On your left stands the Yale Club of New York City. And when I say stands, I mean it towers. At twenty-two stories, this neoclassical behemoth-an architectural style reviving the grand symmetry and towering columns of ancient Greece and Rome-is located at fifty Vanderbilt Avenue and remains the largest college clubhouse ever built.
It opened its doors in June nineteen fifteen. Take a peek at the historic image on your screen to see how the Yale Club's towering neoclassical facade remains a distinguished fixture along Vanderbilt Avenue amidst nearly a century of changing cityscapes. The architect, Yale alumnus James Gamble Rogers, designed it in conjunction with the construction of Grand Central Terminal. But the specific spot was chosen for a rather dramatic reason. The founders believed this very location was where another famous Yale alum, Nathan Hale, was hanged by the British Army for espionage during the American Revolution. If you check your app, you can see a photo of the plaque on the exterior commemorating him. Though modern historians now dispute the exact site of Hale's execution, the club firmly planted its flag here in his honor.
Inside, it is practically a self-contained city for its eleven thousand worldwide members. There are three dining spaces, four bars, a hundred thirty-eight guest rooms, squash courts, a barber shop, and a swimming pool famously known as the plunge. The main lounge features soaring ceilings, roaring fireplaces, and portraits of five U-S presidents who were members: William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, George H-W Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W Bush.
The club has seen its share of drama and colorful history. During Prohibition, the club supposedly stockpiled enough liquor in advance to keep its members comfortably lubricated until the ban on alcohol was finally repealed in nineteen thirty-three. And speaking of scandals, the club shocked the old-money establishment in July nineteen ninety-nine when it became the first Ivy League club in New York to relax its dress code to business casual. This sparked absolute pearl-clutching and polite scorn from rival clubs, but the Yale Club held firm.
Social progress here could be slow, however. When Yale College finally allowed women to enroll in nineteen sixty-nine, the club quickly followed suit and admitted them as members. But they did not let women into the bar or dining room until nineteen seventy-four, and the plunge swimming pool remained strictly off-limits to female members until nineteen eighty-seven.
The building has even hosted national sports history. Following the events of two thousand and one, the Heisman Trophy ceremony was temporarily moved from downtown and hosted right here in two thousand and two and two thousand and three. Through it all, the clubhouse has stood strong, surviving everything from Prohibition to a two thousand and seven lawsuit where a former U-S Solicitor General sued for one million dollars after tripping on a stage with no handrail, which the club eventually settled out of court.
For those curious, the Yale Club operates from six A-M to midnight, Monday through Sunday. Enjoy the view of this imposing clubhouse, and when you are ready, we will head to our next stop.
