The Chelsea Hotel | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

welcome to stuff you should know a. production of iHeart. Radio hey and welcome to the podcast I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. too and this is stuff you should. know um the super cool Edition another. another Edition in our ongoing New York. Saga to explain every single building or.

theme or Trend in the entire city of New. York I feel like these are always me so. I'm sorry if I'm fisting these well you. love New York I do you know the T-shirt. told me to right oh I thought it was. ihart New York is that what that means. yeah I get it. now but it's IH heart New York it didn't. say youart New York I took it all wrong. but now I'm I love that City so I want. to know more about it it is a very cool. City and this is a cool.

um. Place uh in the city's history for a. long part of the city's history actually. the Chelsea Hotel which little known. fact is actually supposed to be called. the hotel Chelsea yeah and I could not. find where who first turned it around. because surely it was a poet or a singer. or something or writer um but at some. point it got basically transversed even. though the official name is and always. has been since it was a hotel the the. hotel Chelsea yeah it can be a little.

confusing uh same place though so uh. don't sweat it so you can say either one. but wait wait wait you want to talk. confusing okay there's a Marriott. Renaissance Chelsea Hotel oh God in the. same. neighborhood I I mean I could see myself. accidentally booking that and being like. this place is a little more put together. than I expected yeah I mean Chelsea is a. neighborhood and every hotel in there is. a hotel Chelsea yeah or a Chelsea Hotel.

rather uh I love Chelsea I think that is. one of my favorite neighborhoods in New. York if not my favorite we stayed there. a bunch of times when we went and. visited New York and Chelsea yeah I like. it as well and I have stayed at the. hotel Chelsea a couple of times I have. too uh but yeah but that actually. answers a question that I had I was. trying to figure out where you came up. with this as a topic I would have. guessed the Taylor Swift song um the.

tortured poets. Department cuz she mentions it in in. there that's I guess not where that's. not what inspired you to do this. no Bob Dylan if anybody I got uh no I. mean from staying there semi- recently. uh and that's the great thing about our. job I was like yeah I wish I knew a. little bit more about this place and uh. here we are yeah what did you think of. it the hotel yeah well you know as as. you'll learn if you don't know the. Chelsea Hotel was uh renovated over the.

course of many many many years after. being closed uh for those Renovations. we'll get into all the ins and outs of. that um but I I thought that it was a. topnotch renovation that uh from what. I've read even though it's a it's a. fancy uh Fancy Pants place now um. everything I've read says that they did. a very tasteful uh job in fact let me. read in fact so I'm not just talking out. of my butt uh but one of the uh people. in the New Yorker or something that.

wrote about it said it presents itself. subtly and doesn't scream I've changed. uh due largely to the fact that the. building was landmarked in 1977 so many. elements such as its facade and famous. stairwell cannot be changed in. accordance with his Landmark status Uh. current owners instead have worked with. it and around its physical history uh. and the enhancements are fitting nice uh. 158 rooms in 15 room. categories uh from 200 ft to 1700 square.

ft uh and there you go well yeah and. that's great that they did a good job. with it because people all the way back. to the. 1940s um with Edgar Lee Masters the poet. author of Spoon River Anthology who. lived there for a while was worried. about the the the gist of the Chelsea. Hotel being Stripped Away by new owners. and it's changed hands a few times but. it's also stayed in really capable hands. hands for decades and those capable.

hands as we see helped give the Chelsea. Hotel its uh its own like it's very. famous Vibe yeah and I I should also say. too that a lot of people I'm sure think. it's an Abomination uh and a lot of. times he are the same people that were. like you know Time Square was better or. New York was better when it was a dirt. bag City crumbling and and you were as. likely to get mugged walking the streets. or spray painted on if you stood still. for too long as anything else yeah so.

based on what we'll learn about what. went on at the Chelsea Hotel I think. it's very telling how dangerous New York. was at the time that almost to a person. uh when they interviewed um residents. years later they say they felt safe in. the Chelsea Hotel and the Chelsea Hotel. was as crazy as a a place could get and. yet it just goes to show you how much. more dangerous it was outside of the. Chelsea Hotel in New York at the time. yeah it seemed to a very familial.

quality to it uh and for good reason so. let's let's jump back to the beginning. uh when it was built uh first of all. it's right there at West uh West 23rd. Street in the Chelsea neighborhood and. it started in 1884 as the Chelsea. Association building uh nuts and bolts. it is a 12-story building was one of the. taller buildings in New York at the time. uh it is a Victorian Gothic uh it is a. beautiful gorgeous um building if you. look at it from across the street uh. it's just one of the one of New York's.

