This will be a pivotal summer for the comedy world’s most famous private club, and its members don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Needing cash, facing declining membership, and reeling from a Department of Justice investigation that could land its former director in prison next month, the legendary Friars Club is hoping for a return to its former glory with some modern touches.
Yet for many of its members, the palatial clubhouse on E. 55th St. in Manhattan has become a relic of a time — and quite possibly an organization — gone by.
“It’s the Titanic headed for the jaws of Moby Dick with Bob Denver at the helm,” cracked a longtime Friar with knowledge of the club’s troubles.
In July, the 115-year-old showbiz institution’s staid, six-story townhouse known as “the Monastery” will close for renovations aiming in part to entice a new generation of members. The club dining room, once the Manhattan hangout of the Catskills’ Borscht Belt crowd, is considering putting vegan and gluten-free options on its historically conservative menu. There’s even talk about renting out a portion of the club as a tech-friendly WeWork space to generate extra revenue.
And it’s not just the building that’s being revamped.
Model Carol Alt was inducted as a member in March, which operators hope will appeal to a fashion-forward crowd that previously had little presence in the entertainers’ enclave where Frank Sinatra, Humphrey Bogart, Jerry Lewis and Don Rickles were alumni. The Friars Club had no female members until 1987 when lawyer Gloria Allred threatened to sue on grounds of discrimination.
The club also recently inducted Yankees great Bernie Williams and is courting Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera with hopes of putting more A-list athletes in its lineup.
The organization needs to be made “a little more hip and vogue,” said Friars lead attorney Arthur Aidala, who has become its de facto operator in recent months amid the fraternity’s high-profile scandals and financial woes.
But even with the proposed changes the club still faces an uncertain future, say several members who wished to remain anonymous.
Several longtime Friars suspect this summer’s closure for renovations is a way of saving money on operating costs and speculate the club won’t reopen in the fall. If it does, “it’s inevitable” it will close sooner than later, one longtime member said.
Another member called the club’s situation a “clusterf—k” and blamed operators for trying to get current Friars to invest in the club “when there might not be a next year.”
“Look, the past is the past,” Aidala said. “We’re not as broke as everyone thinks.”
He insists upcoming renovations are a testament to the Friars Club’s commitment to its mothership.
“If we were looking to sell the building, we’d sell it as is,” he said.
But Aidala doesn’t deny that membership has been in decline in recent years and the club had about $90,000 in its account a couple of months ago. A well-placed source puts monthly operating costs at around $300,000.
A Friars rep claims revenues exceed overhead, but confirmed that a private member loaned operators $200,000 around 2017 so that they could make payroll. Sources also expressed concern about the specifics of a $4 million loan the club took out in September to make ends meet.
The Friars’ rep confirmed to the Daily News that they took out a $2 million loan against the building last fall and borrowed the other half from “a private lender whom we will not mention.”
The club is also looking at a huge property tax bill in July, according to two sources. The building is said to be worth upwards of $30 million, and a club rep said annual taxes are $175,000.
Aidala says the club’s war chest has recently rebounded, thanks to some reductions in overhead, and new revenue streams are being explored. Annual memberships top out at $5,000, according to a Friars rep. Current membership is about 1,000 people. A source with knowledge of the club’s workings said members used to total 1,500.
There have also been discussions about further borrowing against the clubhouse’s value, according to Aidala. He says that’s not uncommon when renovating a house —– let alone a century-old townhouse. That idea raised concerns with several members, who find the move risky without a foolproof plan in place that assures profitability for years to come.
In recent weeks, the Friars Club has parted ways with its treasurer and a general manager who was brought in early this year. Those moves followed director Michael Gyure pleading guilty to filing faulty tax forms in January following a two-year investigation by the Justice Department. Aidala points out that thorough investigation has not resulted in any charges against the club.
Gyure remains with the club as an “executive director” until a judge decides his fate next month. Gyure is largely responsible for bringing A-list celebrities and big events to the venue. He played a large role in hosting a sold-out, star-studded event honoring Billy Crystal with the club’s Icon award in November. Several members interviewed also blame him for the club’s financial instability and take issue with his still being on staff.
Gyure did not return a request for comment.
Aidala admits that bad press from the investigation has hurt the club, but Gyure’s troubles aside, thinks members should view the thorough examination of the Friars’ inner workings as an overall exoneration. He believes the club will be profitable by fall and vows that those appointed to future management positions will be carefully vetted.
“Leadership is going to be clean as a whistle while we tell dirty jokes,” he said.
One skeptical source told the Daily News, “I’ll kiss your a– in Times Square” if the club reopens and starts turning a profit following the completion of renovations.
Food and beverage director Giuseppe Barilla, an 11-year veteran at the club, said the Friars is too much of a New York institution to fold and that members’ uneasiness about the future is unfounded. According to Barilla, when he put a female bartender on staff a decade ago, some members thought that was the end of an era.
“Every time there is a little change, people aren’t happy about it,” he said. “Then they get used to it.”
Brian Niemietz has been a Friars Club member since 2016.
