The front facade of the Hotel Chelsea is 11 stories high, while the rear of the hotel rises 12 stories. The facade is divided vertically into five sections and is made of brick, with some flower-ornamented iron balconies; the hotel is capped by a highmansard roof. The Hotel Chelsea has thickload-bearing walls made of masonry, as well aswrought iron floor beams and large, column-free spaces. When the hotel opened, the ground floor was divided into an entrance hall, four storefronts, and a restaurant; this has been rearranged over the years, with a bar and theEl Quijote restaurant occupying part of the ground floor. The Chelsea was among the first buildings in the city withduplex andpenthouse apartments, and there is also a rooftop terrace. The hotel originally had no more than 100 apartments; it was subdivided into 400 units during the 20th century and has 155 units as of 2022.
The idea for the Chelsea arose after Hubert & Pirsson had developed severalhousing cooperatives in New York City. Developed by the Chelsea Association, the structure quickly attracted authors and artists after opening. Several factors, including financial hardships and tenant relocations, prompted the Chelsea's conversion into anapartment hotel in 1905. Knott Hotels took over the hotel in 1921 and managed it until about 1942, when David Bard bought it out of bankruptcy. Julius Krauss and Joseph Gross joined Bard as owners in 1947. After David Bard died in 1964, his son Stanley operated it for 43 years, forming close relationships with many tenants. The hotel underwent numerous minor changes in the late 20th century after falling into a state of disrepair. The Krauss and Gross families took over the hotel in 2007 and were involved in numerous tenant disputes before the Chelsea closed for a major renovation in 2011. The hotel changed ownership twice in the 2010s beforeBD Hotels took over in 2016, and the Chelsea reopened in 2022.
Over the years, the Chelsea has housed many notables, among themMark Twain,Dylan Thomas,Arthur Miller,Bob Dylan,Janis Joplin,Leonard Cohen,Arthur C. Clarke,Patti Smith,Robert Mapplethorpe, andVirgil Thomson. The Chelsea received much commentary for the creative culture that Bard helped create within the hotel. Critics also appraised the hotel's interior—which was reputed for its uncleanliness in the mid- and late 20th century—and the quality of the hotel rooms themselves. The Chelsea has been the setting or inspiration for many works of popular media, and it has been used as an event venue and filming location.
The Hotel Chelsea is at 222 West23rd Street in theChelsea neighborhood ofManhattan in New York City, on the south side of the street betweenEighth Avenue andSeventh Avenue.[4][5] The rectangularland lot covers approximately 17,281 square feet (1,605.5 m2), with afrontage of 175 feet (53 m) on Madison Avenue to the west and a depth of 98.75 feet (30.10 m).[1] Seven land lots were combined to make way for the hotel,[6][7] which was 175 feet wide and 86 to 96 feet (26 to 29 m) deep.[7][8] Before what became the Hotel Chelsea was developed, a furniture store had stood on the site; it burned down in 1878, and the site remained vacant for four years afterward.[9][10] The furniture store and the land had belonged to James Ingersoll, who was affiliated with theTammany Hall political ring in the 1870s.[10] When the Chelsea was finished in 1884, there was a church on either side of the lot.[6][10]
The front facade of the hotel, on 23rd Street, is 11 stories high[12][22][23] and is divided vertically into 25bays.[22] The rear of the hotel rises to a height of 12 stories.[23] The 23rd Street facade is made of red brick.[24] It is grouped into five sections, with projectingpavilions at the western end, center, and eastern end of the facade. These pavilions flank two groups of recessed bays.[22] The main entrance within the central pavilion remains largely intact, although the storefronts on either side have been modified over the years.[22] There are several brass plaques next to the main entrance, commemorating notable residents,[25][26] and another plaque mentioning that the building is on theNational Register of Historic Places.[27]
On the upper floors, the brick is interspersed with white stone bands.[28] The hotel has flower-ornamented iron balconies on its second through eighth stories,[22] which were constructed by J.B. and J.M. Cornell.[5][4][29] These balconies were intended as "light balconies, after the Paris fashion";[30] according to author Sherill Tippins, the balconies were meant to "add charm to the lower floors".[28] The balconies were also intended to indicate that the interiors were ornately decorated.[15]French doors lead from some apartments to the balconies.[12]
The building is topped by a highmansard roof. The central pavilion has a pyramidalslate roof.[12][22] There are brick chimneys on either side of the pyramidal-roofed pavilion. In addition, the pavilions on either end of the facade are topped by brickgables with large arched windows.[12] The remainder of the roof featuresdormer windows and additional brick chimneys.[13] Atop the roof was a brick-floored space, which could be adapted into a roof garden or promenade.[7][31] The center of the roof was interspersed withhip roofs, beneath which were duplex apartments; residents of these duplexes had direct access to the roof.[31]
The Hotel Chelsea has thickload-bearing walls made of masonry, which measure 3 feet (0.91 m) thick at their bottoms[13][32] and taper to 20 inches (0.51 m) at their tops. This allowed thesuperstructure to support the weight of two additional stories if the building were expanded.[7] The walls support floor beams made ofwrought iron; these floor beams are not supported by intermediate columns, creating large column-free spaces.[12] The floor beams were covered with plaster to prevent fire from spreading.[7][13] As another fireproofing measure, the hotel used as little wood as possible.[7] Ceilings measured 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m) high.[33]
The basement measured up to 30 feet (9.1 m) deep and housed the kitchen, laundry, refrigerators, coal rooms, engines, and machinery for gas-powered and electric light.[6] As planned, the hotel had three passenger elevators and two steam-powered freight lifts.[7][30] When it was completed in 1884, the hotel hadspeaking tubes; pressurized steam; a telephone in each room, connecting to the hotel manager's office; and 1,800 lights powered by either gas or electricity.[7][13] The hotel contained then-innovative features such as electricity, steam heating, and hot and cold water.[34]Dumbwaiters transported food from the basement kitchen to each floor.[35]
When the hotel opened in 1884, the ground floor was divided into an entrance hall, four storefronts, and a restaurant for tenants who did not have their own kitchen.[7][34] The lobby was originally furnished with a marble floor and mahoganywainscoting. On the left wall of the lobby was an elaboratefireplace mantel,[13] which remained intact in the late 20th century.[22] To the right of the lobby was a reception room decorated in white maple, a plush-and-velvet carpet, and old-gold surfaces.[7] Three interconnected dining rooms, reserved for residents, were placed behind the lobby.[36] These rooms had decorations such asstained glass, carved gargoyles, andfleurs-de-lis.[37] Next to the lobby was a manager's office, whose ceiling had gold trimmings and a mural with clouds and angels.[15] There was also a barbershop,[38] as well as a restaurant, cafe, laundry room, billiards room, bakery, fish-and-meat shop, and grocery on the ground floor and basement.[7][36] Hotel staff lived in another building behind the main hotel,[6][7] connected to it by a tunnel.[7][36]
As of 2022, the hotel's lobby is decorated withinlaid ceilings and mosaic-tile floors.[39] The lobby contains furniture in various colors, while the front desk is clad with purple marble. In addition, various paintings by residents are hung on the beige-pink walls, and the lobby's ceiling is decorated with frescoes, roses, and garlands.[40] Adjacent to the lobby is the Lobby Bar, which contains mosaic-tile floors, a marble bar, art from former residents, and old chandeliers.[41][42] This bar, formerly storage space, has several pieces ofmid-century modern furniture[40] and vintage furnishings such as lamps.[42] Other decorative elements includeskylights, floor tiles, brick walls, andtrellises covered with vegetation.[40]
Next to the lobby is theEl Quijote restaurant,[43] which has occupied the hotel since 1955.[44] The restaurant is decorated with a marble terrazzo floor, a rough-hewn ceiling,[40] red-vinyl dining booths, and chandeliers.[45] Among the decorations are a series of murals depicting scenes from the bookDon Quixote, as well as oil paintings.[40][43] El Quijote contains a private bar next to its main dining room.[39][43] Prior to 2018, the restaurant sat 220 people;[46] the Dulcinea and Cervantes rooms at the rear comprised nearly half of the restaurant's seating capacity.[43] These rooms were removed in a 2022 renovation, which also reduced the restaurant's capacity to 45[45] or 65.[46] Since 2023, the hotel has also contained the Café Chelseabistro,[47] located within three rooms.[48] The bistro includes vintage decorations, some taken from theLord & Taylor Building.[49]
Art fills the staircase of the Hotel Chelsea.
