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  • Revealed! Andrew Tilley’s Plans for Chelsea Hotel

    In last week’s Chelsea Now, manager Andrew Tilley promised Chelsea Hotel residents a letter in which he would introduce himself and tell us his plans for the building.  While it has not been forthcoming, Tilley did indeed compose a draft of such a letter, which he then e-mailed to Marlene Krauss, who promptly shot it down.  Apparently, she thought it revealed too much, but you can judge for yourself, as we intercepted it.  These people still haven’t caught on that we control the internet:

    Dear Chelsea Hotel Residents,

    Welcome to the New Chelsea Hotel!  I’m Andrew Tilley of Britain, and I’ll be your manager as we move forward into the New Century.  If you have any questions, just ask for me at the front desk, and I’ll be only too happy meet with you in order to address your concerns.  I have a feeling we’re going to be friends.

                Some of you are no doubt concerned as to our plans for the building, and I’m here to set your minds at ease.  Just trust us, it’s going to be great.  Though restrictive and unfair land marking laws prevent us from modernizing the façade of the hotel, the good news is that no such strictures are in place regarding the interior of the building, so we can have a ball! 

                The new lobby will be under construction for two years, but residents can enter and exit through the tunnel to 22nd St., and so any inconvenience will be minor.  The wait will be worth it, for when the lobby is finished it will stand alongside any W Hotel in the world in terms of style and elegance, probably something in slate or black and red lacquer, definitely with a Koi pond and some potted trees.  The stairwell will be opened to the lobby, resulting in dust and asbestos being broadcast throughout the building, but only temporarily.  We will also replace the dilapidated cast iron railing of the staircase with a more modern version, a move which only the most hopeless fossils can fail to applaud.  (Don’t worry, having worked at the Hard Rock Hotel, I have a well developed appreciation of history.)

                A new bar, “Legends Lounge” is presently under construction in the room off the lobby.  It will be managed by Charles Ferri and will feature fresh young coconut shakes and music by the Doors.  Exclusive Members will enter through the old Balabanis Tailor shop, and will eventually be able to board an express elevator to Rareview, the elite new club on the roof!  At some point, if you behave yourselves, we will have an open house where you can tour this fabulous establishment, which will normally be bottle service only and will feature a helipad for oil magnates visiting from Dubai.

    Under study is a proposal whereby the present lobby and entrance will be used only for the high-paying nightly guests.  The old permanent residents, if any remain, will be grouped on the lower floors of the east wing, using the back staircase and the present service elevator to access a “grandly” refurbished tunnel to 22nd St.(which you should be accustomed to using by this point anyway).  We are in negotiations with Madame Tussaud’s to produce a full scale model of Stanley Bard, possibly in tennis attire, that will be installed behind glass on your wing of the hotel.

    As part of this long-overdue process of renewal, we’ll be sloughing off the detritus of the old.  We realize that some of our tenants have special needs that can best be served by such psychological care facilities as half-way houses, and we will work with each of you individually to ensure that you obtain the most satisfactory placement.  In addition, some of you may be “temporarily” relocated to another floor as construction proceeds, or even to a beautiful resettlement project in the Bronx.  But don’t worry about any of this until you receive a notice in your box.

    Of course, all these changes will be financed under a Capital Improvement program that will allow us to levy a “modest” increase in your rents, thus bringing them up to market level in a long overdue correction.  But once you see our brilliant new hospitality establishment, I’m sure you all will agree that the sacrifice is well worth it.  And besides, most of you will be gone by then and won’t even have to pay! 

    Welcome once again to an exciting new concept in hotel living.

    Cheerio,

    Andrew “Picadilly” Tilley

  • Chelsea Hotel: Fade to Black?

    Legends has obtained a rare copy of the program for the 100th Anniversary Celebration of of the Chelsea Hotel in 1983.  In somber black and oddly titled “Chelsea: Chelsea Hotel. The First One Hundred Years,” the cover of the (obviously expensively produced) booklet features a very faint reproduction Bldg1983_2 (almost a watermark),  also in black, of a section of the famous cast iron balcony.  I guess the designer, Joseph DeAngelis, was going for a sort of Back in Black effect, since it was at around this time that the AC/DC album came out, if I remember correctly.  I wonder if Angus Young ever stayed here.

