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  • All Tomorrow’s Parties – August 29 – September 4

    Wednesday, August 31, 7:00 p.m.
    The Kettle of Fish Reading Series features Robin Caine, Jonathan Segura, and Charlie Huston. In June, I interviewed Charlie, and here’s what he had to say about the Chelsea, First off, the Chelsea has all this great punk cache.  It’s hard to create a fictional place that’s going to evoke Warhol, The Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Sid Vicious and so on.  So why bother trying?  Also, I’m sure the security is all very up to date these days, but it still feels like a wild west kind of place.  The kind of place where a couple desperados on the run could hole up.  Short answer: the  Chelsea is cool.
    Kettle of Fish
    59 Christopher Street, NY NY

    Labor Day Weekend
    Saturday, September 3rd, 12-5
    Sunday, September 4th, 12-5
    Nosmile Pray you don’t have a hair crisis this weekend.  Because if you do, you’ll have to fly to162span_2 L.A. to get a decent haircut.  Suite 303 is spreading its wings and landing at a second home in Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel.   Proprietress April Barton will be joined by Gerald DeCock and other much in demand stylists to cut hair poolside.
    Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Blvd, LA CA

  • From the Archives

    A man who allegedly held up a midtown bank was captured yesterday after a customer slipped out of the teller’s line and followed the suspect to a hotel, taking three taxis to keep on the suspect’s zig-zag trial through Manhattan traffic.

    Jonnie William Powell, alleged robber of Manhattan Savings Bank, was captured after bank customer James Godwin followed him to Chelsea Hotel and called police. Police say they recovered bank’s $10,960 (M). (NEW YORK TIMES, August 28, 1974)

  • Other Bloggers Visit

    Other bloggers seem to have much more fun than I do when they visit the Chelsea.

    From the Stone Fox’s journal,  "…Tuesday night was insane, arriving at a party at the infamous Hotel Chelsea at 2am, walking in to find Anton from the Brian Jonestown Massacre slouched on a lounge seat chatting away to people with his shirt off." 8/25/05

    From Prettyshakedown, "i ended up in the chelsea hotel tonight with anton newcomb and a bunch of other people who proceeced to strut around like A peacock or a COCK without his shirt on. i love his music. i told him that. it’s very much the same way i feel about B. gross. how do musicians end up that way?"  8/24/05

    The no shirt, no shoes, no service rule doesn’t apply around here.

  • Virgil Thomson’s Secret Coq au vin Recipe

    Last Friday (August 19), Hotel Chelsea resident and composer Gerald Busby, premiered a large scale piece interspersing monologues (“Who to Thank” and “Tomorrow’s Butter”) and music (Rhapsody for Cello, Nocturne for Piano, Hop In, and Bullet Proof Bikini) as part of the ComposersCollaborative’s Serial Underground.

    In an intimate and informal setting at the Cornelia Street Café, The Monologuing Composer took the audience on a tour that began in Tyler, Texas and wound its way to the Chelsea Hotel. Gerald shared amusing stories about the major influences on his career including: his mother, his English teacher, Baptist minister Angel Martinez, his German piano teacher, Mildred Baker (another former Chelsea Resident), leather bars, and finally Virgil Thomson.

    To hear Gerald tell it, his relationship with Virgil was more like an apprenticeship than a relationship.  The two obviously had something in common, besides music, and that was the love of good food.  Gerald has worked as a cook at some of New York’s finest restaurants and according to Gerald, Virgil had a very refined palate.

    Gerald recalled Virgil calling him on the house phone and in his nasal voice request that Gerald, “run me up a Crème Brule, Philip Johnson and his wife are coming over for dinner.” (A reference to the architect and his partner I presume.)

    One of the many food highlights of the evening was when Gerald shared Virgil Thomson’s coq au vin recipe.  Here it is, handed down from Virgil to Gerald and now to you!

    1. Cut up the chicken into eighths.
    2. Braise chicken with a rendering of beef suet.
    3. Add a cup of shallots and a cup of your best Burgundy.  Simmer until done.
    4. Serve with the rest of the Burgundy.

    Afterwards, the audience was buzzing.  “The recipe sounds so simple and delicious, but what exactly is beef suet?” a theatre critic in attendance asked. Unfortunately, there were no foodies in this crowd of avant garde music lovers who could answer his question. After much discussion amongst ourselves we felt pretty confident that it was some sort of FAT.   Needless to say, we all went home hungry!  Later, I looked in the dictionary and discovered Beef Suet is raw beef or mutton fat, especially the hard fat found around the loins and kidneys. Word on the street is that Gerald has a cookbook project in the works.

    Enough about food. You can purchase Gerald’s CD online.

  • Country Is Cool at the Chelsea

    Hollywilliams Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams Jr., says: "…But my favorite place to write is the Chelsea Hotel in New York. Some of my favorite songs have been written there, and it’s truly inspiring."

  • Hotel Chelsea Podcast Number 2

    “I Remember Her Well in The Chelsea Hotel,” (Podcast #2) takes listeners on a late night, ghostly tour of the Chelsea Hotel. Be prepared to bump into the likes of Margaret Mead and Ira Levin.  Plus, find out, who is the messiest kid in the Chelsea? All of that interspersed with great music! 

