Results tagged “Hotel Chelsea”

Another one to file under: "Just in time for Halloween." The Chelsea Hotel bloggers received a desperate cry for answers after a tourist spent three nights at the hotel, only to be menaced on her final evening by the ghost of Dylan Thomas! She was with her boyfriend, but he slept soundly through the sighting. She reports back from Room 114:

The Hotel Chelsea bloggers are reporting that the Bring Back the Bards sign that has been hanging on the facade of the hotel for two years has been forcibly removed. Tenant Arthur Nash had it hanging outside of his room, but at approximately 8:45 a.m. the "kinda-sorta manager Arnold Tamasar" took it down as a police officer and a security guard stood by. They report that "the cop’s explanation for allowing the sign’s removal was that only the owners of a building are allowed to hang signs on the façade. 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." Did the NYPD have a right to assist the hotel management in what the residents are calling "a suppression of Nash’s first amendment rights"?

Question: If you could stay overnight at the Hotel Chelsea for $129/night, why would you spend $40/per person on a tour of the place? Starting June 1st the hotel will offer guided tours of the historic establishment, that as of late has been run and overrun by Marlene Krauss & Co. The new corporate overlords might be willing to make a buck off the hallowed halls, but they're also making sure that the Bard family legacy of running the joint is erased from the URL, according to some residents. The recent website redesign makes no mention of Stanley Bard, the general manager of the Chelsea for half a century, who was ousted two years ago. Oh, and did you know the updated ghost of Nancy Spungen is all about the little black dress?

As the Hotel Chelsea keeps going through some corporate changes, it's nice to look back at the glory days of the legendary hotel. In 1981 the BBC folk released a documentary about the place, capturing some of the quirky residents, employees, and of course general manager (at the time) Stanley Bard behind his desk. Luckily some of the footage just popped up online.

Following beloved Hotel Chelsea manager Stanley Bard's ousting from the historic establishment in 2007, there's been a tidal wave of corporate changes, but throughout it's been heartening to see the tenants of the building (and community) standing up and overcoming new management. Over the weekend the bloggers embedded at the hotel reported on their latest victory, stating: "General Manager Andrew Tilley handed in his resignation last week. If you're keeping score at home, the score card reads: Andrew Tilley—7 months, Glennon Travis—8 months, Stanley Bard—50 years." Curbed wonders what "the over/under for the next manager/masochist is."

Once word spread that Bob Dylan's former room at the Hotel Chelsea (#211) was being destroyed by the new corporate overlords running the joint, a brand spankin' new Stop Work Order was delivered by the Dept. of Buildings. The residents there report that they "responded promptly when informed of this wanton destruction, determining that the 'work' being done exceeded the scope of the permit (which was just for bathroom and kitchen renovation), and issuing a FULL STOP WORK ORDER covering the entire building." Allegedly they were "pulling down walls and ripping out a mantelpiece" prior to the halt. The times they aren't a changin' just yet...but perhaps a full restoration is in order to eliminate that electric light blue wall color.

The bloggers over at the Hotel Chelsea have been keeping an eye on the new management of their ever-changing home, and most recently noted some falsified DOB construction permits obtained "in a move designed to sidestep requirement for certificate of non-harassment."

The Hotel Chelsea bloggers are reporting from the front lines that yesterday "eviction notices signed by Chelsea Hotel general manager Andrew Tilley were posted on the doors of a large number of residents, ordering them to pay up in three days or else face eviction proceedings." The targets were long term residents of the hotel, some allegedly owing just a month's rent, and "some being elderly and physically disabled." Tilley had reassured the tenants this summer that something like this wasn't going to happen on his watch, so the news comes as a surprise to all, though the bloggers note that "the fact that these notices follow directly on the heels of an economic downturn is not likely a coincidence." Changes started going down at the Chelsea a little over a year ago.

NYMag calls the time of death 30 years ago this month: when Nancy Spungen was killed at the Hotel Chelsea. The story of her October 12th murder, followed by Sid Vicious's arrest and death, and years of confusion as to who actually had her blood on their hands (many believe it to be the drug dealer) has all been poured over time and time again. The Mag now looks at the incident in relation to the NY punk scene's demise. A resident of the hotel at the time noted that “There was a lot of hope at that time. The music was catching on. A lot of it hinged on Sid. He seemed to be the last one carrying the torch. When he died, we all felt like it was over ... the war was over and we’d lost.” Where did punk go in the afterlife? It morphed into a "worldwide brand, predictable, devoid of significance," and something both Sid and Nancy would likely have come to despise. In the article Legs McNeil also pontificates on what her reactions would be to the current state of the city, sneering at a girl talking in a restaurant on her cell, he said: “I don’t know who the fuck they’re talking to. Where’s Nancy when you need her? She would have hated it here. She wouldn’t have lasted a minute."

