If you are a fan of pugs, and a fan of Chelsea Hotel characters, Wednesday’s auction of items from the Brigid Berlin estate will ring all of your bells! Check out the pug portraits.
A couple of Billy Name monographs might be more to your liking.
Or maybe buy a music book or two.
The auction begins Wed, Apr 27, 2022 at 10am EDT.
Deena Kaye Rose is a Nashville songwriting legend. She has written songs for some of country’s most renowned stars like Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, John Denver and wrote the theme song to the all-time American classic movie, Smokey and the Bandit. In Deena Kaye Rose’s new book, Some Days Are Diamonds, she chronicles the best and worst times of living the raucous and crazy musician life all the while knowing that she was suppressing her true feminine self.
In the mid-70s, she landed at the Chelsea Hotel. As she writes in her book, Some Days are Diamonds, “The manager had given me a “long-term artist's” rate: $60 a week. Of course, nothing in my room worked properly and I think I had housekeeping once a week, whether I needed it or not. As a hotel, possibly the worst. As an inspiration for a creative artist, probably the best. And I loved it dearly.” Download "Alive and Well at the Chelsea Hotel - Chapter 28" from Some Days are Diamonds.
How did you learn about the Chelsea Hotel?
I learned about the Chelsea Hotel from studying about creative artists who had spent time in New York City. The Chelsea has long been that citadel of the muse for so many.
How’d you rate your room at the Chelsea?
On a scale of one to ten, it was about a minus two! But as inspiration it was ten to the tenth power!
Can you describe the Vibe of the Hotel at the time (mid-70s)?
There were some full time residents at the Chelsea who were quite interesting characters; one old fella dressed like a cowboy all the time. Out on the streets of New York he looked a little out of place but at the Chelsea, he fit right in. There was one middle-aged guy who dressed like a pirate complete with silk pantaloons, a black sash, and a pirate doo-rag. I thought perhaps he was a doorman at a seafood restaurant, but no, he was a pirate!
Daytime piano music drifted down from the upper floors that contained small studios and at least one grand piano. It was beautiful.
Do you think the Chelsea has a special creative energy?
Absolutely! I always felt a physical tingle, a buzz of electrical energy from just walking through the entrance. The thought of so many great artists and creative souls who had walked these halls, trod upon these stairs, or occupied a bar stool in the first floor bar was thrilling for a romantic like myself. Sitting in my room and looking out on Twenty-Third would invariably lead me to muse about others who had gazed upon this same midnight, this same street scene, as they also awaited a visit from the muse.
Have you written any songs about the Chelsea Hotel or songs that were inspired by your experience staying at the Hotel?
I wrote the liner notes for my third album while living at the Chelsea on one nocturnal evening, gazing out through the ornate cast iron balcony.
Thumb-humped rhythms in the A.M. Quiet,Star-crossed words in a hot tea buzz...
To say how it is!
Not how it should be.
Or even how it was.
I bring a mirror,
Not a pulpit.
Here, People,
I wrote these songs for you!
These lines are included in my book, Some Days Are Diamonds, in the chapter about the Chelsea.
Has your song writing been influenced by any artists associated with the Chelsea Hotel?
My goal has always been to never try and emulate other songwriters. If I learn to write exactly like Steven Sondheim it wouldn’t mean a thing. We already have a Steven Sondheim. My focus has been with poets, novelists, film makers, artists that create in a genre entirely different from the one I am attempting. Dylan Thomas was certainly a poet whom I admired greatly. Thomas Wolf, yes, and I even have some leaves that I picked up along the sidewalk of his boyhood home in Ashville, North Carolina. But there is one songwriter/poet of the Class of Chelsea whom I love dearly—as a fan. That would be Leonard Cohen. Genius!
Are there any transgender role models who you admire who are/were also part of the Chelsea Hotel scene?
Holly Woodlawn! Yes, yes, YES. This courageous lady made her statement in a time when it was most difficult to express an alternative lifestyle. She definitely took a “Walk on the Wild Side.” Holly Woodlawn was one of the Godmothers to us all. The footprints of her high heels are always to be found on the pathway before me.
How did you get interested in Country music?
