{"id":298897,"date":"2026-07-17T19:05:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298897\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T19:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:05:37","slug":"hotel-chelsea-trying-to-evict-artist-gerald-decock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/298897\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Chelsea trying to evict artist Gerald DeCock"},"content":{"rendered":"

The city\u2019s famed bohemian Hotel Chelsea is trying to boot<\/a> a longtime artist resident whose wildly colorful work lines its own hallways, but he\u2019s fighting back<\/a> on social media \u2014 and winning loads of support.<\/p>\n

Gerald DeCock, 67, recently publicized his plight online to try to boost his bid to stay in his gold-leaf and glow-in-the-dark star-adorned studio apartment, whose last tenant was Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman <\/a>Anthony Kiedis in 1994, the resident said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want money. I\u2019m not asking for a buyout. I just want to stay here. I don\u2019t want to disrupt my life,\u2019\u2019 the Colorado native recently told The Post.<\/p>\n

Gerald DeCock has lived in his fantastical digs at the famed Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan for 32 years. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

The hotel even bought 21 of DeCock\u2019s paintings to line the walls of the establishment \u2014 before serving him an eviction notice. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

The artist and hairdresser said he has been paying $2,700 a month for nearly 20 years for his 10th-floor apartment at the eccentric Manhattan haven-for-the-arts \u2014 frequented over the years by the likes of Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and even Mark Twain.<\/p>\n

Rooms currently start at $650 a night for guests.<\/p>\n

He said his battle with the hotel\u2019s owners over his home and work space began in 2007, the last year they accepted long-term leases and about 10 years into his time there.<\/p>\n

DeCock has since lost five court cases trying to prove his apartment should be rent-stabilized and that his rent should have consistently been closer to the monthly $600 that a previous tenant paid before him.<\/p>\n

The artist and barber has covered every inch of his walls and ceiling in gold leaf, paint and tiles. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

Yet even after the resident\u2019s last court loss in 2025, the owners of SIR Chelsea LLC bought 21 of his metallic and abstract paintings \u2014 which run from about $60 to $300 a pop, depending on size \u2014 to line the hotel\u2019s historic walls.<\/p>\n

Then they handed him an eviction notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn retrospect, I feel like it was maybe strategic,\u2019\u2019 said DeCock, who told the New York Times that he earned about $70,000 last year cutting hair and selling his artwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey treat me like a moron.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re so disrespectful to me, considering that I\u2019m decorating their f\u2013king hallways,\u201d DeCock told The Post. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

DeCock said the hotel treats him \u201clike a moron.\u201d Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re kicking me out because I\u2019m in a vulnerable spot. If you go to the Chelsea Hotel website, the first page is like how they are a patron to the arts. This is bulls\u2013t,\u201d DeCock said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a brand of the hotel \u2014 I\u2019m an artist. I sell my paintings, I paint every day \u2026 They\u2019re so disrespectful to me, considering that I\u2019m decorating their f\u2013king hallways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dozens if not hundreds of strangers have penned letters to the hotel calling out the alleged hypocrisy and accusing its owners of selling out the quirky community that made it famous.<\/p>\n

DeCock turned to social media in a desperate plea for help as he awaits yet another court hearing next month over his battle for his home, which has been featured in numerous books and TV segments about the famous hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cTubby and the Tuba\u201d composer George Kleinsinger also previously lived in the unit, the man said.<\/p>\n

He said that when he moved into the place in 1994, his rent was $2,000 a month \u2014 or roughly $4,500 in today\u2019s cash \u2014 and that it steadily climbed to $2,700 by 2007.<\/p>\n

DeCock has named his apartment the \u201cVortex,\u201d saying the space helps him channel his creative energy. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

At one point, the hotel\u2019s owners said they would move DeCock into a different unit for $10,000 a month, but they rescinded the offer once he started his social-media campaign pleading his case.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re exploiting my art, you\u2019re exploiting me, and it\u2019s so f\u2013king cruel. That\u2019s very cruel,\u201d DeCock said.<\/p>\n

The hotel \u2014 owned by real-estate investors Richard Born, Ira Drukier, and Sean MacPherson \u2014 did not respond to The Post\u2019s numerous requests for comment.<\/p>\n

But despite the bad blood, DeCock said he has no interest in ridding himself of the apartment he cultivated into a space he calls the \u201cVortex.\u201d<\/p>\n

The famed hotel has housed many notable names, including Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan. Tamara Beckwith\/NY Post<\/p>\n

Every inch of his walls and ceiling is covered in gold leaf, paint and tiles \u2014 and hundreds of his own abstract artworks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vortex \u2014 it just like it channels something in me. \u2026 It\u2019s the energy. It\u2019s not so much the [history of the] Chelsea Hotel; it\u2019s the physical space. It allows me to be really prolific and make my art,\u201d DeCock said.<\/p>\n

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