Chelsea Portraits - This Ain't no Holiday Inn: Down and Out at the Chelsea Hotel 1980-1995 - page 218

Children of the Chelsea
A lesser known aspect of the Chelsea scene was that children lived there. And not just Bo-
hemian ragamuffins, but well-scrubbed children who went to school, had good manners and
frolicked in the halls. One of the more famous children was Gaby Hoffman, daughter of
Viva, the Warhol superstar. As mentioned earlier, Gaby has herself grown up to become a
minor star.
JOHN ZINSSER
The little children who lived at the Chelsea seemed great! Every year on Hal-
loween, the kids would trick or treat, and you could hear them at the top of the
stairs because the stairs go all the way down. You could hear this rush of activity.
They'd come streaming down and go to any room whose door was open. I always
envied the parents because in the Chelsea, we were never privy to other peoples'
rooms. Because of all these mysterious doorways and mysterious characters, you
werealwaysintenselycuriousastowhatotherroomslookedlike.Youwouldhear
aboutthings—like therewerethesebeautiful apartments onthetopfloorsthathad
roof gardens, but you never saw them! But the parents bringing their kids trick or
treating could peek into other peoples' rooms.