The
Hotel Chelsea, also known as the
Chelsea Hotel, or simply
the Chelsea, is a historic
New York City hotel and landmark, known primarily for its history of notable residents. Located at 222 West
23rd Street, between
Seventh and
Eighth Avenues, in the
Manhattan neighborhood of
Chelsea, the 250-unit hotel has been the home of numerous
writers,
musicians,
artists, and
actors, including
Bob Dylan,
Virgil Thomson,
Charles Bukowski,
Janis Joplin,
Leonard Cohen,
Patti Smith,
Iggy Pop,
Jobriath, and
Larry Rivers. Though the Hotel Chelsea no longer accepts new long-term residencies, the building is still home to many residents who lived there before the change of policy. As of August 1, 2011, the hotel has closed for renovations.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote
2001: A Space Odyssey while staying at the Chelsea, and poets
Allen Ginsberg, and
Gregory Corso chose it as a place for philosophical and artistical exchange. It is also known as the place where the writer
Dylan Thomas was staying when he died of
pneumonia on November 9, 1953, and where
Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of
Sid Vicious of the
Sex Pistols, was found stabbed to death on October 12, 1978.
Arthur Miller has written a short piece, "The Chelsea Affect", describing life at The Chelsea in the early 1960s.
The building has been a designated
New York City landmark since 1966, and on the
National Register of Historic Places since 1977.
