Metropolitan Club (New York City)

In the late 19th century, New York City contained many private social clubs, which were largely based on British social clubs. The Union Club was restricted to 1,000 members, resulting in a long waiting list and several offshoot clubs. Local newspapers published the names of blackballed applicants, resulting in humiliation for both the applicant and their sponsor. 1890s Establishment Morgan decided to form the Metropolitan Club after the Union Club failed to accept King and Webb. He was soon joined by other displeased members of the Union Club, including members of the Goelet, Iselin, Roosevelt, and Vanderbilt families. Sherman and many of the invitees attended a dinner at the Knickerbocker Club on February 20, 1891, to discuss the formation of Morgan's club. The founders next had to decide on a name, and they considered names such as "Millionaires' Club", "Park Club", and "the Spectators". The Metropolitan Club was formed on March 7, 1891. J. P. Morgan was elected as the club's first president, and the founders planned to invite 1,200 resident members (who lived in the New York City area) and 500 non-resident members (who lived further out). which exclusively served the city's Jewish community. Sherman claimed that the new Metropolitan's organizers did not know about the older club on 58th Street. The new club's members opened a temporary office at the Madison Square Bank Building, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue, 23rd Street, and Broadway. Membership lagged after the club had signed on 650 members. The founders wished to build a clubhouse near Central Park, which would both serve the uptown crowd and be larger than the Union Club's existing building. Three of the Metropolitan's members—Robert Goelet, Adrian Iselin Jr., and Samuel D. Babcock—obtained an option to buy seven of Hamersley's land lots. The site was next to the under-construction Elbridge T. Gerry Mansion on 61st Street and several other clubs including the New York Athletic Club, Liederkranz, Arion Society, and Seventh Regiment Veteran's Club were nearby. The board of governors settled on a parcel measuring after initially contemplating a smaller site. paying $480,000. The club offered $100,000 in cash and taking a mortgage loan of $380,000 from the Hamersley estate's trustees. Construction The club selected the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to design its clubhouse, and the architects, Charles McKim and Stanford White, became charter members of the club. and John D. Crimmins began digging up the site. McKim, Mead & White spent the next several months drawing up plans for the clubhouse, adjusting the plans to fit the club's demands. Goelet submitted preliminary plans for the clubhouse to the city's building department the same month. Although there was a tentative agreement on the interior design, the board of governors and the architects continued to discuss the facade's design, including the location of the main entrance. The Real Estate Record predicted that the structure "will undoubtedly be a noteworthy addition to the club houses of the city", McKim, Mead & White hired David H. King Jr. as the general contractor, and Morgan was heavily involved with many aspects of the design, including such minute details as the carpets. Work was delayed in mid-1892 when laborers went on strike. The new clubhouse was almost complete by early 1893. By then, the influx of new members had slowed dramatically, and existing members' annual dues could not adequately fund the club's operations. The club's members took out two mortgage loans from the Bowery Savings Bank that year for a combined $1.6 million. The Union Club contemplated merging with the Metropolitan in mid-1893, but the Union's members ultimately voted against a merger. Additional labor strikes delayed the building's construction further, and the final architectural details were not added until February 1894. contrary to the club's common nickname, Millionaires' Club, not all of the members were millionaires. The first official event at the clubhouse took place February 20, 1894, when the board of governors ate dinner in the strangers' dining room. The Metropolitan hosted a public preview of the clubhouse at the end of February 1894, Several thousand people attended its first reception. The club's finance and building committee disbanded in April 1894 with a surplus of $122,519. The Metropolitan also arranged hansom cab service, telephone service, and newspaper subscriptions for its members. The club had 1,030 members by the following year, including influential industrialists, politicians, and financiers, as well as members of well-off families. and events were often hosted in the northern wing. The club's board of governors initially did not want to impose an additional fee on its members. The Calumet Club unsuccessfully proposed merging with the Metropolitan Club, and there was also a failed proposal to merge with the Union Club. and it also relaxed its rules for non-members. Existing members were not visiting the clubhouse frequently because they were attending events elsewhere. At the time, the club had 1,062 members as well as 22 people on its waiting list. The club had 1,200 to 1,300 members by the middle of the decade, of which about 1,000 were resident members. Its roof garden was also popular during the summertime. John McGowan, who owned the neighboring building at 11 East 60th Street, offered to sell the building to the club in 1905, but he withdrew his offer after the Metropolitan presented a counter-offer that was 30% less. The club's only surviving