The town’s famed bohemian Resort Chelsea is attempting as well a longtime artist resident whose wildly colourful work strains its personal hallways, however he’s preventing again on social media — and successful a great deal of assist.
Gerald DeCock, 67, just lately publicized his plight on-line to attempt to enhance his bid to remain in his gold-leaf and glow-in-the-dark star-adorned studio condominium, whose final tenant was Pink Scorching Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis in 1994, the resident mentioned.
“I don’t need cash. I’m not asking for a buyout. I simply need to keep right here. I don’t need to disrupt my life,’’ the Colorado native just lately informed The Put up.
The artist and hairdresser mentioned he has been paying $2,700 a month for almost 20 years for his Tenth-floor condominium on the eccentric Manhattan haven-for-the-arts — frequented over time by the likes of Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and even Mark Twain.
Rooms presently begin at $650 an evening for friends.
He mentioned his battle with the lodge’s house owners over his residence and work area started in 2007, the final yr they accepted long-term leases and about 10 years into his time there.
DeCock has since misplaced 5 court docket instances attempting to show his condominium must be rent-stabilized and that his hire ought to have persistently been nearer to the month-to-month $600 {that a} earlier tenant paid earlier than him.
But even after the resident’s final court docket loss in 2025, the house owners of SIR Chelsea LLC purchased 21 of his metallic and summary work — which run from about $60 to $300 a pop, relying on measurement — to line the lodge’s historic partitions.
Then they handed him an eviction discover.
“Looking back, I really feel prefer it was possibly strategic,’’ mentioned DeCock, who informed the New York Instances that he earned about $70,000 final yr reducing hair and promoting his paintings.
“They deal with me like a moron.
“They’re kicking me out as a result of I’m in a susceptible spot. Should you go to the Chelsea Resort web site, the primary web page is like how they’re a patron to the humanities. That is bulls–t,” DeCock mentioned.
“I’m a model of the lodge — I’m an artist. I promote my work, I paint daily … They’re so disrespectful to me, contemplating that I’m adorning their f–king hallways.”
Dozens if not tons of of strangers have penned letters to the lodge calling out the alleged hypocrisy and accusing its house owners of promoting out the quirky group that made it well-known.
DeCock turned to social media in a determined plea for assist as he awaits yet one more court docket listening to subsequent month over his battle for his residence, which has been featured in quite a few books and TV segments concerning the well-known lodge.
“Tubby and the Tuba” composer George Kleinsinger additionally beforehand lived within the unit, the person mentioned.
He mentioned that when he moved into the place in 1994, his hire was $2,000 a month — or roughly $4,500 in right this moment’s money — and that it steadily climbed to $2,700 by 2007.
At one level, the lodge’s house owners mentioned they’d transfer DeCock into a distinct unit for $10,000 a month, however they rescinded the supply as soon as he began his social-media marketing campaign pleading his case.
“You’re exploiting my artwork, you’re exploiting me, and it’s so f–king merciless. That’s very merciless,” DeCock mentioned.
The lodge — owned by real-estate buyers Richard Born, Ira Drukier, and Sean MacPherson — didn’t reply to The Put up’s quite a few requests for remark.
However regardless of the dangerous blood, DeCock mentioned he has little interest in ridding himself of the condominium he cultivated into an area he calls the “Vortex.”
Each inch of his partitions and ceiling is roofed in gold leaf, paint and tiles — and tons of of his personal summary artworks.
“The Vortex — it identical to it channels one thing in me. … It’s the vitality. It’s not a lot the [history of the] Chelsea Resort; it’s the bodily area. It permits me to be actually prolific and make my artwork,” DeCock mentioned.
