Yesterday's press conference
Yesterday the Hotel Chelsea got some attention in the form of a somewhat impromptu press conference on the sidewalk outside of the landmarked building. In recent years the strong community that had formed over decades has fallen apart at the seams, which started to happen the minute Stanley Bard was forced to leave as manager. The current state of things inside is dismal, with some remaining tenants holding strong, as construction crews gut their home and expose them to hazardous conditions, and new landlord Joseph Chetrit makes eviction attempts.
[UPDATE BELOW] The press conference yesterday featured Speaker Christine C. Quinn, State Senator Tom Duane, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, the Chelsea Hotel Tenants Association, and local groups—all calling on Chetrit to reach an immediate agreement with tenants to repair hazardous conditions in the building. The problem is, many of the tenants we spoke with weren't exactly happy with the press conference, which they weren't even told about, nor are they happy with the Tenants Association, which they believe is a sham.
At the conference, Quinn told those gathered that "it’s unconscionable that the tenants of the Chelsea Hotel have been exposed to mold and other hazardous conditions as a result of negligence from the building’s new owner. Joseph Chetrit must immediately address these conditions and work with the Tenants’ Association to safely remove asbestos and mold from the Chelsea Hotel.” This was echoed by every other speaker, and Zoe Pappas, the President of the Hotel Chelsea Tenant Association, added, “After four months of good faith negotiations by the tenants, and assurances given to elected officials and Community Board representatives that a consent order would be signed, the landlords have delayed, obfuscated and stonewalled by refusing to enter into an agreement that would protect tenants’ rights at the Chelsea. By their acts, the landlords are defiling the long and glorious history of the Chelsea Hotel as a home to renowned writers, artists and musicians.”
While everyone seems to be fighting the good fight, other tenants of the hotel tell us they were given "zero advance notice of this sidewalk press conference," adding that they are "in no way represented by illegitimate 'Tenant Association' activity—most of which is a smokescreen disguising the organizers' true motive: netting lucrative cash buyouts for its (closed) membership."
While some tenants we reached out to weren't willing to go on the record, Arthur Nash told us, "The vast majority of Hotel Chelsea tenants do not belong to said 'Association' which has announced plans to solicit donations in our name but without revealing that any money raised will only benefit a lawyer hired by members of this tiny group—and no one else! Presently, the so-called Tenants' Assocation is reportedly indebted to lawyer Sam Himmelstein's firm for approximately $68,000—and they have yet to accomplish anything. Why don’t we join the 'TA' and grant it legitimacy? In part because we weren't invited. But mostly because of its corrupt leadership, and specifically its 'president', Zoe Pappas."
Photo of stop work order on Bob Dylan's former residence by Arthur Nash
Nash also told us that Pappas "sneakily became an 'architectural consultant' to those who fired Stanley Bard in 2007; illegally gutted apartments including Bob Dylan's former home; unapologetically contaminated private residences in late 2008; helped place Hotel Chelsea on a collision course with catastrophe;" and herself was slapped with a Stop Work Order lasting two years. Those who aren't a part of the TA appear to believe Pappas is functioning under a "monumental conflict of interest."
Photo by Sam Horine/Gothamist
Meanwhile, tenant Ed Hamilton tells us, "While we are not part of the tenant's association we agree that it is certainly important to clean up the living conditions in the building. However, this is only a side issue. The pressing matter is that the evictions of tenants continue unabated. The Chetrit's have had up to 30 people in housing and supreme court trying to evict them. They will drum up any kind of bogus complaint to drag tenants into court. The present number of people in Housing and Supreme Court stands at about 15 (some case have been thrown out for various reasons and other people have taken buy-outs and left the building). Look for more cases to be filed in the future."
UPDATE: Pappas's lawyer Samuel Himmelstein offers the following response to Nash's claims.
- My firm represents approximately 43 of the approximately 80 apartments at the Chelsea, (last time I counted, that constituted a majority) 36 of whom are plaintiffs in the pending litigation
- We represent 5 tenants who the landlord is attempting to evict
- We represent a tenant whose artwork was stolen by the hotel management
- The conditions at the Chelsea, while still bad, are much better than they were, in large part because of the work of the Tenant Association and having nothing at all to do with anything Mr. Nash or his cohorts have done.
- Today in court, the landlord and the tenants signed a comprehensive Consent Order, which requires repairs in the apartments and common areas and sets up a protocol for how future work will be done.
- I was NOT hired to obtain “Buyouts”. I have not negotiated a single buyout for a single tenant at The Chelsea. While I am ethically obligated to transmit any offers the landlord makes, that is not to goal of my work at The Chelsea, nor was it what I was retained to do. I was retained by the Association to assist my clients in ensuring that the uninhabitable conditions are rectified, and by several individuals to fight off the landlord’s attempted evictions.
He added that "neither I nor The Association are seeking cash buyouts. To the contrary, our goal is to keep the tenants we represent in their homes and to make sure that those homes are habitable."