greatest landmarks uh designed by. architect uh Philip is it Hubert or. Huber I'm going to say Hubert that's. what I would say all right we'll go with. that uh and Hubert designed it on the. philosophy of a French philosopher that. he was a fan of named Charles uh what is. it I think forier forier who is a. utopian socialist and kind of thought. this concept of a co-op of a community. should work in co-ops called phenes MH. um and that's what the Chelsea started.

out as was one of the first housing. co-ops in New York City where uh if you. live in a co-op then you own a share of. that building along with all the other. owners and you also are responsible for. the monies that help maintain and keep. up that building yeah it's all fun and. games until you need a new roof exactly. so Hubert actually followed Fu's um. vision and turned the Chelsea into not. just a co-op but an attempted socialist. utopian Paradise where um.

you it wasn't just for the wealthy like. that it was I think I don't know if you. said it or not it was one of the tallest. buildings in New York at the time so it. was a very Tony address when the. building opened and yet he set. Apartments aside for some of the people. who had built the building like some of. the electricians if there was such a. thing at the time uh some of the. plumbers some of the Carpenters like. they had shares they were able to live. in this Co-op because there was room. made for them and there was also room.

made for artists and musicians and. writers and the point was to for. everybody to kind of rely on one another. so if you needed Plumbing help you could. pay your plumber in um you know a. painting or something like that if your. plumber would accept it everybody was. meant to depend on everyone else and be. kind of self-sufficient as a unit yeah. uh not so big into abstract but yeah. sure I guess are you going places.

right when are you going to die yeah. exactly uh there also in that very first. iteration uh and this is very key you. mention artists but there were the the. top floor had 15 artist Studios up there. um and that really kind of carried on. throughout the history of the Chelsea. until most recently yeah um that version. of the Chelsea was about around for. about 21 years it went bankrupt in. 1905 uh some of those residents stuck. around uh and then the rest became a. hotel and the chelse for decades.

functioned as a place where you could. stay there as a hotel you could stay. there for a month you could stay there. for a week like weekly and monthly rates. or you could be a resident and live. there it's a very unique situation yeah. um and so the rooms also apparently were. fairly cheap especially for a luxury. place a luxury building um so if you. were a upand cominging or starving. artist you could still probably afford a. place there and because it was created.

to house artists and talent of all. different kinds it was automatically. attractive it was it just kind of became. a place where art was created not just a. place where artists could live there was. a longtime Chelsea resident named Harry. Smith who I saw described as the. archetypal Bohemian trickster. figure and he's just Chelsea Hotel. through and through from what I could. tell he said that the hotel exuded. atmospheric vibrations that attracted.

artists and also helped produce great. art so like the building itself and the. vibe that was in it um led to better art. than maybe would have otherwise been. produced at least according to Harry. Smith who was a trickster apparently so. he might have been lying uh and also you. know the human brain works in funny ways. and once a place and gets a reputation. is that you go in there and that in. itself you may think you're being. inspired just by being there and that. ends up inspiring you you know what I. mean yeah for sure for sure I think some.

people though I'm not going to name. names but I think over time some artists. who stayed there have wanted to kind of. capture what that hotel does and maybe. bid off a little more than they could. chew I think I know you're talking about. I think you should second have a second. thought or two if you're like I'm going. to make an Ode to the Chelsea Hotel. where there's a song a movie doesn't. matter I know exactly what you're. talking about we're not talking about oh. Henry though who stayed there a lot or. Mark Twain who stayed there a lot or.

Sarah burnhard who stayed there when she. came to New York to perform yeah um. those were all like frequent guests in. those early years um they were they were. artists you know very famous artists of. the time occupying the those artist. Studios on the top floor um from the. very beginning uh they even um held some. Titanic survivors in 1912 that's where. they went when they were when they were. brought in shivering in the cold yeah uh. which is pretty cool they opened their. doors to them I'm sure other hotels did.

too but I thought that was neat yeah and. we should say these artists that were. staying here oh Henry was hiding from. creditors yeah when he stayed there um. John French Sloan he was a member of the. Ashan School of Art which made its name. by um showing some of the grittier more. dismal side of New York Life which is. totally contrary to the Zeitgeist and so. the artists were Avant Gard basically. throughout the entire history history of.

the Chelsea Hotel um the artists working. there were like the Vanguard of the. Avant guard yeah like Bohemian you hear. hear those words throw on a lot when you. the Chelsea Hotel is described and or. its tendency over the years they were. chechoslovakian to a person. right uh during the Great Depression of. the 1930s uh Thomas wolf was a. frequenter there um in fact he died um. he spent the last years of his life.

there in room 829 uh writing things like. you can't go home again and he died very. young though uh from tuberculosis at the. age of 37 and was known to kind of you. know Pace the Halls looking uh for. inspiration or that next paragraph or. sentence yeah I saw that somebody said. he ran out into the street one night um. at like 3:00 a.m. and shouted that he'd. written 10,000 words in one day that's. great that's pretty substantial and. Thomas wolf also not to be confused with. Tom Wolf no no he was an influence in.

