Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
permanent exhibits on the second and third floors are organized and labelled with great care
and thought, essential for a subject that will be familiar to few. While a few pieces manage
to stand out, the thrust is less about individual artists and objects and more about under-
standing how and why art is created. The ground-floor café becomes the
K2 Lounge
on Fri-
day nights, with DJs and cocktails.
THE CHELSEA HOTEL
222 W 23rd St between Seventh and Eighth aves. Subway C, E to 23rd St.
www.hotelchelsea.com
.
MAP
Built as a luxury cooperative apartment in 1884 and converted to a hotel in 1903, the
Chelsea Hotel
has served as undisputed home to the city's harder-up literati and its musical
vagabonds. Eugene O'Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams lived here, and Brendan
Behan and Dylan Thomas staggered in and out during their New York visits. Legend has it
that Jack Kerouac typed
On the Road
nonstop onto a 120ft roll of paper while here, though
most agree that took place at 454 W 20th Street, over a six-week period (and from existing
journals, not just the top of his head). Bob Dylan wrote songs in and about the hotel, and Sid
Vicious stabbed Nancy Spungen to death in 1978 in their suite, a few months before his own
life ended with an overdose of heroin.
The hotel's future, at press time, was murky; purchased by a secretive developer in late
2011, the hotel stopped accepting guests as it was tearing up the art-filled lobby and work-
ing on extensive renovations. It's meant to become a boutique hotel - check the website or
do some research before making plans to do anything more than scoping out the red-brick
exterior.
