I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel, you were famous your heart was a legend…
Former resident Leonard Cohen wrote the song Chelsea Hotel No. 2 in its honor. But now the renowned, quirky refuge for both struggling and world-famous artists is up for sale.
The three families who bought the Chelsea in 1946 have long disagreed about its management, culminating in the ousting of long time manager Stanley Bard in 2007. Now they’ve decided to unload the West 23rd Street landmark.
When I wrote a story about disappearing neighborhood merchants and icons here two weeks ago (Invasion of the Merchant Snatchers), I had no idea one of New York City’s most legendary locations would soon be on the market.
From Dylan Thomas to Bob Dylan to Jim Morrison to Janice Joplin, its residents through over a century wrote, played and shared ideas, helping each other create timeless words and music. Andy Warhol directed an experimental film in the hotel. Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey there.
What will become of the Chelsea? What about its current artistic residents? A letter recently went out to them, stating that “nothing will change in the short term.”
But according to The Wall Street Journal, a buyer “would likely end the Chelsea’s tradition of giving artists breaks on payment schedules to assist their careers.”
And although no prospective buyers have yet come forward, one will certainly be found. From such a famous, “brand name” location, profit will certainly be gained. But what might be lost?
“The way we want to run the hotel is not necessarily the way the business world works,” one of the building’s shareholders ominously told the Journal.
The aging, 12-story bohemian landmark was completed in 1883, and is on The National Register of Historic Places.
Well never mind, we are ugly but we have the music…
Why do I get the sinking feeling that in the near future, the Chelsea won’t be “ugly” anymore? Perhaps it will be as beautiful as a Trump edifice, or a new bank, or a Starbucks.
Will we still “have the music?” I guess it’s possible. What do you think?
All I know for certain is what Cohen prophesied in the song:
I can’t keep track of each fallen robin…
(The Social Network review–see Arts page)
Okay, remember when they were first trying to stop the ground zero mosque from being built? They had to go to the Landmarks Review Board. That building was a Burlington Coat Factory store! I have to assume that if anyone tries makiing structural changes to the Chelsea Hotel that the Landmarks Board would get involved, no? Then again, if we don’t preserve our Burlington Coat Factories, what hope is there?
Artie:
You’re right, the Landmarks Review Board would be involved, but I believe new owners would be allowed to modernize the building, within specifications. More important to me is that fact that artists will almost certainly not be treated the way they have been for the last 100+ years, which is what truly has made the Chelsea special.
Mr. Gritty,
I think about the Chelsea Hotel the same way I think about my favorite songwriters, musicians, authors, and film makers, who often stayed there. As long as they exist, and as long as it exists as a haven for such artists, there’s a glimmer of hope for all of us, and this grim world somehow feels like a better place.
It seems every day that another landmark passes on in this city
but the Chelsea is one place I thought I’d never see go. Thanks
as always for getting news like this out there.