his own right um he influenced the Beats. mainly through jack kowak he influenced. the new journalist so ironically Thomas. wolf influenced Tom Wolf yeah um and in. fact there's a story that fear and. loathing from Fear and Loathing in Las. Vegas and at the Kentucky Derby that. Hunter Thompson took that from a Thomas. Wolf's. story oh okay yeah that's pretty cool uh. we still haven't done one on Hunter S. Thompson either no he might be.

undoable you know how remember the time. we did that live show it was the worst. idea where we did how humor works and we. realize partway through in front of a. live audience that. explaining humor is like the least funny. thing you can do I don't remember that. was that a like a a tour show or was. that like for a it was a podfest was it. really yeah in La years back I blocked. that one out yeah I don't remember. anything about it either so you mention.

a lot of people have you know done their. ODS to the hotel whether it's movies or. songs or whatever uh M perhaps the first. one was a guy named Edgar Lee Masters. lived there from 31 to 44 and wrote uh a. poem called the hotel Chelsea so he kind. of got the ball rolling yeah and he's. the guy I was saying earlier who wrote. Spoon River Anthology that was worried. about it being about it losing its its. Vibe well let's read this first uh. couple of lines then uh Anita don't know.

who that is but he's writing it to Anita. uh soon this Chelsea Hotel will vanish. before the city's Merchant greed. Wreckers will wreck it and in its stead. more lofty walls will. swell yeah there you have it yeah so. this was the 40s I'm guessing this was. 1943 when the um when it changed hands I. think for the first or second time and. was finally turned into the hotel. Chelsea. um but he had very little to worry about.

because it got even more Avant guard. after that yeah it you know it's kind of. had its ups and downs as far as how uh I. mean nice it was I guess uh it fell in. pretty hard times after World War II uh. but it was always you know Dave describe. it as Gruff but lovable I mean it never. lost that charm it seems like yeah even. at its diviest uh Dylan Thomas the the. famous author um was a uh heavy drinker. as I think everyone knows he drank. himself to the death uh there at the. Chelsea in.

1953 and they have a plaque they don't. have plaques for everybody but there's a. Dylan Thomas plaque Dylan Thomas lived. and rode at the Chelsea Hotel and from. here he sailed out to die yeah I read. that um on the day that he fell into a. coma that eventually he died from he. said I've had 18 straight whiskies I. think that's the record It's gotta be. yeah so um yeah Dylan Thomas was one of. the ones whose death really kind.

of I don't quite know how to put it but. there's there's certain aspects of the. Chelsea Hotel and tragic figures dying. in it is is part of that that's an. aspect of it in and of itself and Dylan. Thomas kind of set the tone for that. right yeah immortalized maybe sure so he. he became he helped make the Chelsea. Hotel famous in that respect by dying as. a tragic figure there um other people. are just kind of famous and because they. stayed in the Chelsea Hotel it kind of.

gives it a little more props like. Jackson Pollock um he lived there for a. little while little known fact the CIA. paid his rent um oh really vir no I'm. kidding Virgil have you ever heard the. theory that the that the CIA was behind. the abstract expressionist movements to. make the United States seem more. intellectual to the Soviets no but that. makes that joke a very deep cut so I. don't even feel bad this time okay for. falling for it right so there are other. people too that you may not have heard. of that I hadn't heard of that were.

longtime residents that really kind of. gave it like legitimacy there was a. music critic and composer named Virgil. Thompson who was apparently just. incredibly prolific he lived there for. 50 years and died in room 920 Larry. Rivers he's considered the Godfather of. pop art he lived there for about a. decade um. and when you put all this together and. then also bring in tours cuz don't. forget this is a hotel that some people.

are living in for decades but there's. also people coming and going um and then. you also throw in rich people who are. basically just trying to hang out with. Avant guard artists even though they. have no artistic talent themselves it's. just the crowd they want to hang with. you put all these people together and. you've got like who you would see if you. went into the Chelsea Hotel yeah exactly. um all right we should take a break and. we'll come back and talk about uh David. and Stanley bar right after.

