Living with Legends

Recent posts about our illustrious proprietor Stanley Bard have generated a lot of controversy.  Three daily readers weigh in with differing views on the matter:

   Something has recently struck me as somewhat unseemly, if not rather meanspirited. I’ve enjoyed 
   this blog from the time you all kicked it off, but in catching up last night I was perplexed by a
   repeatedly strange hostility towards Mr. Bard. I actually stopped to ask myself,’ what happened
   to piss you off?’ it seems to me that if you wanna slap Stanley around, at least tell me how come.
   My experience of the guy is that he fights and sweats like hell for this place to keep it as much
   "The Chelsea" as possible. In the past, he had numerous very fair reasons to kick my ass out, but
   instead always remained open to listening to my latest hardluck story — forever preposterous and
   true. He runs a hotel, I don’t see why he should be begrudged for wanting to make dough. I think
   the place has a pretty good mix of people and relative to the mentally ill vibe that existed when I first
   came here, (which admittedly I do miss at times), the current mix of tenants, yuppie s? visitors,
   children, dogs, individuals and Robert is preferable to the days when my neighbor howled like a
   stupid, bloody dog and clearly was ready to mass murder and scared the fuck out of my girlfriend
   who was delicate enough to fear going into the hallway.. ( The only time, I ever complained, and he
   was out not long after.)

   Look, I’m mister live and let live, it just kind of hurts my feelings that you’re using this terrific thing
   you created to repeatedly cheap shot Bard. Or so it seems to me.

   Anyhow, keep up the good work. Peace, Linter

A former resident disagrees:

   David, Ed and "Susan" have written many lovely things about Stanley too. But people have always
   griped a little about Stanley — it was kind of a Chelsea Hotel tradition.

   I love Stanley — he was good to me and my friends there — and have always understood that he is
   up against it — the heirs of his father’s former partner (aka "the investors") don’t care about artists or
   the hotel’s legacy or the Chelsea "family", they just care about the high rents in New York and how
   they can cash in on that. He has always walked the razor’s edge between business concerns and
   his indulgent love of artists.

   I am sad to see Capitol go, it’s an institution but I could stomach it if it was a way to keep Chelsea 
   Hotel rents down and the doors open for experimental and struggling artists. Unfortunately, I don’t
   think the "investors" will be satisfied with that. (Bluehour)

The tourist has his say:

   Gosh. I’m only an Australian tourist but… I thought a good natured roasting of dear Stanley was a
   Chelsea tradition- it never occurred to me that he is anything other than loved.
   The only sure thing in life is change.