In 1922 , long before fake id were procured in NYU basement and speakeasies outnumbered rats , when inebriant in NYC was banned thanks to a petty thing call Prohibition , 20 - something full cousin Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns were bulge out an illegal drinking speculation that would go on to become the 21 Club , a fabled dining , company , and see - and - be - seen ( except by the feds ) spot , for New Yorkers of the era and contemporaries to add up .
Some 94 years subsequently , 21 Club still deport the air of an old - school speakeasy , with a bombilate dining room fill with well - dressed regulars , tourists , and first - timers swayed in by Florence Fabricant ’s recentchicken paillard ravein theTimes . You may even make out a few men casually drop away cash into the maître d ’s hired man .
But there ’s more to the 21 Club than a meal you in all likelihood ca n’t give . It ’s the place the mob once attempt to put a hit out on , where Ernest Hemingway once had sex , and of course , where a secret keep domiciliate smuggled strong drink . womb-to-tomb New Yorkers may look at it as a tourist lying in wait , but the 21 Club has played a enormously important function in the New York City account – we ’ve rounded up all the reasons why .
Courtesy of 21 Club
Like anything good in New York, real estate made things complicated
In 1922 , almost two years into proscription , Jack and Charlie open up their first smuggled - booze speakeasy , the Red Head , in the East Village . After realise exactly how much money they could make by potentially develop some laws , they grow the business into the Frontón in Washington Square . Though Mayor James J. Walker was a noted patron at the prison term , the successful speakeasy was evicted in 1926 so the metropolis could build the metro . The duo locomote the business Uptown to a vacant space on 49th St , where the locus known as The Puncheon Grotto ( as well as the Grotto , No . 42 , and Jack and Charlie ’s to circumvent the federal agents ) became known for fox the boozy and rowdiest party in townsfolk – until J.D. Rockefeller decided he wanted to build Rockefeller Center on the same attribute .
The 21 Club as we know it today officially began with a party
On New Year ’s Eve 1929 , Jack and Charlie , still in their 20s and by this fourth dimension enviably successful , resolve to go out with a bang . They held a gala affair at the Puncheon Grotto , inviting their best customers to go far in black tie and ballgowns . Upon arrival , guests were given a feeding bottle of Champagne and a pickaxe . Dressed to the nines , they all toast a net ton and ruin the Puncheon Grotto , which was about to be torn down anyway . Legend has it , someone on hogback ( perhaps a cop ) walk through the pickaxe demolition party amid the chaos . To call in 1930 , Jack and Charlie announced that they would be relocate the party to their new spot at 21 W. 52nd St. Guests throw down their pickaxes and picked up the smoothing iron gate surrounding the forty-ninth St bar , marching it three blocks northward and putting it out front of the raw space . You ’ll find that same gate outside the restaurant today .
Jack and Charlie’s impressive connections gained them access to booze
The Club ’s owner had a complex internet that allowed them to spell the best wine from Europe and spirits from Canada and South America . Booze would be smuggle in the hoods of car , and the doorman and his sister would sit as a honeymooning couple to bring booze up from Florida . “ They had some really serious hooey , and that was really pivotal in building the great reputation , ” Avery Fletcher , 21 ’s director of sales and marketing , says . While early on in forbiddance , booze smuggling is mostly documented with legends and lore ( perhaps the smugglers drink a little too much to even remember the facts ) , according to one anon. moonshiner in Marilyn Kaytor’s21 : The Life and Times of New York ’s Favorite Club , early on , 100 - proof alcohol was ransack by gangsters from government warehouses , then sold underground . Once the black stash run out , Jack and Charlie began import strong drink driven in from Canada or sailed in via Long Island from Bermuda and the Bahamas .
It was never actually a club
The venue at 21 W. 52nd Street was known as Jack & Charlie ’s 21 , The 21 Club , The Numbers , and just 21 , all at the same time to play a joke on federal tax factor , as they ’d been doing with multiple names all along . At the time , the Internal Revenue Service see for returns by the name of the business , not the address – so receive multiple name helped keep 21 under wraps . 21 ’s name stuck because of the address , not the imbibing age ( since all drinking was illegal at that prison term ) , but membership was never an choice , and the “ club ” was never exclusive . People knew they were there , but they were n’t tatty about it .
Excellent food is partly what gave 21 its reputation
With a gifted Gallic chef , 21 was known as one of the only speakeasies in the city that had really secure hard drink and really unspoiled nutrient . With a liquor bill of fare extending far beyond moonshine , and dishes beyond finger sandwich , 21 stand out from the city ’s other underground haunts .
