In a saga drawing intrigue and support across social media, New York City’s iconic Hotel Chelsea is attempting to evict a long-time artistic inhabitant whose vibrant creations add a splash of color to its corridors. However, this tenant isn’t conceding quietly.
Gerald DeCock, aged 67, has taken his battle to the digital sphere, seeking support in his quest to remain in his uniquely decorated studio apartment. His home, adorned with gold-leaf and glowing star motifs, was once occupied by none other than Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Kiedis back in 1994, as DeCock recounts.
“I’m not after money. I’m not requesting any sort of buyout. All I wish is to continue living here,” DeCock, originally from Colorado, shared with The Post. “I don’t want a disruption to my life.”
For nearly two decades, this artist and hairdresser has been paying $2,700 monthly for his 10th-floor sanctuary in the storied Manhattan landmark, a haven for creatives that has hosted luminaries such as Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and even literary giant Mark Twain.
Today, visitors can stay in rooms starting at $650 per night, highlighting the hotel’s continued appeal and exclusivity.
He said his battle with the hotel’s 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.
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.
Yet even after the resident’s last court loss in 2025, the owners of SIR Chelsea LLC bought 21 of his metallic and abstract paintings — which run from about $60 to $300 a pop, depending on size — to line the hotel’s historic walls.
Then they handed him an eviction notice.
“In retrospect, I feel like it was maybe strategic,’’ said DeCock, who told the New York Times that he earned about $70,000 last year cutting hair and selling his artwork.
“They treat me like a moron.
“They’re kicking me out because I’m 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–t,” DeCock said.
“I’m a brand of the hotel — I’m an artist. I sell my paintings, I paint every day … They’re so disrespectful to me, considering that I’m decorating their f–king hallways.”
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.
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.
“Tubby and the Tuba” composer George Kleinsinger also previously lived in the unit, the man said.
He said that when he moved into the place in 1994, his rent was $2,000 a month — or roughly $4,500 in today’s cash — and that it steadily climbed to $2,700 by 2007.
At one point, the hotel’s 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.
“You’re exploiting my art, you’re exploiting me, and it’s so f–king cruel. That’s very cruel,” DeCock said.
The hotel — owned by real-estate investors Richard Born, Ira Drukier, and Sean MacPherson — did not respond to The Post’s numerous requests for comment.
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 “Vortex.”
Every inch of his walls and ceiling is covered in gold leaf, paint and tiles — and hundreds of his own abstract artworks.
“The Vortex — it just like it channels something in me. … It’s the energy. It’s not so much the [history of the] Chelsea Hotel; it’s the physical space. It allows me to be really prolific and make my art,” DeCock said.