Also at ground level is amom-and-pop store named Chelsea Guitars[50] and a private event space known as the Bard Room.[41][51] The main staircase, at the center of the hotel, is illuminated by a rooftop skylight[13] and is only accessible to guests.[52][53] The walls of the staircase were once lined with photos created by residents.[54][55] The staircase originally had iron railings and marble treads.[13][7] The center of the building is surmounted by a pyramid accessed by a narrow wooden staircase.[56] There was also an elevator cage, decorated withrosettes that matched the exterior decorations.[15] The upper stories include a gym and a rooftop spa.[40]
The Chelsea was among the first buildings in the city withduplex apartments and penthouse apartments.[12][57] Above the ground floor, there were originally either 90,[7] 97,[6][58] or 100 apartments in total.[38] There were ten apartments on each story,[34] ranging from 800 to 3,000 square feet (74 to 279 m2).[59] Each floor had a mixture of small and large apartments, so residents of different socioeconomic classes could reside on the same story.[59][60] Sources disagree on whether the largest apartments had eight,[34] ten,[7] or twelve rooms.[6][15][59] Old floor plans show that the apartments were arranged along a single west–east corridor on each floor;[38] these corridors measured up to 8 feet (2.4 m) wide.[35] The largest apartments occupied either end of the hotel and had at least four bedrooms, while mid-sized two- and three-bedroom units were placed next to these. The smallest units, targeted at unmarried men and women, were arranged near the stairs and elevators at the center of the building.[59]
A variety of styles and materials were used in the apartments to fit each tenant's taste.[37] Originally, the interiors were ornately decorated. Thedadoes and some of the floors were made of marble, and there was also hardwood floors and doors. In addition, the fireplace mantels were made ofonyx, and the fireplaces containedandirons with rosettes.[15]
Every apartment had its own bathroom,[7][34][9] and many units also had servants' bedrooms.[15] Only the largest apartments had kitchens; everyone else received meals from the restaurants or a caterer.[6][9] There were 67 apartments with kitchens, each of which had a refrigerator as well as a stove powered by coal, gas, or steam.[34] One of the larger apartments, suite 920, belonged to the hotel's manager and consisted of three rooms with high ceilings.[61] The apartments on the tenth and eleventh floors were intended for artists,[6][15] taking advantage of sunlight from the north.[15][62] These apartments were arranged as duplexes, with artists' studios on the upper level and bedrooms on the lower level,[33] and were in high demand when the Chelsea opened.[15] The twelfth floor contained a space accessible only from the rooftop promenade; this was intended as a clinic.[6][7][31] Tenants could also use a ballroom under the roof.[15]
A suite in the hotel prior to its 2010s and 2020s renovation
By the 1980s, the hotel had been subdivided into 400 rooms, many of which retained their original thick walls and fireplaces.[32] This was reduced by the 2000s to about 240[54][63] or 250 units (some with multiple rooms).[53] All of the units had a unique layout.[24][64] The rooms were accessed via wide marble corridors and varied significantly in decorative motif.[65]
Following a renovation that was completed in 2022, some decorative features, such as entry halls and doorknobs, were redesigned with monograms containing the hotel's name.[39][51] There are approximately 155 rooms,[51][40] divided into 125 single-room units and 30 suites;[40] the largest units are two-bedroom apartments with en-suite kitchens.[39] As an allusion to the Chelsea's artistic clientele, the rooms are decorated with artworks collected between the 1970s and the 1990s,[39] in addition toheadboards with splattered-paint patterns.[40] Some rooms retain original fireplaces and stained glass windows.[39][51] The guestrooms also have design features such as woodennightstands, closets with wallpaper, and marble-clad bathrooms.[51] Five of the former artists' residences are retained in the modern-day hotel, and some of the rooms have wheelchair-accessible features such as shelves and bathrooms.[66]
During the early 19th century, apartment developments in the city were generally associated with the working class, but by the late 19th century, apartments were also becoming desirable among the middle and upper classes.[67] Between 1880 and 1885, more than ninety apartment buildings were developed in the city.[68] The architect Philip Hubert and his partnerJames W. Pirrson had created a "Hubert Home Club" in 1880 for the Rembrandt, a six-story building on57th Street that had been built as housing for artists.[69][70][23] This early cooperative building had rental units to help defray costs, and it also provided servants as part of the building staff.[11] The success of this model led to other "Hubert Home Clubs", including the Chelsea.[11][70][71] Hubert believed that such clubs could help entice middle- and upper-class New Yorkers to live in apartment buildings.[71][72]
After constructing several more Home Clubs in the 1880s, Hubert decided to construct a structure in Chelsea. In contrast to previous clubs, where residents were selected according to their beliefs and socioeconomic status, Hubert wanted the new building to house as diverse a group of residents as possible.[73] Hubert planned a structure as a self-contained, purpose-built artists' community, based on a concept by the philosopherCharles Fourier.[52][74] The structure, later known as the Chelsea Hotel, was originally known as the Chelsea Association Building and was to be developed by the Chelsea Association.[28][75] It is unknown who specifically devised the idea for the building.[38] A construction materials dealer named George M. Smith applied for the hotel'sbuilding permit;[38][76] he was one of several members of the Chelsea Association's building committee.[62] By contrast, a contemporaryNew-York Tribune article described "some 50 people of means" as having been responsible for development.[6][38]
Hubert identified a vacant site on 23rd Street between Eighth and Seventh Avenues, which had been occupied by James Ingersoll's furniture store, as well as an adjoining townhouse on 22nd Street. Hubert paid Ingersoll $175,000 (equivalent to $4,863,000 in 2023[b]) for the plots and promised Ingersoll an apartment in the new building, as well as membership in the Chelsea Association.[77] Hubert, Pirsson & Co. filed plans in early 1883 for a "cooperative club apartment house" on the site at an estimated cost of $350,000 (equivalent to $9,726,000 in 2023[b]).[30][76] In August 1883, the Chelsea Association obtained a $200,000 mortgage loan for the building (equivalent to $5,558,000 in 2023[b]) from theEquitable Life Assurance Society.[78] The same bank placed a $300,000 mortgage loan on the hotel that December (equivalent to $8,337,000 in 2023[b]).[79] By March 1884, the Chelsea Association Building was nearly complete. One account inThe New York Times described the Chelsea as "the most profitable and popular of [Hubert and Pirsson's] enterprises".[23]