The restaurant got raided once, which led to a high-tech booze security system
The restaurant had a serious system down , so they never got take in … well , almost . Employee Jimmy Coslove would use the peephole at the door to blob gangster , police , and receipts federal agent . He void every undivided foray – except for one in 1930 , after gossip columnist Walter Winchell , who had been banned from 21 , authored a pillar about its illegal activity . Wiley Post - raid , Jack and Charlie commissioned a unexampled architecturally imaginative security organisation that require false staircase and walls to hide 2,000 instance of Montrachet 1889 , Romanee Conti 1880 , and okay vintages of Chateau Lafite - Rothschild . Bar shelves were also designed to collapse , so if Coslove spotted an broker , a wire rod would trigger them to collapse and air wine-coloured bottleful down a chute .
21 expanded underground before expanding on street level
To store all the booze , the nightclub made a deal with the neighbors at 19 W. 52nd St. , using their cellar – accessed by a obscure , two - ton threshold to which the only key to this day is an unsuspecting meat skewer – to keep undue amounts of hard drink . The lodge could very easily say there was no booze on the place , because it was all store in # 19 . Eventually 21 bought 19 and then the next townhouse as well , and the eatery you see today is a combination of the three buildings .
The mob had it in for 21
Legs Diamond , a famous mob boss at the sentence , was n’t thrilled that 21 made alliances with the police department rather than with the mob ( the other way to reference John Barleycorn during Prohibition ) . It ’s said that Diamond put a smasher out on Jack and Charlie and plan to come up down to NYC from Albany to do it himself , but somebody took him out first .
Ernest Hemingway had sex there
When visiting 21 , Hemingway would famously announce , “ Since I ’m not wassail , I ’ll just have a tequila . ” One night , when he was there for a dinner party political party , he met an attractive woman with whom he spend the residuum of the night talking and eating and drinking . When it was time for the eating place to close for the night , Hemingway expect Jack ( the owner ) , if they could remain for a while . Jack was know for saying yes to everything , and he agreed to let them hover while the restaurant cleaned up . “ They got to know each other very , very well , nearly even , on our kitchen steps … they ’re somewhat darn steep ! ” Fletcher claim . Apparently , the next twenty-four hours Hemingway come back to the eatery and state “ Jack , I have a problem : what ’s her name ? ” And as it grow out , he had romanced Legs Diamond ’s girlfriend .
The toys hanging from the ceiling aren’t as playful as they seem
The fabled ceiling collection started in 1931 , when the owner of British Airlines asked Jack and Charlie if he could give ear a model of his plane over the table to impress some investors . A BA “ flight gravy holder , ” as it was called , was hung over his regular table , and presently competition and captains of industry also insisted on sum their mementos . Now , Salvatore Ferragamo , Cartier , JFK , Bill Clinton , John Riggins , Chris Evert , Dorothy Hamill , Willie Mays , Wayne Gretzky , and many more have all had a hand in decorating the Bar Room .
Carrie Bradshaw once cried there
In Season 6 , Episode 8 of Sex and the City , “ The Domino force , ” Mr. Big travels back from Napa to New York City to have a “ little heart thing done . ” discuss his impending angioplasty with her over steaks at the 21 Club , Carrie bursts into tears at the mesa .
Barack Obama is the only president who hasn’t made a visit
Since 21 Club opened , every unmarried president has dined there , save for Barack Obama , who has not yet made reservations . A few bottles of wine in the cellar still have Richard Nixon ’s or Gerald Ford ’s names on them , and Ronald Reagan once gave a beloved lavatory attendant a pair of cufflink . Presidential prospect Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have also boom there . The butter- and cream - laden computer menu in all probability does n’t invoke to Mrs. Obama ’s permit ’s Move ! campaign .
The wine cellar is the perfect place for celebrities' friends to take advantage of their bank accounts
When Jay - Z confabulate 21 Club last class , his ally apparently call for a $ 10,000 nursing bottle of vino . No confirmation on whether he went for it or if he saves the five - public figure booze for Bey .
For further reading on 21 Club , check out H. Peter Kriendler’s21 : Every Day Was New Year ’s Eveand Marilyn Kaytor’s21 : The Life and Times of New York ’s Favorite Club .
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Courtesy of 21 Club
Courtesy of 21 Club
Courtesy of 21 Club
Courtesy of 21 Club
Courtesy of 21 Club
Courtesy of 21 Club
