Life and Death At the Chelsea
Another management smackdown catches more tenants, like dying rocker Jann Paxton, in the crossfire
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Tales of Retail
Jann Paxton is something of an enigma around Manhattan’s most mythical inn, the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street.
“I’ve been told that people call me ‘the ghost of the Chelsea,’” he said, “because I’m never seen. I’m kind of a hermit. … I almost never leave my bedroom—let alone the apartment.”
And yet, he may soon have to: On May 12, the 46-year-old Norfolk, Va., native is expected to pay more than $59,000 that he allegedly owes in back rent, according to a recent court order, or else lose his spacious isolation chamber on the hotel’s fifth floor.
“It’s not looking promising,” said the cash-strapped former singer-songwriter, who long ago divested himself of the “millions” he made in the music business, recording and touring around the turn of the millennium with his eponymously named band, Paxton.
“I’ve toured with Michael Bolton and Dee Snider and Stephen Stills. I’ve been featured on NPR. I have a couple of music awards. I was the real deal,” said Mr. Paxton, who lately relies on friends for groceries and packs of cigarettes. (He has threatened to sell some of his more valuable guitars in order to pay for more smokes.)
Even the recent firing of BD NY Hotels, the management company led by Richard Bron and Ira Drukier, hired last summer to replace longtime Chelsea Hotel proprietor Stanley Bard, seemed to offer little hope. (The judgement in his case was handed down beforehand.)
His dreaded eviction would add to a growing list of disappearing inhabitants at the old bohemian enclave in recent months.
At least 15 hotel tenants have already been expelled during BD’s relatively brief 10-month stint in charge of hotel operations—a statistic the firm has proudly touted on a list of purported accomplishments included in court papers contesting its sudden termination.
Mr. Paxton would bring that number up to 16.
Not that BD seemed to be waiting for a final tally. The fired managers had already beaten him out the door on Monday, leaving residents wondering who’s in charge, while lawyers for both sides prepare to squabble over incentive fees, renovation delays and the inability to bring in chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten for a new eatery, among other issues mentioned in court papers.
For those guys, it will likely come down to dollars and cents. For Mr. Paxton, meanwhile, it’s a matter of life and death.
“A court-appointed guardian is trying to get a stay of the eviction,” he noted, as next week’s deadline for payment rapidly approached, “because of my health.”
Complicating matters far beyond his financial woes, Mr. Paxton is terminally ill, stricken with cancer and a host of other ailments. “My health is so bad that if I’m evicted, I probably will die, living in an SRO or welfare hotel or something,” said Mr. Paxton, whose prior threats to take his own life, if evicted, prompted a number of court-ordered psychiatric evaluations.
HIS CASE SEEMS an apt metaphor for the hotel itself at this critical juncture in its 125-year history: a decaying relic of wilder times long gone, slowly succumbing to the effects of its own past excesses, yet stubbornly refusing to die, struggling to emerge anew amid the crushing pressures of modern times while, hopefully, not compromising its integrity.
It’s easy to understand why any hotel manager would want to free up a large living space like his. “I’ve been told I have the nicest apartment in the building,” Mr. Paxton said during an interview on Monday night in his apartment, where he lives with his 13-year-old pit bull, Ginger, for whom he named one of his albums, Ginger’s Dish. Next Page >
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What a sad joke the past events keep turning out to be. Now this stupid 150th nonsense. David Elder playing "dress up" as patron-to-the-arts Stanley Bard. It's stomach-turning and creepy. Wasting his time and the hotel's money on this charade, spending millions ousting an old manager and a professional management company while the money should be spent keeping the hotel from FALLING APART.
This whole art event is a disaster; paying homage to an era that has been dead for decades. Someone should call the FDNY as the room 600 space is illegal for events. And the co-curators and collaborators are unconscionable. Elder truly is one of you. Living in the hotel without paying rent, and laying about "curating" (ha! just like prep-school rich kid Arthur "Nash" Rosenblatt) Ask a real artist like the one pushing the envelope in 1032 what he thinks about the hangers-on. Few real artists live in the Chelsea today, just dying has-beens and never-weres, trying to scrape a living by clinging to the aura of the hotel, and churning out books about the legends of the hotel that they neither witnessed nor helped create. All you no-talent residents not paying rent are just as bad - or worse - than Elder or Krauss. Same goes for the stock brokers and daddy's-girls, and millionaire gym magnates who hole-up in rent-controlled apartments on the upper floors, while sad old ladies live in squalor beside them. Ed, especially Troeller and her drunk-driving husband. - Stop kidding yourselves! Can't you just let the hotel die in peace?
Sounds like the real story here is a sick musician moved into an apartment he couldn't afford, and the Bards stole $200,000 from some guy's credit card. Seriously, though, somebody should help this guy.
