Another Harvard Club Scandal
Posted on October 26th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 8 Comments »
Just days after someone at the Club leaked the news that former NYS governor Eliot Spitzer had been rejected for membership, the Harvard Club is in the news again—and not in a good way!
Turns out that New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly has been entertaining “guests” there—and letting someone else pick up the tab.
…over the past eight years, Mr. Kelly, who has an advanced degree from Harvard, has enjoyed an additional perquisite: some or all of his expenses at the club, including the yearly dues, drinks and meals, have been paid by the New York City Police Foundation, a spokesman for Mr. Kelly acknowledged on Monday.
Which is almost certainly illegal.
(Don’t you just hate it when high-ranking cops break the law?)
So two questions must be asked.
One, did Eliot Spitzer leak this as retribution against the club? (Not sure exactly how this would work, but…the Harvard Club in the news twice in one week? This can not be a coincidence.)
And second, if the Harvard Club rejected Spitzer for breaking the law, will it now rescind Ray Kelly’s membership?
Or is a governor going to prostitutes worse than a cop on the take?
8 Responses
10/26/2010 1:08 pm
Why guests in scare quotes? I went to the article expecting more parallels to the Spitzer case . . .
10/26/2010 1:18 pm
Sorry, wasn’t meant that way, meant instead that this was ostensibly about business, but the bylaws of the Harvard Club say that you can’t conduct business there….
10/26/2010 3:47 pm
I think that the “scandal” here is breaking the strict Club rule against conducting business there. I don’t see the scandal of paying senior officials’ club dues so that they have a convenient, neutral, mostly private place to meet with other parties. In fact, the Times pointed out one very good reason for Kelly to hold meetings with certain characters at the Harvard Club: since only Club members can pay, there is no opportunity for the other party to try to sneak the check and thus create unwanted leverage.
10/27/2010 12:03 am
Neither Richard nor “leave him alone” is correct about the rules of the Club. Business conversations are allowed everywhere. Business papers can be in evidence only in certain areas of the Club. Here is the operative paragraph of the House Rules:
“While the purposes of the Club are primarily social, members may engage in unobtrusive, informal business discussions within its public areas. The display of papers or documents that are or appear to be of a business nature is strictly prohibited in the Main Dining Room, the Grill Room, the Main Bar and the 27 West 44th Street lobby at all times. The discreet, limited display of such papers is permitted elsewhere within the public areas of the Club, including Harvard Hall, the balcony of the Main Dining Room, the Charles River Room, the Gordon Reading Room, the South Bar and the 35 West 44th Street lobby. For formal business meetings, members are required to engage private rooms through the Catering Office or other proper channels.”
10/27/2010 5:41 am
Thanks for the clarification, Warren. It’s a funny rule—essentially, you can conduct business as long as you don’t look like you’re conducting business.
In any event, I still think a club whose membership just passed a moral judgment on Eliot Spitzer (we don’t want his kind in or club) is now put in an awkward position by the news of Kelly’s corruption, no matter how petty it may be.
10/27/2010 5:42 am
“In our club,” excuse me.
10/27/2010 8:59 am
Two questions in response: 1. Why can’t it be a coincidence that these two stories came out in the same week? Coincidences happen.
2. Why does this reflect badly on the Harvard Club? I don’t think they have any responsibility to reject the money. I doubt they would even be expected to know that it was being paid illegally.
Oh, one last question: is it as easy to kick someone out of the Club as it is to prevent them from becoming a member? It usually isn’t, in any organization.
10/27/2010 2:07 pm
Whimsy-It could. But it’s like the Matrix-if you see the same black cat twice, you’d better pay attention.
Not sure it reflects badly on the Harvard Club, though it’d be interesting to know who sent the checks to pay Kelly’s bills. Since only club members are allowed to pick up the tab, did Kelly write personal checks for which he was reimbursed? Or did the “foundation” send in the checks? If it’s the latter, that seems a clear violation of club rules.
Don’t know the answer to your last question, but I suspect that it’s harder to deny access than to oust someone who’s in.