The Chelsea began accepting residents in 1884[4][5] and was structured as ahousing cooperative.[80] Two-thirds of the original apartments were owned by Chelsea Association stockholders, and the other third were rented out.[15][81] Almost from the outset, the Chelsea was one of the most popular of Hubert's Home Clubs,[82] and there were more prospective tenants than available apartments.[81] Tippins wrote that, "from the beginning, the Chelsea was a home for eccentrics and the artists were there by design".[83] The Chelsea was located in what was then the center of New York City's theater district,[84][85] with venues such as theBooth's Theatre and theGrand Opera House nearby.[16][33]
Its early residents represented a wide variety of groups, from unmarried professionals to large families.[15] Many of the hotel's early guests were authors and artists.[62][86] According to theReal Estate Record and Guide, many construction suppliers and workers moved into the apartments rather than accept monetary compensation.[38] The building also attracted wealthy widows, government officials, and a variety of other middle- and upper-class professionals,[59] though Hubert refused to disclose residents' names for the social registers.[87] These residents largely moved from other apartment buildings.[38] There were also 30 servants, mostly immigrants from Germany and Ireland.[59]
In 1898,Lippincott's Monthly Magazine described the Chelsea as one of Manhattan's "literary shrines", in part because of the presence of residents such asEdward Eggleston andJane Cunningham Croly.[88] Other early residents included painterRufus Fairchild Zogbaum,[38] poetHenry Abbey, and actressAnnie Russell.[62] By the end of the 19th century, the co-op was in decline due to the suspicions of New York City's middle class about apartment living, the development of houses further north in Manhattan, and the relocation of the city's theater district.[11][84] The1893 economic crash, and the lasting effects ofanother crash in the 1900s, further strained the Chelsea Association's finances.[89] During the 1890s, many of the Chelsea Association's original stockholders either died, moved away, or had become involved in legal and financial controversies.[90] By the 1900s, the Chelsea was accepting a larger number of short-term visitors.[38] AChicago Tribune reporter wrote in the late 20th century that the co-op had never "had a heyday", as many wealthy residents were already moving uptown after the hotel was completed.[58]
The building was officially converted to anapartment hotel in 1905.[33][89][91] At the time of the conversion, the Chelsea was divided into 125 units. Small studios that had been converted from maids' quarters were available for as little as $1.50 per night (equivalent to $52 in 2024[c]), while units that had one or two bedrooms cost up to $4–5 per night (equivalent to between $140 and $175 in 2024[c]).[92] In the first two decades of the 20th century, the hotel hosted events such a merchandise sales;[93] meetings of local groups, like the Chelsea Society of New York[94] and Syracuse University Club of New York;[95] and educational lectures.[96] Following thesinking of the RMSTitanic in 1912, several guests from theTitanic were also given rooms at the hotel.[92][97] The managers sometimes removed guests' corpses from the hotel.[92] The opening of theNew York City Subway'sBroadway–Seventh Avenue Line in the late 1910s had spurred development in the surrounding area, although the Hotel Chelsea remained in use as anapartment hotel.[98] One of the ground-level stores was leased to the Greater Engineering Company in 1920.[99]
Knott Hotels, a family-owned firm that operated numerous budget hotels in New York City,[100] leased the hotel in March 1921, establishing the 222 West Twenty-third Street Hotel Corporation to operate the Chelsea.[101] The lease initially ran until 1942.[102][103] By then, half of the Chelsea Association's original stockholders remained, and many parts of the hotel needed to be repaired or upgraded. Shortly after taking over, the Knotts split up some of the apartments, added a reception desk at the bottom of the Chelsea's grand staircase, closed the dining room, and addedkitchenettes to existing apartments. In addition, the hotel's Americanfloor numbering system was changed to a European floor numbering system; for instance, the second story, directly above ground level, was renumbered as floor 1.[100] The Knott family extended their lease by another 43 years in 1922, agreeing to pay a total of $6,196,000 (equivalent to $88,710,000 in 2023[b]) through the lease's projected expiration in 1985.[102][103]
The Hotel Chelsea continued to serve as a "headquarters for painters and writers", as described by theNew York Herald Tribune.[104] The Hotel Carteret was erected to the east in 1927,[105] blocking eastward views from the Chelsea.[100] To attract more tenants, the Knotts decreased prices for rooms at the eastern end of the hotel.[100] In addition, the Knott family transferred the hotel's ownership to the Knott Corporation, aDelaware company, in September 1927.[106] By the end of the 1920s, the Chelsea had been further subdivided into more than 300 rooms. The Knotts had replaced the lobby's paintings with wallpaper, and they had moved the original lobby furniture to make way for a heater on abanquette. Most of the hotel's bellhops and waiters were African-American by this time. Switchboard operators and desk clerks called residents by their nicknames.[107] TheAsbury Park Press called the Chelsea one of the "last ornate landmarks of a Little Old New York locality".[108]
Batchelder's Restaurant leased the Chelsea's restaurant space in early 1930.[109] During that decade, the Chelsea Hotel remained popular among artists and writers because of the low rents, the friendly atmosphere, and the fact that the residences provided large amounts of privacy. Because many of the old apartments had been subdivided, each floor had various winding corridors leading to the different rooms.[110] The low rents in particular attracted artists likeJohn Sloan andEdgar Lee Masters.[111] There was controversy in late 1934 when then-manager Jerry Gagin commissioned a series of satirical paintings from John McKiernan, depicting three politicians.[112][d] Knott Hotels president William Knott ordered Gagin to remove the murals, but Gagin refused, and the murals were instead covered up.[112]
The last member of the Chelsea Association died around 1941, and the hotel went bankrupt around the same time.[113] TheNew York Bank for Savings repossessed the building at an auction in approximately July 1942. That October, the Bank for Savings sold the hotel, along with the adjacent brownstone house at 229 West 22nd Street, to the Chelsea Hotel Company at an assessed value of $561,500 (equivalent to $8,282,000 in 2023[b]). The buyers took over a $220,000 mortgage (equivalent to $3,245,000 in 2023[b]) that had been placed on the hotel.[114][115][e] At the time, the hotel had seven stores, 319 guestrooms, and 176 bathrooms.[114] Following the sale to the Chelsea Hotel Company, the hotel was operated by a syndicate of Hungarian immigrants represented by David Bard and Frank Amigo.[113] The new operators were tasked with updating the hotel, which had outdated plumbing and electrical wiring; dilapidated elevators; and dirty walls. In addition, Bard had to dispel rumors circulating among existing tenants, who believed that Bard had won the hotel in a poker game and wanted to raze it.[120]