    If you missed Podcast #1and the seance with Sid Vicious, here’s the link. 

    In other emerging communications technology news, the official Hotel Chelsea website has launched an AOL IM chat room. How very 1995!  If the link actually worked, you’d be able to chat with the mysterious, Henry at the Hotel. 

  • The Swordsman

    THE SWORDSMAN

                I remember my first night in the Chelsea.  My girlfriend and I had just spent hours moving in all our stuff—more than the guys at the desk had ever seen, they said.  I was excited and a bit nervous to be in New York.  Though I was dead tired, I couldn’t sleep, so I sat up into the wee hours of the morning drinking beer and listening to the radio.

                At one point I had to piss.  We shared a bathroom with two or three other rooms, so I put on my flip-flops and walked down the hall.  I rounded the corner to the bathroom and came face to face with a huge, fat guy holding a sword.  My heart jumped up into my throat and I took a step back when I saw him.

                “I was just practicing here in the hall,” the guy said, slurring his words, obviously drunk.  He had long, coal-black hair that hung in a tangle, obscuring his face and making him look completely psychotic. “I’ve got a role in a Shakespeare play.  I ducked around the corner when I heard you coming because I didn’t want to scare you.”

                Nah, that wouldn’t scare anybody: a big man with a sword lurking in a dimly lit hallway. 

    Copyright 2006 Ed Hamilton

  • All Tomorrow’s Parties – August 22-28

    Monday, August 22, 7:00 p.m.
    Celebrate the release of "Captured: A Film/Video History of the Lower East Side." The book features oral histories from more than 100 bohemians which document the East Village/L.E.S. independent film scene of the past and present. Former Chelsea Hotel residents Harry Smith and Jonas Mekas are featured.
    Clayton Gallery, 161 Essex St., NY NY

    Howl2184 Wednesday, August 24, 9:30 p.m.
    Penny Arcade is performing at Joe’s Pub as part of Howl!  In 1989, Penny was commissioned by En Garde Arts to create a piece for their Chelsea Hotel Series. Penny’s piece was called, "A Quiet Night With Sid and Nancy."  Since I wasn’t around for that performance, here’s my own Penny anecdote.  A few years ago, I received a phone call here at the Chelsea from the reigning queen of bohemia. (I can’t believe that Penny doesn’t live at the Chelsea. She’d fit right in.) She invited me to attend an upcoming performance by her husband’s band, Church of Betty.  I headed over to a bar on the L.E.S.  Penny and a few of her friend were already at the bar when I arrived.  Over the course of the evening the bar filled up with twenty-somethings.  The whole scence struck Penny as wrong.  Suddenly, without warning, she rose to her feet and shouted in a voice that could be heard above the playing of the band, "Felicity Go Home! Felicity Go Home! Felicity Go Home!" all while making a sweeping movement with her arm toward the door of the bar.  The girl she was addressing, who with her long curly hair did somewhat resemble the TV Felicity, was either oblivious, or else did a pretty good job of pretending not to notice.
    Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St., NY NY (Penny and Taylor Mead in photo.)

    Normansmall_1 Thrusday, August 25, 8:30 p.m.
    Norman’s Big Night Out.  It’s a brand SPANKING new Norman-designed space.  A shimmering cocktail of Vaudeville, Vegas, Classic Burlesque, English Musichall and all of the pleasures of the past and present, alive and kicking in downtown Manhattan. All of this, plus the pleasure of Norman’s company for only $10.00.
    Scenic
    25 Avenue B (Between 2nd and 3rd)
    8:00 – 11:00 p.m.

    Friday, August 26, 6:00 p.m. $5.00
    Happy Hour with Warhol star Taylor Mead. His special guest is downtown writer Gary Indiana. In  Indiana’s Rent Boy, the narrator cancels his date with the turd eating, soap opera star, who lives at the Chelsea. Good decision.
    Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, NY NY

    Sunday, August 28, 9:30 p.m. $50.00
    Keren Ann, who waxes poetically about a homeless woman who started a fire in the Chelsea on her album, "Nolita," joins the legendary rocker Lou Reed and others in a benefit for Howl Festival of East Village Artists.
    Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St., NY NY

  • Need A Job?

    HOT Cocktail Waiter in underwear needed Monday nights 8pm -2am.
    The party is called TOUCH.
    http://www.massageparty.info/ – details, pics
    Serena Bar/Lounge, under the Chelsea Hotel
    Send pics/stats/contact info to:
    Alan@GrandSpace.com

    It’s the perfect opportunity for somebody in the building!  You wouldn’t even have to get dressed.

  • Tonight’s Party — Friday, August 19

    Aug19geraldkathleen Composer and actor Gerald Busby traces his musical life from Tyler, Texas to the Chelsea Hotel, where he has lived since 1975. In his years in Chelsea Busby has collaborated with choreographer Paul Taylor, playwright Craig Lucas and filmmaker Robert Altman.

    Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St. btwn. West Fourth and Bleecker Sts., 8: 30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $20 at the door.