You can access a scrollable Google Map of the clubs of Downtown and Lower Manhattan by clicking HERE.
This is the third and final part of my overview of Manhattan clubs. Part 1 looked at the clubs of the Upper East Side, Part 2 looked at the clubs of Midtown Manhattan, while this looks at Downtown and Lower Manhattan. For decades, this part of New York was characterised by relative decline, as businesses moved out (and indeed, many historic clubs closed down), with wealth increasingly being generated by hedge funds elsewhere rather than the traditional investment banks around Wall Street. But this neglect no longer holds true. In recent years, young people and new businesses have flocked to Downtown and Lower Manhattan, and this upswing in its fortunes has also been reflected in it being the centre of many of the new clubs that have exploded on the Manhattan scene over the last decade.
As ever, I offer up my standard disclaimer around definitons of clubs, and that any listing is bound to be contentious for what it does and does not include - but see the previous sections of this article (or my latest book) for more on my definitions.
Historic Clubs in Gramery Park
The Players. (Photo credit: Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton University.)
The historic square of Gramercy Park has a pair of notable clubhouses occupying nineteenth century brownstone mansions, side by side. The Players is an actors’ club founded in 1888. Unusually for a historic New York club, it still occupies its original building, the former townhouse of banker Valentine G. Hall. Festooned with portraits of recognisable actor members over the years, including the likes of Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Christopher Plummer and Charles Laughton, the Club also has quirkier items on display, including Noel Coward’s piano from his Jamaica home, and a portrait of Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth, which is kept in the “Edwin Booth suite”, the upstairs bedroom of the Club’s founder - who wrote a letter from the room, apologising for the actions of his brother. The Club embeds a theatre at the rear, which is used by members for plays, awards ceremonies and drama classes.
The National Arts Club. (Photo credit: Untapped New York/National Arts Club.)
Next door is the National Arts Club, set up a decade later in 1898, for patrons of the arts and literature. Originally based in another brownstone mansion on West 34th street, and then moving to the neighbouring mansion, in 1906 it moved to its present location, the Samuel J. Tilden House (technically a pair of adjoining mansions) on the Park. The Club has a public-facing art gallery in the basement, with rotating exhibitions, while the interior of the building above is decorated in the beaux arts style. The Club also maintains a significant permanent art collection of its own, portions of which are periodically loaned out to external galleries.
Historic Clubs in Downtown and Lower Manhattan
The Down Town Association. (Photo credit: New York Post.)
The only survivor of a once-flourishing line-up of historic clubs Downtown is the Down Town Association, founded in 1859. It has been at its clubhouse since 1887, on Pine Street, which is the oldest purpose-built clubhouse in New York, and was designed by a member, Charles C. Haight. It was expanded in 1910 by another member, Charles Wetmore of the firm of Warren & Wetmore, and is a remarkably capacious clubhouse. Long the preserve of politicians and financiers for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, it remained a luncheon club until the 1990s, though has since broadened out its opening hours.
UPDATE: In May 2026, the Down Town Association left its historic clubhouse, and moved into a suite of rooms in the Women’s National Republican Club in Midtown.
The Salmagundi Club. (Photo credit: Wikimedia Foundation.)
The only historic club remaining in Greenwich Village, the Salmagundi Club on Fifth Avenue near Union Square was founded in 1871. It is a delightfully quirky fine arts club. In its early years, it went through numerous name changes, including as the New York Sketch Club, the Salmagundi Sketch Club, and the Salmagundi Art Club. For its first four decades it led an itinerant existence, moving between rented properties, before settling in 1917 with the purchase and expansion of its 1853 brownstone mansion. Like the National Arts Club, its basement is a gallery which is open to the public, with rotating exhibitions, while the clubhouse above is for members and their guests. As might be expected, the Club’s own art holdings are remarkable.
The Church Club. (Photo credit: NYC.gov.)
