Surf Club NYC

Surf Club NYC Surf Club was an iconic Nightclub on the Upper East-side. Then as now, lets have fun!

As a co-owner, I created this page so patrons, team members, and the Surf Club Family could post thoughts, memories, and images -- as well as reconnect.

Billy Porter was one of our longest lasting and most popular doormen. Sadly he struggled with depression and took his li...
04/26/2026

Billy Porter was one of our longest lasting and most popular doormen. Sadly he struggled with depression and took his life in Paris before the ‘80’s ended. I saw this musician on CBS Sunday Morning last week. I think it is Billy Porter’s doplleganger! Almost identical no?

Nick Beavers... Promoter at Surf Club. Some time promoter at Studio 54. Co-Owner of Zulu Lounge, NYC and Kangaroo Club,...
04/17/2026

Nick Beavers... Promoter at Surf Club. Some time promoter at Studio 54. Co-Owner of Zulu Lounge, NYC and Kangaroo Club, NYC.

Owner of Rogue Bar, Minneapolis. June 10, 1964 - April 16, 1995.

Rest in Peace Nicky... and hope you are already back for another round!

FUNNY STORY about getting "Touched by the MOB": (Maybe some of youse guys know who I'm talkin' about...)When we started ...
04/13/2026

FUNNY STORY about getting "Touched by the MOB": (Maybe some of youse guys know who I'm talkin' about...)

When we started Surf Club in December 1983, we were told to expect a visit from the Mob. Frankly we were surprised what with the crowds and the limos and taxis backed up on East 91st Street, that when they did show up, they had not come earlier. I'm guessing the first night we were paid a vist it was almost a year in -- maybe December 1984. Fortunately, I was not there, but Toby was... and thank God for that!

So a bunch of Guys showed up and pushed their way through the crowd waiting outside. They went up to Colter Rule, Terry McManus, Scotty O'Donnell, Billy Porter and the other doormen and said something to the effect of, "You know who we's is?" They were not big but they wore tracksuits and psychedelic puke sweaters -- the kind popular at the time on the Bill Cosby Show. They also had slick back hair and powerful demeanors.

Immediately Colter let them in and brought them up to the private room where Toby was holding forth. (I think Colter's attitude is, "I'm not paid enough to deal with these guys, these Wise Guys!")

Kindly recall: we were the ONLY nightclub that made it mandatory to wear a coat and tie. If you called and asked about our dress code, it was "Coat and Tie for guys. Anything or nothing for ladies." We were strict about that for a variety of reasons but mostly to keep out guys like the gang at the door. Still, they got into the back room.

Toby was dressed in a Paul Stuart or Brooks Brothers suit as were most men in the club. The Good Fellas -- led by a guy we will call Socks -- approached Toby who swung around a bottle of Moet. Well served.

They again said, "Do you know who we's is?"

Toby lowered his glance up and down and -- as the room went silent -- he was heard to say, "Oh my God! LOOK at you! I do not care who youse is... nor how many briges and tunnels it took for you to fu***ng get here... but never come into my club dressed like this again!"

Socks' face dropped. His Guys looked real threatening... then a little sheepish. Then Toby Continued, "Do you see that girl over there -- she is Lord Rothermere's daughter. And him in the corner. That's Mike Miliken(It wasn't). And this here is Sebastian Dupont Rockefeller Rothschild the turd! They all could buy and sell youse three times over. So next time you come in here you wear a suit and a tie from Brooks Brothers or Ralph Lauren or do not come at all! Disgusting!"

The Mob crowd started to glower. Violence was imminent. You could here a spoon drop. They looked around. They saw a few ladies straight out of Gatsby. Socks said threateningly, "We will be back!" And they left.

The very next night they came back. I was there and so was Toby. Socks and his crew came into the back room. SURPRISE! They all were wearing Suits!

Socks became a great friend. Some of his pals are friends of Toby's to this day. Funny thing... at some point that night one of them whipered into my ear: "Hey you like my suit. It's Calvin Klein. I can get you a whole boat load at 90% off."

"Where'd you get em? " I asked.

"Hey. They fell off a truck!"

And so we became pals with Pal Joey and never got touched by the mob!

But we got great deals on suits!

This Mademoiselle Article identifying Surf Club denizens as "shallow" was emblematic of the negative attitude most pres...
04/12/2026

This Mademoiselle Article identifying Surf Club denizens as "shallow" was emblematic of the negative attitude most press -- except Town & Country Magazine... thanks to Editor-in-chief Anne Hearst -- held for The Surf Club. I find it wrong since we hosted soooo many charity events and were the free after-party location for innumerable fund-raisers for colleges, schools, and non-profits like The Junior League, SAVE THE CHILDREN, The Red Cross, Ronald McDonald House, The Central Park Conservancy, Triangle Theater, and The Explorers Club.

I'd even argue our Surf crowd was -- then as now -- major benefactors amongst any peer groups. Today, former Surf regulars include such HUGE contemporary philanthropists as John Paulsen (donated $100m to The Central Park Conservancy), Paul Tudor Jones(Founder of The Robin Hood Foundation), Nelson Rockefeller Jr, and Robert Soros to name but a few.

At some point I will relate a funny story about meeting at a cocktail party in 2017 and what he said about his times at the Surf. Suffice to say, Paul told his son, Jack, it was "The BEST nightclub ever!" (Being a southerner, I bet he liked our Beach Music!)

Shown in this article are a few fellow Surfers and southerners: Tom and , , .

Thanks for the shout out, Kendra A. Wilcox! I was just in LA at a holiday party at Jordan Hawley's and Clare Best's lo...
01/03/2026

Thanks for the shout out, Kendra A. Wilcox! I was just in LA at a holiday party at Jordan Hawley's and Clare Best's lovely Holywood Hills home. Film Director Whit Stillman complimented me on the Surf Club. Back in the 1990's, Whit had reached out to me to do research on his Movie . He even mentioned that he had thought of brother Nicky to play a part in one of his films. It's lovely to be so remembered!

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415 E 91 Street
New York, NY
10128

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