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Revision as of 18:25, 3 June 2021 by Epicgenius (talk | contribs) (ce)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) This article is about the private social club in New York City. For the club and historic structure in Washington, D.C., see Metropolitan Club (Washington, D.C.). For the 19th century baseball team, see New York Metropolitans.40°45′53″N 73°58′20″W / 40.76472°N 73.97222°W / 40.76472; -73.97222
The clubhouse's Fifth Avenue facade | |
Formation | 1891 |
---|---|
Type | Private social club |
Location | |
Website | metropolitanclubnyc.org |
The Metropolitan Club of New York (not to be confused with the Metropolitan Club in Washington D.C.) is a private social club in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it now allows women into membership.
History
The Metropolitan Club was formed in 1891 by J. P. Morgan, who served as its first president. It was actually the second organization with that name in its neighborhood. The New York Times reported on March 10, 1891, about the name selected two days previous:
There is already a Metropolitan Club, which for some years has occupied quarters in the neighborhood in which the millionaires think of building.
Other original members of the club included William Kissam Vanderbilt and James A. Roosevelt. "Each member, which included Vanderbilts and Whitneys, contributed $5,000 to buy the plot of land."
Clubhouse
The architects of the original building (erected in 1893) were McKim, Mead & White. The east wing, erected in 1912, was designed by Ogden Codman Jr. Its 1894 clubhouse, designed by Stanford White, stands at 1 East 60th Street, on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue. The land on which the Clubhouse stands (100 feet fronting on Fifth Avenue and 200 feet on 60th Street) was acquired from the Duchess of Marlborough who signed the purchase agreement in the United States Consulate in London. Cornelius Vanderbilt II signed the purchase agreement on behalf of the club.
The address for parking is 11 East 61st Street ("between Madison and Fifth Avenues" - "615 Garage Corporation").
House rules
The Metropolitan Club maintains a dress code as part of its house rules:
- Men must wear jackets and ties - "turtlenecks and ascots are not acceptable."
- Ladies should wear "dresses, skirts, dressy pant suits, or business pant suits."
- "Jeans, shorts, stirrup pants, leggings, stretch pants, tight pants, sweats and T-shirts are absolutely not acceptable."
Cell phones and laptops are prohibited in the Club except in private meeting rooms and bedrooms.
Activities
The club has had an ongoing involvement in the social life of the upper class, including fundraising, black tie balls, and sports.
Founding members
- J. P. Morgan (1837–1913), financier, banker, philanthropist, art collector, and the club's first president
- John Lambert Cadwalader (1836–1914), lawyer and founding member
- Robert Goelet (1841–1899), real estate developer and founding member
- George G. Haven, Jr. (1866–1925), businessman and founding member
- James A. Roosevelt (1825–1898), merchant and founding member
- Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843–1899), industrialist, philanthropist, and founding member
- William Kissam Vanderbilt (1849–1920), horse breeder and founding member
- Monte Waterbury (1876–1920), businessman, polo player, and founding member
- William Collins Whitney (1841–1904), United States Secretary of the Navy, financier, and founding member
Other notable members
- Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (1861–1952), architect
- Charles H. Tenney (1842–1919), merchant and banker
- Edward Eugene Loomis (1864-1937), railroad executive
- Frederick Townsend Martin (1849–1914), writer and advocate for the poor
- George Goelet Kip (1845-1926), lawyer
- James L. Holloway III (1922-2019), United States Navy admiral and naval aviator
- James T. Woodward (1837–1910), banker
- Jerauld Wright (1898–1995), United States Navy admiral
- Larry Pressler (born 1942), Republican politician and the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to the United States Senate
- Levi Parsons Morton (1824-1920), minister to France, Republican vice-president under Benjamin Harrison, governor of New York and second president of The Metropolitan Club
- Pippa Malmgren (born 1962), politics and policy expert
- Ray Price (1930-2019), chief speechwriter of President Richard Nixon
- Robert Maclay (1834–1898), merchant, business executive, and civic activist
- Robert Winthrop (1833–1892), banker
- Spruille Braden (1894–1978), diplomat, businessman, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and past president
- Walter Eli Clark (1869–1950), journalist and newspaper publisher
- Walter J. Cummings, Jr. (1916–1999), United States Solicitor General and federal judge
- William Astor Chanler (1867–1934), soldier, explorer, and United States Representative
- William Dawes Miller (c. 1918–1993), engineer and past president
- Woodbury Kane (1859–1905), yachtsman and member of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders
See also
- List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets
- List of traditional gentlemen's clubs in the United States
References
Notes
- The first organization to claim the name "Metropolitan Club" seemed to be described by The Times for over a decade, but the definite article "The" was not ordinarily capitalized.
Citations
- Wilson, James Grant (1893). The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892. New York History Co. p. 293.
- ^ "Inside 10 of New York City's most exclusive private clubs". October 26, 2015.
- "Very Hard On The Postmen.; It Would Seem That There Is One Metropolitan Club Too Many". The New York Times. March 10, 1891.
- "POLITICAL". NYTimes.com. October 4, 1858.
- Some sources claim 1894, but it is clear that much if not most of the work was done in 1893. One item even mentions 1892.
- "The Metropolitan Club".
Architect: McKim, Mead & White; Ogden Codman Jr. (east wing). Erected: 1893; 1912 (east wing)
- "The Metropolitan Club One East 60th Street at the corner of Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10022 Tel: (212) 838-7400. Parking is available at: 615 Garage Corporation 11 East 61st Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues New York, NY 10065 Tel: (212) 838-8869." "The Metropolitan Club - American Scandinavian Society".
- ^ "House Rules". Retrieved February 22, 2021.
- "Gives $15,780 for Opera; Metropolitan Club Adds Sum to Its $4,593 Individual Donations". The New York Times. May 3, 1940.
- "A Black-Tie Ball Fit for a Knight". The New York Times. September 27, 1915.
- "Metropolitan Club Annual Ball". The New York Times. December 28, 1978.
- "Backgammon Finals At Metropolitan Club". The New York Times. January 12, 1966.
... for the Children's Cancer Fund of America
- The Founder
Bibliography
- Porzelt, Paul (1982). The Metropolitan Club of New York. Rizzoli International Publications. ISBN 978-0-8478-0423-8.