New York Athletic Club
Metropolitan New York | |
Website | www |
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The New York Athletic Club is an American organization, and a
The club offers many sports, including rowing, wrestling, boxing, judo, fencing, swimming, basketball, rugby union, soccer, tennis, handball, squash, snooker, lacrosse and water polo.
Locations
City House, located at 180 Central Park South, is the club's headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. Completed in 1929, City House is a 24-story building which offers panoramic views of Central Park. The building includes a swimming pool, gymnasium, basketball court, squash courts, golf simulators, a fencing and wrestling room, a judo hall, and two boxing rings. There are also leisure amenities for members and guests, including two restaurants, a cocktail lounge, and 187 overnight guest rooms.[3]
History
In 1866,
The club obtained the Mott Haven grounds with cinder track in 1875, using the Mott Haven grounds were used for several national athletic championships.[1]
In 1879, when the club had 170 members, it published rules in various amateur sports, including fencing, sparring, and Greco-Roman wrestling.[6] The NYAC can be considered the foundation for amateur athletics in the United States. It was the first organization to compile and apply a code of rules for the government of athletic meetings, the first to offer prizes for open amateur games, and the first to hold an amateur championship.[9]
As of 2022[update], New York Athletic Club members have won 271 Olympic medals: 151 gold, 54 silver, and 66 bronze. NYAC athletes have competed at every modern Summer Olympics since 1896, with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, which the United States boycotted. 57 NYAC members competed for six countries at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, winning medals in 10 events.[10][11]
From 1896 to 1912 (a span counting 16 consecutive seasons) the New York Athletic Club had a team represented in the American Amateur Hockey League and played its games at the St. Nicholas Rink at 69 West 66th Street in Manhattan. The NYAC ice hockey branch won league championship honors four times: in 1896–97, 1897–98, 1908–09 and 1909–10.[12] Canadian hockey player Tom Howard, who won the Stanley Cup with the Winnipeg Victorias in February 1896, played four season with the team between 1899 and 1903.
Mercury Cup series
The NYAC's Mercury Cup series is the premier regional fencing event in North America. The series includes a number of épée and sabre tournaments, ending each season with the "Epeepalooza" and "Sabrage" events. Competitors earn points based on final placements at each tournament, with the champion being the highest-ranked fencer at the conclusion of the season.
Mercury Cup champions
Season | Épée | Sabre |
---|---|---|
2005–2006 | Alexander Abend | |
2006–2007 | Alexander Abend | |
2007–2008 | Alexander Abend | Sergey Isayenko |
2008–2009 | Jon Normile | Ben Igoe |
Individual event champions
2005–2006 Épée series
Mercury Cup #1: Noah Zucker
Mercury Cup #2: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #3: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #4: Mykhaylo Mokretsov
Mercury Cup #5: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #6: Alex Tsinis
2006–2007 Épée series
Mercury Cup #1: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #2: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #3: Soren Thompson
Mercury Cup #4: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #5: Brendan Baby
Mercury Cup #6: Tommi Hurme
2007–2008 Épée series
Mercury Cup #1: Alexander Abend
Mercury Cup #2: Bas Verwijlen
Mercury Cup #3: Tommi Hurme
Mercury Cup #4: Jon Normile
Mercury Cup #5: Jon Normile
2008–2009 Épée series
Mercury Cup #1: Alex Tsinis
Mercury Cup #2: Jon Normile
Mercury Cup #3: Jon Normile
2007–2008 Sabre series
Mercury Cup #1: Sergey Isayenko
Mercury Cup #2: Ben Igoe
Mercury Cup #3: Sergey Isayenko
2008–2009 Sabre series
Mercury Cup #1: Ben Igoe
Mercury Cup #2: Ben Igoe
Mercury Cup #3: Daryl Homer
Other notable events
In November 2003, the club was the site of a four-game chess match between Garry Kasparov and the computer program X3D Fritz. In June 2004, the club played host to the final play-offs of the United States National Snooker Championship, and in May 2017 it played host to the entire event.[13]
Sports teams
The NYAC currently fields 22 different teams for the following sports:[14]
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Fencing
- Handball
- Judo
- Lacrosse
- Rowing
- Rugby
- Soccer (men's, women's)
- Squash
- Swimming
- Team handball
- Track and field
- Triathlon
- Water polo
- Wrestling
National Amateur Athletic Championships
NYAC was involved with forming the National Association of Amateur Athletes of America and the Amateur Athletic Union and their related National Amateur Athletic Championships during the 1800s.[15]
NYAC has held the National Amateur Athletic Championship and National Convention several times. [1] [2]
Controversies over admissions
