The New York Members Club That Owned Knicks Viewing Season
"We picked our lane early on and had sports be a part of it."
Happy Sunday, everyone. If you’re not in New York this weekend, I’ll admit it: I feel bad for you. The weather’s perfect and the whole city is buzzing with Knicks pride. This is the kind of weekend people move here for.
After my party Wednesday, which was followed by back-to-back dinners and lunches, I needed some time to myself. Time to recharge the social battery. I watched the Knicks alone in my apartment, working away on my computer, until it got very clear we were about to win. Then I walked out into the street.
It was like there was a block party going on. People were running up and down, screaming out their windows, shouting from their balconies. Strangers were hugging, and strangers were hugging me. There were pockets where the crowds were so dense I had to shout excuse me over the celebrating just to break through. These are streets that have been quiet at 11pm on a Saturday since Covid. Now they were raging. A guy on a bike was driving around handing out Knicks-colored cookies. There were fireworks. Someone was sabering a champagne bottle on the front doorstep of their brownstone. People were dancing in the spray. I'm seeing some insane photos of trash on the streets today, and they're making me cringe — but last night, it felt otherworldly.
Speaking of the Knicks: today we'll be talking about the members club that won the watch parties. Organically, for weeks I'd been hearing that Crane Club, the restaurant and members lounge from Tao Group Hospitality, was the best place to catch the Knicks games if you couldn't be there in person. The place had televisions (plural); people were spending money, a lot of it; and the room was always full of the type of people you want around while watching a game — real Knicks fans who just happened to be hedge fund managers, sports agents, and the type of people who actually know what they're cheering for. And word of mouth on Crane only got louder as the playoffs went on. So today I pinged Noah Tepperberg, Co-CEO of Tao Group Hospitality, who I've known for as long as I've lived in New York — which is to say, longer than either of us would probably like to admit.
And for the non-New Yorkers sick of hearing about Knicks mania, I’ve got plenty for you too: a look at Nantucket’s thrift store wars, an over-abundance of English country houses with not enough buyers, the hair combs from The Row’s SS26 show finally up for sale (if you’re fast), an update on the SpaceX IPO (plus a recap of a phone call I had with Elon Musk six-ish years ago), major lay-offs coming to the Lambs Club by July 27, a first look at Soho Farmhouse in Hudson Valley, and more.
As for my party last Wednesday — and what a party it was, huh? — I’ll save the full debrief for its own letter: the logistics, the photos, all of it.
But today, we’ve got other things to chat about.