original trustee, Charles Lanier, agreed in 1909 to transfer ownership of the clubhouse to a new board of trustees. Morton remained the club's president until November 1911, when Frank K. Sturgis took over as the Metropolitan's third president. J.P. Morgan & Co. provided $165,000 to finance the club's acquisition of 11 East 60th Street, and the club hired Ogden Codman Jr. to renovate that house. Codman expanded the clubhouse into 11 East 60th Street's rear yard, and he removed that building's entrance stoop. Simultaneously, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was planning to build a New York City Subway station at Fifth Avenue–59th Street, next to the clubhouse. The Metropolitan's members initially opposed a subway entrance next to the clubhouse but ultimately agreed to give the BRT an easement to build the subway entrance. Meanwhile, the onset of World War I barely affected membership numbers. From the beginning of 1914 to the end of 1919, membership declined by just one, to 1,370. and the club simplified its menu the same year, citing wartime shortages. By 1918, there were 125 Metropolitan Club members fighting in World War I. Ultimately, six club members died in the war, and a plaque was installed on the main floor to honor them. After Prohibition in the United States began that year, banning the sale of alcoholic beverages in the U.S., the club's executive committee began allowing members to bring their own drinks, charging a service fee for each drink. In addition, the club added lockers for alcoholic beverages. 1920s and 1930s |alt=The facade as seen from Grand Army Plaza The board of governors voted in 1921 to charge each member another $100 to cover the club's budget shortfalls. At the time, the clubhouse was valued at $2.2 million for tax purposes. After a failed attempt to increase membership fees in 1922, the board appointed a committee to discuss proposals for the club's future. The club finally succeeded in raising membership fees in 1923. This allowed the club to earn a small profit in 1924 and repay the clubhouse's mortgage the next year. The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York also lent the club $1.5 million in 1925. Sturgis resigned as the Metropolitan's president in 1926, The next year, the clubhouse was slightly damaged in a fire. The operators of the neighboring Hotel Pierre offered to buy the clubhouse, but the club's board rejected the offer. Morris died in 1928, two and a half years after he became the club's president, and was succeeded by George Emlen Roosevelt. the club's membership reached a maximum of 1,436 in 1929. With the repeal of Prohibition that year, the club applied to the New York state government for a liquor license. The southern ground-level lounge was converted into a bar, and the club also began allowing women to eat dinner in the main clubhouse. That February, the club's financial difficulties prompted the board of governors to consider merging with "some club of similar standing", The club's board also contemplated issuing bonds or levying an assessment on members, Later the same year, the board suspended initiation fees until it could attract at least 250 more members. 1940s and 1950s The club celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1941 with a dinner at the Everglades Club in Florida. At the time, the club had five surviving charter members, who had joined when the club was formed. Amid the onset of World War II, the club recorded a $265,000 loss between 1942 and 1944. and the women's dining rooms in the north annex were closed. Guernsey Curran took over as the club's eighth president that March, and the club owed over $58,000 in unpaid real-estate taxes by the end of the year. In addition, the club's mortgage loan from Mutual Life was about to mature, but the Metropolitan had not paid interest on the loan in several years. The board of governors considered several plans to reorganize the club in early 1945, including selling the clubhouse. The members contemplated acquiring Gladys Szechenyi's house at 1 East 67th Street, but they ultimately decided to keep the clubhouse and raise money to pay off debts, renovate the clubhouse, and provide capital for the club. Curran, who had been advocating to sell the clubhouse, resigned as the club's president in March 1945, and several of his allies also resigned their membership. Curran's successor, Lee Warren James, devised a plan to pay off Mutual Life. Due to slower-than-expected bond sales, the club also raised the annual dues the next year. The club continued to experience financial issues, and James had to refinance the club's loan in 1947 because of lower-than-expected bond sales. James stepped down as the club's president in 1951, The Metropolitan began leasing out space to external organizations in 1955, when the Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company leased the ground floor of the north wing. 1960s and 1970s Richard H. West took over as the club's 14th president in 1960 after Reid resigned. The city and national governments began charging taxes on the Metropolitan's membership dues in 1961, though the federal tax was repealed four years later. or sell it to the Russian government for use as a consulate. To pay for further improvements to the building, the club began asking its members in 1962 to contribute between $24 and $120 a year. Over the next two decades, the club earned $42,000 to $118,771 per year from these contributions. The Metropolitan discussed the possibility of merging with, or cross-honoring the memberships of, the Lotos, Manhattan, and Houston clubs during the