His detractors did. A ridiculous photo parody of the underwear prank, depicting a smiling Mr. Tilley holding an enormous pair of blue panties, later turned up on the blog.
“My wife and I were also subscribed to over 79 monthly magazines by some anonymous person,” Mr. Tilley complained. “Things I can’t even read. Some in English. Some in Spanish. All types of magazines. It’s a lot of nonsense.”
MR. TILLEY is by no means the first administrator of the Chelsea’s post-Bard era to attain victim status.
Young BD Hotels designate Glennon Travis once claimed in court papers to have been “physically threatened on several occasions and spit on” during his time as manager.
The hotel’s vice president, David Elder, whose 2005 lawsuit ultimately resulted in Mr. Bard’s ouster, “has had eggs thrown at him and dog feces left at his door, fish sent to him in the mail, ‘Wanted’ posters with his face plastered around the hotel, ‘Get Out’ scribed on his door,” according to legal filings.
Hotel tenants insist they’re being harassed, too, by the threat of losing their homes.
Hotel brass has made no secret of its desire to evict permanent residents and renovate their rooms. “[A] conservative estimate that 20 of the 120 units that are now rented as apartments can be converted to the far more lucrative use of transient hotel rooms,” Mr. Elder has stated in court papers. In its own legal filings, BD Hotels proudly reported having “vacated more than 15 rooms” before its dismissal last April.
New security measures further heightened tenants’ fears after a hired guard last May allegedly assaulted one of the building’s most vocal activists. A formal harassment complaint stemming from that incident is currently being adjudicated by the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal. (The Observer, which chronicled events leading up to that confrontation, has been called as a witness in those proceedings.)
Despite all the animosity, many residents were hoping for a fresh start when Mr. Tilley took over last summer. “I encouraged tenants to keep an open mind and establish a dialogue,” said theater producer Scott Griffin, who convened a tenants association meeting with the new manager last August.
Then came more evictions, new regulations, firings of popular staffers—all chronicled ad nauseam on the Internet.
“I had a funny feeling it was going to end in tears,” Mr. Griffin said. “I pity the poor fool who walks into this place next.”
cshott@observer.com
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