Hotel Chelsea

The Hotel Chelsea rises on West 23rd Street in Manhattan, completed in 1884 and opened in 1885 as one of New York City's earliest cooperative apartment buildings, designed by the architect Philip Hubert in a Queen Anne Revival style with elaborate wrought-iron balconies running the height of its red brick facade. It was among the tallest buildings in the city at the time of its completion, and it converted to a hotel in 1905 after the cooperative venture failed financially. Over the following century it became known as a long-term residence for writers, musicians and artists, its guests and residents including Dylan Thomas, Arthur C. Clarke, Leonard Cohen and Andy Warhol associates, and it was the site of the 1978 death of Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of the musician Sid Vicious. The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.