early 1960s; none of these proposals passed. The club began renovating the clubhouse's facade in September 1965. The next year, the kitchen was moved from the third mezzanine to the third floor for $226,000, and additional bedrooms were built. After West's resignation in 1966, Spruille Braden became the club's 15th president that year. The main bar was renovated in early 1969, with funds from anonymous donors. Another donor also contributed $100,000 to pay off the club's debt. More than a hundred members resigned between 1970 and 1972 alone, when dues were raised by 60%; as a consequence, income from dues increased 30%. Braden stepped down as the president in 1973 and was replaced by Peter Hilton, who died a year later. occupying the former ladies' dining rooms. The Metropolitan also established membership classes for members of the Canadian Club and for women. the partnership with the Canadian Club helped the Metropolitan pay off taxes and other expenses. Alger B. Chapman was appointed as the Metropolitan's 17th president in 1974, serving for three years; he was replaced by Harold B. Hamilton in 1977. The club considered demolishing its courtyard in the 1970s and replacing it with a 30-story hotel designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox; the hotel would use air rights from the existing clubhouse. At the time, it was one of several high-profile sites in New York City that were being considered for redevelopment. Subsequently, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) hosted hearings in 1978 to discuss whether the Metropolitan clubhouse should be preserved as an official city landmark. The LPC granted the designation on September 11, 1979. 1980s and 1990s The Great Hall's stained-glass windows were restored in 1980 for $6,000. The membership, once composed of white men, included numerous women and South Americans. After Hamilton died in 1982, William Dawes Miller became the club's 19th president in 1984 To raise money for the clubhouse's maintenance, the Metropolitan created the One East Sixtieth Street Historical Foundation, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, in 1985. Each member was asked to donate $120 annually to the foundation, and by 1985 the foundation was earning $150,000 a year for the clubhouse's upkeep. Due to changes in U.S. federal tax law, large donors to the foundation received substantial tax benefits. after the club encountered further financial and maintenance issues. and Park Tower hired James Stewart Polshek Partners to design a 37-to-39-story structure using these air rights. The tower would have been built above the original clubhouse's annex and northeastern corner, Although the project's supporters claimed the tower would include space for organizations and raise money for the club, local groups and preservationists objected to the plan on aesthetic grounds. The proposal needed approval from the LPC, After the tower was canceled, the Metropolitan Club started cleaning the clubhouse's facade in 1988 for more than $1 million. Frank Matero was hired to repaint the exterior and repair holes on the facade. and the facade renovation was completed the next year. The project included connecting the ladies' dining room to the rest of the clubhouse; restoring the murals; and renovating the bedrooms. Though the Canadian and Metropolitan clubs ended their partnership in 1993, many of the Canadian Club's members became full members of the Metropolitan. The firm of Byrns, Kendall & Schieferdecker was hired to renovate that space. Acheson Thornton Doyle was hired to restore the bedrooms. 2000s to present The Metropolitan Club began renovating the Great Hall in 1999, though the project was not completed for twelve years. The 60th Street sidewalk and one of the entrance colonnade's columns were rebuilt in 2000 after club members discovered damage there. In addition, the club began planning a rooftop dining area on the clubhouse's sixth floor, also designed by Acheson Thornton Doyle. Starting in 2005, workers constructed a new kitchen and food-preparation area above the alley, and they rebuilt the roof to accommodate the new spaces. Workers also upgraded the existing clubhouse to bring it in line with modern building codes; for instance, the club widened the building's original staircases. The project experienced delays and budget overruns after workers discovered damage on the roof. The new main dining room on the roof opened in 2007, and food sales at the clubhouse doubled after the penthouse dining room was completed. The Metropolitan continued to be dominated by older members. By 2010, the median age of members was 62, and one-tenth of members were 46 or younger. The club's main entrance gate was reinstalled in 2012 after being removed for renovation, and a business center opened at the club the next year. After Brandrup resigned as the club's president in 2013, Robert Strang took over. In 2023, the Metropolitan Club sued the neighboring Hotel Pierre, claiming that the hotel's operators had caused $450,000 worth of damage to the clubhouse during a renovation of the hotel. The club's members claimed that debris from the hotel had been falling onto the clubhouse for four years. ==Clubhouse==