[Music]. [Music]. this okay so uh I said earlier that the. Chelsea Hotel was in capable hands for. decades and those hands were initially.

um David barred and then after that his. son Stanley barred and between the two. of them they took um Philip Hubert's. vision of this socialist Utopia but. really the really artsy part of it and. just went to town um I saw it described. as Stanley curated who lived in the. Chelsea Hotel it wasn't like hey I've. got some money I want to live here you. you basically had to be vouched for by.

another avantgard artist that probably. already lived there that was a good way. to get in yeah and this I found this. funny little fact that you know how. little things can change history um. David in 1943 the Elder Bard uh he got. together with some other investors to. buy the hotel uh out of. foreclosure and the the reason he did. that is because he was a. furrier who was allergic to fur and. couldn't take it anymore. so the reason the Chelsea Hotel one of.

the reasons that it kind of stayed that. thing is because when David Bard took. the Reigns in. 1943 he he kept that Spirit Alive with. the artist and like taking a painting in. Le of rent like had it gone to just some. money hungry greedy people uh it may. have completely changed in 1943 and we. wouldn't even be talking about it today. right so had he not been a furry or. allergic to fur it it may have been a. completely different scene there but uh. he ran the hotel until died in ' 64 MH.

and like you said Stanley his son took. over and Stanley aard was great he was. um I've got a pretty fun like apparently. there was never any like uh problem he. couldn't handle he was known for being. able to handle like whatever weirdness. was going on there at the time and. Arthur Miller when he was divorced from. Marilyn Monroe lived there for a period. of years and wrote a lot about the. Chelsea Hotel and here's one good. example about Stanley bard. uh Arthur Miller called down after being.

so frustrated with how disgusting his. carpet was said for Christ's sake. Stanley don't you have a vacuum cleaner. in the house and he said of course we. have lots of them he said well why. aren't they ever used he said they're. not used Stanley you know GD well that. you don't use them I I've never heard. such a thing why don't they use them or. you're asking me why they don't use them. well you're the one who brought it up. look Stanley just get a vacuum cleaner. up here and let's just forget this. conversation please fine how are you. otherwise truthfully there is no. otherwise all I am is a man waiting.

desperately for a vacuum cleaner and. then Arthur Miller said and then he. would laugh grateful for another happy. tenant and that was like nothing was. like uh ever wrong at the Chelsea people. were dying and being wheeled out of. there in overdoses and he would make. jokes at like no the cops were here. because because they live there and the. body bags and the gurns are just. props yeah so apparently Milos foran a. true true Bohemian he lived at the.

Chelsea from I think for the early 70s. about the first half of the 70s and he. asked Stanley once if anyone had ever. died I I believe to basically get him to. admit yeah yeah because there there were. a lot of deaths whether it was by. Suicide murder um over mattress fires. overdoses uh yeah and it was just well. known that there were a lot of deaths. that happened in the Chelsea Hotel so. Milos foran Stanley once um if he could.

think of anybody who ever died there and. he could only come up with one person. and he was a painter named alus Cole. that's funny he died in 1988 the oldest. man in the world at. 112 he died at the Chelsea Hotel and. that's the one person that Stanley could. think of in the entire time that he was. running the Chelsea Hotel yeah and. Stanley ran it for 40 years after his. dad died um but like I said his dad had. the same attitude they asked as David. the Elder barard why he didn't ever.

evict a tenant who apparently was. playing the drums and everyone was. complaining and it was even driving him. nuts and his answer was I like people. yeah yeah it was cool like you could get. away with from what I saw you could get. away with basically anything up to. murder essentially and Stanley would put. up with it because that was the that was. the Rhythm that his father had kind of. laid out and if you want to cultivate an. Avant guard artist calling in the middle. of New York you're going to have to do.

that or else just give up because it's. not going to work otherwise yeah the I. got to read this other Arthur Miller. quote is pretty good too uh he said the. Chelsea and this is by the way from the. Chelsea affect uh. affect um about the bards he said the. Chelsea whatever else it was was a house. of infinite Toleration yeah this was the. B's genius I thought to have achieved an. operating chaos which at the same time. could be home to people who were not.

crazy yeah which I don't know who those. people were yeah I saw Mt as a Hatter. used more times in oral history of um. the Chelsea Hotel than I ever have. anywhere else yeah just about everybody. there yeah yeah so my favorite Arthur. Miller quote by the way is um these. pretzels are making me. thirsty it's a great one yeah so let's. jump into the 60s and 70s cuz that's. when the Chelsea seemed like it had some.

of its most notable events and residence. uh even if they were part-time uh my my. favorite guy Bob Dylan um stayed at the. Chelsea stayed in room 211 for about. three years you know off and on because. he was going up to Woodstock as well but. 61 to 64 uh is when he was hanging out. with Ginsburg and and doing his thing uh. he wrote most of if not all of uh Blonde. on Blonde which is his seventh album and. very specifically in the song Sarah. which was about his wife uh his first.

wife Sarah that he married in ' 65 uh. there's a great line uh in that song. storms are brewing in your. eyes no different Sarah oh okay uh this. one is very scathing tough song uh Bob. Dylan was the champion of the Antti Love. Song and this is kind of one of them uh. but he said uh he writes about staying. up for days in the Chelsea Hotel writing. sad Eyed Lady of the lowlands for you so. he references another. song on the same Al Sarah that he it's a.

song to his ex-wife and he said. basically I remember staying up for days. writing Sade Eyed Lady of the lowlands. for you yeah and no time is a good time. for goodbye have you seen the Dyan movie. do you care about that at all no yeah. gotcha um so but yeah that was pretty. seminal I mean that's one of his biggest. albums right and I saw that at the time. too that um Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol. went basically head-to-head over Edie. Sedwick who also stayed at the the.

