Chelsea Hotel/Hotel Chelsea

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About Chelsea Hotel/Hotel Chelsea

Pictures in and around and related to the Chelsea hotel at 222 west 23rd street, NYC

Mid-June 2007, Stanley Bard, long-time manager, and majority shareholder, of the Chelsea Hotel was ousted by the two minority shareholders, who had rarely been seen at the place before this. Stanley, on the other hand, has run the place hands-on for over fifty years, looking after everyone from Dylan Thomas to Dee Ramone along the way. Legal corporate" issues, were cited by David Elder, one of the coupsters as the reason for the lawsuit that led to the ouster. Reportedly, Stanley was sued for not fully commercializing the hotel's lobby and other "historic spaces," and for other such things. They told him in a phone call and gave him almost no notice. He had a day to pack up his things.

The resulting media and public outcry has led to them backtracking somewhat, and bringing Stanley back in a figurehead position as "ambassador." Though they claimed in a press reklease that they weren't going to harass the tenants for rent, their first action, the very first, was to send a letter to the Chelsea's poorest and most vulnerable residents demanding back rent. They did not introduce themselves to the tenants, or even to most of the staff. They;ve continued to talk in corporate-speak about the place, which is not a corporate joint. It's a family-run embassy fior another planet.

We'd like them to sell their shares back to Stanley, anbd let hyimn and his kids run the hotel again, as they always have, nurturing the best of American arts and letters for a half-century.

If you would like to join the protest, make a banner or button that says, "Bring back the Bards," or, as one visitor suggested, "Stanley Bard is My Hero." Take a picture of you with it, wherever you are, postr it in this group and in this one:

www.flickr.com/groups/420914@N21/

Past and present residents along with other lovers of the hotel and Stanley, have banded togethre to protest and try to get the hotel back for Stanley. More here.

http://www.hotelchelsea.com