The site has a frontage of on Fifth Avenue and on 60th Street, at the northeast corner of these two streets. the Pierre hotel to the north, and the Park Cinq building and the Sherry-Netherland hotel to the south. Stanford White of McKim, Mead & White designed the original building in the Italian Renaissance style. The design of the clubhouse may have been patterned after various Italian palazzi, as well as palazzo-style English clubhouses. Exterior Form The original clubhouse measures , with the longer dimension on 60th Street, and has a rear wing measuring . Behind the courtyard is the rear wing or women's annex, which rises two stories above ground. To the east of the original building is the east wing, which was built as a five-story bachelor apartment building before Codman redesigned it as a six-story dormitory. The eastern courtyard is placed behind a three-bay-wide colonnade with a central carriageway flanked by two pedestrian entrances. This colonnade is tall There was originally a third column in front of each pair, but they were removed when 60th Street was widened in 1922. The western and eastern ends of the colonnade are supported by square piers. The design of the courtyard may have been inspired by a similar courtyard that McKim, Mead & White designed for the Villard Houses. while the entrance to the rear wing is on the eastern side. These entrances are accessed by sidewalks on either side of the courtyard. As designed, the central carriageway measured wide and tall, while the pedestrian entrances measured wide and tall. At the time, some of the private houses on the same block were designed in the same style and made of the same material. while the Fifth Avenue elevation is narrower, with five bays. The facade's ground, or first, story is rusticated. A string course runs horizontally above the first floor, at the same level as the top of the courtyard's colonnade. and have egg-and-dart moldings. The balcony on the third story is one bay wide on both the western and southern elevations. Cherry, mahogany, and oak wood were used for the interiors, along with iron handrails and bronze lighting sconces. One real-estate magazine described the interior spaces as "the loudest work of art [...] ever presented to an astonished American public". First story and Great Hall The building is entered through two vestibules There are also two lounges adjoining the main hall to the south and west. In 1990, a ladies' lounge was built next to the main entrance. Within the north wing, the ground story had a Louis XV–style dining room for ladies, which had a greenish-yellow color palette. These spaces are known as the Governors' Room and L. W. James Room, respectively. as well as irregularly shaped light-blue panels with Cupid motifs, both designed by Edward Simmons. A barrel-vaulted hall led to the dining rooms. Vogue magazine wrote that "no more beautiful example of architecture is to be seen in New York". The New York Times wrote that the layout of the clubhouse's interior was "simple and intelligible" and likened the building to a grand palace. The Times wrote in 1945 that "the exterior and interior design are outstanding examples of Mr. White's genius". Two years later, Brendan Gill wrote that the clubhouse had been developed when White was "at his grandest and most self-confident". A critic for Newsday wrote in 1990 that the clubhouse was "a splendid palace, fit for kings of industry". In a 1994 book about New York City's architecture, the writer Donald Reynolds stated that "the lines of the building are clean and fine and the proportions monumental". ==Membership and governance==

Board of governors When the Metropolitan Club was founded, it was controlled by a board of governors. A five-member executive committee controlled day-to-day operations, meeting every week to discuss topics such as staff firing and hiring, supplies, and prices. The club's flag originally included the initials MC in red and blue, placed on a white background. When the club was formed, potential members had to be at least 21 years old, and the Metropolitan Club's board of governors had to vote on whether to accept a prospective member. Members could be "blackballed", or rejected, if at least one-ninth of the governors voted against them. The club's bylaws also permitted the board of governors to request that resident members pay additional annual dues. The club's membership book includes the original constitution, and each member must sign the membership book when they join. The original bylaws allowed servicemembers to pay half the usual dues; this privilege was extended to clergy members in 1940. Since 1989, prospective members can be nominated only by existing members. Any potential member under age 35 is classified as a junior member and does not pay initiation fees. Initially, only men could be members, The club began allowing widows to become members in 1935, and it also introduced the Annual Lady Guest Privilege by the 1960s, which had to be re-approved every year. Certain prominent public figures could also be designated as honorary life guests starting in 1959. In addition, members who had been part of the club for more than 50 years could also qualify for a special title starting in 1963. Seven Metropolitan Club members founded the United Hunts Racing Association at the clubhouse in 1905, and 38 guests founded the India House at the Metropolitan in 1914. In addition, the clubhouse hosted meetings for other clubs such as the Maplewood Institute Association, the Hobby Club, and the Indoor Polo Association. Metropolitan Club members also established their own mini-clubs within the clubhouse, including a dinner club and a group named the "Busybodies' Associates". Member amenities The club provided several amenities for its members. For example, there were originally horse-drawn carriages traveling from the clubhouse to the intersection of Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street, where club members could transfer to elevated trains. The executive