South:
264: Was Burritoville, local Mexican chain
260: Clearview Chelsea Cinema
was built 1989 as one of the first "modern" cinemas in Manhattan;
sold by Cineplex Odeon to Cablevision in 1998 for
antitrust reasons. My future wife and I saw our first movie
together here.
256: Was the address of Cavanagh's
Restaurant (1876-1970), hangout for
Diamond Jim Brady,
Lillian Russell, John L. Sullivan and Tammany Hall pols.
After the restaurant
closed, it housed
Galaxy 21 (1972-76), a gay disco closed by the police,
and the
Squat Theatre,
a venue for such musicians as Nico, John Cale,
Sun Ra and the Lounge Lizards,
and an inspiration to filmmaker Jonathan Demme.
254: East of Eighth, gay-friendly bar and restaurant.
I ate here with one of my favorite people the first
time we met.
250: Emigrant Savings Bank was built in
1948 as Broadway Savings Bank.
248: Was Healthy Chelsea, longstanding health food store.
242: Fourth Federal Savings building features
scary animal faces.
236-38: Congregation Emunath Israel (since 1920)
was Third Reformed Prebyterian Church (1855).
228: Was Manhattan Comics & Card
226: El Quijote, the Chelsea's bar
and restaurant since 1930. A Janis Joplin hangout.
222: Built in 1883, it was New York's tallest building until 1902. A
hotel noted for writers, artists, musicians.
William Dean Howells,
Mark Twain,
O. Henry,
Edgar Lee Masters,
Sarah Bernhardt (who reportedly slept here in a coffin),
Lillian Russell,
Dylan Thomas (#205),
Tennessee Williams,
Arthur Miller,
Mary McCarthy,
Brendan Behan,
Vladimir Nabokov,
Gregory Corso,
John Sloan,
Claes Oldenburg,
Willem de Kooning,
Jackson Pollock,
Virgil Thomson,
Janis Joplin (#411),
Jimi Hendrix,
Patti Smith,
Jim Carroll, etc. Art from many tenants hangs on walls,
usually offered in lieu of rent.
Thomas Wolfe wrote Look Homeward Angel here;
William Burroughs
wrote Naked Lunch;
Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001 (#1008);
Bob Dylan
wrote "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" (# 2011);
Leonard Cohen (#424) wrote
"Chelsea
Hotel No. 2" about it.
Andy Warhol filmed Chelsea Girls.
Some of Nine 1/2 Weeks was shot here, as was
the avant-porn movie Stunt Girl.
Sid Vicious killed Nancy
Spungen in Room 100 in 1978.
I was taken here
once after a very successful first date; on another occasion, I
met a delightful kitten at a costume party here.
Serena, styley and pricey bar in the
Chelsea's basement, has hard-to-spot entrance.
220: Chelsea Guitars has fancy vintage models
218: Capital Bait and Tackle, since 1897
208: Carteret building houses Righteous Urban Barbecue,
where they're serious about barbecue. Used to
have Twirl, 1980s-inflected dance club.
206: Jake's Saloon was The Basil, Thai restaurant,
which replaced
The Nouvelle Justine, aka Maison de Sade, an S/M-themed
restaurant. Before that
(in the early 1990s) it was the Zig Zag, which
had a cool neon sign (and was an early date spot for my wife and me).
Upstairs (when it was the Oasis Bar)
was once Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe's loft.
202 (corner): Chelsea Savoy hotel is notably ugly.
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