                The booklet is copiously illustrated.  Claudio Edinger is credited with the photos, and several of those that appear can also be found in his book.  There are also some very fine uncredited photos that I don’t think Claudio took, of such Chelsea luminaries as Arthur Miller, Virgil Thomson, and Arthur C. Clarke.

                At a time when the current management is contemplating the destruction of the physical and cultural integrity of the Chelsea Hotel, the booklet is an instructive document.  Perhaps Marlene Krauss, David Elder, and Andrew Tilley will be given pause by the assessment of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission:

    On the basis of a careful consideration of the history and architecture and other features of this building, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finds that the Hotel Chelsea has a special character, special historical and aesthetic interest and value as part of the development, heritage and cultural characteristics of New York City.

    Though I rather doubt it.  But surely they cannot fail to heed the words of Bess Myerson, Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs:

                

    There is, perhaps, no other hotel in the world that has been as important to the creative process as the Chelsea.  For one hundred years the hotel has provided a safe haven to an impressive array of artists. . . .it now deserves to be recognized as a New York City treasure.  A century of anything is a long time.  A century of nurturing and supporting the creative process is a remarkable achievement.  Bravo!

                We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.  In case anyone wondered, this is what the residents of the Chelsea Hotel are struggling to preserve—for ourselves, and for generations of creative people to come.   More than simply our home, the Chelsea represents a way of life that is an increasingly rare alternative to the hollow materialism of the greater part of society. — Ed Hamilton

  • New Manager Andrew Tilley Speaks—and Says Little

    After hiding away for almost a month, manager Andrew Tilley has finally heeded Legends’ advice and Goodbringbackthebards_2 broken his silence with the press (Chelsea Now, August 1-7, Scott Stiffler). The result is a transparent nattering of corporate-speak in which he tiptoes around addressing residents’ concerns.

    Evictions
    First and foremost on every tenant’s mind is whether or not the wave of evictions—16 in the year since Stanley’s ouster—will continue, and whether it will affect them personally. Though he doesn’t address the issue directly, Tilley says: “A lot of our existing tenants are very special people who made the hotel what it is today. We want to preserve that, but also create new history moving into the 21st century.” Yeah, a lot of us are special, but apparently a lot of us aren’t. Which I suppose explains why the hotel is in court with about 40 of us because they are refusing to acknowledge that our apartments are rent stabilized. In addition, only last week several residents received notices on their doors advising them to pay up in three days or face eviction proceedings. Actions speak louder than words. Remember who hired Tilley.

    Construction
    Tenants are worried that Tilley is set to begin a major construction project and then try to pass along the costs to the residents as capital improvements—in some cases raising rents over the threshold of luxury decontrol. Tilley seems to confirm our fears when he says that he intends to, “. . .refurbish and renovate the hotel while preserving the heart and soul of the building.”

    Repairs
    Repairs are of course different from new construction, but Tilley has nothing to say on this matter. If your floorboards are rotted through, Tilley is responsible for providing you with a new floor. If your ceiling is leaking, Tilley is responsible for fixing it. The sorry state of this building is one of the main reasons why Tilley can’t obtain the necessary permits and certificates, chief among them a Certificate of Non-Harassment. Yes, it is indeed considered harassment for Tilley not to make the necessary repairs to your apartment. Ask Tilley to make any repairs you need, and if he doesn’t (which he won’t for anything major), dial 311 and complain.

    New Security Guards
         This is not the way to respect the history of the Chelsea. Tilley says: “I’ve worked in many hotels in NYC, and every one has had a security guard present,” and implies that the presence of these new guards is standard and necessary. But the truth of the matter is, we’ve always had security (those who have the job blend right in), just not professional guards standing around in the lobby and walking the halls to intimidate people. Isn’t it funny that the one real case where the guards have acted was to threaten, harass and ultimately assault a permanent resident who was exercising his right to free speech? Now, however, Tilley cites another case, saying, “Two days ago, we had a guest who required security because they were being accosted by an inebriated person.”
          Legends recently received information about an incident that sounds curiously like what he’s referring to. Was the “inebriated” person by any chance a permanent resident, simply acting in his or her normal, wacky manner? (Perhaps the guest just needed to be educated as to what sort of hotel he was in.) Whatever it was, I’m sure the longtime staff could have handled it without the intercession of the professional guards. If anyone knows more about this incident, please write in to the blog so we can get to the bottom of this.  — Ed Hamilton