Chelsea Hotel and apparently that was um. the end of Andy warhall and Ed. sedwick's RedHot um I don't know what. You' call it not a. romance just interaction I don't. relationship sure we'll just go with. that but it was something other than. that um and it lasted less than a year. but apparently Andy Warhol was so. jealous that um Ed Sedwick had become. totally obsessed with Bob Dylan who may.

or may not have returned her advances it. just depends on who you ask Bob Dylan. says no um that but Andy Warhol lost. because Bob Dylan was at the time like. basically the biggest person in um like. alternative Culture The Counter Culture. at the time like even more than Andy. Warhol was like he was just huge um and. it's kind of it's kind of difficult to. overstate what a big deal this very big. person was doing living and working in.

the Chelsea Hotel like what it did for. the Chelsea hotel's reputation yeah for. sure and it's also mind-blowing to know. while Bob Dylan's up there in room 211. literally typing out one of the seminal. albums of all time um at the same time. uh Arthur C Clark is uh adapting the. screenplay for 2001 A Space Odyssey on a. different floor and a different room so. like these kind of creative you know and. and Andy Warhol is in there shooting uh. parts of Chelsea girls.

like stuff was really really happening. it didn't earn its reputation just it. wasn't overblown at all you know right. no another really famous thing that. happened around that time was from Ed. Sedwick she set her mattress on fire. yeah on purpose I think was it on. purpose because this was not her first. apartment fire yeah I I I think it was. on purpose okay so um it's possible this. is a very turbulent time for her she. could have been heartbroken over Bob. Dylan she could have been upset Andy.

Warhol had turned his back on her I know. the previous apartment fire um in a. different building was because she had. shot up a speedball and The Cigarette. fell out of her mouth and onto her. mattress and said her her her house on. fire that's kind of on purpose too I. guess so yeah but um that kind of leads. me to to something there's something. that just doesn't show up in the. histories I mean here or there it kind. of comes up but I think it's really. stated the effect that it had on the.

community that developed in the Chelsea. Hotel from the entire time that the. building was open and that was drugs. drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs like so. everybody from Sarah burnhard the French. actress to Bob Dylan and Beyond I I. wouldn't put it Beyond Ethan. Hawk he lived there for a while yeah um. so I mean the club kids like with the. capital c and the Capal okay in the 80s. and.

90s um like some of them lived there and. they were definitely doing drugs there. like they it was just a really big part. of the experience of um of living at the. Chelsea Hotel it was like essentially. one of the muses that was walking around. the halls of that building all the time. yeah for sure I mean Gabby Hoffman uh. the actor she she was raised there from. birth till she was 11 years old her mom. was Viva who was another one of Warhol. Superstars and little little Gabby.

Hoffman from Sleepless in Seattle you. know she's a grown lady you know. middle-aged woman now uh and has talked. a lot about it um she'd love living. there but you know she was stepping over. people you know passed out with heroin. needles in their arms and you know on. her roller skates uh and just a you know. kind of a crazy life but to her it was. just like yeah just lived in this sort. of legendary Dy apartment building like. there was a gazillion nonf famous ones. in New York uh this one just happened to. be famous um I did see where her mom.

Viva eventually I don't think it was. ever published but she wrote a book uh. because writers always like very. cheekily say that like Gabby Hoffman was. sort of the Chelsea hotel's answer to. Eloise uh the children's book and. apparently her mom wrote a book called. Gabby at the Chelsea but I don't think. it I tried to find I don't think it was. ever released that's cute I would love. to see that yeah uh how about some more. famous stuff that happened there huh. yeah like liaison uh J jlin and Leonard. Cohen that's a big one yeah um he wrote.

about that in Chelsea Hotel number two. one of his songs very famous song um so. they were together from 68 to 70 when. Janice died um I don't know if they were. like a an item or if they just you know. liked hanging out if you know what I. mean I think I know what you mean but. regardless they were just a famous um. couple from there yeah that's not the. right word I'm having trouble pulling. words out of the air another couple that.

you could probably call more of a couple. was Patty Smith and Robert Maple Thorp. they moved into the Chelsea they were. totally broke at the time Patty Smith. became like the the poet of the punk. scene uh Robert Maple Thorp famously. became. um the devil incarnate with his um. photos provocative pictures that's a one. way to put it sure of BDSM culture and. gay culture in the 80s and like almost.