Last year, after Stanley Bard was ousted by the board as manager of the Hotel Chelsea and replaced with BD Hotels -- who just got ousted themselves, filmmaker Abel Ferrara moved back in to his old digs. The NY Post reports that the move was to help in the making his documentary, Chelsea on the Rocks

"I lived on the floor with the ghosts," Ferrara tells Page Six. "I didn't come in with a point to it, so I just lived there and began filming. The result was the hotel from soup to nuts. It's about the people that lived there, the ghosts, and the people that live there now. These artists need help and support."

The residents of the Hotel Chelsea give a fly-on-the-wall report that "new" manager Glennon Travis is on his way out. Travis took over as part of the "new management" team that replaced long time manager Stanley Bard last year. Here's the good word:

We’ve heard from multiple sources that today is Director of Operations Glennon Travis’s last day at the Chelsea Hotel. In his brief tenure here at the hotel, Glennon has managed to alienate nearly everyone he has come into contact with: residents sane and otherwise, guests, employees, union reps, reporters, you name it. His habitually obnoxious and abusive rejoinders to anything from mere pleasantries to valid questions by concerned residents, have led us to speculate on this blog that BD Hotels may be using him as a kind of one-man harassment crew to drive out the rent-stabilized tenants and union employees.

For nearly a year now the Hotel Chelsea residents have been living under the new management of BD Hotels -- and not one has been happy about it. Last summer we checked in with long time manager Stanley Bard (who BD ousted from his position) as well as some of those who call the hotel home...and spirits were low all around.

Cartoons just got a little more real with The Three Thug Mice, an online series set in New York City. The 35 animated shorts follow the tales (and tails!) of three rodent crooks named Vic, Tik and Brik. Described as an "ongoing ghetto saga" set in some of the seedier sectors of the concrete jungle, the trio's home turf is light years away from Disney World. (Though that is the Hotel Chelsea in the background, which isn't so seedy; wonder if that frog jumped after BD Hotels took over management.)

Ed Hamilton is one of the voices behind the Living With Legends blog, which reports on the Hotel Chelsea -- from the Hotel Chelsea, where he has lived for over a decade. More recently, he put out a book of tales from his hotel home -- an establishment that provides endless material. Legends of the Chelsea Hotel is part satirical and part historical, and Hamilton will be around town reading from it this month. Catch him on November 8th at 192 Books, and on November 12th at The Half King.

MUSIC: Frequenter of the Hotel Chelsea, Country Joe McDonald (pictured at Woodstock) will be taking the Joe's Pub stage tonight to perform a tribute to Woody Guthrie where he "deftly conveys all the charm, talent, and social and political consciousness of the legendary folksinger from Oklahoma."

EVENT: We're sponsoring, and our publisher is hosting, the NYC Photobloggers event tonight. Come over to the Apple Store to see a dazzling display of digital images and the faces behind the photos: Eliot Shepard, Jay Parkinson (yes, that Jay Parkinson) and a whole lot more will be on hand. There will also be a special presentation by Jen Bekman of 20x200, Hey Hot Shot, and the Jen Bekman Gallery and an after party at Merc Bar.

Last week a letter was sent out to residents of the Hotel Chelsea asking them to clean up and not leave their personal belongings around. The hotel has long had a homey, lived-in feeling and its unofficial blog says "Some residents have turned the space outside their doors into pleasant little sitting rooms or galleries." Changing this is a definite step in the wrong direction being made by the new management, and it seems to be making way for a more polished clientele.