TheUnited States Shipping Board leased the ground and second floors in late 1942,[121] and members of theUnited States Maritime Service used the space as the U.S. Maritime Service Graduate Station.[122] In 1944, architect Morris Whinston filed plans for $5,000 (equivalent to $69,000 in 2023[b]) worth of alterations to the hotel.[123] The Chelsea started to become associated withbohemianism during the 1940s and 1950s,[38] and many original design details were removed during that era.[124] A 1946 article in theTroy Record noted that artists lived in 25 of the Chelsea's 300 units and that the hotel no longer served traditional celebrities.[17] The structure also hosted office tenants such as theWorld Congress of the Partisans of Peace on the ground floor.[125] Bard had grown exasperated of the tenants' complaints by 1947, when he sold most of his shares to desk clerk Julius Krauss and plumber Joseph Gross, retaining five percent of his shares in the building.[126] During this era, the hotel often served as a gathering place for left-wing and socialist activists; for instance, one of the ground-floor spaces was occupied by left-wing organizers who supported theUnited Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.[127]
Bard again became involved in the hotel's operations by the early 1950s.[126] By then, additional apartments had been subdivided, and the interiors had been significantly modified. The floors had been covered with linoleum; the walls had been painted over; and the skylight above the Chelsea's main staircase had been sealed.[128] Bard, Gross, and Krauss jointly operated the hotel through the rest of this decade.[116] TheEl Quijote restaurant, operated by a group of Spanish immigrants,[129] moved to the Hotel Chelsea in 1955.[44] The next year, inspectors found that the hotel had accumulated sixteen violations of city building codes.[130] By the late 1950s, the Chelsea had begun to accept black residents, starting with the printmakerRobert Blackburn, and European artists were increasingly moving in.[129] David Bard had sold all of his remaining hotels and spent large amounts of his time talking to the artists and authors who resided there.[129] His son Stanley, who would later manage the hotel himself, recalled being jealous of the hotel because David spent all of his time there.[131][132]
By the beginning of the 1960s, the Chelsea Hotel was known as the "Dowager of 23rd Street",[33] and the surrounding area was populated with what Tippins referred to as "tawdry bars and low-rent offices".[133] Nearly all of the entertainment venues in the area had been replaced with stores and apartments.[33] Most of the hotel's occupants were long-term residents, who rarely moved away[134] due to the low rental rates.[135]Nouveaux Realistes artists also began to frequent the hotel in the 1960s,[136] and pop artists often collaborated there by 1962.[137]The New York Community Trust installed a plaque outside the building in 1962, detailing the hotel's history.[33] Other plaques honoring specific residents were installed in the mid-1960s, including those for the authorThomas Wolfe[138] and the playwright and poetBrendan Behan.[139]
Stanley Bard became manager in 1964 after his father died.[140][141] Stanley, who had been a plumber's assistant at the hotel since 1957[140] or 1958,[58] was already familiar with many of the hotel's artistic residents when he assumed the managerial role.[141] He began trying to attract artists who had been rejected from other hotels.[75][119] Bard did not run advertisements, instead attracting new residents viaword of mouth.[118] The remaining co-owners, Joseph Gross and Julius Krauss, continued to work under Stanley Bard.[142]
Stanley Bard was less strict than his predecessors, allowing residents to combine apartments on the basis of ahandshake deal.[75] Residents could install their own art, and pets might be allowed based on Stanley's whims.[58] Film directorEthan Hawke, a onetime resident, recalled that Stanley charged residents different rates based on whether he liked them;[75] a headline inThe Wall Street Journal proclaimed that "If Stanley Bard likes your wife you'll get a room at the Chelsea".[118] Bard generally had a lax attitude toward unpaid rent;[24][55] he sometimes accepted paintings created by residents who were unable to pay rent,[50][75] and he started displaying these works in the lobby.[142] Another resident who could not afford rent was hired as a bellhop.[60] Despite Bard's cavalier attitude toward guests' activities, he closely monitored all aspects of the hotel and sometimes refused to rent rooms to people who were disruptive or those that he disliked.[118]
Although Bard sometimes did not pay attention to maintenance (leading one resident to say that "the place was held together with Scotch tape"),[143] he helped curate the artistic community there,[54] providing artists with materials and looking after their children.[141] The hotel also came to be known as a place where creative and eccentric figures stayed.[27][144][131] Bard stated in 1975 that he had friendships with tenants, not "tenant–landlord" relationships,[145] and residents were free to walk into his office and talk with him.[27] Bard had a bookcase in his office, with books written by residents.[146][119] Tippins writes that Bard's inobtrusive management approach, along with the "self-directing population ... and members' willingness to live in the moment", created a strong artistic culture at the hotel.[147]
By the mid-1960s, the hotel began to attract artists who frequentedAndy Warhol'sFactory studio,[148] as well as rock musicians (who were not allowed in many other hotels).[149][150] TheAustin American described the hotel as having "400 rooms, 150 kitchens, and 150 fireplaces".[151] The hotel was physically decaying during that time,[148] though the facade was cleaned.[151] TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Hotel Chelsea as a city landmark in March 1966,[152][153] a decision ratified by theNew York City Board of Estimate that June,[154][155] despite opposition from a local planning board, which called the Chelsea a "shabby institution".[154][156] The hotel, which was recognized for both architectural and historical significance,[29][148] thus became one of the city's first official landmarks.[29] Later the same year, Bard decided to redecorate the lobby[157] after the release of Warhol's filmChelsea Girls drew attention to the hotel.[157][158] The staircase was also cleaned in phases from top to bottom.[159]