The New York Athletic Club was, for most of its history, a men's club with the purpose to "promote manly sports". New York City passed a law in 1984 requiring "the admission of women to large, private clubs that play an important role in business and professional life".[16] The NYAC, with 10,000 members, was one of four clubs that the city sanctioned for disobeying the law. The NYAC challenged the law, arguing it was a violation of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing the right to freedom of association. The case made its way to the United States Supreme Court where in June 1988, the court held that the clubs who had brought the suit were too dissimilar for the court to decide the case and remanded the case back to the federal district court. This has sometimes been incorrectly reported as upholding the ban.[17] Facing the high cost of restarting the case on its own, the NYAC changed its by-laws and voluntarily admitted some female members in 1989.[18][19][20]
There were also claims, over the years, that the club discriminated against
In February 1962, New York City Mayor
In May 1964, the club was picketed by demonstrators from the
In 1980, Wrestler Ken Mallory became the first African-American to represent the New York Athletic Club.[39][40][41]
In March 1981, prior to a press conference at the NYAC, Muhammad Ali picked up the microphone to test it out and said: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the Jews and niggers and all the other members of the NAACP welcome you to the NYAC."[42][43] In 1989, Olympic gold medal winner Antonio McKay became the first Black track and field athlete to compete for the NYAC.[44]
See also
- Downtown Athletic Club, defunct rival NYC club that was well known for awarding the Heisman Trophy
- List of American gentlemen's clubs
- Detroit Athletic Club
References
- ^ a b "The New-York Club". New-York Tribune. April 6, 1884. p. 4. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ "How to Join the New York Athletic Club". oureverydaylife.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "City House - New York Athletic Club". Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ "Travers Island - New York Athletic Club". Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ "A history of American amateur athletics and aquatics" by Frederick W. Janssen (1888), page 124
- ^ a b c Club, New York Athletic (1905). Constitution, By-laws, Rules and Alphabetical Lists of Members – New York Athletic Club. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-7360-7886-3.
- ^ LA84Foundation.org Outing Volume IV Issue September 6, 1884
- ^ New York Athletic Club Journal, February 1905, Page 18
- ^ "Olympic Medalists – New York Athletic Club". Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ "NYAC Tokyo 2020". Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ Spalding's official ice hockey guide 1918 at archive.org
- ^ "United States National Snooker Championship – Roll Of Honor". SnookerUSA.com. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
- ^ "The New York Athletic Club – SPORTS TEAMS". Nyac.org. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ National Association of Amateur Athletes of America
- ^ Taylor, Stuart Jr (June 21, 1988). "Justices Back New York Law Ending Sex Bias by Big Clubs". New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- ^ New York State Club Ass'n v. City of New York, 487 U.S. 1 (1988).
- ^ Lee, Felicia R. (July 28, 1989). "121 Years Of Men Only Ends at Club". The New York Times. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "In Supreme Court Ruling-Ban on Exclusive Clubs Upheld". The Victoria Advocate. June 21, 1988. Retrieved February 8, 2016.
- ^ "Court Upholds Ban on Club Bias". The Milwaukee Journal. June 20, 1988. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ISBN 9781560004448. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ISBN 9781626363663. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ISBN 9780195359008. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ Race Relations Law Reporter. 1957. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Newsletter". Indiana Fair Employment Practices Commission. 1955. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Negro Councilman Takes Fiery Blast at Athletic Club". Times Daily. July 11, 1956. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ Hunt, Richard P. (February 10, 1962). "MAYOR QUITS CLUB OVER BIAS CHARGE – He Notes Allegations That the New York A.C. Bars Negroes and Jews Accused by 2 Groups Wagner Quits New York A.C. After Hearing Charge of Bias Rules on Entry Attorney General Quit – Front Page". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
- ISBN 9781611684278. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ISBN 9780786748419. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ISBN 9781617560712. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ "New York Club Picketed". Rome News-Tribune. May 21, 1964. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 9781617030468. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ISBN 9780813523477. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Boycott Plan Heats Up ..." St. Petersburg Times. January 30, 1968. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ISBN 9781610755429. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
- ^ "Leader of Boycott Seeks to Aid Clay". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ "Madison Square Garden Demonstration Broken Up". Observer-Reporter. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ Nat Hentoff (June 11, 1970). "One for Dwyer". The Village Voice. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ "Kenny Mallory".
- ^ "Kenny Mallory MANWHOF". Facebook.
- ^ "50th Annual Wilkes Open".
- ISBN 9781453241196. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ "Ali Says Clothes Are "Greatest"". Star-News. March 22, 1981. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
- ^ "Point Pleasant Register - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.