My childhood was spent in western Missouri, a mostly agrarian part of America. Our “popular” music was the folk music done by artists like Woody Guthrie, the Western Swing of Bob Wills and mixed with the Appalachian influences of European Americans. We didn’t have a symphony but we had a square dance every Saturday night where the local musicians played things like “Wildwood Flower” and “Under the Double Eagle,” songs from the nineteenth century.
Chet Atkins once said, “There are only two kinds of music; good and bad!” That has always been my feeling. It seemed to me that Rock and Roll was always so optimistic: “We’re gonna do this and it will be great!” Jazz was more like; “We’re Doin’ this and isn’t it great!” But Country Music was more like; “We did this and it wasn’t always that great!” I love real life emotions told with great lyrical lines.
What was it like working with the greats of country music?
Terrific! During the time when I was writing for Johnny Cash, I thought, Wow, I am writing for someone who actually was a great influence in shaping “how” I write now. I once played John a song and I said, “I stole this idea from you and one of your songs.” John listened and said, “I don’t hear any theft there.”
What is your favorite song that you wrote and why?
Songs are like children: a parent could never choose one over the others. Feels to me that at any given time I will always have two favorite songs: the last one and the next one!
Perhaps some of my works could be singled out as having some historical significance in regards to my career. “East Bound and Down” has played over a million times in broadcast play in North America alone, as has, “Some Days Are Diamonds.” And, yes, each of these compositions was a financial Pleasure! But there is another song that I wrote and that was recorded by The Kingston Trio entitled “Jock and the Trapeze Lady” that didn’t make nearly as much money but that I love just as dearly.
Can you tell us about your experience transitioning into a woman?
Well, I guess I first had the feeling that I should have been a girl rather late in life—I was three years old! But knowing that I was trans for the whole of my life and deciding to do something about it were two different things. The most surprising thing about my life after Transition was the soul-deep JOY that I have found. I was prepared for disappointments but I had not anticipated being so HAPPY. Since transitioning three years ago, the worst day I have had as a woman is better than the best day I had as a guy in the dozen years before that in Nashville.
Do you think it is easier now for people who transition?
Certainly there are more resources available and a little more understanding in the cisgender community. We have learned that there are others just like ourselves. Gender reassignment is not something that one can undertake on a whim. The decision is a lifelong commitment. It is not akin to walking through the pet store and suddenly deciding to buy an Angel Fish.
How was your transitioning received by your fellow artists in the country music industry?
Wonderful! The old friends who have reached out to me have been great. I have a dear friend in the onstage, performing area of the Entertainment Business who, as guy, I have known for over thirty years. Just a few months ago, I reached out to him and explained my “cha-cha-cha, Changes.” He was much more excited about him and his wife getting together with me to have dinner and talk about creativity and music, without having superficial conversations about Transsexuality! We have done just that several times.
I am still a creative artist; it is just that now I am a female creative artist.
What inspired you to write your book?
My first thought about a post-transition life was that I would live in “stealth,” a term used by transpeople to denote living in a new gender without referring or alluding to the previous life as the old gender. Hence, we call our birth name our “deadname.” But I noticed that a common misperception was that Trans folks are totally incapacitated by being transgender: that we have spent our pre-transition time hiding in dark places waiting for grs so that our lives could actually begin.
Porcine Dip!
In recent years, many post-transition persons have made it a point to embrace achievements conducted in the previous gender, the gender assigned at birth. The Wachowski Sisters, genius film makers and transladies, Kristin Beck, former Navy Seal and Transgender woman. Chaz Bono, Jennifer Leitham, and, of course, Caitlyn Jenner, and many others have been effusive in acknowledging previous successes I felt it was my obligation to my trans family that I should make my statement: that even a male Country Music songwriter from Nashville, who wrote for Johnny Cash, wrote for macho, truck drivin’ Burt Reynolds film, Smokey and the Bandit, was not immune from being transgender. I did not choose Transgenderism—Transgenderism chose me.
Do you have any new creative projects coming up that we should look out for?
I am working on a book of poetry that will include all new, never before published works. I have a ton of new songs I wrote for and about the Trans community. Some pending speaking engagements are on the horizon. And, of course, there is the current autobiographical book, “Some Days Are Diamonds”, that is available on Amazon at this very moment. Believe me, it has a happy ending!
