READING: Dave Eggers has delivered two (out of three) great novels, and tonight he reads from last one (which is just out on paperback), What is the What. He'll be at the Strand discussing the book and he'll also give a slideshow presentation from a recent trip he took to Sudan. More info here. Friday // 7pm // Strand Bookstore [828 Broadway] // Free EVENT: We love a good pillow fight, and tonight there's a......

The Observer revisits The Hotel Chelsea in a piece about a long-time resident who runs a salon out of the building. April Barton cuts hair out of Suite 303 in a salon that fits right in at the legendary building, and the cachet of running her business there isn't something she necessarily wants to give up. Recently, however, new management told her that she may be facing a massive rent hike. An otherwise “gracious” representative......

The NY Times weighs in on Bernard Tschumi’s Blue building at 105 Norfolk St. Fresh off reviews from New Orleans, Paris and Brazil, architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff is back home with a piece on the 17-story blue-paneled, crystalline tower. Ouroussoff, as regular readers know, is put off by most of the high-design, luxury residential towers now rising across Manhattan. But, walking along the streets of the Lower East Side, alongside brick tenements, public housing......

Clarence Dean, a registered sex offender in Florida and Alabama, was charged in the murder of a young woman whose body was found at a Times Square hotel. While cleaning a room on Thursday, a housekeeper at the Hotel Carter, on West 43rd Street near 8th Avenue, noticed some plastic bags under a bed and realized there was a body inside. Dean had checked out of the room on Wednesday. Dean reportedly told the police......

The police are questioning a man who had been registered a room in a West 43rd Street hotel where a woman's body was found on Thursday. Clarence Dean, a 35-year-old "fugitive" sex offender from Alabama, had checked out of the room 608 at the Hotel Carter, an inexpensive hotel near 8th Avenue popular with tourists. He was not charged with any crime, but police picked him up after seeing him at Park Avenue and East......

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. Signed by Glennon Travis, the new Director of Operations, the letter (at right - enlarged here) says the hotel has the recipients of the......

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. He and the hotel residents really respect and know each other, the only problem is that......

The Hotel Chelsea Blog has been breaking a story from their ground floor this weekend. The Bard Family, who have run the hotel for...ever, have been told their job is done (whether they like it or not). Numerous sources are reporting that the Bard family is no longer in charge of the Chelsea Hotel. Apparently this occurred Thursday night when a member of the board came to the hotel to deliver the news to Stanley......

MUSIC: It's hard to believe Kurt Cobain would have been 40 today. In celebration of his birthday and life there will be live performances of Nirvana albums Bleach, Nevermind and In Utero from Daouets, The Domestics, and Schwervon with some other musical guests. Bring flannel, your inner teen angst, and rock out like it's the early 90s. 7pm // Cake Shop [152 Ludlow St] // $8 THEATER: Alfred Molina (Frida, Dead Man) is one of......

Looks like Factory Girl will finally see the light of day, it opens in theaters this Friday February 2nd. The film, a look at the life of Edie Sedgwick, has gone through reshoots and threats of lawsuits (the latter coming from Bob Dylan). Director George Hickenlooper stated, "I couldn't care less about Bob Dylan's reaction," and now the film seems ready for release. Last night was the premiere, and afterparty at the Hotel Chelsea (see......

The poor Hotel Chelsea is feeling a bit down after finding a letter from one Steven Morrissey (known to most as. simply: Morrissey). The letter states that he will be leaving (artless) Texas to do a photoshoot using the hotel as an "insignificant background". Of course, legends are often forgiven, and this is no exception. The Hotel Chelsea bloggers write: "Since your letter is dated January 16, 1981, I feel confident you have repented of......

Edie Sedgwick, "It" girl of the 60s, once said her colorful life could never be accurately portrayed on The Big Screen. However, now it is (though it's accuracy is in question). The actress playing Edie is Sienna Miller, has just finished reshooting some scenes for the movie (called Factory Girl) that is supposed to be out sometime in the next month. Socialite, party girl, Warhol's muse...Sedgwick also inspired other artists in her short life......

+ Expect another uptown expansion battle, this time involving the New York Historical Society. First neighborhood resident to intimate Paris? Journalist Bill Moyers. + Architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams have been tapped for Lincoln Center’s Harmony Atrium. Say goodbye to the climbing wall. + The city is rezoning a 100-block area in the East Village, leading to an 80-foot height cap and more housing. A response to neighborhood newbies Blue and The Hotel on......

In our ongoing obsession with the Hotel Chelsea, here's the latest from their blog. Recently Bruno Wizard (of The Homosexuals, formerly The Rejects) dropped by his old habitat. The Hotel blog writers interviewed him, and you can read it all here. Do you think the Chelsea has a special creative energy? It is unique, there’s no denying that. But you can’t say that the building has an energy in it’s own right. Without the people......

So apparently there was some kind of sixapart/vox party the other night in the penthouse of the giant eyesore that is The Hotel on Rivington. While this part of Gothamist wasn't there our fearless publisher Mr. Dobkin certainly was and managed to snap the above photo of the view. We guess this is why one stays in such a penthouse, eh? Of course, these are probably the last photos that Jake will get to......

When we were younger, and outside of NY state lines, we dreamed of moving here and taking up residence at the Hotel Chelsea. We quickly learned we wouldn't be able to keep rent there. However, if we win the lottery, we will indefinitely rent a room at the landmark. For now, we can feel more a part of what goes on day to day there at The Hotel Chelsea's blog, called Living with Legends. It's......

The Lower East Side soared into a new era of decadence this past fall with the opening of the trendy new restaurant Thor. You may remember from your 8th grade literature class that Thor is the Norse god of thunder. If any god reigns here, however, it's the god of bad design. Take first the name—it has no connection to mythology but instead is just an acronym for The Hotel on Rivington. It’s the first......