NEW YORK, N.Y. -- While gentrification has turned most of the city into a shadow of its former self, one New York institution is holding strong to its roots -- the world famous Hotel Chelsea.

A new documentary from award-winning journalist Michael Maher airing on Australian Public Television features two local bloggers from Living With Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog and investigates what some call "The Last Outpost of Bohemia."

The bloggers featured are current residents Debbie Martin and Ed Hamilton, who moved into the Chelsea 12 years ago with dreams of becoming writers. They started a blog to tell the stories from the Chelsea Hotel, a haven for artists, as the neighborhood started to be taken over by what they describe as rich yuppies.

The documentary came after Hamilton wrote about the gentrification of the old McBurney YMCA building located in Chelsea. Hamilton wrote that the building was turned into condos "for soulless yuppies," complete with "worthless junk" disguised as art, like a framed AK-47 and a display of stilettos running along the living room wall (what Hamilton refers to as a "shameless display of wealth").

See the rest of the post that sparked the documentary here: www.hotelchelseablog.com

The documentary is about the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd Street -- a reminder of a more bohemian era in the face of Manhattan's development boom.

Some of the 20th century's most renowned artists took up residence in the hotel; Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were among the era's most well-known guests.

Fascinating details about the goings-on in the hotel through the years were incorporated into the documentary; Dylan Thomas drank himself to death there, the girlfriend of Sex Pistol Sid Vicious was murdered there, and the Clintons named their daughter Chelsea after a song Joni Mitchell wrote about staying there.

During the documentary, Hamilton showed his pride in being a member of New York City's rich blogging community by wearing a hat from the Blogger Summit that took place at WNBC on Jan. 31.

This is Maher's first report from America. He begins the documentary by explaining why the story is important enough to warrant coverage on Australian Television -- using New York to explain what's happening in cities around the world: "This city is in the midst of a development boom, the likes of which hasn't been seen since landmarks such as the Empire State building went up in the 1920s and 30s. But despite all the money pouring in and the rapid rate of gentrification, the district of Chelsea has managed to retain some of its Bohemian edge. This is a story about a unique hotel, its quirky residents and a couple of bloggers who fear they might be reporting on the last days of bohemia on Manhattan."

See the documentary at www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2007/s1919129.htm.