  • Forget The Lack of AC: Naked Girls Return to the Chelsea

        With the management in disarray, having no clue as to how to run the hotel, and having to resort to half-assed attempts to intimidate residents by posting security guards in the lobby (and even having them roam the halls) it’s nice to see some semblance of normalcy reasserting itself at the Chelsea.
         Problems getting AC, but who cares, since there’s naked girls roaming the halls, just like the good ol days.  An art student writes in to Tripadvisor say he had a great time:

    I was looking for a really cut-rate deal, since I was up there to take art classes on an art grant, and wanted to get the most I could from my money. I was able to get a rate of $119 a night, as long as I was willing to share a bath which I was. I wrote first to confirm (via e-mail) that my room would have air conditioning and got a positive affirmation that it would have AC, but when I checked in, my room did NOT have A/C- a big problem in July and during a heat wave.

    Fortunately, I had a copy of my e-mail, and though they were not able to move me then, I was moved to a new room with AC the next morning.

    The new room was spacious and was clean. The hotel was built in the 1880’s, so if you are expecting pristine, perfectly painted newness, go somewhere else, but if you want a place with a kind of quirky ambiance and some real character- this is a good choice.

    It was artsy, real, friendly (I met a few residents who were very nice), odd and free-spirited (yep, I actually saw a naked girl making her way back from the shared bath in the middle of the night)., None of this bugged me- I kind of liked the whole vibe there. Staff, especially the bellmen, were helpful and accommodating. For $119/night, I wasn’t expecting the moon, but what I got was perfect for me.

  • More Ghosts In the Closet at the Chelsea

    Yesterday’s interview with "The Ghosts" has encouraged even more people to report ghost sightings. A blog reader writes:

    I was living in a large apartment with another person for a few months. It was not a good relationship & it was constant fighting & arguing. In the room was a small walk in closet. It had a very high ceiling with a lightbulb at the top & a long string that hung down which you pulled to turn it on. Anyway, one night during one of our usual blowups, I had enough & claimed that I was going to pack my suitcase & leave. I yelled that I was tired of his abusive shit, couldn’t stand him anymore, that I hated this fucking hotel & was going to leave. I stormed to the closet (where I kept my suitcase) pulled open the door, stormed in, reached my hand up to pull on the string for the light & as my hand was in mid air, the string moved itself all the way up to the top of the ceiling, on it’s own. I froze, with my hand still in mid air. The closet got ice cold & I could feel a very strong presence in there with me. At that moment I knew, whatever it was, was angry that I had cursed the hotel & said that I hated it there. In whatever whisper I could get out I said "I’m sorry", and as soon as I said that, the string dropped & dangled in front of me. I slowly backed out of the closet & the person I was living with was shocked to see that in the matter of 15 seconds, I went from a total angry, fed-up rage to very somber & quiet. The whole thing really shook me up & I will always remember it. I told a few friends most of whom think that in my angry state I must have just imagined it, but I know it happened. A string just doesn’t lift up to the ceiling on it’s own.

    And that’s my story. It might not be the most exciting, but it did happen.

  • Blog Comments from Beyond the Crypt

    Regular Legends readers have no doubt encountered the words of the ghosts who regularly leaves mysterious comments on our blog.  I’m sure you’ve all been wondering just who this being was in life, and what he’s doing hanging around the hotel when by all right he should have long since passed on to his eternal reward.  Well, in this exclusive interview, conducted by an anonymous medium, you can finally get the answers firsthand.  What’s more, our ghosts also tells us what he thinks of the new regime, and gives us the scoop on how he managers to tap into the Itnernet from his realm:

    Q.  Who are you and what brought you to the Hotel Chelsea?

    A.  My name isn’t important and actually, I’d prefer to be anonymous.  Some of my loved ones are still alive and I don’t wish to see them punished for my, or our, opinions.

    I arrived at the Hotel Chelsea in 1960 when my wife H. and I separated.  I had one quickly packed suitcase and my typewriter case, and that’s it.  Stanley gave me a room on 8, a tiny place but with a balcony on 23rd street.  I was there  three years until my death.

    Before that I was in Hollywood, rewriting other people’s scripts, trying to get my own produced.  Bad sci-fi movies all of them, full of big lizards and robots built out of boxes painted silver.  I was fed up with it, and decided to write a novel.

