talkwithoneanotherwithoutcraning
theirnecks.“Iheardtherewasanepi-
sodeofCurbYourEnthusiasmabouthow
it’ssohardtotalkatsushibars,”hesays.
Therewillalsobea screeningroom,
aswellasa “library”—alongroomlined
withglassshelveslikemagazineracks,
showcasingpicturebooksfrompub-
lisherAssouline,whichis “curating”the
space.Sartianosaysculturalprogram-
mingmayincludeeventssuchaskids’
gamesinthemornings,winetastings
andstand-upcomedyintheevenings,
andanannualOscarsviewingparty.
What makes his model unique,
hesays,willbethesmallbutracially
andprofessionallyvariedcommunity,
establishedbythemembershipcommit-
tee,who’llwanttomeetoneanother.
“I’mdoinga NewYorkversionofthe
Londonsocialclub,”Sartianosays.“And
NewYorkis aboutdiversity.”
“Whenpeoplegooutandhavea
greattime,theydon’tsayit’s‘because
GeorgeClooneywas 50 feetawayfrom
me,’” headds.“Usually,it’s‘because
I metpeopleI wouldhavenevermet
before,andtheyweresocool,andnow
we’renewfriends.’Thatis whatI aspire
thisplacetobe.”
Hispartnersincludefitnessbehe-
mothEquinox;GregO’Hara,thefounder
andseniormanagingdirectorofpri-
vateequityfirmCertaresManagement
LLC;Jamie Reuben,a British finan-
cier;andNaguibSawiris,anEgyptian
billionaire.Sartianoisconfidenthis
visionwillsucceed,evenamida surge
ofinterestintheNewYorkprivateclub
marketbycompetitors.Theseinclude
theNorwoodClub,whichopenedin
Chelseain2007,andnewcomerssuch
asLondon-basedbusinessmanRobin
Birley,who’splanninga supperclubfor
theUpperEastSide.
Sartianoestimatesthatatfirstthe
clubwillaccept1,000to2,000mem-
bers.Annualduesare$3,000,plusa
$500initiationfee.(Bycomparison:
Soho House costs from $1,100 to $3,400
annually, depending on how many
clubs in the network you want to access;
a yearly membership to all 16 locations
of the Wing, a club for professional
women, is $2,700.)
Foundingmembersincludeformer
NBApowerforwardDavidLeeandhis
wife,CarolineWozniacki,a worldNo. 1
tennisplayerwhoretiredinJanuary.
“Forourgroupoffriendsnow,the
ideaofgoingtoa nightclubuntil5 inthe
morningisn’twhatwe’relookingtodo,”
LeesaidoverthephonefromZanzibar,
whereheandhisfamilywereshooting
anadventureshowfortheDiscovery
Channel.“Thiskindoffillsa voidforme,
becausemyideaofa perfecteveningis
togograba gooddinnerwithfriends,
andtoenjoya greatatmosphereand
havea bottleofwine.Andgetoutof
thereby12:30.”
Therealdraw,Leesaid,is that“it’s
anexclusivethingtobecomea member
of.It’snotabouthowmuchmoneyyouhave,it’saboutthecoolnessfactor.”
Sartianocertainlyknowsaboutcool.
Alitheformertennisinstructorwho
movedtoNewYorkfromNorthCarolina
toattendColumbiain1992,hedrifted
intoclubpromotinganddiscoveredhe
hada talentforit.Afterworkinghisway
upwiththevenuesLifeandSpa,heand
then-businesspartnerRichieAkivahad
theirfirsthitwithButter,a restauranton
LafayetteStreet.Butterdefinedcelebrity
scene-makingintheearly2000s,earned
a reputationforitscocaine-fueledclien-
tele,andbroughtSartianohigh-profile
palsandgirlfriends.(A 2006 articlein
theNewYorkPostdescribedhimas“the
formermansnack”ofLindsayLohan,
AshleeSimpson,andAshleyOlsen.)
In2008,withtwootherpartners,
SartianoandAkivaopened1Oakinthe
MeatpackingDistrict.Thename,mean-
ing“oneofa kind,”wasa misnomer: The
brand expanded to include outposts inDubai, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Tokyo,
andAspen,Colo.By2018,Sartianowas
a celebrity,atleast intheNewYork
gossip columns, which delighted in
chronicling his romantic life. And the
tabloidspouncedwhenhefelloutwith
Akivathatyearandsuedhimfor$15mil-
lion,alleging Akiva misled him about
their business’s finances. (Speaking to
reportersatthetime,a spokesmanfor
Akivacalledtheclaims“baseless”and
“defamatory.” The case is ongoing.)
In 2017, with partners not including
Akiva, Sartiano opened a fast-casual
grain bowl restaurant called Broken
Coconut. It had a menu heavy on vegan
yogurt and avocado toast.
The first ofits three locationsis
nearZeroBond,aswellasa brick-and-
mortar Goop. Gigi Hadid moved into a
$4 million pad at 10 Bond St. in 2016;
KristenStewartboughta $5.6million
loftnearbythefollowingyear.
Butthe19thcenturyclubbuilding,
whose cute Bond Street address
is essentially the drag name of
670 Broadway, was there before the
neighborhood’s newly cool designa-
tion. Sartiano doesn’t own the five-
story, 70,000-square-foot building but
says renovations for the floors he’s leas-
ing cost “in the ballpark of $15 million.”
In 1874 the red-brick redoubt housed
a BrooksBrothersstoreandgarment
factory.ZacPosen,thelabel’scurrent
creativedirector,who’salsoafounding
club member, is designing staff uni-
forms in a nod to that history.
Taken together, the neighborhood
paints a cohesive picture of today’s
wealthy urban creatives: vegan yogurt,
boutiquefitness,andmemberships
to variousprivate communities for
networking and socializing.
“It used to be it took a year or
18 months to hear about what the cool
spot was in New York, but now, with
social media, you don’t have that lux-
ury,” says Sartiano, who’s banned social
posting from the club and will allow cell-
phone use only in certain areas.
“So how do you get that back? You
have tosay,‘I’mputting up a gate, I’m
buildinga wall,and there’s criteria to
get inside.’” <BW>61PRIVATE CLUBS Bloomberg Pursuits March 30, 2020
“I’m doing a
New York version
of the London
social club. And
New York is
about diversity”