ABOUT DEENA KAYE ROSE
Deena Kaye Rose is a Nashville songwriting legend. She has written songs for some of country’s most renowned stars like Johnny Cash, Jerry Reed, John Denver and wrote the theme song to the all-time American classic movie, Smokey and the Bandit. In Deena Kaye Rose’s new book, Some Days Are Diamonds, she chronicles the best and worst times of living the raucous and crazy musician life all the while knowing that she was suppressing her true feminine self. Today Deena is a transgender woman and activist, sharing the history of her journey in performances and lectures around the country. She is letting trans persons know they are not alone. Deena’s hope is that her tale of growing up knowing she was a transgender woman in a time when those topics were considered either taboo or nonexistent in the Bible Belt of the United States, may add a positive note to the transgender conversation.
For more information about Deena visit her website at www.deenakayerose.com
Follow her on Twitter @DeenaKayeRose
Like her on Facebook www.facebook.com/DeenaKRose
Buy her book on Amazon
Stanley Bard and his wife Phyllis celebrated Stanley's 80th birthday in style earlier this month by dining at El Quijote. Stanley said that one of his all time favorite dishes was El Quijote's Chicken Villeroy, but he ordered something different just to change it up on this particular occasion, looked like the Fish in Green Sauce to me, another yummy dish. Phyllis also recommends the baked chicken. "It's the best in town," she said. Here's to Stanley celebrating many more birthday's to come in El Quijote. The famous off-key pink guerrilla was no where in sight.
(photo by Rita Barros)
As
many of you already know, poet Edgar Lee Masters, was a former Chelsea Hotel
resident. His 1915
book, The Spoon
River Anthology, is the story of the fictional town of Spoon River, and in
it, the town’s residents are now dead and returning to tell their secrets and
stories.
Leaks, floods, swarms of mosquitoes, mold, windstorms of dust, dumspters full of uncovered waste, jackhammer demolition: when will the tribulations of our poor oppressed bohemian tribe be at an end?
The Bard family has been good to Patti Smith, helping her out at two difficult times in her life. The first time, in the late sixties when she was a struggling, unknown poet, Stanley Bard gave her and her friend Robert Mappelthorpe a place to stay so they could get out of the drug and vermin infested Allerton Hotel. The second time, in the late nineties, after the tragic death of her husband, Stanley came through with an apartment yet again.
It is with great sadness, therefore, that we reprint the following invitation, which showed up in our Chelsea Hotel mailbox just yesterday.
Patti must not know that the person sponsoring her upcoming event, Joseph Chetrit, is the same developer who took Stanley Bard’s beloved Chelsea Hotel away from him and his family. And surely she is unaware that this is the same Joseph Chetrit whose demolition crews recently gutted over a hundred historic Chelsea Hotel rooms. Finally, if she hasn’t been in some way deceived, we know there’s no way in hell Patti would give a concert in support of a man, Joseph Chetrit, who is presently trying to evict almost thirty Chelsea Hotel residents using both housing and Supreme court.
We love Patti and her music, and we would love to see her concert, just not under these circumstances. And so we call on Patti, now that she knows the truth, to cancel this event.
Union workers erected a large rat in front of the Chelsea Hotel today to protest Joseph Chetrit's use of non-union labor to demolish the interior of the hotel. Former Hotel workers had long been union members but in August when the Chelsea Hotel was in the process of changing ownership, the union workers arrived at the Hotel to find they had been locked out. Then they were given a one day notice and fired. Though promised a severance package, the maids, clerks, engineers, and bellmen of the Chelsea, many of whom had worked at the Hotel for decades have to this date, received nothing.
Actually, it was not one but two tenants who were assaulted. Additionally, we have received several reports of tenants being verbally harassed by the non-union demolition workers.
Lost our lease! Everything must go! Stanley was famous for renting the room where Madonna shot her Sex book to Material Girl-worshiping hipsters with stars in their eyes. Lately, however, sex alone has not been paying the bills. In response, general manager Arnold Tamasar has revealed a new marketing strategy: Celebrity Death Tourism. (And maybe a little sex thrown in for good measure.)
For bargain basement prices, you can stay in the room where a drug-addled Sid Vicious killed a drug-befuddled Nancy Spungen—or at least a room with the couple’s infamous bathroom attached. And if you can’t afford to go the whole hog, the hotel now sells Sid dolls at the front desk. (Complete with tiny leather jacket, sure, but how about a tiny hypodermic needle? You’ll have to ask the concierge.) Wear your black fingernail polish and light a candle for the Romeo and Juliet of punk.