    Q.  How did you die?

    A.  It’s funny, but I have no first hand memory of my own death.  What I know comes from eavesdropping on my former neighbors. Apparently, I was at Macy’s shopping for a Christmas present for my estranged wife and I had a heart attack. Before that, I never shopped at Macy’s, but there was something there I wanted to get for her apparently.   I wanted to get back with her.

    Q.  But you left her?

    A.  What else could I do when I found her being tied to a bed with pink scarves by a young male ballet dancer?  But I still loved her.  Go figure.

    Q.  Did you ever finish your novel?

    A.  No.  It was a piece of crap.  It went out with the trash one day. I found a job writing ad copy.  You know, 99 out of 100 doctors recommend Bold Gold cigarettes.  Hated it.  Then I wrote a musical that was well-received and ran for two years.  Of course I cannot tell you the name of it, as that would reveal my identity.

    Q.  You died. And then?

    A.  I found myself in the back of a taxi with my wife, but she ignored me.  The cabdriver was ignoring me too. When the cab stopped a man got in, the ballet dancer, and he ignored me even though I was cursing very loudly at him.  When the cab passed the Chelsea I was sucked out of the window and the next thing I knew I was in my room, and Stanley was there, showing it to a young woman. They didn’t hear me either.  I thought I was dreaming.

    Q.  When did you realize you were dead?

    A.  When Stanley told the young woman that the writer who had lived in the room — and he used my name — was vacationing in Italy  and wouldn’t be coming back. As you know, nobody ever dies at the Chelsea Hotel. In Stanley’s view of the universe, we haven’t died, we’ve all just gone somewhere nice, like Italy or France for an extended vacation.   In a way, he’s right.

    Q.  And you’ve just hung around since then?

    A.  Well, I’ve gone  to other places to visit, but I always return here.  My home is the Chelsea Hotel. I was at my best here.

    Q.  You know, there are many people, mostly outside the hotel, who don’t believe in ghosts. Explain yourself.

    A.  Being a ghost doesn’t give you omnipotence.  We don’t know everything.  But from what I understand, it is a parallel universe sort of thing.  I do believe scientists at Oxford have mathematically proven the concept of  an infinite number of parallel universes formed by the infinite possibilities of our choices and the events of our lives.  These parallel universes may be just inches away.  Ours is the one formed by the act of death. Really, to understand fully you have to completely forget the limited human view of Space and Time and, for that matter,  Matter.  We consist of  emotional, creative and intellectual energy.   One day, perhaps, the scientists will prove us wholly, just like the scientist who proved the existence of the anomalon, (a particle which defies the known laws of physics), twenty years after it was first hypothesized.

    Q.  Oh.  Okay.  Then how come you are sometimes seen in this universe?

    A.  Sometimes sensitive people peer through the membrane to the next universe, and sometimes we are in yours.  Unlike you we do have the ability to move between realms under the right circumstances.  Double sided mirrors and televisions are excellent portals for instance.  Pianos, empty canvases and typewriters are also reliable entry points.  Also the east elevator is a portal as is the pyramid on the roof. And dogs and cats.  They’re great channellers.

    Q. You have said that ghostly conversation translates in the earthly realm as odor.  How are you communicating with me now?  I don’t smell anything.

    A.  That’s because we are not communicating in physical space  but via the internet.  If you were here you would smell the scents of good cigars, lasagna in the oven,  and cold beer.  We used to rely on channeling by living people to express ourselves.  This is still the standard.  But some of us are able now to access the internet, ever since they put wifi in the lobby.  We just hover near the bust of Harry Truman and we are able to put our thoughts on the web.  Amazing! But far from perfect.

    Q. Let’s jump to the current situation.  You’re the spokesperson for the ghost collective.  Were you elected?

    A.  Yes.   It was unanimous.  Everyone had something to say about the ouster of the Bards, but nobody else wanted the job. So here I am.

