{"id":245427,"date":"2021-05-07T23:24:59","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T20:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-legendary-friars-club-reopens-with-new-dean\/"},"modified":"2021-05-07T23:24:59","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T20:24:59","slug":"the-legendary-friars-club-reopens-with-new-dean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-legendary-friars-club-reopens-with-new-dean\/","title":{"rendered":"#The legendary Friars Club reopens with new dean"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#The legendary Friars Club reopens with new dean<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

The yucksters are back at the legendary Friars Club.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shuttered 14 months ago by the one-two punch of a flood followed by a pandemic, the iconic institution of New York showbiz<\/a> \u2014 where entertainment luminaries like Henny Youngman, Frank Sinatra and Larry King used to hold court \u2014 finally reopened in the last week of April.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Featuring new leadership, a new mission and a dramatically refurbished building, the club hosted its first \u201cFriars Club Live\u201d on a recent Tuesday with a line-up of live music and stand-up comedy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But if the revamped \u201cJerry Lewis Monastery\u201d on East 55th Street doesn\u2019t look like an entirely new club, it at least resembles a renewed one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like if somebody has a face-lift, they look the same but \u2018freshened,\u2019 \u201d laughed TV personality and long-time Friar Bill Boggs, who asked to not reveal his age for \u201cprofessional reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Friars\u2019 \u201cface lift\u201d became necessary in January 2020, when a fourth-floor water pipe burst over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.\u00a0Because no one was on-site, the water ran free for days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a rainforest in here,\u201d explained 31-year-old general<\/a> manager Anthony Trombetta.<\/p>\n

\"Outside
The new and improved (and de-flooded) revamped \u201cJerry Lewis Monastery\u201d on East 55th Street. <\/figcaption>
Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The damage closed the club, making significant renovations necessary. Notably, it wasn\u2019t contractors who did the work but long-time Friar employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiuseppe, our food and drink director, was up on a ladder peeling back walls, while Wendy from accounting was shining chandeliers,\u201d Trombetta said.<\/p>\n

During the make-over, the club\u2019s infamous wall-to-wall carpeting was largely replaced with herringbone floors, while the original 1908 flooring in the Milton Berle Room was returned to its original shine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The club\u2019s dark walls were lightened a couple shades and its stained-glass windows were repaired and restored, while in the Barbara Streisand Bar (n\u00e9e the Lucille Ball Room) antique mirrors were mounted behind the bar and leather banquettes added to the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Inside
The new antique mirrors in the Barbara Streisand Room show more than two faces.<\/figcaption>
Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It all aimed to give the club a \u201clighter\u201d and \u201cmore welcoming\u201d feel, said lawyer Arthur Aidala, 53, the Friars\u2019 newest \u201cdean\u201d after the passing of the club\u2019s former head honcho Larry King<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call it Friars Club 2.0,\u201d he said. \u201cFixing up the place and restoring it to its former luster was step one, but we\u2019re gonna keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which is not to say anyone intends to forget the Friars\u2019 fantastic past, Boggs added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in this room with guests many times, eating dinner and listening to live music, and it\u2019s like, \u2018Where else would you want to be?\u2019 \u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Many of the club\u2019s amenities remain unchanged, including its billiards and card rooms, an on-site barbershop and gym and a world-class steam room that may be the hottest in New York City.<\/p>\n

\"Vocalist
Fans tune in to singer Charlie Romo and pianist Matt Baker at the members-only club.<\/figcaption>
Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe members go crazy for it,\u201d Trombetta said of the historic marble sauna where Berle was known to enjoy a shvitz with his Borscht Belt pals.<\/p>\n

Even before that water damage, the Friars was in need of a reboot.\u00a0Recent years had been hard, with the club\u2019s former executive director convicted of federal tax crimes<\/a> and another administrator sued for sexual harassment.\u00a0Aging members and dwindling membership didn\u2019t help either, which is why Aidala tasked the Friars with finding new members, especially young and female.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy edict right now is to bring in young professional women, because there was a time women weren\u2019t welcomed here, and I want to right that wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Friars
Shelarious: Comedia<\/a>n and actress Lauren Conlin at the now more female-friendly Friars Club.<\/figcaption>
Brian Zak\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To make the club more attractive to young professionals, its dress code has slackened (coats are no longer required), excellent Wi-Fi is piped throughout the building, and the new Abbot\u2019s Lounge (formerly the George Burns Room) has been transformed into an ersatz \u201cWeWork\u201d office with desks and tables for working members to spread out on. There are also plans to build a state-of-the-art podcasting studio on the property, Aidala said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be pretty cool to be able to say, \u2018Broadcasting live from the Friars Club,\u2019 right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

My edict right now is to bring in young professional women, because there was a time women weren\u2019t welcomed here and I want to right that wrong.<\/p>\n

Arthur Aidala, the new dean of the Friars Club<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

One convert to the idea of \u201cFriars Club 2.0\u201d is Lauren Conlin, 35, the thirtysomething host of the \u201cRed Carpet Rendezvous\u201d podcast and an entertainment reporter.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think the Friars Club was just a fraternity for old white men, but then I came here and was immediately smitten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conlin loved the club\u2019s legendary past, of course, but she also app<\/a>reciated the ability to make a new future.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I joined, I immediately started planning happy hours and networking parties,\u201d she said. \u201cI imagine this club as a new Paley Center, with movie screenings and talk backs. I really do think now is the perfect time to revive the club and make it even more fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aidala doesn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to embrace the nostalgia we have for the entertainment industry, but we also want to embrace the business and other worlds to join us and share in the heritage of a new Friars Club.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#The legendary Friars Club reopens with new dean” The yucksters are back at the legendary Friars Club.\u00a0 Shuttered 14 months ago by the one-two punch of a flood followed by a pandemic, the iconic institution of New York showbiz \u2014 where entertainment luminaries like Henny Youngman, Frank Sinatra and Larry King used to hold court…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/friars-club-reopening-01.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[104859,86,5276,105128,76148,39579,82160,22512,83336],"class_list":["post-245427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-5-7-21","tag-comedy","tag-entertainment","tag-friars-club","tag-historic-buildings","tag-music","tag-nightclubs","tag-restaurants","tag-stand-up-comedy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}