The Observer revisits The Hotel Chelsea in a piece about a long-time resident who runs a salon out of the building.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a double shooting on Webster Ave. in the Bronx, fatal person under a 4 train at 125th St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan, and a pedestrian struck at East 17th St. and Ave. I in Brooklyn.
• Conspiracy theorist/media activist Alex Jones was arrested Saturday night while addressing a crowd with a bullhorn in front of the Fox News studio in Manhattan. Jones is the head of a group who believes that the U.S. government planned the 9/11 attacks.
• The City shut down three adjacent and illegal hostels operating out of single resident occupancy buildings. The owners were charging $50 to $150 a night for rooms to European visitors, who would keep the legitimate permanent residents up at night with their revelry.
• Neighbors get restive over the absence of the four-faced clock atop the Williamsburg Savings Bank in Brooklyn, even if it did often give the wrong time.
• Have you finalized a divorce recently and are unsure what to do with that wedding ring? How about a nice miniature casket to symbolize your dead marriage.
• The city has launched a website called 9/11 Health to track the health effects of exposure to the World Trade Center site following its collapse. It also has links to health providers, financial aid providers, social services, and environmental groups.
• Streetsblog looks at what auto organization AAA has to say about pedestrian safety.
• Hotel Chelsea déjà vu: longtime haven for artists, The Breslin Hotel on Broadway near 28th St. is being converted to a luxury hotel.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: An overturned vehicle on the Triborough Bridge, which can't be good for all those getting away for the weekend; an escaped prisoner in The Bronx; and multiple pedestrians were struck Dyckman Street & Broadway.
• Early this morning in Bed-Stuy, a police officer sitting in a marked vehicle was shot in the arm. The officer was treated and released from Kings County Hospital but the NYPD is still searching for the shooter.
• A cat rescue group was formed to trap Roosevelt Island's feral cats (there are about 100, but many die during the winter)
• If you're going to shoot a Tylenol commercial that isn't site-specific, why film at the Hotel Chelsea?
• Still stuck at work or out of vacation days already? Perhaps you should try getting a job at IBM, a company that doesn't keep track of how many vacation days you take a year. While the policy sounds great, apparently it makes people work longer hours and work during vacations.
• PETA is crying foul over the Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic ritual kapparot, where sins are symbolically transfered to a chicken that is swung over ones head. PETA says the chickens are disposed of improperly and possibly mishandled, but a Hasidic activist says the tradition where as many as 50,000 chickens in Brooklyn are used, will continue.
• Kew Gardens residents are upset with the Department of Education for creating a transfer school for "older students who may have had difficulty at their previous schools" in their neighborhood without telling them.

Just after Ethan Hawke declared more love for the Hotel Chelsea and more fear about the changes there being the final nail in the coffin of "old New York," The Observer suspects his exes ex of helping to hold the hammer.

With a new movie coming out based on his first novel, The Hottest State, Ethan Hawke talks to The Daily News about how New York has changed since it was his muse in 1997.

Last night (a little less than a month after the release of his latest album Emerald City) we met up with John Vanderslice, who has been playing a unique brand of blog shows for a while now. The world wide (web) tour consists of filming, in collaboration with different blogs, his songs in different cities. For his New York stop, we took him up to the roof of the Hotel Chelsea where he performed one of his songs...

John Vanderslice's reputation as "the nicest guy in indie rock" couldn't be more spot on. Last night we enjoyed some time with him on the roof of the Hotel Chelsea where he sang us a 'lil song. You'll be seeing video of that later, but first - get to know the man behind the reputation. He'll be at Sound Fix tonight at 7pm for a free show, and he was also kind enough to provide some As to our Qs...

No, not the movie. The real Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen stopped by Manhattan Cable Network (whose studio was down the block from the Hotel Chelsea) on September 18th, 1978 for a live call-in show. Less than a month later Nancy was found dead, followed by Sid the following February. Watch Part One here, Part Two is below...

Some residents who have been living at the Hotel Chelsea for a short period of time (longer than 30 days, less than six months) received a letter this week. No, it wasn't tucked in a welcome basket, rather it was informing them they were expected to check out later this month.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a boat in distress off the Breezy Point Jetty in Queens, a bank robbery on 14th St. and 5th Ave. in Brooklyn, and a stabbing on East 115th St. in Manhattan.
• Jay Jay French, the guitarist for Twisted Sister, is upset that an Upper West Side Florist that's been in the neighborhood for 87 years is being forced to move to New Jersey due to higher rents.
• Living With Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog posts that board member David Elder called the NYPD bomb squad to the hotel after receiving what he deemed a suspicious package. It was suspicious in that it didn't contain a bomb, but a fish head.
• All is not serene at the Hare Krishna Sanctuary on 1st Ave. between 1st and 2nd Sts., as one group of followers is attempting to evict another group.
• Bruce Ratner may lose $100 million in city subsidies for his Atlantic Yards project unless drastic revisions are made to the conditions of the tax breaks.
• Ugly Outfits New York. Further explanation is simply unnecessary.
• If you've been hunting for a co-op to buy into that comes with a pre-installed stripper pole and mini-stage in the living room, Curbed may have found something for you. We'd love to sit in on that co-op board interview.
• ConEd announced that it would pay businesses for any physical damages caused by last week's steam explosion, but won't pay anything for lost business while the frozen zone around the blast site was being cleaned.

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities.

Our conversation with Stanley is here, and below is more from the inside (including a dizzying minute of what it looks like to walk from the roof to the ground floor down the hotel's art-drenched stairwell)...

Yesterday we headed over to the Hotel Chelsea to have a chat with Stanley Bard. Over the past month there have been many changes at the landmarked establishment that have left an unsettling feeling amongst the community. This community is one that Bard himself refers to as "A Mutual Admiration Society," and his description couldn't be more accurate.