I felt sorry for this guy until i read the part that he went through the millions that he had made. Unless this guy went through his millions because of medical costs then I don't feel sorry for him at all. he hasn't paid his rent and he has a place to stay at a friend's if he wants to. Who's to say that he wasn't the one that put additional charges on his wealthy friend's card. he didn't even call his generous friend when the additional charges appeared for chrisssakes! Something seems very fishy about this guy.
real artist in 1032? you mean the hippy who paid a drug dealer seventy five grand so he could buy his way into the hotel without a lease? talk about hacks and trying to siphon off the past. 1032 has it down, and can't take a photograph to save his sorry life
hey raoul (obviously not your real name )if you have a problem with individuals take it to the source like you actually own a pair -- don't post it on a blog, hiding behind your keyboard like some little cunt
Joe Ambrose why would you sign your name "Raoul"?
naw thats not joe's sour grapes its glennon travis - probably posted from his blackberry as he stands on an unemployment line somewhere
I knew I needed to check in online for news of Jann for some reason, but never expected to read this.
Although it suits the (self-inflicted/self created) drama of your life, Jann -- and I mean that in the most respectful of ways -- I hate to think of cancer and all that. I was worried enough about your teeth, once upon a time.
Let your friend help, if nothing else. (And apologize again to the fellow with the credit card.) Am I still an old friend? I remember when you leveraged my blender for several lovely Paxton creations when I stopped by to pick it up years ago. Of course I still have them. So much nicer than a sterile appliance. And I have a better blender now.
God, but you're a survivor. A creator. A heart-stealer. God, but you'd already replaced me! I know, I deserted you like all the others... Did you try the bottle of pills thing over this, too?
I spoke with Randy years later. Heard you'd split for NYC. Read an interview when you were stitching for the stars. Found reviews of your CD online.
And I'll never forget your words of wisdom way back when: Youth, Power, Beauty, Money. (Or were they someone else's? While I'll Google that, I'm sure I ought to know.) I think of you often. Still have the secret copy I made of your Sweeney/Toby self-portrait that I wasn't even supposed to see. It's beautiful, and makes me think of you often.
Check out TheClassicalStation.org sometime. I'm not young anymore. Not powerful, nor rich. And whatever beauty there was, it fades. But the music's as beautiful as it gets, I've been listening to Butterfly lately, and the next generation will be lovelier than the first.
I hope you find a place of comfort. I just can't imagine that the grand adventure ends here.
You are still the most gifted, resourceful, unknowable and unforgettable artist I've ever met. Keep it spinning.
With all my love,
Joseph's Taffeta Butterfly Lover
this is sad. but i do think that he can make a comback. i supose that would depend on his health though, but some of his songs he wrote where about bisexuality, which is becoming much more widely accepted than it was before. a comeback would be good at this time, even if he started off by songwriting than working his way to realeasing songs of his own.
I thought I would Google my favorite cousin's name today and I came across this heartbreaking article. Jann you have so many people that love you and you have simply shut us out of your life. I understand that it hurts to be close to people. Feeling, loving and being loved and even hurting is so much better than being all alone. We were so close when we were children. I still remember a story you told me when we were about 7 and 9. You told me that in 1980 the police were going to come in to everyone's house and take away all of their clothes and everyone would be running around completely naked. You were always making up stories. I was a senior in 1980 and I still remembered that story with a bit of quiet anxiety. The short time you came back to our lives in the 90's was wonderful. You introduced me to so many new things. I remember coming to Manahattan and just sitting your bedroom listening to records all day like we were still kids!!! When I left at the end of the visit I cried and cried because you were sick and I was afraid I would never see you again. You told me not to cry and tried to reassure me as you stuffed salmon sandwich in my purse for the plane. We were close. Then after a couple years you started to shut us out. I apologize for the last letter I sent you. I wanted you to see how you were hurting me. You just completely shut me out. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for enriching my life and introducing me to Manahattan, Indian food, Randy, Louie, Rick, Andrew, Paul and Dave. Thank you for loving me once in your life. I pray that you will contact Pam and go home. I will always love you and I will always be your "rock". Even if you don't want me to.
Chris, as a friend who has been to see Jann quite often in the past year, i think it's not that he's trying to cut people out of his life. it's just that his methods of communication have been cut off as well as his cash flow. he can't make calls, but you can call the Chelsea (212-243-3700) ask for room 524.
Jann, I know we don't know each other well, even so I've wondered about you and how your doing often. I hope you know that I am at least one person in this world who loves and cares about you and I know there are others who do too. All of your family wants to give you their love. Let it be your gift to us by accepting that love and friendship from us. We will alway welcome you here.
Love, Shannon
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