The Church Club was formed for Episcopals. Its founders, who included John Jacob Astor, Stuyvesant Fish, J.P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt, formed the Club in 1887. Originally meeting on Fifth Avenue, and then rotating between different New York hotels, it settled on its present premises in Waverly Place, the idiosyncratic architecture being closer to a chapel than a conventional clubhouse. The emphasis today remains on theological speakers.
Soho House, and the Arrival of New Clubs
My previous two sections of this article noted a smattering of new clubs in Midtown, and on the Upper East Side. Today, in the 2020s, it is a very different story in up-and-coming Downtown and Lower Manhattan, with its younger population, and where the new clubs of New York predominate.
Soho House New York. (Photo credit: Tripadvisor.)
The first of the “new” clubs to arrive here, over two decades ago, was Soho House New York, which opened on 9th Avenue in 2003. As the name suggests, this is part of the Soho House Group, which had an unhappy spell in public ownership, but has had a recent “buy-in” (rather than “buy-out”), mostly by its own senior management team, returning it to private ownership led by CEO Ron Burkle. This branch was actually Soho House’s first overseas venture from the UK, before their rapid expansion from 2007 onwards. While demand for individual Soho House branches can vary wildly, this is one of the busier Soho Houses. It is also one of the most frequently misspelt branches, with the group named after the London district of Soho, where it began its life on Greek Street in 1995, rather than having any connection to the New York district of SoHo.
Ludlow House. (Photo credit: NUVO Magazine.)
A later branch of Soho House is Ludlow House, which opened its doors in 2016. Converted from a former gold leaf factory on Ludlow Street, it is spread over two floors, and includes a cinema.
The Ned NoMad. (Phot credit: booking.com.)
Related to Soho House is the phenomenon of “The Ned” - a chain of pub lic-facing hotel-restaurant complexes with a club embedded into it, which began life in the city of London, co-owned by Soho House and several of its major shareholders. The Ned NoMad on Broadway was its first overseas branch, and opened in 2022. It was recently joined in the US by a new branch in Washington DC.
New Clubs in Downtown and Lower Manhattan
Spring Place. (Photo credit: Designboom.)
Since the arrival of Soho House, other new clubs have proliferated over the last decade. In 2016, Spring Place opened on St. John’s Lane in Tribeca, as a club catering to creatives in fashion and the media, having been founded by Alessandro Cajrati Crivelli, Francesco Costa, and Imad Izemrane in partnership with with property developer Est4te Four.
Chief. (Photo credit: Google Maps, street view.)
Chief is a chain of ladies’ clubs, founded for women chief executives by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan. The New York branch on East 19th Street was the first to open, in 2019. It has since expanded to Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC, though a London branch provied to be short-lived, closing after two years.
Zero Bond. (Photo credit: Newmark.)
The first of the new clubs to be impacted by the pandemic, Zero Bond on Lower Manhattan’s Bond Street was due to open in April of 2020, but had its opening delayed until the Fall. It characterises its theme as “leaders and the change-makers.” It is owned, through the company Bond Hospitality, by its founder, the hospitality entrepreneur Scott Sartiano - though there were reports earlier this year of restauaranteur Tilman Fertitta negotiating to buy it.
The Flyfish Club, with its subtle, subdued, understated entrance beneath an anonymous sign. (Photo credit: Galavante.com)
The Flyfish Club on East Houston Street, which opened in 2021, offers “blockchain-based memberships” tied to NFTs, for access across its “three expansive floors.” Despite the name, there is scant evidence of any flyfishing (or even fishing) culture among its members. It is owned by the VCR Group, a hospitality company co-founded by prolific entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO David Rodolitz, Chef Josh Capon, and Conor Hanlon.
Casa Cipriani. (Phot credit: Mrs & Mrs. Smith.)
Casa Cipriani is a public-facing hotel with a club within, occupying part of the historic Battery Marine Building, on South Street at the very southern tip of Downtown. It opened in 2022, as a partnership between Midtown Equities, Centaur Properties, and the Cipriani family (Cipriani S.A.).