got the national endowments for the Arts. canell although I think it's unfair to. say it was him Jesse Helms almost got. the Nea cancelled um and it was Robert. Maple Thorp was just making art and. Jesse Helms just did not think a. bullwhip coming out of a man's rectum. was. Art that's right uh I have that book I. haven't read it yet it's on the the. Shelf with a bunch of other rock and. roll books that I have yet to get to but. Jessie story no yeah exactly what a rock. and roll. story uh Patty Smith's book that she.

wrote about her time with Maple Thorp I. think it's called Just. Kids uh that I'm looking forward to uh. to getting into but um boy can I tell a. quick Patty Smith Bob Dylan story is. there nothing to do with the Chelsea. Hotel yeah well you know what I'm gonna. say it does I'll say she told him here. okay uh if you're a Dylan fan you'll. like this you can just check out for a. second but on Bob Dylan's very famous. Rolling Thunder tour uh that he took up. in. 7576 some people look at that as like.

some Peak Dylan live. performance uh unbelievable stuff but he. uh has a performance of his song Isis. one of his great songs after the record. uh off the Record desire where it's just. one of the great live performances of. anyone ever is his performance on. Rolling Thunder of Isis and he uh. doesn't play the guitar um and he's just. standing there and he didn't do that a. lot and he Patty Smith is the one who. encouraged him he said Bob you should. you should do I without the guitar and. he said Patty I don't know what to do.

with my hands and she said make them. into. fists so did he hell heck yeah he did. okay uh and Patty Smith wrote also about. um the Chelsea a lot and uh the. restaurant there it's not officially. part of it but it's connected you can. get to it through the hotel uh elih hod. um underwent a lot of. Renovations um to reopen it was a it was. a pretty big dive of a place uh back. then but it was cheap food and it was.

Spanish food and so people ate there. even though apparently the food wasn't. good I saw it described uh was it the. paa could have been consistency of. yesterday's oatmeal the taste of the. sangria might be best described as. purple uh but before the Woodstock Music. Festival Patty Smith went to the Chelsea. or was living there I guess and she said. I walked into El cot's Bar one afternoon. in 1969 to find musicians everywhere. sitting before tables laid with mounds. of shrimp and green sauce paa pictures.

of sangria and bottles of tequila. Jefferson Airplane was there so was. Janice Joplin and her band Jimmy. Hendrick Sat by the door like can you. like just walking into a restaurant and. seeing something like that. happening incredible. yeah yeah you be like I don't really. care about any these people no I do I. love Jimmy Hendrick and clearly I love. at least Jefferson Starship. right you were like one day you don't. know it yet you're going to write a song. called Sarah that's right and I I've.

spent at least one summer just listening. to Janice Joplin's Greatest Hits over. and over again so I could be done with. that scene man should we take a break. yeah all right we'll be right back and. we'll finish up on the Chelsea Hotel. right after this. [Music].

[Music]. all right we talked about people dying. at the Chelsea so we we should probably. talk more specifically about this uh. because it it seemed to happen a lot. right yeah um there were people who. jumped out of Windows remember it was a. 12-story building um and this was. nothing new uh people there was a. there's a a rumor of a ghost of a woman. who supposedly lived there was an artist.

who was upset with herself and cut off. her hand and then threw herself out the. window and this would have been in the. first couple decades of the 20th century. but it didn't stop with her it just kept. going and going and going and then even. if um someone uh didn't die by Suicide. or wasn't murdered or their place wasn't. set on fire um just the day-to-day grimy. grittiness of it of heroin addicts like. shooting up in the bathro rooms or sex. workers like washing their underwear in.

the bathrooms that was another quote. from the oral history of all places that. vanity fairhead on the Chelsea Hotel um. like there was just a a definite Dark. Side to it which was I it just kind of. underscores what I was saying before. that people were like and I felt so safe. there and it was like what was it like. outside of this building if this is what. it was like inside you. know yeah that's a good point um there. was a a very um notorious death there uh.

depending on who you ask Sid Vicious. murdered his girlfriend ncy spongin uh. there in room 100 in October of. 1978 uh we we can't say for sure because. he denied it to his last days which was. before he went to court he died of a. heroin overdose before he was able to go. to trial for that but what we do know is. that Nancy spungin um was stabbed to. death there yeah there's a um a. biographer author named Phil strongman.

or strongman I would call myself Phil. strongman if that were my name but he he. wrote a punk um a punk non-fiction book. I guess called pretty vacant and he. points to Rockets reged glare who was a. bodyguard for the Sex Pistols at the. time who was the last person known to. have seen Nancy Spong and alive and um. there was also supposedly a bunch of. money cash in the apartment that could. be accounted for after her body was.