Substance-abusing punks not your cup of tea? Ask to stay in the tiny room where Dylan Thomas collapsed after a night of hard drinking at the White Horse tavern. Bet you can’t beat his record of 18 whiskeys! Speaking of lovable alcoholics, Charles Jackson, author of The Lost Weekend bit the big one here as well—a suicide, double the fun! (Don’t try this at home, kids! Though really, don’t try it here either.)
It has come to our attention that the Chelsea Hotel management plans to punch a hole through the ceiling of Star Lounge in the
basement and up through the floor of Stanley’s office (to the west of the
lobby), in an apparent attempt to extend the raucous club up into the lobby
area.
Our main
concern at this point is for the structural integrity of the building, and
especially for the fate of the
magnificent Beaux Art mural on the ceiling of
As part
of his ambitious ten-year renovation project for the hotel, Stanley Bard had
the mural restored in 2000. We have been
in contact with the restorer, Lisa Rosen of Fine Art Restoration, who
writes to describe the costly and laborious process:
"The painting was obfuscated with 129 years of New York City smog, soot, nicotine
and surface dirt. The once transparent final layer of protective varnish
had also altered, turning first yellow and then brown (see photo ). The restorative cleaning procedure took five weeks of intensive
physical labor using 'q-tip's' and idoneous solvent to finally arrive at
what
you see today. What you see now is how the painted canvas looked
originally leaving the master's studio before being adhered to the hotel
ceiling.
In the 1880's the height of chic was to hire Italian artists to come to
The
As you can see by the before
and after pictures, Rosen has
done a great job.
It would be a shame if this irreparable mural were lost due to careless
and/or malicious action on the part of hotel management, who might have other
ideas about what a chi-chi
club should look like.
As was the case with the demolition of Dylan’s room, we feel that the hotel has fraudulently obtained the permits for work on room 614. In their applications for flooring, kitchen, and bathroom renovations, they falsely state that the Chelsea is not an SRO building, when in fact it is. They further falsely state that the hotel does not contain rent stabilized units, when in fact it does. This allows the hotel to avoid the requirement that they obtain a Certificate of No Harassment—which, due to ongoing harassment, they’ll never get in a million years.
We thought we had cleared up this matter of permit falsification with the DOB in connection with the work on Dylan's room -- for which they issued a Stop Work Order which is still in effect -- but apparently they can't be bothered to read their own paperwork.
Earlier posts about Arthur Miller's room
Arthur Miller’s Suite Vacated, Likely Endangered by Some Asinine Scheme
Photo: (Bill Bolcom, Arnold Weinstein, and Arthur Miller at work in the Chelsea Hotel on the opera based on Miller's play, A View From the Bridge.) Source. Opera News.
Sugar and lard or pure grain alcohol. We’ve got it all at the one but two bars on the ground floor. All of these businesses will apparently be connected to the historic lobby: the doughnut shop in the former Dan’s Guitars space, a bar in
The proprietor of at least one of these bars will reportedly be Noel Ashman, who should fit right in to the
Since we finally got what we wanted from the hotel management, we are going on sabbatical to pursue other projects. As a few of the more perceptive among you surmised, the Bring Back the Bards campaign was nothing more than a carefully constructed ruse. What we really wanted all along was this new sink. Though it’s true that we carried the charade to absurd lengths, we think the effort was well worth it.
For what a sink it is! As you can see, its color is a gleaming, pure white—though they probably had another, more creative, name for it on the box, which we didn’t get to see. The cabinet is made of fiberboard, and the basin appears to have been fashioned from some kind of new-fangled space-age plastic material, obviously an advance on both marble and porcelain. The faucets are chrome—can’t get any better than that. The guy who put it in told us it came from Home Depot: what a wonderful store, to provide such a fine sink!
Our apologies to the hotel management (in its various incarnations) for dogging and haranguing you daily for two straight years without ever telling you what we really wanted. Of course we could have just asked for a new sink to begin with, and I’m sure you would have provided one immediately, but what fun would that have been? -- Ed Hamilton
The Hostile Takeover in a Nutshell -- Feel free to add your own highlights in the comment box!
