Some of the artwork in on each floor. We rode the elevator to the top and got off and walked all the way down. This is one very cool, funky place! (Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols killed his girl friend here - thought you would want to know that!)

Dee Dee Ramone-

I've lived at the hotel on and off since 1974. I wrote the songs for Ramones, I get my best work done here at the hotel because it's quiet; the walls are really thick. I just want privacy. The Hotel is a nuthouse, but this is the place where I feel the safest. No matter where I go the Chelsea has always been a home for me. I tried to live a suburban lifestyle, but couldn't handle it because of all the traveling, commuting. I want to stay here, but people find out that I'm here, just knock on my door and then I end up with stalkers, so I have to move out for a while.

The Ramones were an instant success, all the guys had been in other bands, and I wanted to retire from music when I was 20, but the record company kept giving us another deal.

I've got a new book out called, "How I Survived the Ramones." I felt like telling the story of the band the way the publisher originally wanted was too harsh to tell. I wanted to tell pieces of the story, a lot of the good parts. The co-writers wanted to do vicious stories. I didn't want to trash the guys, so I had to write it myself. We're still friends. I feel good about it. I still play with all the guys occasionally, and I still have fun playing the songs with them. I'm going to write an album for them.

I have my own album coming out, but I don't think I'll tour with it. You see, I went to see Soundgarden with Marky Ramone a bit ago, and it brought back bad memories of being in a band. The way the band breaks things with all the tension and negativity. So no tour.

I like the hotel because it's a very social place. I saw a suicide here: a woman jumped from the ninth floor, and I heard a big noise when she hit a cab and landed right in front of me. The woman lay there for four hours, covered by a tarp, before they took her away. But out of this terrible thing, quite a few friendships developed as people in the building rallied together.

I'm also writing another book.