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| Nickname | Penn Club |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1900; 126 years ago (1900) (incorporated) |
| Type | 501(c)7 not-for-profit,private social club |
| Headquarters | 30 West 44th Street |
| Location |
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| Services | Dues-based: Library, business center, fitness center, yoga studio,Yale Club Squash Court reciprocity Charge account-based: Meeting rooms, fine dining, casual restaurant, bar, hotel, spa, massage, events |
| Membership | 5,000+ globally |
| Affiliations | Princeton Club of New York[1][2] Columbia University Club of New York MIT[3] |
| Award | Platinum Club of America (consecutively) |
| Website | pennclub |
The Penn Club of New York (usually referred to asPenn Club) is an American501(c)7 not-for-profit, private social club located on Clubhouse Row[4] in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City. The club's 14-story building, which is adesignated landmark, is located at30 West 44th Street and initially was occupied byThe Yale Club of New York City.[5][6]
For 2023–2024, the Penn Club was named to the list of the Top 50 City Clubs and was ranked the second-best city club in New York City by Platinum Clubs of America.[7]
In November 1886, the first local group ofUniversity of Pennsylvania alumni outside of Philadelphia was formed in New York over dinner atDelmonico's Restaurant. At the alumni group's annual banquet at theWaldorf Astoria Hotel in January 1900, they presented a plan to secure "a convenient suite of rooms in the middle of the city, adjacent to a cafe."
On October 6, 1900, the Penn Club of New York opened in four groundfloor rooms in theRoyalton Hotel, just 200 feet (61 m) next door to today's clubhouse. It soon had more than 150 members at a time when only 400 alumni lived in the New York area, and received its charter from theNew York Legislature in 1901.
In 1905, the Club moved to "new and commodious quarters" in Hotel Stanley at 124 West 47th Street, where it remained until 1910. Between 1911 and 1922 (duringWorld War I), the club temporarily did away with a clubhouse, instead focusing on their annual banquet.
In 1922, after a three-year search, the club's directors leased two townhouses on East 50th Street, next to today'sNew York Palace Hotel. Throughout the 1920s, the Penn Club on East 50th Street was active and successful. Its dining and guest rooms were regularly filled and its dinners and programs were highly attended. During theGreat Depression in 1935, it vacated its townhouses.
Thereafter, it shared space in the Cornell Club formerly on East 38th Street, moved to two other clubs, and landed in thePhi Gamma Delta Club on West 56th Street, where it remained until 1961, when it moved to theBiltmore Hotel. The Club stayed in the Biltmore Hotel until the hotel was gutted and made an office tower in 1981 by Paul Milstein.
The Penn Club's next clubhouse was at30 West 44th Street, developed forthe Yale Club of New York City and opened on May 1, 1901.[8][9] The Yale Club occupied the clubhouse until 1915.[10] The building was next occupied by the newly-organizedDelta Kappa Epsilon,[11] theArmy and Navy Club of America,[12] thefederal government of the United States,[13] theOrganized Reserve Corps of the Army,[14] theArmy Reserve School,[15] andTouro College.[16]
In 1989, university trustees bought the then-11 story building at30 West 44th Street for $15 million.[17][18] After raising an additional $25 million from 50 alumni (including $150,000+ donations each fromEstee Lauder heirsLeonard Lauder andRonald Lauder, billionaireSaul Steinberg,Milken Institute founderMichael Milken, andRonald Perelman[19]) to commission David P. Helpern Architects for two years of renovation including a three-level addition for its current 14-story building, the Penn Club Of New York moved to its current location on West 44th Street betweenFifth Avenue andSixth Avenue, opening its owned-doors to annual dues-paying members in 1994. Penn alumni Bennett Weinstock and Judie Weinstock imported numerous furniture pieces for the clubhouse, including brass chandeliers, walnut tables, and vases.[19] In 1996,Donald Trump (Wharton 1968), later the 45th and 47thU.S. President donated $100,000 to the Penn Club, the same yearDon Jr. '00gained Penn admission.[20][21] For this gift, Trump was named a founder of the Penn Club.[21]
30 West 44th Street was the first university clubhouse in New York City to be designed as a high-rise structure. All prior, multi-story clubhouses (i.e. theUniversity Club of New York) were designed as low-rise buildings.[22] Designed byTracy and Swartwout[23][22] in theBeaux-Arts style,[24] the ornately decorated facade is made of brick,Indiana limestone,[25] andarchitectural terracotta by theNew York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company.[26][27] The first two stories are clad withrusticated limestone blocks, while the upper stories are largely clad with brick and terracotta. Above the base, the facade is split into a six-story midsection, a three-storymansard roof, and a three-storysetback penthouse.[28]
All dues-paying members have access to the high-rise, 14-story clubhouse, including itsBenjamin Franklin Room (named after the university's founder), featuring a 24/7 private library for book loans,[29] piano, fireplace, and paintings of former Penn leaders such as Franklin on oak-paneled walls. The business center has coworking spaces, while thePalestra Fitness Center and yoga studio (costing a gym membership fee until 2020) has a city-view to the 13th floor-terrace.[30] Penn Club has a members-only website and app directory, with committees for member networking.[31] These areas are inclusive as they are unstaffed.
