According to the New Yorker (Oct. 6) in 1993 artist Elizabeth Peyton had a show in room 828 of the Chelsea Hotel. That was Herbert Huncke’s old room — in fact I thought he was living there then, but if that 
is correct the show must have taken place before he moved in. Most recently the room was home to Elizabeth Pugh, who was unfortunately forced out by BD. Now 828 is a transient room, since — on a death-knell to Bohemia — no new permanent residents are being admitted to the hotel.
If I read the article correctly, Peyton wasn’t actually living in 828 (maybe Huncke loaned it to her) but just displayed her paintings three, in the show that launched her career.
Interested parties could ask for the key at the desk, and then go on up to the room themselves. You’d better believe that nothing that cool and anarchic is goingn to be allowed here these days. Bring Back the Bards! — Ed Hamilton (Thanks to Judith Childs for the tip.)
Living with Legends
Hotel Chelsea Blog
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In Black Book magazine Steve Lewis interviews Abel Ferrara and Jen Gatien on their upcoming movie
"Chelsea on the Rocks”. Lewis himself lived at the hotel for two years off and on — we assume back in the early nineties since he ran into Dee Dee Ramone and Herbert Huncke and Ultraviolet hanging her laundry out on the roof.(SL) I always thought that [Hotel] Chelsea was a small town. It wasn’t like a building, it was like a small town. And once you belonged to that town you could always go back and you were always treated like you lived there for your life. And I only lived there two years, off and on.
AF: Two years is like two centuries in that place.Those were the days. This was one of the things we always loved about the Chelsea that people could live here for a while and move on, but they were always welcomed back. Unfortunately that is now a thing of the past.
Jen reveals that the movie now has a distributor and has also been sold in several countries abroad. And Abel shares his memories about the heroic life of fellow resident Arthur Weinstein.
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We can’t really understand what you’re talking about but good luck with that.
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Friends and neighbors of the late Arthur Weinstein came together to celebrate his memory last Sunday on the Highbar roof. Read Steve Lewis’ account of the event in Black Book. Our esteemed proprietor Stanley Bard was among the Chelsea Hotel celebrities on hand to offer their tributes to Arthur. As Lewis points out, the economic downturn may signal the return of style, and the relegation of yuppies to 2nd class status, in clubland — developments which I’m sure Arthur would applaud.
The video that was shown at the celebration is available on youtube.
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A blog reader from Australia writes:
Yah got to Fight for your Right to PAAAAAAARTAY Girls and Gals of the Chelsea!!! Even we poor souls of bohemia in Australia have been hit with the tar brush of Gentrification. You would have thought such a young country would have wanted to celebrate their youth, but no, we are the Nanny/ Pop state – most are caught up with the great capitalistic dream of owning stuff – Not owning their lives!
I am afraid I know little about the day to day of your trials and tribulations but I have just read the blog bit about the new plans to give the place better rest rooms….beware are my thoughts that is where it starts. People are getting in at the bottom and working up… (lol)
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Film producer Michael Hausman reveals that while checking into the Chelsea Hotel Milos Forman encountered a nude girl on the elevator — or at least a new girl. This caused him to stay five years.
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Past residents of the Chelsea Hotel continue to inspire the youth of today. Austin-based band okkervil River’s lastest effort "The Stand Ins" features an awesome tribute to Jobriath entitled "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel." (Unfortunately, the video of the interview was removed from youtube.com)
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Sorry lady, but we do not run the Hotel!
See you in court soon. I stayed at your hotel on saturday april,26,2008. There was no manager there my room was infested with bed bugs, which i was bit in the face. I paid 300.00 for the nigth and had to leave and go down the block to another hotel. at 2:30 in the morning.Your employee gave me a letter head from your hotel stating that the manager would put my money back on, BECAUSE I HAD TO PAY THE OTHER HOTEL 250.00 AND THAT WAS A DISCOUNT,BECAUSE THEY FELT SORRY FOR US WHAT HAD HAPPENED. Iam making a big deal out of this just because you arent honest. By the way the news will know about this too.
PS: thank god for cell phones I will bring my pictures with me to court. -
Sadly, Johnny, our four-footed friend and neighbor at the Chelsea Hotel passed away yesterday. Johnny, who, in true Chelsea gender-bending fashion, was a female. She was 11 years-old, ancient for a Newfoundland. J
ohnny was a true Chelsea institution, and we will miss her intoxicating aroma in the elevator, as well as her immovable carpet-like presence in the middle of the lobby. May we all meet Johnny again someday, in that great multi-species bohemian flophouse in the sky. Neighbors have been informally stopping by Willem’s apartment to express their sympathy. (The photo is from Johnny’s birthday celebration earlier this year, and she says she did not vomit up that cheesecake!)
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On Thursday, September 18, a longtime resident of the Chelsea was attacked outside the hotel by a bouncer working for Star Lounge. The attack allegedly occurred when the resident stepped out of a cab that the bouncer thought had parked too close to his motorcycle (presumably the same one that wakes us all up at 4 in the morning, though the bouncer has lately had his muffler fixed, so it hasn’t been as bad as it once was). Since we were unable to contact the resident, we are not in a position to comment on the exact nature of the assault. Why should any of us have to put up with such an attack in what is essentially the front yard of our home?
Of course, we have our own security team now, members of which guard the front door, seemingly 24 hours a day. And so, you might ask: where were these gentlemen when this attack was taking place? Surely we can count on them to protect our physical well-being when a dispute arises. Well, one of these guards was indeed present, but he reportedly took the bouncer’s side, and joined him in berating the resident!All of which leads to the obvious question: if these guards are not here to protect us, why are they here at all? We’ve always done fine without them, even through the bad old days of the seventies, eighties and nineties, and now crime in NYC and the Chelsea neighborhood is down to its lowest level ever. Or is there some illegal activity that has occurred, or is occurring, in the hotel that we haven’t been told about?
Whatever the case, Star Lounge is a tenant of this building, subject to the rules imposed by the management of the Chelsea Hotel , and their employees need to be held to a higher standard of civility than appears to be the case at the present time. — Ed Hamilton
Living with Legends 
