Chelsea Hotel NYC

In July 73 an English friend and I went to New York City for a visit. We flew into La Guardia with no plans made, walked out of the terminal to the taxi rank. Got in a cab and asked the taxi driver to take us to the "Chelsea Hotel." He had never heard of it. So he called dispatch and asked for directions. They were no help either. After heading into downtown Manhattan somebody in the dispatch office finally gave him the address. I do not remember it now but we did arrive at the Chelsea Hotel and checked in. Let me tell you, it did not live up our expectations. It was really seedy.

Chelsea Hotel has been written about in song and books by many artists. Patti Smith wrote about it in her autobiography, Just Kids. In it, she speaks of Robert Mapplethorpe and her early relationship when they got to NYC and how they lived in the Chelsea Hotel. From her timeline, it would seems that She and Robert were there that night my friend and I were staying there too. Dodging cockroaches!
When we were checking out, there was mail for Arthur C. Clarke on the reception desk. He, too, was a frequent patron when he visited New York. 

One of the most famous odes to the hotel is Joni Mitchell’s Chelsea hotel.  I heard her do it live before I left England and came to love the song. It was definitely the reason we headed there, but it was a sight to behold in summer '73.

Chelsea Hotel's front desk in the sixties. It is a completely different space these days. Very up-market.