A list of articles about the ouster of the Bards that have appeared since last Saturday, July 7.
MSM: Sunday Times (South Africa’s largest daily paper), Financial Times, New York Times
Blogs: The Shophound, (Shophound thinks we have a "buzz generating restaurant" in our future here at the hotel), Newyorkology, NY Mag, curbed, blogchelsea
e firing of the Bards from the board of the Chelsea Hotel. A dark day indeed. My husband and I are both artists, and recently stayed at the Chelsea for the first time. We felt so welcome there, met a long-time resident, and reveled in the art and history on display throughout the building. The Chelsea is a very special place because although it has its own aura of cool, it does not reek of the exclusivity and shallow hipster vibe so common throughout the “boutique” hotel concept. The efforts of the Bard family have kept the creative atmosphere of this icon/landmark/HOME of so many artists and musicians alive, despite the gentrification of the neighborhood.
The thought of turning the Chelsea into another Marmont or Maritime breaks my heart. It is a family threatened with being torn asunder. Please keep it whole, especially for those full-time residents, as well as us visiting artists, so we may continue to come back to our home away from home. (Photo: Gothamist)
Allyson Hollingsworth
Oakland, CA
It’s my absolute goal to call the hotel home at some point, and I can only hope that the new management group doesn’t drastically change the place that you already call home.
If my support can help in any way, please let me know. Thanks, and good luck!
Robin Reetz
______________________
MY GOD THAT’S JUST DREADFUL…Hope that you guys are all ok and they don’t change it…we can live in hope. long live the bard
Lisa Kreemers
Visual Art Teacher
Yolla District High School
Two issues have come to our attention recently. One is the alarming number of missing rosettes on the 
staircase railing. Somebody needs to look into preventing this mindless vandalism in the future. The second issue is that BD Hotels has now embarked on a rate cutting policy. Below are some of the rates we’ve heard about.
Shared Bath Studio: $99.00
They have also added a book online button to www.hotelchelsea.com so you can check the rates yourself. 
Though we’ve long argued that rates should be lower in order for writers and artists and other creatively minded individuals who genuinely want to stay here. This policy flies in the face of what’s being going on with the Board pressuring Stanley to raise rates to make more money. So what gives? Are they trying to turn this place into a bonafide flophouse? Also disturbing is the fact that another resident spotted an apparently homeless woman camping with her bags in the hallway. On the other hand, perhaps they are trying to compete with other hotels that are offering lower rates to attract people during the sweltering month of July. But since when has the Chelsea had to compete? Maybe since they lost customers who don’t want a corporate experience.
Back in late December/early January the Bards ran a special where they lowered the rates but it was not nearly so drastic as this one — more like a normal hotel discount — and what’s more it was specifically targeted to people on their mailing list, that is fans of the hotel. Who are we targeting now?
Okay, we confess: we’re a corporate blog, bought and paid for by the owners of the Chelsea Hotel. That’s why, when Stanley was in charge, we harped about roaches and fires and junkies in the bathrooms. Then, when David Elder and Marlene Krauss staged their coup, we quickly switched our alliance, lauding our new overlord as, respectively, a Lovecraftian abomination and a mud wrestling proctologist. Kudos, therefore, to Gary Lee of the WashingtonPost.com for being (actually, far from) the first to ferret out our dirty little secret. Lee writes:
I also looked at some independent hotels that publish their own blogs:…
The colorful blog presneted by New York’s Chelsea Hotel,…..
His feat is all the more noteworthy in that he (also, like the others) apparently uncovered this diabolical plot without actually having read our blog.
Seriously, to set the record straight, we were the very first hotel blog in existence, and remain the only non-corporate blog. (This claim in Gary’s article that the Starwood blog is run by fans is bull. It’s run by a "pr firm" rather than "fans".)
