Stock Exchange Luncheon Club

The Stock Exchange Luncheon Club was a members-only dining club, on the seventh floor[1] of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at 11 Wall Street in Manhattan. The club was founded on August 3, 1898, and moved from 70 Broadway to 11 Wall Street in 1903. It closed on April 28, 2006, after more than a century of service.[2]

The club had an inaugural membership of 200, with a "long waiting list", when it first opened as the Luncheon Club at 70 Broadway and 15 New Street, Manhattan.[3]

Joseph L. Searles III, who became the first African American member of the NYSE when he joined in 1970, said that his "biggest fear...was where would I sit in the luncheon club?". The situation was resolved when Searles was given his own table by the club, and he dined alone for a while.[4]

A ladies' restroom was installed in the club as late as 1987, some twenty years after women were first admitted to the NYSE.[5]

In 1999, the club had more than 1,400 members, and was lavishly decorated with various animal heads, most shot by members on safari.[6]

In August 2001, the Stock Exchange Luncheon Club served as the venue for the presentation of custom-made motorized wheelchairs to 17 quadraplegic in-patients of a local hospital for paralyzed people.[7] A fund-raising event was held by the New York City Police Foundation at the club in November 2003.[8] Following security measures put in place at the NYSE, after the September 11 attacks, the club became less accessible, and this, coupled with the ousting of regular patron Richard Grasso from the head of the NYSE, and a decline in similar local dining clubs, was cited as a factor in the club's demise when it closed in 2006.[1][2] The space continued to be used for important events for example, the NYSE shareholder vote to merge with Euronext on December 19, 2006.[9]

See also

References
  1. Carrie Mason-Draffen; Robert E. Kessler (27 April 2006). "In Brief: NYSE LUNCHEON CLUB CLOSING". Newsday. Long Island, NY. Retrieved 26 August 2012. ...due to stepped-up security and a steady erosion of customers since the 2001 terror attacks. The 108-year-old club, a members-only eatery on the seventh floor of the New York Stock Exchange, lost money for three years, even after staff and service cuts.
  2. Edmonston, Peter (April 28, 2006). "Where Wall Street Meets to Eat, the Last Lunch". New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
  3. "The Luncheon Club Opens; Wall Street Men Now Have a Convenient Base of Supplies" (PDF). New York Times. March 8, 1898. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
  4. Bell, Gregory S. (2002). Joe Searles. In In the Black: A History of African Americans on Wall Street. John Wiley and Sons. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-471-21485-4. Google Book Search. Retrieved on January 30, 2009.
  5. "1987: Stock Exchange Luncheon Club Installs Its First Ladies Room". NewsDay.com. n.d. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
  6. Cashin, Arthur D. A View of Wall Street from the Seventh Floor. Foreword. Greenwich Pub, 1999. ISBN 978-0-944641-39-2
  7. Michael J. Woods (4 August 2001). "QUEENS LEISURE / Wheelchair Charities All-Star Game in Sept". Newsday. Retrieved 26 August 2012. Carter said Monday at the New York Stock Exchange Luncheon Club on Wall Street, where 17 motorized wheelchairs were presented to Goldwater residents. "We'll take in over a million dollars for the charity." Sponsors... were on hand to meet with the recipients of the customized wheelchairs.
  8. Leonard Levitt (12 October 2003). "Finding Out Who's Boss". Newsday. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  9. "NYSE on track to purchase Euronext". Newsday. Bloomberg News. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2012. More than 75 percent of eligible shares were voted yesterday during a meeting at the New York Stock Exchange's former luncheon club.

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