From 2011- Metropolitan and Harmonie Clubs

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Metropolitan and Harmonie Clubs

The Metropolitan and Harmonie Clubs were both set up to provide clubs for people who could not get into others....except that originally the Metropolitan Club excluded Jews, which gave rise to the Harmonie.

From internet:

What perhaps is most remarkable about the Metropolitan Club (like the Harmonie Club across the street) is how unknown it is to most visitors and residents, particularly given its prominent location - one of the finest in all the city at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park - and its prestigious neighbors. It abuts the Pierre Hotel with the Sherry Netherland to the South and sits across from Grand Army Plaza and the Plaza Hotel. One block south we have the Apple store with its huge glass cube and from there the familiar, iconic Fifth Avenue flagship retail institutions - Bergdorf, Tiffany, Cartier, etc. The private club was organized by J.P. Morgan for his coterie of friends unable to gain admittance to other private clubs. The 1893 building is a McKim, Mead and White extravaganza with the feel of an Italian palazzo. I have not been inside, but I understand that the interior is quite grand with Corinthian columns, scarlet carpeting and a two story marble hall with a double staircase. The entrance, at 1 East 60th Street, is colonnaded with a carriage entrance and courtyard -  

Also from the internet:
The Harmonie Club is a social club in New York City. It was founded in 1852 as a singing and dining association for New Yorkers of German Jewish descent.
The club was reportedly formed in response to the inability of some prominent Jews to be admitted to the major social clubs of the day, which had tacit policies of discrimination. It was so successful that by 1884 the New York Times could report that "many of New-York's leading German citizens are connected" with the Club. In 1905 it moved into new premises at 4 East 60th Street; the new building was designed by Stanford White with lighting by Edward F. Caldwell & Co., and later alterations, inside and out, by Benjamin Wistar Morris.^[1] The earlier building was designed by Herts and Tallant, who had also designed the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Coram Library at Bates College.
The membership was originally entirely Jewish, and it served as the location of the meetings of the American Jewish Committee for several years, especially in the tumultuous 1930s;^[2] it took a leading role in resettling refugees from the Nazis and in ensuring their contribution to the Allied war effort. Albert Einstein and other prominent Anti- Nazi figures of the day sponsored events at the club to raise awareness of the persecution of Jews by the Nazis.
Over the years its political role in the community appeared to have moderated, and it became more of a social centre, as well as extending its membership to include non-German Jews; In 1987 it was the location of the world's 'most charitable' bridge game, which raised $62,000.^[3] The club currently has approximately 1,000 members and is host to various cultural, political, and entertainment events throughout the year.