In an extremely revealing interview, Stanley Bard talks about what the past month has been like for him. He also discusses his fears for the future of the Chelsea Hotel and its residents.
Also, the plot thickens regarding Board Member David Elder’s demented shenaganins. Let’s just review what we’ve learned about the scoundrel of late: 1. He helped push the Bard family, owners of the hotel, out of their management roles; 2. He’s withholding money from elderly author Piri Thomas; and 3. He’s dating a tenant. As to this final item: is this a perk of his new job? We wonder what her rent is. Will her art work appear in the lobby? But enough about Elder for now. We don’t want Marlene Krauss and BD Hotels (aka: Two Guys with Bank Books) to feel left out, now do we? We’ve got a lot of fun stuff to look forward to: SEC filings, patent infringement claims, accusations of hiring employees away from direct competitors, celebrity lawsuits — and the transmission of NASA broadcasts via baby monitors! Gentlemen, start your engines.
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Hotel Chelsea Blog
12 responses to “One Month Post Ouster: Stanley Bard Talks to Gothamist”
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Let’s not forget that Marlene Krauss is also DOCTOR Marlene Krauss, a licensed physician (and her husband Zachary Berk is too)….someone should see what they’ve been prescribing these past few years….taking over the world and throwing people out of their homes and jobs must be pretty stressful, even for the cold-blooded Krauss family. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a couple of illegal vicodin or valium prescriptions hanging around the Krauss house in these dark days.
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Thank you so much for talking to us Stanley! It was really necessary. You are better looking than when I last saw you in 1993! I think this is a temporary glitch in your life and the life of your hotel – “these people” [I like that a lot better than “new management” – lets call them “these people” from now on!] won’t last 6 months in my opinion. They are damaging the hotel – polluting the atmosphere – tearing down walls and trying to destroy history. Get the best lawyer you can [step forward best lawyer!] and get them out.
BettyLikeLike
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great md how do we find out about the evil dr krauss?
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Stanley – I forgot to ask – what can WE – those of us who also cherish the Chelsea actually do? Could we book a room on the condition that you be solely in charge to the hotel before we occupy the room? Could we somehow buy shares in the hotel? How much do you think it would it take to buy the other shareholders out or is that a possibility? Can we write letters you might take before the court? Let us help if we can.
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Stanley, we’ve just got to get you YOUR hotel back.
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How are David and Michelle doing? Has anyone spoken with them? They put a lot of years and hard work and love into the Chelsea Hotel.
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Let’s not forget that Stanley didn’t “lose” the hotel. He’s still the MAJORITY shareholder. He’s lost management control. I would think that as majority shareholder/owner, he still has SOME say in what can be done when it comes to changing this hotel to an extreme. Does anyone know if the Bards have ANY power to veto MAJOR changes, say, in interior construction and things of that nature, or is EVERYTHING now in the hands of the other shareholders? I guess two shareholders to one makes them the majority vote on the board of directors, but still…as a majority owner…???
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I lived at the beloved Chelsea in 1964, and remember Stanley Bard when he worked alongside his father. Having lived away from New York for many years, I was walking on W. 23rd Street with a friend one day, and ‘young’ Stanley, coming from the opposite direction, said, “Hello Mr. Broadhead”. “Who is that?”. my friend asked. “An exceptional man and obviously a great hotel manager, I replied, “I haven’t seen him in 20 years”. I was a young man living among so many stars of the arts (Arthur Miller and his friendly talented wife; George Klinsinger; Virgil Thompson; and many of the movers and shakers of the Pop art phenomena. I was so taken with his having remembered me, I have often returned to the hotel out of nostalgia, and put my son up there when he came to New York to attend the New School. This morning, I accidentally happened upon this website and the damning news about Stanley Bard. If there is anyway one old would-be ‘Bard’ can be of help, I’m ready, willing and able.
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It appears Stanley has no power. It also appears these people do not “get” the hotel. They can do a lot of damage.
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That’s a great story Mr. Broadhead.
Whoever posted about Stanley not “losing” the hotel — yes, he has, temporarily at least, on every level but one. It’s not HIS hotel at the moment, unless you’re speaking in very strict, literal terms, as he has no control. He is the majority shareholder, yes, but he has no power, and this is emphasized in the Gothamist video.