    Q. And —

    A. And we’re very upset about this new regime.  It’s a travesty, and we do not like these two minority shareholders at all, especially David Elder.  It is astonishing that this young man felt he had a right to take over this beloved hotel despite no experience and a small percentage of the stock.  And after all the Bards  — and the residents, and the ghosts — put into this place, physically and spiritually!  Who is coming in with the new regime? We don’t want to keep company with a bunch of tightass businessmen, excuse my French, or tourists who have never read a book and whose big goal is to shop where Carrie Bradshaw shops or get into some cheesy place like the Star Lounge in hopes of seeing a minor celebrity before getting fish-eyed drunk and vomiting in the gutters.  In other words, people who don’t appreciate the great history of this hotel,  but complain about the lack of coffeemaker in the room.  Not our crowd at all. If this isn’t resolved, we may all leave and with us goes the peculiar magic of this place.

  • Marlene Krauss Weighs in on the Page 6 Magazine Article

    Legends has intercepted an e-mail letter-to-the-editor that minority shareholder Marlene Krauss sent to Page 6 Magazine.  Apparently she must have forgotten that we control the Internets:

    To the Editor,

    I wish I could thank you for your July 20 article on my property, the Chelsea Hotel, but I’m afraid it will only encourage the sort of undesirable “bohemian” tourism that my fellow board member David Elder and I have been working hard to bring to a well-deserved end.  Your writer, Annie Karni, has unfortunately been taken in by a bad lot, and has bought the party line of these trouble makers, parroting what can most charitably be called a bunch of bull malarkey.  Though I wish her well, I advise her to do as I do and avoid setting foot in that blighted building ever again.

    Chief among the misconceptions in Karni’s article is the claim of one resident, reinforced by the tone of the whole piece, that the hotel is chaotic, and that since there is no manager no one knows who to pay rent to.  While I won’t deny that the hotel is somewhat less than orderly, this is the fault of the very people who are complaining about it, the residents, who habitually go around dressed as clowns and so-called “doppelgangers,” soiling their own nest with stink bombs, and is a holdover from the Stanley Bard years, when every sort of illegal and licentious behavior was celebrated and even encouraged.  As for the issue of rent, many of the hotel residents must not have thought Stanley Bard was the manager either, as they habitually went without paying for years at a time. 

                The plain truth of the matter is that the residents of the Chelsea Hotel belong to a sort of cult that idolizes and worships the former owner, Stanley Bard.  One of the sadly misguided residents even admits as much when he says, “You can’t have a religious movement without a religious leader,” and I don’t know what more proof you could ask for.  Stanley seems to have hoodwinked these people, all of admittedly sub-normal intellect, in much the same way that Madonna brainwashed A-Rab with the Kaballah.  I’m as tolerant as the next person, but I can’t help wondering: Why don’t they just move to Jonestown and drink the Kool-Aid and leave decent people to make their millions in New York in peace!

                Now I know what you’re saying, that I’m not an expert in these matters like the great Madonna.  But I know a thing or two about brainwashing myself, since, as CEO of Summer Infant, I devised a groundbreaking technique to beam X-rays from outer space into the cribs of unsuspecting children.  That hussy Madonna is not all she’s cracked up to be either.  I’ll bet she doesn’t have a Harvard MBA, now does she?  And I’m sure I could get a young basketball stud like A-Rab too if I cared to the take time out from my busy schedule to master the arts of seduction and love.  (I’m already a better dancer than her.)  Hillary has fallen, and so too will Madonna, while I continue to grow younger, stronger, and more beautiful, eventually to triumph over all my competitors, deathless and eternal.

                I have hired a crack security team to impose order on the hotel until such time as I see fit to gut the building and repopulate it with a better class of people.  Though I’m sure you and all good, upstanding citizens of this metropolis support me in this endeavor, irresponsible articles such as Karni’s do not make my job any easier.  Please watch it in the future.

    Sincerely,

    Marlene Krauss, MD, Pld., Harvard MBA

    Wow, Marlene seems really angry.  Probably the best thing for us all to do is just pack our bags and move out quietly.   We just hope in the meantime she doesn’t go all Waco on our ass.

  • You Can’t Go Home Again

    Dear Ed,

    I lived at the Chelsea Hotel about 4 years ago. It was a great place to be… I called the front desk today and asked if I could do a monthly rental again and the person who answered said that they do not 
    take residents anymore. I know there are not such great things happening now but I’d still love to move back in if possible… I’m  wondering if you have any insider advice? Anyone I can talk to, etc?

