More Thoughts On Stanley Bard And His Hotel Chelsea

I keep thinking of the Hotel Chelsea and what's going on regarding the board's decision to replace manager Stanley Bard with a new management company. They just want to do what any business wants and maximize revenue -- and who can blame them for that? -- but there is reasonable fear that the wonderful and eclectic vibe of the Chelsea will be lost amidst the changes to come. Might we even see a Starbucks as a result of the envisioned "street-front retail program?"

Regardless, I'll always have my memories from my week-long summer of '90 stay at the Hotel Chelsea. One memory was posted here in August '06.

An excerpt:

Several months ago, I was going through a photo album of a vacation my father and I took to New York City back in 1990. We stayed at the famous Hotel Chelsea (Chelsea blog here) and had the big time. Among the photos was a letter from the Chelsea to my dad confirming his reservation. It was typed out in detail by the Stanley Bard himself. In closing, he personalized it by wishing my father and his son a good visit. Obviously, he had taken the time and care to remember more about my father than his credit card number.

The latest is that the new folks want to keep Stanley around as "goodwill ambassador." Well, that's something, I guess. I'd rather he go out fighting like hell, but it'd be a shame for any future visitors to see a Hotel Chelsea absent his presence.

This weekend, I'm going to try to find the photo album from my trip to the Chelsea. Stanley's typed out letter to my dad is in that album and I want to post a picture of it here. Wish me luck. I'll have to dig deep into my storage unit. A scary feat indeed.