Living with Legends

A former resident, someone who cares deeply about the Chelsea, and who will be missed by those of us remaining, writes in to correct a common misperception:

I think it should be established that BD Hotels does not just push out those behind in their rent, they force people who pay their rent. It still baffles me. They calculate each room based on an assumption that it will be rented every single night of the month at a premium rate and that is without figuring in the cost of renovation and furniture.
My rent was raised with no cap on what it would eventually go to….Just an arbitrary number would be billed each month. Who can live like that? It was too unpredictable and threatening. And I am still deeply saddened to have left.
I really think that the board of the hotel are being led down the wrong path. Change is inevitable– but honoring the tradition of the hotel in hosting residents and guests would reward them far more. And in this unstable economy, it would be wise.

This is apparently what is happening to Jann Paxton as well: BD is just charging him whatever they feel like, month to month. (The letter above suggests that there may be other rationale involved, but who knows?)
It’s also important to point out that the residents who were forced out because they owed back rent are not necessarily deadbeats. Some of them owed money only because BD jacked up their already high rent to a level they could no longer afford. BD’s purpose wasn’t to get a tenant who cuold pay more (probably no one would pay that much), or even to rent the rooms by the night, as the rooms from which they removed tenants now mainly sit empty.
BD’s intent is to destory everything that makes the Chelsea what it is today. It’s true that what they’re doing makes no economic sense at this point, but I assume their future plans will become clear in time. And yes, the board probably is being hoodwinked: Marlene Krauss and David Elder couldn’t have outsmarted Stanley without Born & Drukier’s help (they tried for and years and years), and now they’ve created a monster that just might turn around and bite them on the ass. — Ed Hamilton