Earlier this week the remaining residents of the Hotel Chelsea received an invitation to a private Patti Smith concert to be held inside of the hotel, which is currently under new management and undergoing massive renovations. A major criticism has been that the hotel is being gutted of its original character that current and past residents helped create, along with the Bard family, who ran the hotel for a majority of its existence until ousted a few years ago. In fact, Patti Smith, thanks to the Bard family, lived there on two separate occasions. more ›

The Bard family ran the Hotel Chelsea for many years, and specifically, Stanley Bard was a fixture there. Bard was ousted a few years ago, and now the legendary hotel is being gutted and stripped of any of its original character. Part of the hotel's storied past includes other legends, like Patti Smith, who lived there during two tough times in her life, thanks in large part to Bard. But now, it seems she's turned her back on the man that once helped her out. more ›

Last night Ed Hamilton, a resident at the Hotel Chelsea, emailed us pointing us to the below video on his Facebook page, saying, "The tenant in the video, Arthur Nash, was filming the ongoing destruction of the Hotel when he was assaulted by the demolition crew. Also significant is that Arthur was showing Union reps around the building (the crew is non-union). The woman in the video is the hotel manager, Lilly Sitrit, but where are the Chelsea Hotel security guards? About a dozen demolition crew members waited outside the Hotel for Nash, and when he emerged from the Hotel, they chased him down 23rd Street to 7th Avenue where they assaulted him again. Still no sign of Hotel security, and the Hotel does not appear to have called the police. I was there for the second assault, and when I attempted to intervene, I was assaulted as well. Both Nash and I were teated at Beth Israel emergency room and released." more ›

First of all: people are still having orgies out there, even without the cold, loveless mats of Plato's Retreat. Or at least they were. According to the NY Post, orgy organizer Palagia was throwing monthly sex parties at the Hotel Chelsea for 11 years... but that's all coming to an end as hotel manager Arnold Tamasar has now banned them. more ›

As the legend of the Hotel Chelsea evaporates (allegedly!), one Mr. Andre Balazs may be interested in stepping in and reviving what's left of the institution... or at least capitalizing on its history while marketing it towards a celebrity crowd. According to Page Six the hotelier was spotted in the lobby and meeting with management last week (he's eyed the place in the past, too). more ›

In October word got out that the Hotel Chelsea is on the market, and yesterday the NY Times took the pulse of the legendary beast of a building on West 23rd Street. Turns out while some thought the sale of the hotel—which has been in the same family for 65 years—would be the death of it, it may just be dead already! Michael Musto told the paper, “Its legend has been slowly evaporating." Now tenant Ed Hamilton seems to be questioning ... everything. He asks (and asks and asks): more ›

The iconic Hotel Chelsea has gone through a lot of changes in the past few years—with control being taken away from Stanley Bard, and long time residents worried about what would become of their home. Well, now the hotel is up for sale, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reports that "the Chelsea's 15 shareholders, led by three Hungarian families who bought the 12-story red-brick building in 1946, are selling the property after concluding that the task of modernizing the hotel and apartment building was too challenging." more ›

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: more ›

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"? more ›

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? more ›

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. more ›

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." more ›

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. more ›

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." more ›

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.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an unusual elevator rescue on Washington Ave. in Brooklyn, a pipe explosion on Richmond Terrace on Staten Island, and a person fatally struck by an A train at Van Siclen and Pitken Ave. in Brooklyn.
• NYC already has 91,000 practicing attorneys, but we can expect a lot more. Nearly 11,000 freshly minted JDs sat for the bar this summer and more than 70% of them passed.
• A 63-year-old man riding his bike north up 6th Ave. today struck an open car door and was thrown into oncoming traffic. He was killed when run over by a truck.
• Debbie Almontaser lost her legal bid to prevent the City from permanently replacing her as the principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy.
• If you were wondering how much the Chelsea Hotel would change under new management, cops were recently called because "manager" Glennon Travis suspected someone had been smoking weed in one of the hallways.
• The lights illuminating the catenary cables of the Brooklyn Bridge will soon be replaced with environmentally friendly energy efficient bulbs.
• Sometimes even Chelsea Clinton can't get a seat in a crowded Starbucks, and is forced to type away on her laptop while sitting on the floor.
• Serendipity 3 has re-opened after a three-week closure by the City's Dept. of Health for violations that included mice and roaches.

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. more ›

SECRET MEETING: Drambuie, the honey and herb-flavoured scotch whisky with a golden hue, will be poured tonight. Into your glass. For free! The catch is that you have to RSVP to find out the details that will lead you to the correct location. Mysterious! more ›

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a carjacking on East 108th St. and Farragut Rd. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian struck on 87th St. and Madison Ave. in Manhattan, and a carjacking/shooting at Grace Ave. and Hammersley in the Bronx. [Tough day for drivers and pedestrians] In possibly the worst idea ever a Staten Island school sub allowed her class to play a game called "Quiet," in which the first student to speak would be pelted... more ›

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. more ›

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. more ›