I agree with the other poster. They can do a lot of damage, and already have.LikeLike
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Miss H, I actually DID mean that he hasn’t “lost” the hotel in a very literal way. I understand his complete loss of management say and other powers that go along with it, but thank GOD he didn’t actually lose his shares! That’s the GOOD side to this…he IS still majority owner.
What I had wondered was IF there was ANYTHING he could do as a majority OWNER to stop significant changes to the hotel- ANY significant changes- from happening. I know that the Bards not being under management control is a significant change, but that’s a given. That’s not what I’m speaking of or suggesting. There hasn’t been any other type of upheaval yet as in, complete reconstruction of the lobby or entire floors, etc. Would Stanley have ANY type of say if these types of action were begun? Could the actions be prevented or slowed by court action on the Bards part since they still OWN 58% of the shares?
I must disagree with you on one point though; this IS Stanley’s hotel, whether he’s in control of the management or not, it’s still HIS hotel… more than the other shareholders. And it’s COMPLETELY HIS hotel in spirit.
I also never said I didn’t think new management could do a lot of damage. I, too, think they can. If they think they can ever change the hotel to the point where it will be remembered for THEIR changes over how the Bard family changed it, they are almost undoubtedly sadly mistaken.
I hope they eventually realize that taking the Bards’ character and spirit away is also going the specialness away and there are FAR too many other hotels in the area (down the block, on 24th and 7th, etc, etc) that people can stay where the management is cordial and businesslike and HAVEN’T destroyed the character and spirit of a place in history.
BD Hotels has OTHER hotels that are high-caliber and boutique-y, professional and so on. My personal opinion is that they can make the hotel a more efficient and amenitized hotel (more guest services such as found in other hotels, amenities in the rooms such as coffee makers, hair driers, microwaves, dsl in the rental rooms) and still leave the enormous history and character intact. This includes tenants, the eclectic decor, colorful staff, and the only person who really can talk about the history of the hotel with such love…Stanley Bard.
BD Hotels- You really CAN make the hotel more “professional” WITHOUT destroying the reason so many people come here. Another thing to think about…the people who come here can often afford to stay at your OTHER hotels, but choose NOT to. IF they wanted anything else, they would go anywhere else.LikeLike
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You said that beautifully. Of course I agree with you, as you know, that it is Stanley’s hotel in every way except in terms of control. It appears he has absolutely no control over what happens. Whether he still has legal recourse to stop or slow changes _ I’m not a lawyer. Maybe the lawyer who posts here can tell us?
They haven’t changed whole floors yet, but they’ve only been there one highly controversial month. In that time, they’ve already mucked around in the Ballroom/Bernstein’s studio, changed staff rules and who knows what else they might have done had people sat back quietly. These are highly symbolic things they’ve done, which speak to a profound difference in philosophy and attitude.
They say they’re going to upgrade the infrastructure. Have they fixed anyone’s faucets yet? You’d think if they meant what they said, they’d be making a very visible effort to do just that, bringing in teams of electricians and plumbers and so on, instead of making new rules for the staff and sending rent letters and messing with Bernstein’s studio – and freezing Stanley out of the process. Maybe they are doing a lot of work for the tenants and I haven’t heard about it yet.
I’m not against room amenities but so many reports make it sound like the hotel has none. There are lovely little bottles of shampoo etc. in the guest rooms, though I never minded just the little bar of soap they used to provide when I was a transient guest, before I lived there. Too much of that stuff though, changes what the Chelsea is about IMO. It makes it generic and boutique-y.
We have room service. It’s called the Aristocrat Deli, who never took longer than fifteen minutes to deliver coffee and a bagel and the newspapers in my experience – back in the Mohammed, Sammy, Robbie and Hani days. If the Aristo isn’t one’s cup of tea, a guest has a rich choice of other places that deliver, on that block alone.
We had a staff lunchroom — it was wherever the staff felt like eating. Anyone who can’t handle that needs a lesson in humanity. Are the staff just employees now, who must be segregated from everyone else when they eat?
We have a hotel restaurant, it’s called El Quijote, where waves of Central American busboys and hostesses worked their way up to well-tipped bartenders and waiters and their own businesses — the American dream not born into success, but self-made.
We had a seedy edge and that was part of its dark charm too. Lose that little edge and you blunt the place and its fantastic reality, its yin and yang.
And the biggest loss of all, of course, the Bards’ “management” – a word that doesn’t do justice but will have to suffice as I must duck out again.
(Hey, anyone else remember Harry, Larry and Jerry at the Custom Art Laundry?)LikeLike
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