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Support for Chelsea’s Continued Existence

A blog reader writes in to wish us luck in our struggle to preserve the Chelsea’s historic legacy.

I
just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your Hotel Chelsea blog. I try to stay at the Chelsea whenever I come to town, and I love being able to check up on what is happening there when I am
back home.  I fell in LOVE with the Hotel Chelsea the minute I stepped
through the lobby doors.  I have never felt more at home than I do within
the walls of that great building, which is not an exaggeration by any means.
I admire the effort that the tenants and admirers of the hotel are making
to keep its legacy intact.  As you know, it is more than just a structure,
but instead a symbol of creativity and community.  I am a twenty-three
year old with a degree in Film/Video and a love for writing.  I feel like
the Chelsea is a place for people of my generation to look to for comfort in
knowing that there will always be a place where artists are not only welcome,
but can also come to flourish creatively.  Once again, thank you for
everything you and those around you are doing to maintain the integrity of the Chelsea.  I guess I just
wanted you to know that your efforts go beyond just the confines of New York City, and are appreciated
by those who hope that the Chelsea lives on for generations to come.

Stephanie Class

Thanks for writing.  We’ll do our best to ensure that the Chelsea remains a welcoming place for new generations of artists in the years to come.  Of course to achieve this goal will involve restoring the Bards to their management role and allowing new permanent residents to be admitted to the hotel.  Anything less and the Chelsea will become a merely a hollow shell of its former glorious self.

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One response to “Support for Chelsea’s Continued Existence”

  1. Don Avatar
    Don

    Hello Ed and Debbie, Don from B-more here. Well, not being one to drag things out, my best friend and singer of the band I’m in hung himself 2 weeks ago (give or take). I don’t want to bum you two out I just wanted to let you both know how much it meant to all of us when you visited. Even though Vinnie didn’t have much to say and was writing in his journal/songbook most of the time, he didn’t miss a word and was happy to meet a fellow writer that was living as a writer in a hotel that 90 percent of the music/books/poems and art that we are into have graced. (I did let him borrow your legends book Ed, his fav was the closet zombie story Jess and I saw you read in DC)We never got to play a show in NYC yet we kept true to ourselves and the Chelsea spirit and things were really taking off. He was older than his 24 years and must have been dealing with some heavy stuff however the Vinnie I knew was a quick wit, with a great since of humor and a very ironic world view. He was our Lou Reed, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop and John Lennon all rolled into one thing that was not a copy but a channel for what music should be and that all the “IT” bands of today seem to have lost…or never had. While I subscibe to the don’t mourn the loss, celebrate the life ideal, I can’t help feel such loss for a great friend and a very talented writer/songwriter. I hope all is well with both of you. And please don’t worry about us. We have as good an outlook on things as we can and if anything this has made the rest of us closer. We (Joey, Richard and I) even played a show a week and a half after (we already had it booked and felt we had alot of energy to burn) the plan was to do instrumental takes of our songs and I’d sing only on a cover of one of his fav Velvet Underground songs, then before the show his older brother (a friend and a great singer/guitarist also) said he had been listening to our cd non-stop and could he sing a couple songs…shit yes! We didn’t want to bum everyone out playing without vocals and all the other bands had heard (and some are good friends who came to the viewings) so he jumped up and did us all proud. By the end of the set people were laughing and singing along and we shined and ended with a cover of “Waiting for the Man”.(the other reason we did the show was that the funeral was for the family…this was for his friends) I am still staying Oct. 30th – Nov. 2nd and hope to at least wish you both a happy Halloween. Once again, thanks for your time and tales!
    LUV,
    Don

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