Hotel Chelsea hauntings and artistic lore

The Hotel Chelsea at 222 West 23rd Street housed generations of artists, writers, and musicians and became the source of many stories about unexplained noises, apparitions, and eerie occurrences. Notable residents have included Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, and Sid Vicious; the building's bohemian history and several high-profile deaths have fed its reputation for hauntings. The hotel’s paranormal claims are part of local folklore and are discussed in guidebooks and oral histories, though they are anecdotal and debated by historians.