Other services charged to member accounts include meeting room rentals, bars on event room floors, and two restaurants: the two-story, fine dining room (which requires a jacket for men) featuring a dancing foyer and balcony for musicians; and themed Grill Room,[32] accessed by a spiral marble staircase beneath the foyer, featuring a mahogany bar, recreation of theOld King Cole mural, Penn memorabilia, other furnishings, and a sushi chef.[33] Both can be rented out for events.
Members and their sponsored guests can also rent 39 guestrooms on five floors, each themed to different alumni accomplishments.[34]
The club offers cross-registration for All-Ivy events hosted by neighboring clubs, while holding annual events including the All-Ivy New Year's Eve Party and members-only celebrations on all major holidays[35] managed by staff, with regular social networking events in professional and personal subjects managed by member committees. All events are ticketed.
The Penn Club is located on Clubhouse Row[4] along with theHarvard Club of New York City (est. 1888) at 27 West 44th, theNew York Yacht Club (est. 1899) at37 West 44th, theYale Club of New York City (est. 1915) on East 44th, and theCornell Club of New York (est. 1889) at 6 East 44th.
Under a reciprocity agreement, members have access to Yale Club squash courts (featured and referenced for its exclusivity inBillions S2E8, "The Kingmaker") and 150+ reciprocal private clubs worldwide,[36][37] including theHarvard Club of Boston,Union League Club of Chicago, yacht clubs, country clubs, and golf clubs.
On the same block, theNew York City Bar Association Building andRoyalton Hotel are to the west, while theGeneral Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen Building, theCentury Association Clubhouse, andHotel Mansfield are to the east.[38] Other buildings on the street include theAlgonquin,Iroquois, andSofitel New York hotels to the northwest.[38] A Penn Club spokesperson said 30 West 44th Street was selected for its proximity to Manhattan'sTheater District,Grand Central Terminal, and other alumni clubhouses.[4]
Penn Club membership requires applications, initiation fees, annual dues, and charge accounts, and are restricted to alumni, faculty, and students ofdrinking age of the University of Pennsylvania, with a shortlist of schools able to share club access as affiliate members, includingPrinceton University[1][2] andColumbia University (in effect causing the building to house three of the eightIvies), along with a few other colleges:MIT,[3]University of Chicago,Vanderbilt University,Emory University,New York University,Williams College,[2]Villanova University, andFordham University.[39]
ThePrinceton Club of New York formerly at 15 West 43rd whose members and part of the staff were absorbed and now belong to the Penn Club as in-residence, following a previous visiting reciprocity agreement between the Princeton-Penn Clubs before Princeton's went out of business during COVID.[1][2] The club offers legacy membership admissions to spouses, adult children, and adult grandchildren of Penn-affiliated members for the same financial requirements.
With more than 5,000 members around the world, The Penn Club is controlled by its annual due-paying members and professionally managed by staff, although the University of Pennsylvania owns the clubhouse building and leases it to the club, a 501(c)7 not-for-profit entity. Penn's development and alumni relations department maintains a regional office in the clubhouse.