The popularity ofChelsea Girls—along with that of the albumBlonde on Blonde, written by Chelsea Hotel residentBob Dylan—attracted many aspiring artists and actors to the hotel during the late 1960s, in spite of its rundown condition.[160] About half of the rooms were occupied by permanent residents by the early 1970s; although new residents had to pay at least $400 (equivalent to $3,239 in 2024[c]) per month, older residents were protected byrent regulation and paid as little as $155 a month (equivalent to $1,255 in 2024[c]).[75]Variety magazine wrote that the Chelsea was "the only landmark building still doing business" from the time when the neighborhood was a major theatrical hub.[161] The hotel's residents included many stage and film stars, artists, and "less conventional celebrities", who stayed despite the lack of modern amenities and the presence of pests.[145] The cheapest units tended to have more issues.[162] For many residents, however, there was "no life outside the Hotel", so they did not feel compelled to move.[163] By the early 1970s, residents were increasingly unable to pay rent because of a general economic downturn,[164] and Bard was forced to evict some residents to reduce expenses.[165]
The hotel was in decline by the mid-1970s, with graffitied walls and a cockroach infestation.[83][166] Residents removed some of the stained-glass windows and iron grates for scrap.[167] It was common to see drug users in bathrooms and drug dealers in the hallways,[83] and a brothel also operated openly within the hotel.[168] Resident suicides and fires were frequent,[168][169] as were robberies.[164] Robbers held several residents hostage in a 1974 robbery,[131][170] and the Chelsea was damaged in a 1978 fire that killed one resident.[57] The death ofNancy Spungen at the hotel in 1978,[171] and the death of her boyfriend—Sid Vicious, who had been charged with her murder—the next year, brought further negative attention to the hotel.[83][172] Nonetheless, the Chelsea's reputation as an artists' and authors' haven remained intact.[14] Although there were frequent remarks about the "downright creepy" atmosphere,[173] many residents remained in spite of the decline in both the hotel and the surrounding neighborhood.[174] Bard dispelled concerns by saying that any major crime at the hotel was covered by the media due to the Chelsea's bohemian nature.[131] According to Laurie Johnston ofThe New York Times, the hotel had "some glittery (and, to some old-liners, scary) clientele among rock musicians and such".[175] The hotel was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1977.[166]
Bard and the Chelsea's residents had planned a centennial celebration in November 1983,[19][176] though the celebration was delayed by a year.[177] Bard said at the time that he wanted "to keep the atmosphere kooky but nice, eccentric but beautiful",[32] rather than updating the hotel to keep up with the surrounding neighborhood'sgentrification.[19] He accommodated residents' creativity and maintained close relationships with tenants,[32][178] to the point that residents spoke with staff "as they were family" and walked behind Bard's desk to get their own mail.[176] The hotel also attracted many tourists who wanted to experience its "eccentric" nature, although the staff mainly catered to long-term residents.[178] The Chelsea was still cheap; nightly room rates were about one-third that of more upscale hotels uptown, and studios there were less expensive than others in the neighborhood.[19] By the mid-1980s, the hotel largely catered to thepunk subculture,[58] and it was 80 percent residential by the late 1980s.[179] The hotel building itself remained in a state of disrepair:[38] for instance, a balcony fell off the facade in 1986, injuring two passersby.[180] The balcony's collapse prompted a subsequent renovation of the building.[80]
After Bard's children David and Michele became involved in the hotel's operation during the 1990s,[75] they completed a $500,000 renovation of the facade in 1990 and renovated one of the sixth-floor rooms.[181] David Bard upgraded the lobby's equipment,[64] and the family subdivided the ground-level ladies' reception room into a set of offices, but they left the ceiling murals intact.[38] The reception desk had been relocated to a niche off the main lobby.[182] The Chelsea's reputation for "wildness" receded in the 1990s, though the hotel continued to attract artistic tenants under Bard's management.[168] Long-term residents paid up to $3,000 a month in rent, while short-term guestrooms cost up to $295.[91] Short-term guests also traveled to the hotel for a variety of reasons. Some wished to stay in rooms occupied by particular residents,[183] while others traveled there because of their cheap rates.[184][185] The guestrooms lacked modern amenities such as minibars, room service, and cable TV.[91][186]
In spite of Stanley Bard's unorthodox approach to rent collection, the hotel's finances remained stable in the 1990s.[187] The Bards continued to renovate selected rooms as part of a wide-ranging rehabilitation,[187][188] and they also renovated the lobby.[189] By the end of the 20th century, three-fourths of the hotel was occupied by long-term residents,[184][38] and monthly rents ranged from $2,000 to $5,000.[25] Bard wished to maintain the hotel's character, showing preference to artists over other potential tenants.[190] There was also an art gallery[191] and a basement bar named Serena.[192][193]
Unfounded rumors of a potential sale were circulating by the end of the 20th century.[117] Marlene Krauss, the daughter of Julius Krauss, told Bard to stop renewing long-term residents' leases in 2005.[53] Meanwhile, longtime resident David Elder (the grandson of Joseph Gross and the son of playwright and screenwriterLonne Elder III) filed a lawsuit in 2005 to have Bard removed as the hotel's manager.[194] At the time, three-fifths of the hotel's 240–250 rooms were occupied by permanent residents.[53] Temporary guestrooms and permanent residents' rooms were interspersed.[54] As a result of rising expenses, there were fewer penurious artists living in the Chelsea compared to the mid- and late 20th century.[195] A nightclub called the Star Lounge opened in the Chelsea's basement in early 2007.[196]
In 2007, an arbitrator ruled that Bard's family owned 58 percent of the hotel's value but that his partners had a majority stake in the operation.[149] In addition, Bard was ordered to pay back $1 million and gave Marlene Krauss and David Elder control over the hotel for ten years.[197] The hotel's board of directors ousted Bard in June 2007,[53][198] after Krauss and Elder claimed that Bard had allowed tenants to stay even if they had fallen far behind on their rent.[197] Krauss and Elder hired BD Hotels to manage the Chelsea.[199] BD Hotels attempted to correct several violations of city building codes and obtain documentation on tenants who were not registered with the city government.[200] The new operators also opened a basement lounge and restored the ballroom.[201] Krauss wished to increase the number of short-term guests[53][200] and renovate the retail space.[53]
The hotel stopped leasing apartments in 2007;[202] filmmaker Sam Bassett became the last long-term resident to sign a lease at the hotel.[203] Many hotel residents feared that the plans would change the character of the hotel, one of the few remaining non-gentrified places in Chelsea,[56][200] and they expressed concerns that the new manager was not accommodating toward them.[204] At the time, Krauss and Elder were evicting tenants and were planning a renovation of the hotel.[205][202] Elder denied that tenants were being targeted, saying that all of the evicted tenants had failed to pay rent;[202] according to BD Hotels officials, some tenants owed more than $10,000.[201] BD Hotels was fired in April 2008[206] and subsequently filed awrongful dismissal lawsuit against the hotel's operators.[168][207] Andrew Tilley was hired to manage the hotel in June 2008[208] and continued to serve eviction notices to tenants.[209][204] The hotel was involved in other controversies such as a disagreement over the demolition of an apartment once occupied byBob Dylan.[210] Tilley resigned after seven months, citing tenant harassment.[211]