To refresh your memory check out the June, July & August 2007 Archives.
Bard Family Ouster—On June 17, 2007, Stanley Bard, who owns 58% of the hotel’s shares, was fired as manager by a minority shareholder cabal headed by Marlene Krauss and David Elder. Krauss and Elder had earlier won an arbitration hearing against Stanley in which they alleged that he had mismanaged the hotel, engaged in opaque business practices, and overcompensated himself, among other things. The Chelsea has always been profitable under the Bards (though it is no longer), but in New York’s super-heated real estate climate, Stanley wasn’t generating the short-term windfall that Krauss and Elder desired.
-Media Firestorm—Legends broke the story of Stanley’s firing, and along with other tenants, subsequently worked to disseminate the message to the various print and online media outlets. Though Krauss and Elder had originally fired Stanley outright, the resultant media firestorm caught them and their publicist, Rubenstein, by surprise. As reporters and photographers from the New York Times, the New York Post, and Chelsea Now filled the lobby of the Chelsea, Krauss and Elder backed off, instructing BD to name Stanley “Goodwill Ambassador.” Once there was a lull in media coverage, Stanley was fired again, this time permanently. But media scrutiny of the hotel remains intense to this day.
June 23, 2007 - Tenant Arthur Nash launches hisBring Back the Bards banner campaign.
BD Hotels Reign – June 2007 – May 2008
June 19, 2007 – Richard Born and Ira Drukier step up to the plate.
-New Corporate Restrictions—BD Hotels, with their almost universally despised Director of Operations, Glennon Travis, did their best to clamp down on the freewheeling atmosphere of the Chelsea, ordering residents to clear their belongings from the halls, and prohibiting unaccompanied children and pets the use of the common spaces. At the same time, management was, by design, insulting and unresponsive, refusing to make necessary repairs or to take residents’ concerns seriously.
-Evictions Carried Out—BD hotels carried out a number of “evictions” (most tenants were forced out under the threat of eviction, rather than actually being thrown out onto the street by the police) beginning with retail tenants, who lack rent stabilization, and continuing with early non-payers who had run up debts under Stanley and who were given debt forgiveness and perhaps small buyouts in exchange for vacating their rent stabilized rooms. For many other tenants, BD jacked up their rents to unreasonable levels, often doubling or tripling them. Threatened with a mountain of debt should they lose in court, many of these tenants opted to receive “debt” forgiveness and check out. Employing such methods, BD was able to evict 17 residents by our count. These evictions continued under the next manager, Andrew Tilley, and the number now stands at 20.
-Renovations Attempted—BD began small-scale renovations on the hotel soon after they were hired. The Department of Buildings (DOB) slapped a stop-work order on the building, which took the Hotel several months to get lifted.
-BD Hotels Ouster—on May 5, 2008, Marlene Krauss fired BD hotels. In arbitration papers obtained by Legends, Krauss and Elder claimed that, among other things, BD was not evicting tenants or renovating the hotel quickly enough. BD subsequently filed suit against the hotel, claiming that they were owed almost $500,00 in incentive fees. The litigation is still ongoing. The Chelsea subsequently drifted along for over two months without a manager.
Hotel Enters Lawless Period May 2008 – June 2008
-Assault on Tenant Activist Arthur Nash—in a fearless campaign of resistance, tenant activist Arthur Nash set out to let it be known that minority shareholder David Elder had bilked his own stepfather, author Piri Thomas, out of $1.2 million dollars Thomas was owed from a trust administered by Elder. Nash confronted Elder publicly on a number of occasions, including at an Elder-sponsored art show, humiliating and embarrassing Elder by disseminating this information. Elder struck back by hiring thugs to rough up Nash. In a DHCR harassment hearing, Elder admitted to paying the thugs in cash, and to pointing Nash out to them. The thugs assaulted Nash on two occasions. On the second of these occasion, a 6’5”, 300 lb. bouncer slammed Nash repeatedly into the front desk of the Chelsea, causing him permanent back and arm injury. Litigation is ongoing.
