Time Traveler: The Surf Club
At one time, a unique ‘80s dance club kept limousines lined up at an unlikely spot: the corner of 91st Street and York Avenue. Still, the infamous hot spot the Surf Club was, for a brief but brilliant moment, arguably one of the hottest clubs in the city.
The Surf Club made waves on Christmas Eve in 1984, during the heyday of New York nightlife (perhaps a testament to the flourishing economy and the plethora of post-collegiates who flooded the city and brought with them a welcoming naïveté toward drugs). Though fondly remembered, today the Surf Club’s legacy may be one of self-destruction; it was a place where people went to have fun—sometimes too much—losing jobs (and credibility) along the way. As most clubs at the time catered to the downtown crowd, many also made their mark on specific demographics (faux-Victorian at Nell’s, gay disco at The Saint and the art elite at Area), the Surf Club was undeniably a palace for preps. Adorned with striped umbrellas and white lattice reminiscent of the private beach clubs of Southampton or Edgartown, it became a home away from home to trust fund-toting blue bloods. The club may have courted a yuppie crowd, alumnus of Andover and Amherst who went on to become investment bankers, but by no means was it buttoned up. Read More