ZZs. (Photo credit: Hudson Yards website.)
The original ZZs opened as a club in Miami’s Design District. The New York branch of ZZs opened on Hudson Yards in 2023. It is owned by the Major Food Group, the catering company founded by Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, and Rich Torrisi. The focus is on modern Japanese cuisine, and Carbone’s own cuisine.
The Twenty Two. (Photo credit: ‘The Twenty Two’ on Instagram.)
Following the modern hotel-club hybrid model, with club rooms inside a public-facing hotel, is The Twenty Two, a New York branch of the London club of that name, which opened in 2024. Its co-founders are British property developer Jamie Reuben, and British hotelier Navid Mirtorabi (who founded the original London branch), in partnership with New York real estate developer Michael Chetrit.
Chez Margaux. (Photo credit: Yelp.)
Slightly different is Chez Margaux, a “supper club” (or members’ restaurant) on West 13th Street, which opened in 2024. It is owned by Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
San Vicente Bungalows. (Photo credit: New York Times.)
San Vicente Bungalows launched in Los Angeles, and the New York branch of San Vicente West Village opened on Jane Street in the West Village in 2025. It is the brainchild of hospitality entrepreneur Jeff Klein.
Kith Ivy. (Photo credit: AOL.com.)
Kith Ivy is a luxury wellness, padel, and hospitality club on Leroy Street in the West Village, which also opened in 2025. It is owned and founded by Ronnie Fieg, who owns the Kith lifestyle brand and clothes shops, for which this is their first members’ club.
WSA. (Photo credit: New York Times.)
WSA (Water Street Associates) is a hybrid co-working space and members’ club which characterises itself as a “downtown hub blurring the lines of the arts, production, working space, food, play and culture.” It also opened in 2025, on Water Street. It is owned by a group of investors, led by a husband-and-wife team, interior designer Gabriella Khalil and her British real estate developer husbanf Matthew Khalil. Other principals include Stellberger, with investment vehicles like WSA Waterfront LLC and 99c LLC involved.
The Crane Club. (Photo credit: ‘newopeningsnyc’ on Instagram.)
In 2025 (in fact only last month), the Crane Club opened as a supper club on 10th Avenue at 15th Street, centred around the cuisine of head chef Melissa Rodriguez. It is owned by the Tao Group, a subsidiary of Mohari Hospitality, owned by the Canadian-Israeli billionaire Mark Scheinberg.
The proposed premises of Casse Cou. (Phot credit: Google Maps, street view.)
The secretive Casse Cou in the Meatpacking District on West 17th Street has spent much of 2025 saying that it would be opening soon, as a members’ nightclub which describes itself as “very sophisticated.” There is little sign of an opening date yet, however. It is to be operated by nightlife entrepreneurs Andrei Gillott and Stephen Orso.
Stylus. (Photo credit: Surface Mag.)
2026 promises to see the opening of several new proprietary clubs. The first of these is Stylus, on Clinton Street in the Lower East Side. It describes itself as a “sonic sanctuary,” complete with recording studios.
You can view the full and varied backlog of Clubland Substack articles, by clicking on the index below.
Index
Articles are centred around several distinct strands, so the below contains links to the main pieces, sorted by theme.
I've really appreciated this series. As a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, many of these clubs have figured into our annual January pilgrimages to the city. Dinners and events have been held at the Union League Club, the Racquet & Tennis Club, the Penn Club, the Harvard Club, the Salmagundi Club, the Grolier Club, the Players, and the National Arts Club. In fact, I'll be staying at the Yale Club later this week as I descend on the maelstrom that is New York.
One small point about the Players: Edwin Booth was a founder of the club, owned the building, and had a suite of rooms on the premises where he resided; the Booth Suite is named for him because of that, not simply because of the letter he wrote there.