Manhattan's famous Bohemian outpost, The Chelsea Hotel has suffered what its Living with Legends blog calls a "board-directed coup", ousting its beloved manager of over 50 years, Stanley Beard, in what most suspect is an attempt to "boutique-ify" the hotel. An un-named (as of now) management company will take over. And pouring salt onto the wound, the board kicked out Beard just before his 73rd birthday too!
The beloved Stanley--everyone calls him by his first name--has been in charge of the hotel for over fifty years. It was he who fashioned and maintained the unique creative dynamic of the hotel, presiding over the sixties when Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen wrote some of their greatest songs here, and Andy Warhol filmed the famous Chelsea Girls....
Stanley has always managed to keep rents low for the creative people living here, most of whom—unlike the stars listed—don’t have much money, but all of whom are just as important in maintaining the famous Chelsea spirit.
We can't do justice to the whole story--the fine folks at Living with Legends blog (and hotel residents) are the better source, but we will say this smells like a money-hungry board who wants to get in on the hot Manhattan hospitality market to create boutique hotel and possibly, residences. And what a great opportunity. The hotel has a killer location in Chelsea and they can market the shit out of the "bohemian outpost" angle like they did when they opened the Star Lounge. Just think of all the themed suites they can create!
But not like we condone this type of commercialization or anything. If you're interested, the Living with Legends blog is asking readers to leave comments in support of the Bard family on their site.
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