21 Club
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- This article is on the New York restaurant. For the student club at Princeton University, see 21 Club (Princeton University).
The 21 Club is a restaurant and former prohibition-era speakeasy, located at 21 West 52nd Street in New York City.
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[edit] History
The first version of the club opened in Greenwich Village in 1922, run by cousins Jack Kreindler and Charlie Berns. It was originally a small speakeasy known as the Red Head. In 1925 the location was moved to a basement on Washington Place and its name was changed to the Fronton. The following year it moved uptown to West 49th Street, changed its name to the Puncheon Club, and became much more exclusive.[1] In 1929, to make way for the construction of Rockefeller Center, the club moved to its current location and changed its name to "Jack and Charlie's 21".
Although raided by police numerous times during Prohibition, the two were never caught. As soon as a raid began, a system of levers was used to tip the shelves of the bar, sweeping the liquor bottles through a chute and into the city's sewers.[2] The bar also included a secret wine cellar, which was accessed through a hidden door in a brick wall which opened into the basement of the building next door (number 19). Though still used as a wine cellar today, part of the vault has been remodeled to allow a party of up to 20 guests to dine in private. 21 has also stores the private wine collections of such celebrities as Presidents Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Taylor, Hugh Carey, Ivan Boesky, The Nordstrom Sisters, Eva Gabor, Aristotle Onasis and Sammy Davis, Jr. At Christmas time the regulars received silk scarves decorated with a motif of various unique club insignia. Siggie Nordstrom had a collection of several dozen of these she'd received through the years.
Every President since Roosevelt has dined at 21, and the restaurant has been frequented by so many celebrities that many of them have favorite tables.[3]
[edit] Features
The Bar Room includes a restaurant, a lounge and, as the name implies, a bar. The walls and ceiling of the Bar Room are covered with antique toys and sports memorabilia donated by famous patrons.[4] Perhaps the most famous feature of 21 is the line of painted castiron jockey statues which adorns the balcony above the entrance. In the 1930s, some of the affluent customers of the bar began to show their appreciation by presenting 21 with jockeys painted to represent the racing colors of the stables they owned. There are a total of 33 jockeys on the exterior of the building, and 2 more inside the doors.[4][5]
[edit] In films and television
- One Fine Day: George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer have drinks in the lounge.
- Sex and the City: Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth dine in the Bar Room.
- The Apprentice: Donald Trump sends contestants there for a meal.
- Two for the Money: Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey discuss business on their way inside.
- Rear Window: Grace Kelly has a waiter from "21" deliver dinner to a convalescing Jimmy Stewart at his apartment.
- Wall Street: Michael Douglas educates Charlie Sheen on the finer things in life (steak tartare and expensive suits).
- I Love Lucy: In the episode Vacation From Marriage, Lucy and Ethel pretend to have dates at 21 to make their husbands jealous
[edit] References
- ^ Kevin C. Fitzpatrick. Social Scene at "21". Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
- ^ 21 Club History. Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
- ^ Seen at 21. Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
- ^ a b Kaya Morgan. The 21 Club - Manhattan's Most Prestigious Landmark. Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
- ^ About the Jockeys. Retrieved on August 23, 2006.