Elder took over direct management of the hotel in 2009.[55][202] Under Elder's management, the hotel phased out long-term leases in favor of 25-day leases.[202] By 2010, ninety long-term residents remained; another forty had moved out during the previous three years.[168] A nightclub known as the Chelsea Room opened in the basement that October,[212] after the former Star Lounge's space had been gutted.[213] The Chelsea's 15 shareholders put the hotel up for sale in October 2010,[201][214] when there were 125 short-term guestrooms and 100 apartments.[201] Real-estate experts estimated that a buyer would have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate each room, overcoming tenant opposition and restrictions posed by the hotel's city-landmark status.[215] Stanley Bard's son David made a bid to buy the Chelsea,[143] as did developerAby Rosen[216] and hoteliersIan Schrager andAndré Balazs.[216][217] A Doughnut Plant shop opened at the hotel in early 2011.[218]
Real estate developerJoseph Chetrit announced in May 2011 that he had bought the hotel for $80 million.[216][219] Chetrit stopped taking reservations for new guests that July[220][221] and officially took title to the hotel the next month.[222] Gene Kaufman was hired to design a renovation of the Chelsea,[60][223] which was funded by an $85 million loan fromNatixis.[224] Kaufman intended to change the room layouts and renovate vacant retail space in the basement and ground floor.[24] Residents protected bystate rent regulation laws were allowed to remain,[225] but the staff were fired.[60] Chetrit also moved to evict a tattoo parlor[226] and some of the non-rent-regulated residents.[227][228][229] That September, resident Zoe Pappas formed the Chelsea Tenants Association,[230] which about half of the remaining residents joined.[226][228] The Chelsea's managers ordered that all artwork be placed into storage in November, prompting more tenant complaints;[225] a rooftop garden tended by residents was also destroyed.[231]
From 2011 to 2013, residents filed a large number of lawsuits against Chetrit.[230] Tenants complained that the project was creating health hazards,[232] although the city'sBuilding Department found no major violations of building codes.[233] Following a lawsuit in December 2011,[234] a state court ordered Chetrit to clean the air in the hotel.[235] King & Grove Hotels was hired in January 2012 to operate the hotel,[236] and Chetrit proposed a rooftop addition shortly afterward,[237] which the LPC approved despite concerns from residents.[238] Chetrit was ordered to fix additional building violations in May 2012[239] after tenants alleged that the renovation created toxic dust and allowed mold and rust to spread.[240] Other tenant lawsuits included a dispute over a deceased tenant's artwork[241] and a complaint over disrupted gas, heat, and hot water service.[242] In addition, Chetrit sued Bard in early 2013, claiming that Bard had overrepresented the hotel's value.[243]
Chetrit, David Bistricer and King & Grove Hotels CEO, Ed Scheetz co-owned the hotel until August 2013,[244][245] when Scheetz took over the Chelsea Hotel.[245][246] King & Grove and existing residents agreed on a rent settlement the next month,[247] in which residents could stay in upgraded apartments.[248] Scheetz continued to evict other tenants who had fallen behind on rent.[249] At the time, there were 65 remaining apartments and 170 guestrooms.[245] Chetrit canceled all of the work permits for the Chelsea's renovation at the end of 2013, and all work was temporarily stopped until King & Grove applied for new permits.[250] Scheetz also hired Marvel Architects to modify Kaufman's designs,[251] prompting a lawsuit from Kaufman.[252]
After rebranding King & Grove as Chelsea Hotels in 2014,[253] Scheetz bought the El Quijote restaurant that year.[254] The Chelsea Hotel Storefront Gallery also opened at ground level in 2014.[255] Following a campaign led by residents,[256] Scheetz agreed to preserve a first-floor suite once occupied by the poetDylan Thomas.[257][258] Scheetz also wished to renovate 52 remaining apartments, which were occupied by 83 tenants. Accordingly, he offered to buy out their apartments, move them to the lower stories, or move them temporarily to theMartha Washington Hotel.[259] By mid-2015, Scheetz and his partnersBill Ackman, Joseph Steinberg, and Wheelock Street Capital had spent $185 million on renovations, which were not expected to be completed for two years.[260] Scheetz had withdrawn from the Chelsea Hotel project entirely by March 2016, after a series of budget overruns and delays, although his partners retained a stake in the project.[261]
El Quijote and Hotel Chelsea at night in July 2022
BD Hotels took over the hotel's operation that July and began working to renovate 120 of the hotel rooms, as well as restoring or preserving the apartments of 51 existing tenants. At the time, the renovation was planned to be completed in 2018.[262] SIR Chelsea LLC, led by Sean MacPherson,Ira Drukier, and Richard Born, bought the Chelsea Hotel in October 2016 for $250 million.[263] MacPherson led additional renovations at the hotel, including restoration of artwork and design features,[264] as well as new public areas like a bar and spa on the roof.[265][266] To convince mayorBill de Blasio to approve further changes, Drukier and Born sent tens of thousands of dollars to various funds for de Blasio.[267] Bard's collection of paintings was sold off in 2017 after he died,[268][269] and work was again halted that year when the city found high concentrations of lead in the dust.[270] By then, twosingle room occupancy apartments remained in the Chelsea, and many tenants had temporarily relocated.[271] Some of the hotel's original doors were removed and sold at auction in 2018.[272][273]
El Quijote was closed temporarily in March 2018 for renovations.[274][275] The next year, several holdout tenants filed a lawsuit to retain control of their apartments.[276][277] The renovation project was halted, and theNew York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development mandated that the hotel's owners obtain a certificate of no harassment.[278] Work on the renovation had mostly stalled by early 2020 due to a harassment lawsuit against the owners,[279] though a state judge dismissed that suit.[280] The city government also contended that the owners had harassed the tenants,[281] and further lawsuits were filed throughout that year.[282] Other residents, who wanted the hotel's renovation to be completed quickly, sided with the owners.[279][282] Work resumed in early 2021,[278] after the city government said that January that it would not pursue a tenant-harassment investigation against the owners.[283] The hotel's owners sued the city in May 2021, claiming that the construction delays had cost them $100 million.[284]