    Best,
    (name redacted)

    Yeah, you’re right, things are lousy here lately.  We’d love to have you back, but I’m afraid I’m not too optimistic on that score.  Our only suggestion is to call board members Marlene Krauss and David Elder, and Manager Andrew Tilley, and have them explain their rental policy to you and ask them how this upholds the tradition of the Chelsea.

  • Back When the Chelsea Was Still The Chelsea

             With the Chelsea Hotel presently going to hell in a handcart, we thought that a glance back at a happier time might be a welcome relief.  Rummaging through used bookstores, Roger Wade came up with Frommers a 1961 edition of Frommer’s New York on 5 Dollars A Day, reminding us by its very title that there used to be ways to survive in New York on the cheap.  The book gives a list of budget hotels, foremost among them our beloved Chelsea, where:

    In 1960, If you mentioned the book, you could get a spotlessly clean single room without a bath for $3 per night on a weekly basis [that’s $27 a week!], and double rooms with bath starting a $6 per night, even by the day.

         Yeah, and that means that if you brought in your art portfolio you could probably get one even cheaper.  And as an added bonus, a young Stanley Bard would convince you that your room was spotlessly clean even if you initially thought otherwise.

          The Chelsea is actually on the high end of the budget hotels Wade lists (and, sadly, one of the few remaining as a hotel).  The best deal to be had was at the Arlington on West 25 St. (as of 2005, a Comfort Inn), where you could get a single room without a bath for $1.75/night!

    Nowadays, according to Wade, the Chelsea is, “still quirky and it’s still clean, and rooms start at around $220 per night.”  He probably didn’t read that Page 6 Magazine article about that guy who found Janis Joplin’s Maxipad!

    Wade also doesn’t mention (because he probably doesn’t know), that unlike in 1961, or the first half of 2007 for that matter, the hotel is no longer run by Stanley Bard, but instead by a witch’s coven of evil, greedy scumbags.  At least the Chelsea Hotel still looks basically the same physically—though we need to keep our eyes peeled as Marlene and her slaves seem to be gearing up to chop the place up in order to level out it’s quirkiness quotient.

    Hey, you know what else, it would be nice to find one of these guides from, say, 1968 or ’69 or thereabouts.  If anyone has access to a copy, please let us know, as this could help Chelsea Hotel tenants embroiled in court battles to establish the rental history of their apartments. — Ed Hamilton

    (Sources: Gothamist, Boots N All )

  • Good News for Flophouse Denizens Everywhere

    As reported in the NY Post Monday, Rosanne Carone, who owns the Sunshine Hotel on the Bowery, has had her unconscionable plot to throw the legal, rent stabilized tenants out of her building foiled.  The HPD has ruled that she harassed tenants to get them out, and so—Ha Ha Ha—she will have Sunshine to wait three years to re-apply for a Certificate of Non Harassment (CONH), necessary to tear down the building. (Photo: Flickr)

    There’s a lesson involved here, especially for Chelsea Hotel tenants: report every single instance of harassment by dialing 311 (they will connect you to the relevant agency).  Harassment is defined, basically, as anything that is intended to make you give up your rent stabilized apartment, or to destroy your quiet enjoyment of same.  In the Sunshine Hotel case, Carone was cited for, among other offenses, verbally abusing and threatening tenants, neglecting leaks, chipping plaster and paint, and roach infestations.  (And if these new security guards hassle you or make you feel uncomfortable in any way, that is harassment.)
                As you can see, failure to make repairs to you apartments in a timely manner can be considered harassment.  Anything that you would fix yourself if you owned the place is their responsibility to repair.

    Marlene Krauss, David Elder and Andrew Tilley are of course not trying to tear down the building, but they do want to start some sort of construction project, and they need a CONH to do so.  What they want to do is to pass the cost of the “improvements” along to tenants, which would allow them to raise our rents, possibly even past the threshold where they would be legally decontrolled.  They might even be able to force some of us to move out while the work is going on.  Repairs, yes; new construction, no!

    As an addendum, I also think it’s hilarious how biased the New York Post title is: calling the rent stabilized tenants of the Sunshine Hotel bums.  They may not fit a rich person’s definition of a “good citizen,” but hey, they’re not living on the street.  Not yet anyway.  And what’s more, they had the wherewithal to fight back and assert their rights.  At least it’s not as nutty as calling Dan Peckham a squatter—leave that to the Village Voice—but still. — Ed Hamilton