Hotel Chelsea in New York City

The Hotel Chelsea – also called the Chelsea Hotel, or simply the Chelsea – is a historic New York City hotel and landmark built between 1883 and 1885, known primarily for the notability of its residents over the years. The 250-unit hotel is located at 222 West 23rd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, in the neighborhood of Chelsea, Manhattan. The building has been a designated New York City landmark since 1966, and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1977.

It has been the home of numerous writers, musicians, artists and actors. Though the Chelsea no longer accepts new long-term residencies, the building is still home to many who lived there before the change in policy. As of August 1, 2011, the hotel is closed for renovations. Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey while staying at the Chelsea, and poets Allen Ginsberg and Gregory Corso chose it as a place for philosophical and artistic exchange. It is also known as the place where the writer Dylan Thomas was staying when he died of pneumonia on November 9, 1953, and where Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, was found stabbed to death on October 12, 1978. Arthur Miller has written a short piece, "The Chelsea Affect", describing life at Hotel Chelsea in the early 1960s.

History

Built between 1884 and 1885 and opened for initial occupation in 1884, the twelve-story red-brick building that is now the Hotel Chelsea was one of the city's first private apartment cooperatives. It was designed by Philip Hubert of the firm of Hubert, Pirrson & Company in a style that has been described variously as Queen Anne Revival and Victorian Gothic. Among its distinctive features are the delicate, flower-ornamented iron balconies on its facade, which were constructed by J.B. and J.M. Cornell and its grand staircase, which extends upward twelve floors. Generally, this staircase is only accessible to registered guests, although the hotel does offer monthly tours to others. At the time of its construction, the building was the tallest in New York.

Hubert and Pirsson had created a "Hubert Home Club" in 1880 for "The Rembrandt", a six-story building on West 57th Street intended as housing for artists. This early cooperative building had rental units to help defray costs, and also provided servants as part of the building staff. The success of this model led to other "Hubert Home Clubs", and the Chelsea was one of them. Initially successful, its surrounding neighborhood constituted the center of New York's theater district. However within a few years the combination of economic stresses, the suspicions of New York's middle class about apartment living, the opening up of Upper Manhattan and the plentiful supply of houses there, and the relocation of the city's theater district bankrupted the Chelsea.

In 1905, the building reopened as a hotel, which was later managed by Knott Hotels and resident manager A. R. Walty. After the hotel went bankrupt, it was purchased in 1939 by Joseph Gross, Julius Krauss, and David Bard, and these partners managed the hotel together until the early 1970s. With the passing of Joseph Gross and Julius Krauss, the management fell to Stanley Bard, David Bard's son.

On June 18, 2007, the hotel's board of directors ousted Bard as the hotel's manager. Dr. Marlene Krauss, the daughter of Julius Krauss, and David Elder, the grandson of Joseph Gross and the son of playwright and screenwriter Lonne Elder III, replaced Stanley Bard with the management company BD Hotels NY; that firm has since been terminated as well.

In May 2011, the hotel was sold to real estate developer Joseph Chetrit for US $80 million.

As of August 1, 2011, the hotel stopped taking reservations for guests in order to begin renovations, but long-time residents remain in the building, some of them protected by state rent regulations. The renovations prompted complaints by the remaining tenants of health hazards caused by the construction. These were investigated by the city's Building Department, which found no major violations. In November 2011, the management ordered all of the hotel's many artworks taken off the walls, supposedly for their protection and cataloging, a move which some tenants interpreted as a step towards forcing them out as well. In 2013, Ed Scheetz became the Chelsea Hotel's new owner after buying back five properties from Joseph Chetrit, his partner in King & Grove Hotels, and David Bistricer. Hotel Chelsea plans to reopen in 2017.

In popular culture

Films and television

The hotel has been featured in:

• Chelsea Girls (1966) by Andy Warhol, was shot at the Chelsea.
• Portrait of Jason (1967) by Shirley Clarke, was shot at the Chelsea.
• An American Family (1973, PBS) An episode of the pioneering reality TV series was mostly filmed at the Chelsea while family member Lance Loud lived there.
• Arena (TV series) (1981) The program's episode, "Chelsea Hotel" was featured on the popular BBC arts documentary series.
• 9½ Weeks (1986) by Adrian Lyne
• Sid and Nancy (1986) by Alex Cox
• Some scenes in Romeo Is Bleeding ( 1993 ), which, like Sid and Nancy, also stars Gary Oldman, is filmed and set in the Chelsea.
• Part of Léon: The Professional (1994), by Luc Besson, was shot there, although it was set in an apartment block.
• Party Monster: The Shockumentary (1996) various people are mentioned to have lived in the hotel.
• Midnight in Chelsea (1997) directed by Mark Pellington, a video to a track from the 1997 Jon Bon Jovi solo album Destination Anywhere
• Chelsea Walls (2001) A movie about a new generation of artists living at the hotel
• Pie in the Sky the Brigid Berlin Story (2002) features a reunion between former resident Brigid Berlin and the artist Richard Bernstein at the Hotel.
• The Interpreter (2005)
• House of D (2004) A movie about an adolescent boy growing up in New York City
• Chelsea on the Rocks (2008) A documentary film directed by Abel Ferrara
• Hotel Chelsea (2009) A horror film about a Japanese couple staying at the hotel.
• 24 (2010) In episode 13 of the eighth season of the serial action/drama television series, former FBI special agent Renee Walker is shown to stay in the hotel, in the residential apartment of Jack Bauer, who was living there.
• Cinema Verite (2011, HBO) The family's eldest son, Lance Loud, (played by Thomas Dekker) lives in the Hotel Chelsea.
• The Carrie Diaries (2013): Season 1, Episode 9: "The Great Unknown"

Music

The hotel is also featured in numerous songs, including:

• "Visions of Johanna" by Bob Dylan
• "Sara" by Bob Dylan
• Hotel Chelsea Nights by Ryan Adams
• "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" by Bob Dylan
• "Chelsea Hotel" by Dan Bern
• "Dear Abbey" by Kinky Friedman
• "Chelsea Girl" by Nico
• "Sex with Sun Ra (Part One – Saturnalia)" by Coil
• "Hi-Fi Popcorn" by The Revs
• "Crow" by Jim Carroll Band
• "Like a Drug I Never Did Before" by Joey Ramone
• "The Chelsea Hotel" by Graham Nash
• "Chelsea Hotel #2" by Leonard Cohen, later covered by various artists
• "Chelsea Hotel '78" by Alejandro Escovedo
• "222 W. 23rd" by Steve Hunter on The Manhattan Blues Project
• "Chelsea Burns" by Keren Ann
• "Godspeed" by Anberlin
• "The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song" by Jeffrey Lewis
• "Bear" by The Antlers
• "Life Goes On" Noah and the Whale
• "Album of the Year" by The Good Life
• "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979" by Okkervil River
• "Third Week in the Chelsea" by Jefferson Airplane
• "Why Should I Worry?" from Oliver & Company, performed by Billy Joel
• "Chelsea Morning" by Joni Mitchell
• "Chelsea Hotel" by Richard Müller
• "Midnight in Chelsea" by Jon Bon Jovi
• "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" by Lana Del Rey

Books

• Tippins, Sherill (2013). Inside the Dream Palace: the Life and Times of New York's Legendary Chelsea Hotel. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0743295617.
• Ramone, Dee Dee. Chelsea Horror Hotel: A Novel. ISBN 1-56025-304-5.
• Vowell, Sarah. Take the Cannoli: Stories From the New World. ISBN 0-7432-0540-5.
• Madonna. Sex. ISBN 0-446-51732-1.
• Hamilton, Ed. Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with the Artists and Outlaws at New York's Rebel Mecca. ISBN 978-1-56858-379-2.
• O'Neill, Joseph. Netherland. ISBN 978-0-307-37704-3.
• Hayter, Sparkle. The Chelsea Girl Murders. ISBN 978-0-14-200010-6.
• Wielaert, Jeroen. Chelsea Hotel, een Biografie van een Hotel (in Dutch). ISBN 90-76927-02-2.
• Smith, Patti. Just Kids. ISBN 978-0-06-093622-8.
• Moody, Hank. God Hates Us All. ISBN 978-1-4165-9823-7.
• Turner, Florence. At The Chelsea. ISBN 978-0151097807.
• Lough, James. This Ain't No Holiday Inn: Down and Out at the Chelsea Hotel 1980–1995. ISBN 1936182521.
• McNeill, Elizabeth. Nine and a Half Weeks: A Memoir of a Love Affair. ISBN 1-56849-171-9.
• Green, Anna, The Heart Rate of a Mouse Volume 2