A Zoned Hotel for the Arts?

Sherill Tippin's Op/Ed piece in the NY Times reminds us that when the Chelsea was built New Yorkers were facing a similar housing crisis. She writes, "The Chelsea was built to address this problem. A French-born writer, inventor, architect, and idealist, Philip Gengembre Hubert, introduced the cooperative apartment system to New York, specifically to free New Yorkers from the burden of overpriced housing and to encourage the cross-class intermingling neded to nurture a cohesive culture." Tippins also mentions how readers of this blog have responded with creative solutions as to how to deal with the recent hostile take over of the Chelsea. Here’s one of the more interesting.

Surely, if the Soho artists could get an entire neighborhood zoned just for artists, the Chelsea, with its landmarked status, could work with foundations, friendly investors, artists-with-money, the Bards, and residents to create a zoned hotel for the arts.


Read more about the ongoing struggle to save the Chelsea Hotel in NYC, HERE