New York City day trip, Dec 6, 2008 (3089334811)

The Metropolitan Club of New York is a private social club on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the we ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was founded as a gentlemen's club in 1891 for men only, but it was one of the first major clubs in New York to admit women, though they still represent a minority.

History

The Metropolitan Club was formed in 1891 by

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...

, who served as its first president. It was actually the second organization with that name in its neighborhood. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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 William Kissam "Willie" Vanderbilt I (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and horsebreeder. Born into the Vanderbilt family, he managed his family's railroad investments. Early life William Kiss ...

and

James A. Roosevelt James Alfred Roosevelt (June 13, 1825 – July 15, 1898) was an American businessman and philanthropist. A member of the Roosevelt family, he was an uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt. Early life Roosevelt was born on June 13, 1825, to Corn ...

. "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 Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in addition ...

, stands at 1 East 60th Street, on the northeast corner of

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping ...

. The land on which the Clubhouse stands (with a

frontage Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...

of on Fifth Avenue and 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."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."

House rules

The Metropolitan Club maintains a

dress code A dress code is a set of rules, often written, with regard to what clothing groups of people must wear. Dress codes are created out of social perceptions and norms, and vary based on purpose, circumstances, and occasions. Different societies a ...

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 Black tie is a semi-formal Western dress code for evening events, originating in British and American conventions for attire in the 19th century. In British English, the dress code is often referred to synecdochically by its principal element f ...

balls, and sports.

Notable members

Founding members

(1837–1913), financier, banker, philanthropist, art collector, and the club's founder and first president *

John Lambert Cadwalader John Lambert Cadwalader (November 11, 1836 – March 11, 1914) was an American lawyer. Early life John Lambert Cadwalader was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on November 17, 1836. He was the eldest son of General Thomas McCall Cadwalader (1795–1 ...

(1836–1914), lawyer * Robert Goelet (1841–1899), real estate developer * George G. Haven, Jr. (1866–1925), businessman *

(1825–1898), merchant * Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843–1899), industrialist, philanthropist *

(1849–1920), horse breeder * Monte Waterbury (1876–1920), businessman, polo player *

William Collins Whitney William Collins Whitney (July 5, 1841February 2, 1904) was an American political leader and financier and a prominent descendant of the John Whitney family. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the first administration of President Grover Cl ...

(1841–1904),

United States Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

, financier

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 The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

admiral and naval aviator *

James T. Woodward James Thomas Woodward (September 27, 1837 – April 10, 1910) was an American banker and owner of a major thoroughbred horse dynasty. Early life Woodward was born on September 27, 1837 at Edgewood Plantation in Gambrills Station in Anne A ...

(1837–1910), banker * Jerauld Wright (1898–1995), United States Navy admiral *

Larry Pressler Larry Lee Pressler (born March 29, 1942) is an American lawyer and politician from South Dakota who served in the United States House of Representatives (1975–1979) and United States Senate (1979–1997) as a Republican. He remained active in ...

(born 1942), Republican politician and the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to the United States Senate *

Levi Parsons Morton Levi Parsons Morton (May 16, 1824 – May 16, 1920) was the 22nd vice president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He also served as United States ambassador to France, as a U.S. representative from New York, and as the 31st Governor of Ne ...

(1824–1920), minister to France, Republican vice president under Benjamin Harrison, governor of New York and second president of The Metropolitan Club *

Pippa Malmgren Philippa "Pippa" Malmgren is an American technology entrepreneur and economist. She served as Special Assistant to the President of the United States, George W. Bush, for Economic Policy on the National Economic Council and is a former member ...

(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 The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

, and past president * Walter Eli Clark (1869–1950), journalist and newspaper publisher * Walter J. Cummings, Jr. (1916–1999),

United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...

and federal judge *

William Astor Chanler William Astor "Willie" Chanler (June 11, 1867 – March 4, 1934) was an American soldier, explorer, and politician who served as U.S. Representative from New York. He was a son of John Winthrop Chanler. After spending several years exploring Ea ...

(1867–1934), soldier, explorer, and

United States Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

* William Dawes Miller ( 1918–1993), engineer and past president * William L. Harkness (1858–1919), Standard Oil heir and philanthropist *

Woodbury Kane Woodbury Kane (February 8, 1859 – December 5, 1905) was a noted yachtsman and bon vivant, and member of Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. A director of the Metropolitan Register Company, Kane served aboard the ''Columbia'' in the 1899 America' ...

(1859–1905), yachtsman and member of Theodore Roosevelt's

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and di ...

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

* {{Fifth Avenue 1891 establishments in New York (state) Clubs and societies in New York City Clubs and societies in the United States Fifth Avenue Gentlemen's clubs in New York City McKim, Mead & White buildings New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Organizations established in 1891 Upper East Side