Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Meet the New Boss
But something else was happening at the Chelsea, something bigger than personality con-
flicts.Anew“take-no-prisoners” management philosophymarchedintothehotelintheper-
son of Stanley's son, David Bard.
PAUL VOLMER
David basically took over most of the Chelsea's operation. He didn't want to give
people so much slack, or have the same tolerant attitude with artists. This period
beganagrand-scale eviction oftheoldguard,these people whohadgotten behind
on their rent, including Robert and me.
It also included Viva. She was evicted with her daughter Gaby. That was a big
event. They were cleansing the hotel of its Bohemian punk, trash-glam element.
Viva represented, with the Warhol era, the Bohemian decadence that Warhol de-
picted in his underground films. So when Viva was evicted, it was symbolic. The
new management under David Bard wanted all this Chelsea wildness gone. He
wantedtomaketheplacemoreofaworldforyuppieartists,peoplewhowereless
troubled, and dare I say less interesting.
In a 1999 article in
GQ
by Sarah Vowell, David Bard admits that when he got involved with
the hotel, he wanted to renovate the building entirely, making it modern and clean. In other
words he wanted to thoroughly change the Chelsea as it had been for nearly a century. But
he changed his mind. According to the younger Bard, “A couple of the artists in the build-
ing, they said to me, 'David, you don't want to get rid of the cracks and the crevices in the
building because that's where the ghosts hide. And if you get rid of the ghosts, the Chelsea
will just be any other building.'” So the building underwent some renovation, but nothing
extensive.
Nevertheless, it seems that while some cracks and corners were allowed to stay, a good
number of living residents were summarily evicted. Even more troubling, the new manage-
ment philosophy seemed to be rubbing off on Stanley.
JUDITH CHILDS
There is something about Stanley that's different now. He's not the old Stanley.
Thenewmanagementstylewasn'ttheonlyfactormakingtheairlessbreathableatthehotel.
Some residents' personal lives were beginning to stink.
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