New Chelsea Hotel manager has heart for art’s sake

By Scott Stiffler

The Chelsea Hotel’s newest manager has plans to renovate the landmark building and engage its resident artists—giving hope to some tenants while others remain unconvinced.

Six weeks into his tenure, Andrew Tilley has continued to assure that physical improvements to the building are just beyond the horizon. In addition to promising better communication between tenants and management, he envisions a post-construction scenario in which the hotel displays the work of its in-house artists. As well as legends of the past, those artists include current residents who help perpetuate the Chelsea’s lucrative image as a destination for creative types and their admirers.

Resident and photographer Linda Troeller, who met with Tilley on Tuesday, confirmed longstanding rumors that plans for upgrading the hotel will include “recognizing the artists who live here through showing their art and photography.” She said that Tilley “has dealt with memorabilia and art at the Hard Rock Hotel chain [his former employer] and very much respects the artists now in the hotel. He sounds very sincere, and has shared this vision with a few other residents.”

Tilley maintained that he will continue to reach out to the hotel’s sizable artistic community. “The vision we have is to highlight the artists who live here,” he said this week. “We’d like to use their art in our rooms and throughout the hotel.” He acknowledged that these additions will only be implemented once all the necessary capital improvements have been made made to the building.

Those promised changes remain a source of long-simmering disputes and skepticism regarding the ultimate impact on those who call the Chelsea home. In a recent Chelsea Now article, Tilley vowed to “refurbish and renovate the hotel while preserving the heart and soul of the building.” He also indicated that he’d be sending out a letter to all the tenants “to let them know who I am and exactly what our plans are for the future.” Two weeks later, the absence of that letter or any presentation of a timeline and plan for physical improvements has some residents on edge. “Right now, we’re building a team to get the process rolling,” Tilley said of the impending construction. As for the letter, he assured it’s “going to go out soon.”

Commenting on the anticipated letter, resident Ed Hamilton, who wrote a book on the hotel and maintains a popular blog on the landlord/tenant situation, sounded doubtful.

“We keep waiting for it, but I don’t have any faith that he’s ever going to send it,” he said.

An Aug.1 entry on Hamilton’s “Living with Legends” blog on the topic of evictions and construction maintained that “The hotel is in court with about 40 of us because they are refusing to acknowledge that our apartments are rent stabilized. In addition, only last week several residents received notices on their doors advising them to pay up in three days or face eviction proceedings.” Hamilton speculated that the construction Tilley speaks of will be financed in part by higher rents imposed under the guise of a capital improvements fee.

As for Tilley’s accessibility to tenants with concerns, resident Arthur Nash confirmed that Tilley has “been spotted in the maintenance stairwell walking up and down.” That seems to make good on Tilley’s assertion that he does a top-to-bottom inspection of the building daily. “Sightings are gaining in frequency, but they’re still few and far between,” Nash added. Tilley countered that “when I see residents collecting the mail from the front desk or leaving their room, I introduce myself.”

On the job since July 1, Tilley’s voice mail is often full and still bears the name of his predecessor David Bernstein. Again assuring those concerned of pending improvements, Tilley refers to the voice mail problem as a technical situation that will “hopefully be rectified by the end of the week” when the old system is replaced. “If I’m inaccessible,” he said, “people can leave a message with the front desk. If they’re a resident, they can come to the front desk and ask for me; I come around and meet them.”