El Quijote reopened in February 2022,[46] and the Hotel Chelsea soft-reopened to transient guests the next month.[285] Initially, the rooms were rented at a discount while work continued.[75] The Bard Room opened at ground level in June 2022,[286] and the hotel fully reopened in mid-2022.[265] At the time, there were still 40 permanent residents, and the cheapest suite cost $700 per night.[50] Disputes continued over the preservation of Dylan Thomas's apartment,[287] and the hotel's owners still had an open lawsuit against the city.[288] Café Chelsea, a Frenchbistro, opened within the hotel in July 2023.[47] The hotel's neon sign and stained-glass windows, which had been removed during the 2020s renovation, were auctioned off in late 2024.[289] A Japanese restaurant, Teruko, opened at the hotel in March 2025.[290]
Over the years, the Chelsea has become particularly well-known for its residents,[80] who have come from all social classes.[32]The New York Times described the hotel in 2001 as a "roof for creative heads", given the large number of such personalities who have stayed at the Chelsea;[291] the previous year, the same newspaper had characterized the list of tenants as "living history".[191] The journalistPete Hamill characterized the hotel's clientele as "radicals in the 1930s, British sailors in the 40s, Beats in the 50s, hippies in the 60s, decadent poseurs in the 70s".[64] Although early tenants were wealthy, the Chelsea attracted less well-off tenants by the mid-20th century,[86] and many writers, musicians, and artists lived at the Hotel Chelsea when they were short on money.[264] Accordingly, the Chelsea's guest list had almost zero overlap with that of the more fashionablePlaza Hotel crosstown.[187]
New York magazine wrote that "people who lived in the hotel slept together as often as they celebrated holidays together", particularly under Stanley Bard's tenure.[143] Despite the high number of notable people associated with the Chelsea, its residents typically desired privacy and frowned upon those who used their relationships with their neighbors to further their own careers.[162]
Welsh poetDylan Thomas (who lived with his wifeCaitlin Thomas[74][128]) was staying in room 205 when he became ill and died in 1953,[292][295] while American poetDelmore Schwartz spent the last few years of his life in seclusion at the Chelsea before he died in 1966.[296] Irish playwright and poetBrendan Behan, a severe alcoholic who had been ejected from theAlgonquin Hotel, lived at the hotel for several months before his death in 1964.[74] Many poets of theBeat poetry movement also lived at the Chelsea before theBeat Hotel in Paris became popular.[74]
Other authors, writers, and journalists who stayed or lived at the hotel have included:
The hotel has been home to actors, film directors, producers, and comedians. The actressSara Lowndes moved to a room adjoining that of musicianBob Dylan before the two married in 1965.[311]Edie Sedgwick, an actress andWarhol superstar, set her room on fire by accident in 1967,[40][158] whileViva, another Warhol superstar,[117] lived at the Chelsea with her daughterGaby Hoffmann.[312] Members of theSquat Theatre Company also stayed in the hotel in the 1970s while performing nearby.[313]
Other entertainment personalities who lived or stayed at the Chelsea include:
Composer and criticVirgil Thomson, once described byThe New York Times as the hotel's "most illustrious tenant",[324] lived at the hotel for nearly five decades before his death in 1989;[325] Thompson persuaded Stanley Bard in 1977 to let composerGerald Busby stay at the hotel where Busby still lived in 2015.[326] The composerGeorge Kleinsinger lived with his pet animals on the tenth floor.[144][145] The activistStormé DeLarverie was also a long-term resident,[40] as was the actressCandy Darling.[74]
Many visual artists, including painters, sculptors, and photographers, have resided at the Chelsea. The painterJohn Sloan lived in one of the top-floor duplexes until his death in 1951,[341] painting portraits of both the Chelsea and nearby buildings.[342]Joseph Glasco lived at the Chelsea in 1949 and then lived there on recurring visits and paintedChelsea Hotel (1992) there.[343] During the 1960s, acolytes of the polymathHarry Everett Smith frequently gathered around his apartment.[344] The painterAlphaeus Philemon Cole lived there for 35 years until his death in 1988 when, at the age of 112, he was the oldest verified man alive.[345][346] The artistVali Myers lived at the hotel from 1971 to 2014,[347] while conceptual artistBettina Grossman lived in the Chelsea from 1970 to her death in 2021.[348] AlthoughAndy Warhol never lived in the hotel, many of his associates did.[179]
Other artists who have lived at the Chelsea include:
Several fashion designers have lived at the Chelsea.Charles James, credited with being America's firstcouturier who influenced fashion in the 1940s and 1950s, moved into the Chelsea in 1964.[371] The designerElizabeth Hawes lived in the Chelsea until her death in 1971.[372]Billy Reid used one of the Chelsea's rooms as an office, studio, and showroom starting in 1998.[373] After returning to New York City in 2001,Natalie "Alabama" Chanin briefly lived in the Chelsea Hotel.[374]
Life magazine characterized the hotel in 1964 as "New York's most illustrious third-rate hotel";[265] the same year,The New York Times described the Chelsea Hotel as having "long represented the cultural mood that is now spreading through the West 20s".[375] Another journalist called the hotel in 1965 an "Ellis Island of the avant-garde".[75] ABoston Globe reporter said that, while the hotel was internally known as an artists' residence, "those on the outside are confused by the names and the rococo facade of stories that have dragged the Chelsea down like an old roue to the bottom of history".[159] Donna Hilts ofThe Washington Post wrote in 1975 that "the beatnik '50s, the hip '60s, the freaky '70s—each found a way of appreciating the freedom, the tradition and the old rug coziness of the Chelsea".[145]Paul Goldberger ofThe New York Times wrote in 1981 that the Chelsea "has had a history that is something of a cross between the Algonquin Hotel and a crash pad",[376] and British reporterPeter Ackroyd wrote in 1983 that the Chelsea was reputed as "one of the least stuffy hotels in New York".[119] AChicago Tribune reporter said in 1983 that the Chelsea "has certainly set standards of its own".[131]
In 1993,The New York Times wrote: "Stubbornly resistant to change, the Chelsea is—still—hip."[64] The same reporter described the hotel as a "Tower of Babel of creativity and bad behavior" that nonetheless remained successful.[187][64] In 1995,The Philadelphia Inquirer contrasted the hotel with the more upscaleAlgonquin Hotel inMidtown Manhattan, which was also known for its literary scene.[377]The Washington Post described the hotel's lax management in 1999 as "a factor that attracted a stellar crop of artists in its century of operation",[186] while aGQ writer said the same year that "there are two Statues of Liberty on New York—the one for immigrants out by Ellis Island and the one for weirdos at 222 West 23rd Street".[132] In the 2000s, theIrish Times said that the Chelsea was "reputed to be the last Bohemian place on earth".[378]Variety described the hotel as having "long been synonymous with the bohemian scene",[379] andThe Advertiser ofAdelaide wrote that "The Chelsea exists as a microcosm of New York."[54]
