is under assault by outsiders who are motivated purely by greed. 
        As Scott Griffin correctly points out in the article, Tilley has a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another.  He told tenants they would get a friendly reminder if they fell behind in the rent, and then, without warning, he goes and slaps legal notices on their doors.  He subsequently denies knowing anything about these notices until it's pointed out to him that he has signed each one.  Similarly, when Tilley says he only wants us out if we can't pay the rent, can we be blamed for thinking that he would like to kick us out whether we pay or not?  (Scott Stiffler incorrectly states that the amounts are not in dispute.  There are numerous over-charge claims pending and some of the folks who received notices may be among those who have over-charge claims pending.)
     At least Tilley seems to be coming to terms with the fact that his vaunted "renovation" will not be forthcoming anytime soon. -- Ed Hamilton 

Gangsters Lore and Legend Lives on at the Chelsea Hotel

      You don't mess with Rico, see.  Our fellow Chelsea Hotel resident and pro-Bard activist Arthur Nash has a new book due out soon, "American Gangster: An Illustrated History of the Mob," (Madison Press   Books, 2009).  The book features rare photos and gangster-related artifacts from Nash's personal archives that he assembled over 15 years.  For a preview, visit the Discovery Channel's website and see photos of Lucky Luciano, Joey Gallo playing with a dwarf two months before he was shot down, Abel Ferrara wearing Gallo's hat, piles of confiscated bootleg liquor, and Nash himself standing beside the barber chair where Albert Anastasia himself was assasinated.  Check it out today.  And buy a copy of Arthur's book when it comes out too, you dirty rat!

    

Rare Video Footage of Charles James at the Chelsea Hotel

In a piece shot at the Chelsea Hotel by Anton Perich in 1977, one of the world's best dress maker Charles James, showcases some of his most famous gowns on model Matuschka.

Chelsea Hotel Still the Last Outpost

A reader writes in: 

Hello,
I'm sure you get asked this all the time, but I'm wondering if you could suggest a place in New York that has the kind of atmosphere that the Chelsea had a few years ago. We stayed there back then and had a great time, but I've been following some of the recent changes and I notice that the rates have risen out of our price range. Hopefully there's still something like it left in New York!

Jonathan, Ontario Canada

Well, Jonathan, sadly enough the Chelsea Hotel is hardly unique in its predicament as a victim of gentrification.  Similar hotels such as the Hotel Breslin over on Broadway and the Riverview on Jane St. and under seige as we speak.  The Gramercy on  Lexinton went down a few years ago, as did the Pickwick -- now the Pod Hotel -- run by BD -- and the Allerton around the corner on 8th Ave -- now called The Gem Hotel. It's a discouraging trend in general.  Maybe you can still get some of the old Bohemia vibe at the Carlton Arms over on 3rd Ave and 25th or at the Gershwin on 27th.

Actually, we're not ready to give up the ghost here quite yet, and so your best bet may still be the Chelsea Hotel.  Through a combination of media nd public pressure, and the incompetence of the management, we've been able to fare a lot better than almost any other residential hotel that's under similar seige.  So come visit us here before it's too late.  You can still get a decent room rate if your presistent in your inquiries.

Big Brother Mugwump Installs Secret Spy-Cam

Don’t look now, but Big Brother Elder may be watching you.  A Chelsea Hotel resident recently sent us this photo of a spy-cam disguised as a smoke detector.  Although we have long had cameras mounted in the stairwell on each floor to record who gets on and off the elevators, this one was placed at the end of a hallway where none had been before, and seems designed to stifle the freedom of assembly.  Although this is the only new camera we know of as yet, residents are advised to keep their eyes peeled for more of these things popping up around the building.  This camera was set up in the hallway of a resident who has been very outspoken against the new management, and as such can only be construed as a form of harassment.  As you can see from the pictures, the resident fought back by providing the spies with a highly obnoxious viewing   prospect, thus virtually guaranteeing that no one person, however strong his stomach, could stand to watch the monitor for long.  (Maybe all those extra hires will come in handy after all.)  
     Strangely enough, just as we were getting ready to write about this outrage, someone surreptitiously removed the spy-cam.  Though we can only speculate as to the management’s motive for this abrupt reversal, perhaps a lawyer or someone with a modicum of sense got wind of the stunt, and thought it would be better to avoid compounding the substantial harassment already suffered by the outspoken resident. -- Ed Hamilton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children Rejoice at News of Marlene Krauss’s Summer Infant Ouster

Children all over America raised their tiny voices in a shrill cry of joy recently, upon learning that Marlene Krauss had resigned as director and chairman of Woonsocket-based Summer Infant, a  company that designs, markets and distributes “health, safety and wellness” products for children.  Summer Infant, as reported on this blog, had been implicated in a scandal wherin their crib monitor were found to be broadcasting signals received from space-based NASA satellites (no joke!)  “Now we can finally be free to grow and develop to our full God-given potential without undue corporate and governmental interference,” said three-year-old Trevor, a spokesman for a support group for survivors of the diabolical, Orwellian brainwashing campaign.
       But seriously, folks, we have no idea as to the reason for Marlene’s resignation, ie. as to whether she was forced out or just decided to spend more time with her family.  But she can’t be too pleased about the loss of income.  As far as we can figure out, she was being paid 125,000/year as chairman, and $220,000/year with $1500/month for travel and up to half of her salary each year as a cash bonus for her job as executive vice president of product development (and probably she got a raise when she became director of the company).  Marlene also was apparently cashing out her stock in advance of her departure.

Coincidentally or not, Marlene’s departure coincided with all the eviction notices that were sent out to Chelsea Hotel tenants.  Though I doubt that she’s going to make up much of her income by squeezing late-payers, I guess every penny counts.  More significantly, Marlene is going to have a lot of time on her hands now, and if we’re lucky, maybe she’ll spend some of it with us here at the Chelsea.  By her own admission she’s a hard worker, and doesn’t need much sleep.  Sound like anybody you know?  Now maybe we can finally get somebody to stand at the desk from 6 in the morning until 6 in the evening and manage this place properly.

Finally, Marlene, we recommend that you set up one of those baby monitors in Elder and Tilley’s office.  They certainly have been running a rogue operation lately, and we feel they are desperately in need of adult supervision. -- Ed Hamilton