discovered so he makes a pretty good. case apparently also rockets red glare. was um admitted to it later on to some. people so who knows but I don't think it. was Sid Vicious yeah I know rocket red. glare from a lot of those early Jim jish. movies uh interesting dude um Rufus way. wri uh lived there in uh 2000 to work on. a record and there's a pretty funny. story there where he was um he called. down to the front desk and asked if they.

could send up a quart of milk and. apparently the Bellman arrived with a. tray full of just tons and tons of drugs. because milk un unbeknownst to Rufus was. the code word at the Chelsea for uh. drugs yeah because he was the only. person in the history of the hotel who. actually wanted milk at one point and. you mentioned Ethan Hawk or uh I was. about to say our old friend we don't. have nothing to do with him I know I. love Ethan Hawk I think he's a a great. passionate artistic dude but he lived.

there uh for three years when he was. sort of um I don't know think he was. fully divorced but was when he was with. um Thurman they were kind of on the. Rocks yeah and and he made the movie. Chelsea walls in 2001 which is a series. of short films about a day in the life. of people at the Chelsea Hotel so you. know something about him I've become. more and more of a fan over the years I. think he's really kind of grown into his. talent yeah yeah I think he's I like the. guy a lot and I like his daughter and I. like Uma I think uh I'm big fan of that.

family yeah who's his. daughter uh Maya Hawk she's an actor oh. I don't I'm not familiar up and coming. she's on Stranger Things is probably. what most people know her from these. days oh. okay um so what else Chuck and she looks. just like Uma oh really yeah it's it's. really funny I mean a little bit of. Ethan in there but she's got uma's. mannerisms and voice it's it's pretty. cool nice so um the you mentioned that. the Chelsea Hotel underwent Renovations.

for a long time uh over a decade from. what I saw the whole thing started when. Stanley Bard was forced out back in 2007. or eight I saw both um remember that his. father David Bard had purchased the. Chelsea with two other families two. other men well their SS were basically. like you are not um making money here. like he was very St was very famous for. accepting art in L of rent if you were.

hard you know down on your luck uh but. you were an artist like he would just. you know look the other way for a few. months like he was not running it like a. business and he was very open about that. so apparently The Heirs of the other two. owners were like you need to get out we. have two-thirds of a vote and you're out. and that was when things just kind of. yeah big bummer things just started to. change because a few years after that. sold it to some. investors uh I think that was in 2011.

they sold it for $80 million the. investors came in fired all of the staff. because they were Union and brought in. non-union workers um they did away with. basically everything that was cool and. intangible about the place a and they. also took down all the art like one of. the things Stanley did was hang art by. the artists who lived there all. throughout the place it was just Laden. with art they took all of it off the. wall put it in storage apparently some. that wasn't Stanley's or that wasn't the.

hotels too the Larry Rivers Foundation. is suing to get one of his paintings. back that they say was just on loan um. and from that point on it just became. kind of hamfisted and not very pleasant. for the people who live there in the. Chelsea yeah it it's very controversial. renovation uh cuz like you said there's. still people living there some of those. residents um held out and fought it and. uh for as long as they could some other.

residents were mad at those residents. because they were like we're just living. under construction because it's taking. forever because you're fighting this. like it's going to happen just give up. so we can at least get this finished and. live a normal life again um so it really. you know depends on your perspective. there's a really really good documentary. that I highly recommend called Dreaming. walls from 2022 where they go inside a. lot of these original Residence. Apartments uh see what they're like. there are also some good books about. this um from what I found as of now I.

think there's about 40 of them still. there uh original residents in those. apartments and when you stay there. you're walking down the hall to your. room and all the doors look the same and. then you'll come across a door that's. not the same and that's an original. resident yeah um which is pretty cool. that they're still there they're also. rent controlled I believe which is how. they're able to still St oh for sure. yeah and I this is one of those things. where I really like staying there but I. I feel like man I bet these people hate.

people like me that like staying here. right he walking around all a Gog in the. I know and like you know with my. nine-year-old. daughter uh who's not Gabby Hoffman. right she's not on roller skate she's. not an Uncle Buck I know so I have very. mixed feelings about the whole thing. about like if if does staying there. support that kind of action in general. or well you know you you bring that up I. thought that too um you me and I say. there couple of times over the years we. did the most Avant guard thing you can.

do we stayed at the Chelsea Hotel when. we went to see comedian Tom rhs at the. Gotham Comedy Club next door oh yeah. that's very close yeah he's super. underground but I mean I I totally get. that feeling that you're talking about. where it's just like this was something. and now is this the like the doed up. version like kind of the fake disneyi. version of what it used to be and that. leads me to question that I had. throughout researching this Chuck where.

