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Over a Century
of Political Activism The Metropolitan Republican Club was founded
in 1902 by progressive Republicans inspired
by Theodore Roosevelt. Their dynamic
founding spirit continues to be a Club
hallmark.
Throughout its rich history, the
Metropolitan Republican Club has not only
initiated thousands into the best tradition
of American political life, it has also
launched many of them upon careers of public
service.
Met Clubbers Who Have Held
Public Office
Throughout the years, many distinguished New
Yorkers earned their political spurs serving
in various capacities at the Met Club. A
number of them went on to elected office.
Please
click here to view a list of members
who have been elected to public office.
Presidents of the Met Club
Many of our city's top
civic leaders have also served as president
of the Met Club. Please
click here to
view a list of the distinguished Met Club
presidents over the years.
An East Side Institution
At the turn of the
century, the Assembly District known as the
73rd was then the 29th A.D. with boundaries
from 53rd Street to 96th Street and Eighth
to Lexington Avenues. In 1902, the 29th A.D.
clubhouse was located at 627 Madison Avenue.
In 1917, the club moved to 1041 Madison
Avenue, a private house between 79th and
80th Streets. Samuel Berger, club president
at the time, arranged for the purchase of
the headquarters and remained at 1041
Madison Avenue until 1929 when the club took
temporary quarters at 12 East 86th Street
(known then as the Croyden Hotel) while our
present clubhouse was being built. The
cornerstone of our biulding was laid on
April 1930, with Congresswoman Ruth Baker
Pratt presiding over the ceremony. It
was completed in September 1930.
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Looking Back at 1935...Throughout its rich history, the Metropolitan Republican Club has not
only initiated thousands into the best
tradition of American political life, it
has also launched many of them upon
careers of public service.
that was the year that Roy V. Peel,
Ph.D. of New York University authored a
book entitled The Political Clubs of New
York City. Based on an exhaustive
multi-year study, the volume provides a
comprehensive overview of the then 1,200
political clubs in New York City,
including 354 Republican clubs.
At the time, the Metropolitan
Republican Club was known as the
Fifteenth Assembly District Republican
Club. The following excerpts from the
book are about our club.
"The casual visitor at the Fifteenth
A.D. Republican Club is likely to find
the lounge thronged with men in tuxedoes
and women in evening clothes, engaged in
sprightly, animated conversation.
Members of this class do not require
organized amusement...
The most active of the Republican
clubs giving relief is the Manhattan
Fifteenth A.D. Club. This club has many
wealthy members who have been able to
grant temporary employment to
applicants...
In all sections of this area there
are clubs which hold outings for
children [including] the Fifteenth A.D.
Republicans of Manhattan..."
In a chapter entitled Educational
Activities it was noted, "The [Fifteenth
A.D. Republican Club] holds a regular
political school..." and as an example
of guest speakers the following event
was listed, "Fascism: a 20th Century
Phenomenon, [was] discussed by Dr. Carlo
Flumiani before the ‘silk-stocking’
Fifteenth A.D. Republican Club with what
the unsympathetic reporter called ‘a naiveté
truly Latin in its bluntness and
smoothness’ - whatever that may mean."
It has been a long time since the above
observations were made. Nonetheless,
with only slight qualification, they
could well be used to describe the
Metropolitan Republican Club of today.
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