Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Chelsea Appeal
Why has the Chelsea Hotel proven so attractive to fledgling artists, not to mention such
alreadysuccessfulluminariesasDylan,Joplin,Warhol,Waitsandathousandothers?It'snot
exactly a luxury hotel. It is worn out, run down and used up. So what is it about the place?
For one, it's more about human relations than bricks and mortar. Artists, especially Bo-
hemians, know when they are genuinely welcome instead of merely tolerated as “talent.”
Stanley Bard and his family sincerely liked artists, and the artists could feel it. There was
nothing patronizing in the hoteliers' attitude toward cultural creatives. Artists aren't known
for swimming comfortably in the mainstream. They have foibles, they have eccentricities,
and they want a place to live that will either be supportive of them or leave them alone. At
the Chelsea, both options were available. As with any cultural subgroup, likes attract. Like
bloodcellsswimmingthroughanetworkofvessels,allleadingtoasingleheart,peopleseek
places where they can hang with people who share their values, priorities, and interests.
For our four Chelsea newcomers, this single heart was the Chelsea Hotel, floors one and
two.
PAUL VOLMER
The bottom two floors were where Stanley would usually put people who first
cametothehotel.Theseweregenerallyyoung,ortheoutcastsofsocietylikepros-
titutes or criminals or runaways. These were the least desirable rooms with the
leastdesirablepeople.Asyouwentupthefloors,therewerestrata,justlikeamir-
ror of society's economic strata. The poorer people were on the lowest floors, and
as you went up in floors there would be nicer rooms, until eventually when you
reached the top, where there were penthouse apartments with actual gardens on
the roof. The wealthy people lived up there.
You were not allowed to go up on the roof. Only the people who lived on the
top floor had roof access. From what I understood, the rooms up there were much
nicer—the places with the stained glass and all. Those were people who kept, for
example, exotic pets and such. Tom Waits was there, and so was Philip Glass.
23
DIMITRI MUGIANIS
It used to be that New York City would pay hotels to house families on welfare.
So on the bottom floors, there were welfare families living at the Chelsea, four
people living in a tiny room and being paid a lot of money. There's a guy we
shared the bathroom with in the hall, a little man and his wife and their daughter,
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