committee also arranged with the New York Cab Company and with a cab operator to provide hansom cab service to club members. For a fee, members could park their bicycles in the clubhouse. In addition to the business center, there are phone systems and fax machines throughout the clubhouse. In addition, the Metropolitan has reciprocal agreements with other clubs worldwide, such as the Jockey Club and California Club; members of the Metropolitan receive benefits from these clubs and vice versa. The club also hosts cocktail parties for new members each year, and it gives commemorative pins to people who have been members for at least 25 or 50 years. Two valets staffed the bedrooms. Members of clubs with reciprocal agreements were also allowed to use the bedrooms. At the time, very few men's social clubs in New York City allowed women to enter their clubhouses, and a commentator for The New York Sun believed that the mere presence of women "is likely to bring about changes" to other clubs. Female visitors were originally banned from the main clubhouse, although they were allowed into the two-story rear wing, Smoking was banned in most parts of the clubhouse; as smoking became more socially acceptable, this restriction was gradually repealed until, by 1925, smoking was allowed everywhere except for the rear wing. Men are required to wear jackets and ties, while women are required to wear dresses, pantsuits, or skirts. The dress code also prohibits informal clothing such as T-shirts, jeans, and shorts. Cellphones and laptops have also been banned in most rooms. The club's business center is exempted from the dress code and electronics ban. In addition, the dress code is relaxed for certain events at the clubhouse. The club's board of governors has expelled or reprimanded members who have violated house rules. In the club's early years, the board most frequently penalized members who had not paid their debts or who had been caught falsifying checks. ==Activities==

Like other Gilded Age social clubs, the Metropolitan Club functioned largely as a meeting place for the wealthy. During January and February of each year, members of high society tended to congregate in New York City, and the club hosted several high-society events. Meetings, receptions, and luncheons took place in the northern annex and in the strangers' dining room, as well as dances hosted by members' wives. In addition, the club hosted Grand National Sweepstakes Dinner on the night before the Grand National, and it presented lectures on Sunday afternoons during the 1930s. The clubhouse has held many business events; for example, several club members formed the U.S. Steel corporation at one such meeting in 1901. During the mid-20th century, the club marketed the clubhouse as a venue for events such as debutante balls. The Metropolitan's debutante balls are open only to relatives of members, so each ball usually features four to eight women, compared to public balls with up to 75 debutantes. Other events hosted during the late 20th century included the Doric Debutante Cotillion and monthly dinner dances. Most of the largest events took place toward the end of each year. The club's annual events include Christmas celebrations, formal balls, golf tournaments, and game dinners. The billiards rooms and card rooms were some of the clubhouse's most popular spaces for entertainment, and the club had committees for games such as billiards, bridge, gin rummy, and backgammon. Members also frequently participated in other pastimes, such as bowling and bicycling. The club continues to host billiards and bridge games in the 21st century. ==Notable members==

Founders The club had 25 founders. Some were members of families who had long dominated New York City society, while others were lawyers, art patrons, and bankers. Notable founders include: • Samuel D. Babcock, banker • John Lambert Cadwalader, lawyer • Augustus Newbold Morris, socialite • James A. Roosevelt, merchant • J. M. Waterbury, businessman and polo player Although the club did not have any black members as late as the 1990s, • Alexander Agassiz, scientist and engineer • William Waldorf Astor, businessman and politician • Hugh D. Auchincloss Sr., merchant and businessman • George Fisher Baker, financier • James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher • Clark M. Clifford, U.S. Defense Secretary • Arthur Vining Davis, businessman • Marshall Field, businessman • David H. Greer, rector • Henry Lee Higginson, businessman • Samuel Insull, businessman • David H. King Jr., contractor • George Goelet Kip, lawyer • Samuel Henry Kress, businessman • Seth Low, politician • Robert Maclay, merchant, business executive, and civic activist • Joseph A. Martino, businessman • Cyrus McCormick, inventor and businessman • William Dawes Miller, engineer • Thomas Newbold, politician • George Browne Post, architect • Percy Rivington Pyne II, financier • John J. Raskob, businessman • Thomas Fortune Ryan, businessman • William L. Strong, politician • Frank K. Sturgis, banker • Louis Comfort Tiffany, designer In addition, various non-members have been named as honorary life guests, including military personnel and heads of state. These have included Harold Alexander, William R. Anderson, Edward L. Beach Jr., Winston Churchill, Garrison H. Davidson, Frederick H. Ecker, Frederik IX, Alfred M. Gruenther, Ingrid of Sweden, Douglas MacArthur, Richard C. Patterson Jr., Arthur W. Radford, and Albert C. Wedemeyer. and church rector William S. Rainsford was also rejected that year. The financier Charles Yerkes was also reportedly rejected from the club. ==See also==