Without the legendary Stanley Bard the Chelsea Hotel would be nothing but a pile of bricks, mortar, and 
wrought iron. One of the few humanitarian landlords in the Country, Stanley, over the past five decades has helped hundreds of struggling artists, including me and my children (who still miss the Chelsea) to survive. This help has included an unerring instinct for publicity, a trait I’m afraid his partners, who inherited from their dead fathers, and who, according to your June 19th Metro article, have driven Stanley out, probably lack. The inheritors, from what I remember of them, seem to lack the
charisma that made Stanley one of New York’s most memorable and treasured characters. Without Stanley the Chelsea loses its soul and West 23rd street can welcome the New World Order where profit is the only virtue. Viva (Hoffmann) Palm Springs, Ca.
Living with Legends
Hotel Chelsea Blog
12 responses to “Warhol Superstar Viva Weighs In: Stanley is the Soul of the Chelsea”
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This is a very sad state of affairs. The Chelsea Hotel represents more than a piece of real estate. It is New York at its highest artistic and creative epicenter. To try and change this into something “better” or more modern is a mistake. The problem is, business people just don’t understand this. They only look at the bottom line and profit per square foot. That is not the purpose of this hotel. Without a hotel that is so protective of its artists, the reverberating impact will be a city that is less vital, creative and innovative. If these business people think of it in terms of price subsidies for farmers or tax breaks for corporations to stay at ground zero, maybe then they will understand. And, hopefully someone can convince them this is a very important place, with a history that is unique in this city, and probably in the entire world. To squander that rare treasure for profit is not just greedy, short-sided, stupid, immoral, but also in the league of a crime against humanity. If our city government can give tax breaks to Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs to stay at Ground Zero (like they need it!) then someone can surely summon the thought that this is a space to be protected and cherished.
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If they do this, and they don’t restore Stanley and David to their rightful positions, history will long lament the loss of the quirky Chelsea and hold their names in contempt.
Quirkiness can’t be designed. It happens naturally.
Stanley and the residents created this place. They did nothing. They have no moral authority here.
One of the news articles talks about a 65% fill rate for the hotel rooms last year. I’m pretty sure it was a lot higher before they started yuppifying it and before they jacked up the room prices.LikeLike
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Viva Viva! You gorgeous thing, thanks for standing up and being heard.
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Can’t you hear it already…? All the “I remember when…” that will soon be spoken from our mouths.
It’s happening. It’s in motion. And once again, money wins over everything else.
What happened to “the meek shall inherit the earth?”LikeLike
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go home motherdrukers
we don’t want you hereLikeLike
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“If our city government can give tax breaks to Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs to stay at Ground Zero (like they need it!) then someone can surely summon the thought that this is a space to be protected and cherished.”
Hear, hear!LikeLike
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Viva Viva!
But I would like to put in a word for David Bard. He doesn’t have Stanley’s charisma, but he has a gentle charm. I remember people were worried when he started working there fulltime because he is very business-oriented. But he also loves the hotel and understands the artists and others who live there. He personally took me around the hidden nooks and crannies of the hotel when I was researching Chelsea Girl Murders, and told me many wonderful and useful stories. I certainly hope there is somthing left of the real Chelsea Hotel when he regains the building. Anyone know when that is supposed to happen?LikeLike
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I love David too. He liked my painting of my room and let me hang it in the lobby for a while!
If someone down there is making a Friends List I hope you will add me to it. I am in Toronto and I am an old broad but I will do what I can. BettyBishop@ca.inter.net
I think the new owners have made a huge mistake. They should have waited Stanley out – asked him to teach them the Chelsea Hotel Business – coddled him.
Imagine having “We killed the Chelsea Hotel” as your epitaph. Write a song Leonard. Even if they don’t mean to kill the Chelsea they will indeed kill it as surely as the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Best to just give it back to Stanley and Family and get the hell out of there!
By the way I always paid my rent and paid it on time. I think most people did the same. It wasn’t cheap either although it wasn’t as ridiculously expensive as it now is. Mind you it wasn’t all gussied up like it is now. I’ll tell you something – I NEVER saw a roach at the Chelsea and I saw plenty of them at the Algonquin! I never blew a fuse either! But damn – the water was brown – is it still brown?
Take care and fight the good fight.LikeLike
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I DON’T EVEN LIVE IN THE CHELSEA HOTEL, I LIVE ACROSS THE STREET AND I AM DISGUSTED BY WHAT THIS CITY HAS TURNED INTO. THIS IS THE LAST STRAW. THE CHELSEA, AS UNOBTAINABLE AS ITS ALWAYS SEEMED TO THE AVERAGE PERSON LIKE ME(I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO ONE HAS TO KNOW TO LIVE THERE AND THERE ALWAYS WAS ON MY PART A BIT OF JEALOUSY TOWARDS ITS RESIDENTS), IS OF SUCH HISTORIC VALUE TO THIS CITY AS ITS PRESENT AND PAST RESIDENTS! THIS CITY HAS MANAGED TO ERADICATE EVERYTHING THAT MADE IT SPECIAL AND INTERESTING FOR WHAT COULD BE DECADES IF NOT 100 PLUS YEARS IN A MATTER OF 5 YEARS. ALL THIS REPLACED BY RUDE, UGLY, WHITE PICKET FENCED, SUBURBIAN MEDIOCRITY AND WALL STREET GREED. YOU CAN SEE IT IN THE CHANGING FACE OF THE NEIGHBOUR HOOD. THE GODZILLA LIKE MOTHERS AND PRETTY WHITE FAMILIES CAREENING THEIR BLOODY STROLLERS DOWN THE SIDEWALK WITH THE GRACE AND ENTITLMENT OF A GERMAN TIGER TANK. THIS IS SO SAD.
WHAT CAN WE DO?!!!!!!!!!PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN HELP. THE CHELSEA IS THE ONE LAST STRONG HOLD OF NEW YORK AS IT WAS AND SUPPOSED TO BE!!!!!!
I’M NOT EVEN AN ARTIST AND RECOGNIZE THAT!
fgulli720@aol.com
FRANCOLikeLike
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Until the “partners” forced Stanley to stop admitting new long-term residents, you didn’t need to know anybody. You just had to walk into Stanley’s office and say you were looking for an apartment. He’d ask you some questions about yourself, what you do, why you want to live in the chelsea, and if he liked you and had a place he thought you could afford, you’d be in. A few people took advantage, but most did not. Most sang his praises and the praises of the hotel. Most created a better hotel with their presence.
There are a lot of people who lived there and were not artists,they were secretaries, dentists, nurses, longshoremen, investment bankers. It was not a snob place. It was not elistist.LikeLike
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Franco, nice post. A lot of people thought the Chelsea was somehow unattainable for them. Before the investors started pressuring Stanley, it was not.
We are asking people who have ever stayed, lived, or worked there, and people who love the work of someone who did, to send postcards of support to:
Stanley Bard
c/o Chelsea Hotel
222 west 23rd street
new york, ny 10011
usaLikeLike
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Hi Sparkle, Thankyou. I did send a card I will keep checking on here if there are any new developments.
Please keep me posted if there are any petitions etc. to be signed.
Thank you,
FrancoLikeLike
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