is whatever the Chelsea Hotel was now. where is it I don't think it's in New. York anymore I don't think it something. like that can survive in New York. because it's just gotten so wealthy and. wealthy and wealthy and wealthiness ises. not really um it doesn't really jive. with what the Chelsea Hotel was in its. Heyday. so like where is it is it somewhere else. in the world is it in Kansas like where. did this go I I really want to know. who's doing really interesting cool work.

um these days where can you find it or. is it just not around I know I'm with. you and and also the notion of like it's. a pretty easy target but like you know I. bet the the holiday in express and Time. Square kicked out some residents for. whatever building they took over you. know like is there any Hotel Group on. the earth that isn't gross and did. things like that in these Dent cities. yeah I mean look what happened to San. Francisco like it lost a lot of its oh.

yeah I don't want to say luster because. it wasn't luster that it that made it so. Charming but it lost some of its Jam. yeah for sure but you know El keot is. awesome now they've got some really good. chefs that work there uh you know big. shout out to uh John Pacini he's the. general manager there he's a stuff you. should know listener he's always been. very kind to me uh so big shout out to. him and he's just he's done a great job. and the p is good now and I've had some. really great experiences in that.

restaurant and in that hotel the lobby. bar there is amazing like it's a truly. great place to go have a drink and if. you if you stay there you can get in um. but if you don't stay there you can. still go get a drink there I would. recommend it um so I don't know it's. it's definitely makes me question things. but like I said is is there a place in. New York where original residents. weren't screwed over in some way or. another to make way for some new. expensive thing oh I mean also not just. like people living there I mean like the.

art the the the the artistic vibe that. was there where do they go because it's. not like dies you know I know I know and. and a lot of those 40 residents or or. some of them are still artists making. art there yeah for sure they just go a I. don't know if that documentary was. accurate but I think that the residents. either aren't allowed to use the main. entrance or maybe they just prefer not. to I could see either one actually I. really could too actually uh well that's.

it for the Chelsea Hotel we could keep. going on and on and on but I feel like. this is a good place to stop don't you. uh yeah I mean let's quickly mention. that there were some very famous things. auctioned off like good call some of the. famous doors Bob Dylan's door was. auctioned off I think either Leonard. Cohen or or uh or uh Janice Joplin store. was auctioned and that iconic sign as. best I can figure was r renovated but. part of that renovation included. replacing the letters and those original.

letters were sold off cool thank you for. figuring that out because I could not. make heads or taals of how the sign was. restored but then they auctioned off the. sign yeah I think just pieces of the. original you know you got a C on both. sides and H and E on both sides um and. you know I think you found even that. they had them wired so you could put it. in your your Loft and light it up pretty. awesome pretty cool uh uh okay well. that's it uh that's it for Chelsea Hotel.

uh if you want to know more about the. Chelsea Hotel go check out the Chelsea. Hotel and since I said Chelsea Hotel. three times as was foretold in 2008 I've. unlocked listener. mail that's right uh and to prevent. another listener mail yes we know Naked. Lunch was written there thank you thank. you sir and a lot of other stuff was. written there you can't cover at all no. uh hey guys this is about inner. monologues 2 because I mentioned side. for me thinking weird things when I'm. falling asleep I mentioned Emily's thumb.

spelling and it turns out a ton of. people do stuff like that and I told her. and she was just delighted to find out. that she is in a club um hey guys over. after a decade I finally have the. inspiration to write in the latest. episode Chuck mentioned Emily spells out. words with her thumb while stressed I do. something extremely similar but instead. of tracing the letters I spell them out. in the sign language alphabet wow uh and. there were all kinds of variations some. people air type um. sometimes it's cursive sometimes as sign. language like it's really interesting uh.

I spell them out in sign language. alphabet been doing it since I was at. least 11 and I've never heard of anyone. else spelling out words while stressed I. would love to know the reason but I'm. also just content to know that someone. else has a similar eccentricity uh. thanks for sharing such a lovely. anecdote of what it means to love. someone with all their little Oddities. and picadillos one of my favorite words. yeah uh it's the acceptance and joy in. the mundane and extraordinary in life. that keeps me coming back every week for. a new episode I'm a s listener I'm sure. you're going to get dozens of these. emails claiming to be Emily's long lost.

finger spelling twin but I had to write. in because I've always wanted to stay. weird and Lauren ner uh or Neer I'm not. sure how you pronounce it um you are in. a larger Club because we got heard from. a lot of you yeah that's really cool I'm. glad Emily's. delighted yeah I'm delighted too me too. well if you want to be like Lauren and. write in and let us know that you're a. part of a club Too Well we'd love to. hear that kind of stuff you can send it. off to stuff podcast at iheartradio.com.

stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart radio for more podcasts ihart. radio visit the iHeart Radio app Apple. podcasts or wherever you listen to your. favorite shows. [Music].