There’s an interesting article in a 2004 issue of the New York Times about two of our new overlords, Ira Drukier and Richard Born. In what’s really little more than a puff piece, they brag that they are just “two guys with cell phones” who don’t even have any staff. They just go around brokering deals and buying up properties, and then hire separate management teams to gut-renovate and run the places while they kick-back and rake in the dough. (Photo: Drukier and pals)
They seem to think this makes them sound hip and cool and free-spirited, but what it really makes them sound like is speculators. There’s plenty of suits just like them, in other words, guys who only need a cell phone, but most of them trade stocks and bonds, rather than buildings where actual people live. Ira Drukier even states, in an infuriatingly smug little gem: “And what we are doing is real estate, not life and death.” But that’s exactly what it is, Mr. Drukier: our society wouldn’t tolerate it if you were trying to drive up the cost of food, and what you’re doing should be considered not less of a crime. — Ed Hamilton
Long time Chelsea Hotel resident and mystery writer Sparkle Hayter has started a campaign to Bring Back the Bards. Here’s how you can join. Make a banner and take of photo of it and add it to the Bring Back the Bards flickr pool. A good place to take pictures of your banner if you are in New York might be in the lobby of the hotel or behind the front desk. But the most impressive thing about this campaign is that people are doing it all over the world! The photo below is from Canada.
In today’s NY Times, Marlene Krauss talks about the future plans for the Chelsea Hotel which include "…cleaning it up and bringing it back to its former glory." We hope that we’re not part of the trash that gets swept out by Marlene Krauss’ planned spring cleaning binge. As for the former glory, it never left, Marlene. You just missed it! Anyway how would you know since you’ve only been here a couple of times in your life.
What era could Marlene be referring to anyway. It’s doubtful that she would have found the era of Warhol and Dylan all that glorious.
In the same story, Ira Drukier reports that "it’s not the intent to turn this into a boutique-y hotel." Well, ok, then why did your hire Andre Balazs?
A listing of stories that have appeared since last Saturday.
MSM: New York Times, Toronto Star, NY Post, The Villager, Raw Story,
Blogs: Finally, we don’t have to do all of the work: Living with Leeches, curbed, libero, nymag.com, racked, vagablond,
Not Available Online: 1010 Wins — The Joe Montone Show, Le Matin Bleu (Free Daily paper in Switzerland)
Born and Drukier (the new Chelsea overlords) are keeping busy bringing George Jetson and postmodernism to the West Village. They have chosen web designer Hani Rashi and Lise Anne Couture, 
known for creating “elaborate visual worlds” –which are probably really cool when you’re stoned—to design an eight-story, 24-unit condominium building at 166 Perry St. in the West Village. No doubt, all the real designers were busy. In a phone interview with the NY Sun, Born said, “We have exclusivity on them because they have never done a residential project, or any kid of project, in New York. Anyone living there can be pretty much guaranteed there isn’t another chance to live in an Asymptote building”
Wow aren’t they lucky! And Born says they’ll even be able to stand naked before the windows of this highly original glass tower. (After all, there’s only been about two dozen such monstrosities erected in the past five years.) I’ll hazard a wild guess and say that some people past their undergrad years would prefer their building be designed by someone with a little more experience. Please keep them out of the Chelsea, Mr. Born.
Actually, on second thought, maybe there is some work for Rashi and Couture around here. The hotel’s official website could use a little upgrading! The could design a virtual lobby to look like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. And then once you’ve thrown us out into the streets we could hang out there in our imaginations. — Ed Hamilton
(Photo: Gothamist) (Too late, some students in Australia have already designed a virtual Chelsea Hotel.)
BD management has been moving slowly, however they have made a few opening salvos — no doubt hoping that no one notices. (Oh yes, we do notice.) One of the most obvious salvos of the new management, BD Hotels, is that they have painted the façade of the old Capitol Fishing Tackle, erasing the final traces of that august establishment (63 years in the same location before being forced out by a board ordered increase of the rent). This is a sure sign that BD management intends to show the space. We’ve heard credible rumors that BD is trying to interest a bank in renting the space. Can you imagine? Tell all the bankers: count your money somewhere else! (Photos taken June 23 & June 30) Can this bode well for Dan’s Chelsea Guitars?