July 2008 Andrew Tilley signs on to be manager
Most Recent Manager Andrew Tilley -- After two months without a manger at the Chelsea Hotel Marlene Krauss finally managed to land Andrew Tilley, who had managed the Paramount/Hard Rock Hotel in Times square. Tilley had absolutely no experience managing or working in a residential building, leading to speculation that—in light of tenant activism and Marlene’s erratic and overbearing leadership—Tilley was the only one who would agree to take the unenviable job.
-Security Guards and Cameras—Tilley hired more unnecessary staff, installed security cameras pointing down every wing of the hotel, and used a staff of security guards (actually hired by David Elder in the wake of the Arthur Nash assault) to intimidate and instill fear and paranoia in hotel guests and residents alike.
Continued Efforts to Evict Tenants - Tilley continued to move forward with Marlene Krauss and David Elder's plans to evict tenants.
-Staff Firings—BD had attempted to fire several union staff members, and Tilley was equally hostile toward union employees and the old guard. Tilley actually managed to fire three trusted, long term employees, one of whom was a union member.
-Illegal Construction In Bob Dylan’s Room—in July of 2008, the hotel filed falsified construction permit applications designed to circumvent the requirement that they obtain a Certificate of No Harassment. Then, in December 2008, workers began illegal demolition of Room 203 and Room 211, the later Bob Dylan’s old room. (Not coincidentally, Arthur Nash’s apartment is situated between these two rooms, and their noisy destruction, which broadcast dust throughout the building, represented the continuing harassment of the outspoken tenant activist.) Legends reported this illegal activity, and The New York Post and Fox 5 news picked up the story. The office of State Senator Tom Duane also became involved. The DOB was summoned, and they found that the “construction” in Dylan’s room—which involved totally gutting the room, including tearing down a wall with sledge hammers— exceeded the scope of the hotel’s permits, which were solely for bathroom and kitchen renovation. They issued a stop work order on the entire building, and when the hotel attempted repeatedly to continue work in defiance of the order, police were forced to threaten management personnel with arrest in order to get them to comply.
-Roof Gardens Threatened—Before his ouster, Andrew Tilley stated his desire to clear the roof of it’s gardens, an integral feature of the hotel since it’s inception in 1884, telling a reporter that he intended to put a bar up there. When it appeared that there would be media scrutiny of this move, the hotel seemingly backed off; and that’s where matter stands at this juncture.
-Tilley Resignation—Citing mockery of his hair and national origin (he’s British) on Legends, and panties and magazine subscriptions sent to his house in New Jersey, Andrew Tilley wisely chose to call it quits. He chose not to mention the reported 20%-30% occupancy rate in his last few months, his failure to evict tenants, and his failure to even begin the renovations he had so proudly touted, none of which would have sat well with Marlene Krauss.
Life After Tilley – February 2009 – June 2009
-75-Year-Old Man Evicted—though Marlene Krauss has stated that she does not intend to appoint a new manager, since Tilley’s resignation Director of Operations Arnold Tamasar has been serving as the de facto head of the hotel. As his first act in this new capacity, he evicted a 75-year-old man from the hotel, prompting protestations of shock and disgust from the police officers who were summoned to escort the man from the building.
Bring Back the Bards Banner Captured -- Though it had hung in one form or another for two years, tenant activist Arthur Nash’s BRING BACK THE BARDS banner was removed from the hotel’s façade at approximately 8:45 this morning (June 5, 2009). Kinda-sorta manager Arnold Tamasar did the honors in person, as a police officer and a security guard stood by.
Later that day, Chelsea Hotel minority shareholder David Elder was served with a multimillion dollar personal injury lawsuit.
Tenant Activist Arthur Nash, the victim of unrelenting harassment by management due to his
support of the Bard family, is fighting back with a multi-million dollar personal injury lawsuit.
Everyone remembers last summer’s highly divisive art show in the Chelsea ’s grand ballroom, co- sponsored by minority shareholder David Elder. Briefly, because he had the balls to protest Elder’s feeble attempt to portray himself as a patron of the arts, Nash was assaulted by huge security goons—not once, but twice!—on Elder’s direct orders.
As we’ve reported earlier, Nash has an ongoing harassment case at the DHCR, which we feel he is sure to win since reportedly Elder admitted in the hearing to ordering the assaults (and paying for it off the books!), but for now the case is tied up in bureaucratic limbo. Unfortunately, this delay has given management creeps a feeling of invincibility, leading to further instances of harassment against Nash.