The New York Observer wrote in 2010 that the Chelsea's "hulking physicality" distinguished the hotel from neighboring structures, though "it's the litany of cultural touchstones in (or formerly in) residence that makes it the Chelsea".[215] According toThe Telegraph, the hotel "had something that no amount of money or interior decoration could buy: a singular style and a unique legend".[86] Sherill Tippins said in 2022, "It's hard to imagine what American culture would be like if we hadn't had the Chelsea. It's an enormous factory of creative thought and ideas."[264]The New York Times compared theChristodora House in theEast Village to the Hotel Chelsea,[380] andTown and Country described the hotel as "a symbol of New York City's vibrant culture".[381]
When the hotel was completed, a writer for theNew-York Tribune regarded the hotel's "finish and appointments" as a "very close second" to that of the Navarro Flats on Central Park South,[382] while theCourier Journal described the Chelsea as "the latest triumph of civilization".[7] According toDavid Goodman Croly, the building's design signified the fact that New Yorkers had become "more capable of organization, more sociable, more gregarious than before".[37]The Sun wrote that the Chelsea was one of numerous "living temples of humanity" that could be used as a model for urban apartment living.[87]
In the mid-20th century, the hotel's decor was the subject of negative commentary. Yevgeny Yevtushenko likened the smell of his room to theDachau concentration camp,[57][86] and Arthur Miller said the decor was more akin to "Guatemalan maybe, or outer Queens" than a "grand hotel".[86] Donna Hilts said in 1975 that the hotel's brick facade "reminds a visitor of a Victorian dowager, down on her luck, cracked and faded, but still trying to keep up appearances".[145] The Associated Press wrote in 1978 that the hotel's lobby was "singularly unprepossessing", with tenants' art juxtaposed with the original fireplace,[27] while aNewsday reporter described the space as "a museum of the anarchic monstrosities of the 1960s".[176] Paul Goldberger praised the architecture but disliked its neon sign, saying that "the building is so strong as a work of architecture that the sign compromises it not a bit".[376] Ackroyd said in 1983 that his room was "not particularly comfortable [but] has a grim splendour of its own".[119]
Terry Trucco wrote forThe New York Times in 1991 that her room "got plenty of light and was oddly cheerful", though she described the furniture as old and the bathroom as "ghastly";[383] a writer forThe Boston Globe said the same year that the corridors felt like "an institution in long decline".[384] A writer forThe Palm Beach Post, reviewing the hotel in 1996, said that the rooms were large but "not especially clean".[385]The New York Times wrote in 1998 that the hotel's hallways resembled a street in Venice or Rome and that the apartments were "furnished in an artistic collision of styles".[38]The Observer of London called the Chelsea's lobby "an overgrown taxidermist's Valhalla" in 2000.[117] ThePoughkeepsie Journal wrote in 2002 that the Chelsea stood "in the middle of the block with an air of quiet dignity", with its balconies being its most prominent feature.[182] ANew York Times reviewer wrote in 2005 that, despite the hotel's worn-down condition, its "grungy elegance" was preferable to chain hotels' "soulless architecture".[65]
After the hotel reopened in 2022, theFinancial Times wrote, "Depending on one's nostalgist leanings, the new Hotel Chelsea is either a travesty of history, or instantly on the must-do list."[39] A critic forCondé Nast Traveler wrote, "The design isn't too flashy, isn't too rock-and-roll, isn't too homey, yet it has a lick of each of these elements."[51] The first edition of theMichelin Keys Guide, in 2024, ranked the Hotel Chelsea as a "one-key" hotel, the third-highest accolade granted by the guide.[386] The same year,Suitcase magazine wrote that "the spirit of Philip Hubert's socialist-leaning vision [was] very much alive", with many of the original architectural decorations being retained.[66]
The Chelsea has been the setting or inspiration for many works of popular media.[75] In addition, many art events and photography shoots have taken place at the hotel, and several films have been shot there as well.[63]
The hotel has been featured in several documentaries. Its history was chronicled in the 2008 documentaryChelsea on the Rocks, directed byAbel Ferrara,[379][387] and the 2022 documentaryDreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel, executive-produced byMartin Scorsese.[388][389] An episode of the TV seriesAn American Family, aired onPBS in 1973, was mostly filmed at the Chelsea,[390][391] as was an episode of the documentary seriesArena.[392] The 1986 filmSid and Nancy, byAlex Cox, chronicled the lives of residents Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen and the circumstances leading up to Spungen's murder in the hotel.[393]
Stillman Foster Kneeland wrote a poem in 1914, "Roofland", which commemorated the nights that he spent on the Chelsea's roof garden.[92] Similarly, Edgar Lee Masters wrote an ode to the hotel while living there.[414][384]Arthur Miller wrote a short piece, "The Chelsea Affect", describing life at the Chelsea Hotel in the early 1960s.[415]Nicolaia Rips wrote the memoirTrying to Float: Coming of Age in the Chelsea Hotel in 2016.[416]
The hotel has been the subject of several nonfiction accounts and photographical books. Robert Baral's 1965 bookTurn West on 23rd devoted a chapter to the hotel,[157] while Claudio Edinger's 1983 bookChelsea Hotel consisted of photographs of the hotel and its residents.[19][356] Florence Turner's 1987 bookAt the Chelsea doubled as a memoir and a description of the hotel's occupants.[417] Ed Hamilton, who moved into the Chelsea in 1995, launched theLiving with Legends blog about the hotel in 2005;[418] information from that blog was collated in the 2007 bookLegends of the Chelsea Hotel.[419] The hotel was also described in Sherill Tippins's 2013 bookInside the Dream Palace,[74][420] as well as Victoria Cohen's 2013coffee table bookHotel Chelsea.[421] In 2019, the photographer Colin Miller published the bookHotel Chelsea: Living in the Last Bohemian Haven, which included pictures of the remaining apartments' interiors.[422]
The Chelsea hosted a multimedia festival in 1989,At the Chelsea, which celebrated the hotel's history with theatrical shows, music, and performance art.[426]Nicole Burdette's playChelsea Walls, first performed in 1990,[427] was the basis for the similarly-named 2001 film.[398] In 2013, Welsh choreographers Jessica Cohen and Jim Ennis choreographed a dance piece inspired by the Chelsea Hotel; the piece depicts four fictional couples, who are loosely based on real-life hotel residents.[333] The multimedia performance "Young Artists at the Chelsea", dramatizing the lives of some of the residents, was presented in a gallery in the hotel in 2015.[428]
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