Hippie Math

People today are still living off the table scraps of the sixties. They are still being passed around - the music and the ideas.

Bob Dylan

Walk past the nodding junkies in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park and see remnants of gritty 1960’s New York City.

Walk another block to the former tenement building where Jack Kerouac edited his On The Road manuscript and see how Sean MacPherson transformed another gritty remnant into the city’s best hotel.

Built in 1900, the tiny rooms of the former single room occupancy (flophouse) hotel remain, remade as The Marlton.

By tiny, I mean scootch-sideways-to-get-around-the-bed tiny. But they’re wonderful. Mr. MacPherson used the Paris Ritz for inspiration, calling The Marlton his “Honey, I Shrunk the Ritz” moment.

The lobby is exquisite.

With a perfect bar.

The building has terrific bones, but its soul comes from the surroundings. Broke musicians, writers, and artists made today’s Greenwich Village possible.

Where Bob Dylan and Alan Ginsberg first met (L) and Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studio (R) are steps away

Mr. MacPherson is a hospitalitarian of the highest order. He’s got a long list of other projects, including: The Bowery Hotel, The Ludlow, and the always sublime Waverly Inn.

Sean MacPherson, photo by Karsten Moran

Mr. MacPherson grew up traveling the world with his single mom, a bohemian surfer with a bad case of wanderlust. They lived cheap and on the move, always looking for the next wave.

His business philosophy reflects his hippie upbringing: he claims his objective is to break even plus 10%.

And he continues to find the next wave. His latest venture is again living off 1960’s scraps with a renovation of nearby Hotel Chelsea.

Mr. MacPherson elevates the property game to another level. He is both brilliant and prolific - and while he may be making only 10%, it’s 10% of choice chunks of the world’s greatest city. That math works, even if it’s hippie math.