Though we don’t know too many details of the lawsuit at this point, we can say that it names not only certain officers of the
Arthur Nash being confronted by two men hired by David Elder. According to Nash, they were trying to force him into the back stairwell.
The next day, according to Nash, after he retrieved his mail from behind the front desk, he was barred from entering the elevator and menaced by the guy pictured below. After returning to his room to get his camera—he had been instructed by his lawyer to document all confrontations—Nash attempted to take the guard’s picture. In response, the guard tried to wrench the camera away from Nash and then grabbed him in a bear hug and body slammed him against the front desk, smashing the camera (and Nash’s hand) against the counter repeatedly until the batteries flew out. The guard continued to wrestle with Nash as Nash tried to use the house phone to call the police. A resident who had witnessed the altercation corroborated Nash’s story.
The upcoming art show in the old Capitol Fishing Tackle storefront is being sponsored by a group called “No Longer Empty” which has the laudable goal of addressing two problems caused by the recession: empty retail spaces and the collapse of the art market. What they don’t seem to realize is that the Capitol space was not emptied by the recession, but by the greed of the very people now in charge of the hotel, Marlene Krauss and David Elder, who pressured Stanley Bard to more than double Capitol’s rent. This happened three years ago, during the boom, and the space is still empty, though not because of the recession, but because Krauss and Elder want it empty in order to increase the value of the building so they can sell it. Reportedly, they have turned down offers from two prospective tenants.
The “No Longer Empty” group doesn’t know much about the history of the building, which is obvious from their press release. They think the storefront next to Capitol (which they will also be using) contained a Tattoo Parlor. Actually, it was an Acupuncture Shop called Chelsea Healing, and it too was forced out by Krauss and Elder raising its rent through the roof. (Please note, Dylan Thomas did not die at the Hotel. And, I’ve never heard the hotel referred to as the “birthplace of punk”. Do they mean "the death of a punk?")
Both Capitol Fishing Tackle and Chelsea Healing are alive and well at new locations—hardly victims of the recession! Hey “No Longer Empty,” if you’re worried about spaces such as these being emptied, perhaps you should be fighting against economic booms, or better yet, if you’re really concerned about the Chelsea Hotel, against Krauss and Elder. – Ed Hamilton (Photo: Steve Sobczuk,Capitol Fishing Tackle 1967)
Helpful hints and interesting trivia courtesy of the Hotel Chelsea Concierge Newsletter. Updated weekly!
Oh, so now according to the Chelsea Hotel official website Nadia donated the painting to the Hotel. (Does this mean the Hotel is back to being a non-profit organization?) I see! So sorry for the misunderstanding! Heads up Elder, when you try to do spin control don't link to the offending truthful story.
Related Coverage:
Mark L. Young Stops by the Chelsea
Good News for Chelsea Hotel Painters
Did David Elder Play Chelsea Now?
Well, the worst has finally happened: though it had hung in one form or another for two years, tenant activist Arthur Nash’s BRING BACK THE BARDS banner was removed from the hotel’s façade at approximately 8:45 this morning. Kinda-sorta manager Arnold Tamasar did the honors in person, as a police officer and a security guard stood by.
Obviously, this was not a police matter, but rather a matter for the city agencies and the courts. The cop’s explanation for allowing the sign’s removal was that only the owners of a buiding are allowed to hang signs on the façade of the building. This is open to debate, and in fact it was being discussed with various city agencies. The cop further stated that, since Arthur didn’t have a door to the balcony (like many residents, he climbs through his window), he was not allowed go onto the balcony at all. We believe that the police officer exceeded his authority in aiding the hotel management in their suppression of Nash’s first amendment rights.
The timing of the hotel’s move against Nash, as well as the (former) location of the banner, are significant. On the weekend of June 18, the hotel, in conjunction with No Longer Empty, is planning an art show (featuring mostly outside artists) in the former Capitol Fishing Tackle storefront. Nash’s sign was positioned on the second floor almost directly above the storefront. Obviously it would be a huge embarrassment to the hotel management to have to explain what the sign meant to everyone attending the event.
We believe this to be an illegal infringement on Nash’s first amendment rights. Plain and simple, this is intimidation and harassment meant to stifle all dissenting voices, and as such represents the end of free speech at the Chelsea—if indeed any pretense of it remained after the ouster of the Bards.
