The fifth floor of 231 East 47th Street was the most wonderful place in New York between 1962 and ’68 — unless, of course, you happened to own it. The space was home to Andy Warhol’s Factory, where there was a speed-fueled party just about every night, to which the Velvet Underground eventually provided a live soundtrack. By late 1965, Warhol’s landlord had gotten wind of what was going on at the Factory and sent the artist an angry letter about his “generally large parties… held after usual office hours” and advising him that “a congregation of the number of people such as you have had may be contrary to various applicable governmental rules and regulations and also might present a serious problem with the Fire Department regulations.” We don’t know how Warhol responded, but he did continue to occupy the space — and do whatever the hell he pleased with it — until 1968. See the letter after the jump, and visit Letters of Note for the transcript.
