New York Athletic Club

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New York Athletic Club
Surname The New York Athletic Club
of the City of New York
Founded 1868
Association headquarters 180 Central Park South
New York 10019
Members 8,600 (2015)
Homepage www.nyac.org
NYAC headquarters in Manhattan

The New York Athletic Club is one of the oldest and most successful American sports clubs. It originated in the tradition of the British gentlemen's and sports clubs . In 2015 it had approximately 8,600 members and two sports venues: the traditional clubhouse on Central Park in Manhattan and the summer sports facility on Travers Island in Westchester County .

history

The sports club was founded in New York City in 1868 by businessmen William B. Curtis and John C. Babcock along with other amateur athletes. In addition, wealthy New York lawyer and entrepreneur William R. Travers bought the Travers Island peninsula in 1886 as the NYAC's summer sports facility on Long Island Sound .

For a long time, the NYAC represented the leading American amateur sport, created the statutes of the associations, provided most of the presidents of the Amateur Athletic Union and was the most successful American sports club with 119 Olympic gold medals, 53 silver medals and 59 bronze medals.

Sports facilities

Today's clubhouse in Manhattan was designed by the architect Charles W. Clinton at the beginning of the 20th century and offers a panoramic view of Central Park from its 24 floors. It contains a fitness studio , two restaurants, a ballroom, an indoor swimming pool , a basketball hall, a billiards room, several fencing rooms and eight floors of guest rooms for members and their guests.

Within the summer sports facility there is a stadium, a 50 m long salt water swimming pool, several tennis courts, a marina and a rowing track.

Controversy

The association was originally only open to male members. It was not until 1984 that the New York City Council issued an ordinance that female members must be admitted to clubs of great economic or cultural importance. When the United States Supreme Court upheld this ordinance in 1988 , NYAC accepted its first female members in 1989.

The NYAC was first accused in connection with the 1936 Olympic Games of not accepting Jewish members. In February 1962, the Mayor of New York Robert F. Wagner Jr. resigned. its membership because the NYAC discriminates against African Americans and Jews .

In connection with the boycott threats by American athletes against participation in the 1968 Summer Olympics , one of the demands of the Olympic Project for Human Rights was that the NYAC should now open up to African Americans. In 1989, Olympic gold medalist in the 400-meter run Antonio McKay was the first African-American club member of the NYAC.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ CLUB HISTORY - The New York Athletic Club . Nyac.org. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  2. ↑ New York State Club Ass'n v. City of New York, 487 U.S. 1 (1988); http://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/28/nyregion/121-years-of-men-only-ends-at-club.html?src=pm
  3. ^ In Supreme Court Ruling-Ban on Exclusive Clubs Upheld , The Victoria Advocate. June 21, 1988. Retrieved April 29, 2014. 
  4. ↑ Court upholds ban on Club Bias , The Milwaukee Journal. June 20, 1988. Retrieved April 29, 2014. 
  5. ^ Private Club Policies Become Public , The Milwaukee Sentinel. November 17, 1965. Retrieved April 29, 2014. 
  6. ↑ Othello Harris: The rise of the black athlete in the USA. James Riordan , Arnd Krüger (Ed.): The International Politics of Sport in the Twentieth Century. London: Routledge 1999, pp. 150-176. ISBN 0-419-21160-8