Check out the excellent and hilarious story in Chelsea Now’s Buzz column this week (not yet online), wherein tenant activist Arthur Nash alleges that artist Nadia Bertrand “played” the newspaper by claiming that minority shareholder David Elder gave her a month’s free rent in exchange for two paintings. We have a bit to add to the story ourselves: Nadia first came to us with the claim back in April at the Film Anthology Archives screening of Doris Chase’s Chelsea Hotel. We immediately smelled a rat, because we figured there’s no way Elder would be so much of a bonehead when that’s one of the things that he and Marlene accused Stanley Bard of doing in the hostile takeover maneuver. That’s why we didn’t report the story.
We’ve since come to believe that Elder probably was that stupid—although surely he would have told Nadia not go blabbing to the press about it, hence his surprise when Chelsea Now showed up at the art show. Perhaps it was a rogue Nadia playing the paper for her own publicity purposes. Whether the story was a plant or not, we think this is going to come back to bite Elder on the ass again and again. Most likely Marlene didn’t know about it and has already chewed him out. And the artists who have lived here for years and never had this kind of break aren’t too happy that an outsider was shown such favoritism.
On Thursday, we ran into Elder in the elevator and asked him if he would accept a sketch on the back of our rent receipt in lieu of rent. “No, that won’t be possible,” he said. And that appears to be the last word on the matter—at least for now. -- Ed Hamilton
Must not be any guests in the hotel. How else to explain the decision to take two elevators off-line for repairs on the same day! Obviously the needs of the staff -- how are they supposed to do their jobs? -- and the permanent residents don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy new order. And when was the last time something like this got fixed in one day? Please, pleasantly surprise us.
An open letter to the artists planning to participate in the June 18 show in the former Capitol Fishing Tackle storefront at the Chelsea Hotel: Although some of you may not know this, the Capitol Fishing Tackle is Manhattan’s oldest bait & tackle shop, and had called the Chelsea Hotel home since 1954. Sadly, in August of 2006 the shop was given a rent increase of more than double its previous rent and forced to move from the Hotel. The increase came as the direct result of pressure brought to bear by minority shareholders Marlene Krauss and David Elder on then manager Stanley Bard.
The move did not buy Stanley much time. On June 18, 2007 the Bard family, majority owners of the Chelsea Hotel, were forced from their management role in a hostile takeover by Krauss and Elder, eager to cash in on the short term profits promised by the superheated real estate climate of the day.
It was a sad day for artists and friends of the arts worldwide. The Bard family had managed the hotel since 1942, including almost 50 years by the inimitable Stanley, who is known and loved by several generations of artists who have called the Chelsea Hotel home. Stanley’s son, David, was scheduled to take over the reins of the hotel, until he too was unjustly ousted.
The reason that you, fellow artists, know of the Chelsea Hotel and it’s important role in the arts is because of the hard work of the Bard family. The Bards provided inexpensive housing and a supportive environment for people in the arts for over 60 years. They played host to the Beats and action painters of the 50s, the Warhol crowd of the 60s, and the punk rockers of the 80s, among countless others.
Krauss and Elder, on the other hand, have made clear that their intention is to evict the permanent tenants and transform the Chelsea into a boutique tourist hotel. They are not admitting any more permanent residents into the hotel, thus ending a tradition that had endured for almost 125 years.
Because Krauss and Elder have been stymied in their eviction and renovation plans by legal action, the work of dedicated tenant activists, and the downturn in the economy, they are now trying to create good press by posing as “patrons of the arts”. But they threw out the true patrons of the arts.
All of you are stellar artists. However, please note the date of the proposed Krauss and Elder sponsored show in the Capitol Fishing Tackle space, for it is in no way random. You are being invited to participate in a celebration of the two-year anniversary of Krauss and Elder’s hostile takeover. In keeping with your personal and artistic integrity, we ask that you not participate in this sham.
Guess who’s tweetin now? Don’t be fooled by imitations. Figure it out, if you can. There is only one real live Chelsea Hotel twitter feed. You decide who you’d rather follow. Cavet Emperor. twitter.com/hotelchelsea
Why is this last one screaming at us? Maybe it’s really Marlene Krauss over there tweeting.
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