Yale Club of New York City
50 Vanderbilt Avenue | also 49 1/2 East 44th Street, 49 East 44th Street, 51 East 44th Street | Midtown | built 1915
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1912
Outgrowing its West 44th Street home, the Yale Club hunts for a new site
The club's 1901 clubhouse on West 44th Street had helped membership nearly triple over a decade, from 1,270 to 3,250, and by 1912 the New York Times was reporting that the building had become too small. A building committee, first led by insurance executive George E. Ide, had been organized in 1910 to weigh several midtown sites. The most promising was offered by the New York Central Railroad at Vanderbilt Avenue and East 44th Street, steps from the trains to New Haven.
- 1913
Yale signs a 21-year lease from the New York Central for a clubhouse site above active train tracks
After the Yale Club outgrew its West 44th Street building, it chose a railroad-owned lot beside the new Grand Central Terminal. The terms were mostly agreed by May 1912, yet the lease was signed only in June 1913, for 21 years with renewal options. The clubhouse would sit directly over two sunken levels of working tracks, so the lease barred any projections below a set level and the railroad agreed to supply heat, electricity and water.
“…the lease was not signed until June 1913. It was a 21-year agreement, with multiple options for renewal.”
- 1914
Rogers checks his Yale Club design with Grand Central's architects so the two buildings match
To keep the new clubhouse in harmony with Terminal City, James Gamble Rogers consulted regularly with Warren & Wetmore, the firm behind Grand Central Terminal and the Biltmore Hotel. He chose a Renaissance Revival design with a limestone base, tan brick middle floors and terra-cotta top floors, where the main dining room sits. The Chicago Tribune reported in January 1914 that the terminal's architects had approved the plans.
“…he consulted regularly with the architects Warren & Wetmore, the firm that designed the terminal and the neighboring Hotel Biltmore…”
- 1915
The clubhouse site is chosen because members believed Nathan Hale was hanged there
The Yale Club's present clubhouse opened in June 1915 on a spot that members associated with Nathan Hale, the Yale alumnus the British Army hanged as a spy in the Revolution. Historians have more recently disputed where that execution happened. James Gamble Rogers, another Yale graduate, designed the building alongside the construction of Grand Central Terminal.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1915
The 22-story Yale Club opens at a reported cost of $1.25 million as the largest clubhouse anywhere
Designed by the Yale alumnus James Gamble Rogers, the fireproof clubhouse opened in June 1915 with 140 single rooms and 11 suites. Newspapers marveled at its size: the New York Times said New York had again satisfied its passion for superlatives, and some writers called it the biggest clubhouse in the world. The Hartford Courant said it surpassed the much-admired University Club in architecture.
“The clubhouse opened in June 1915. Twenty-two stories tall, the $1.25 million fireproof structure contained 140 single rooms, as well as 11 suites.”
- 1915
About 2,500 women tour the new Yale Club during its housewarming week
In early November 1915 the club held a week of housewarming events. On Ladies Day an estimated 2,500 women, from debutantes to grandmothers, walked through the building from the ground floor to the roof garden. The New York Tribune reported that their unanimous verdict was that the place was perfectly adorable, though women were not yet allowed to join.
- 1939
A separate women's dining room and service bar opens on the 22nd floor
In 1939 the club set up a separate women's dining room and service bar on the 22nd floor, three decades before women could become members. Even after membership opened in 1969, wider privileges, including use of the main dining room, the bar and some athletic facilities, stayed limited until 1974.
“In 1939, a separate "women's dining room and service bar" was established on the 22nd floor…”
- 1969
The Yale Club admits women as members in 1969, by a board vote of 35 to 15
Three decades after a separate women's dining room and service bar opened on the 22nd floor in 1939, the club finally opened membership to women in the summer of 1969, the year Yale College went coed. The club then had about 6,000 members and its board voted 35 to 15. Wider privileges, including the main dining room, the bar and some athletic facilities, did not follow until 1974.
- 1976
The club buys the land under its building from the bankrupt Penn Central for $1.25 million
In the early 1970s the bankrupt Penn Central, successor to the New York Central, asked to sell 24 Manhattan properties, and a federal court rejected many bids as too low. In 1976 the Yale Club bought the land beneath its clubhouse for $1.25 million.
“…in 1976 the club was able to purchase the land beneath the building for $1.25 million.”
- 1999
The club becomes the first Ivy League university club in New York to go business casual
In July 1999 the Yale Club became the first Ivy League university club in New York to relax its dress code to business casual. The change upset some members, and other clubs responded with polite scorn. The rule still holds everywhere but the athletic facilities. Starting in fall 2012 the club also permitted neat denim in the library and the Grill Room, and on the rooftop terrace in summer.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2002
The Heisman Trophy ceremony moves to the Yale Club after the September 11 attacks
The Heisman Trophy had traditionally been presented at the Downtown Athletic Club. After the 2001 attacks it was awarded at the Marriott Marquis, then held at the Yale Club in 2002 and 2003. Carson Palmer of USC won in 2002 and Jason White of Oklahoma in 2003, and the trophy sat in the lobby between portraits of Yale's two Heisman winners, Larry Kelley and Clint Frank.
“…the Heisman Trophy ... was presented at the Yale Club in 2002 and 2003. The 2002 winner was quarterback Carson Palmer…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2007
Robert Bork sues the club for $1 million after a fall from a dais
In June 2007 former Solicitor General and Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork took the club to federal court. He said he fell while heading for the dais to speak at a New Criterion magazine event, blaming the club for providing no steps or rail up to it. Bork said the injuries required surgery and left him with a cane and a limp, and he asked for $1 million plus punitive damages. The club and Bork settled out of court in May 2008.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
The city designates the Yale Club clubhouse a landmark after a hearing with six supporters
At a September 13, 2016 hearing, six people spoke for designating the Yale Club, among them speakers for the club, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, the Historic Districts Council, the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Municipal Art Society. State Senator Brad Hoylman sent written support, while the Real Estate Board of New York wrote in opposition. The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building on November 22, 2016.
Further reading
- The Yale Club of New York CityWikipedia
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