UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Make way for the king, Upper East Side, he wants a liquor license.
British “nightclub king” Robin Birley appears finally to be taking steps to get his exclusive Madison Avenue club running after overcoming stiff opposition to win Community Board approval last year.
Birley applied on Aug. 15 for a license to swill at his planned private members’ club at 828 Madison Ave., between East 69th and 70th streets, State Liquor Authority records show.
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The spot, referred to in filings as 828/850 Madison Avenue Members Club Inc., can expect a determination by Feb. 13, 2024.
This will be the first New York City venture for the nightclub king, known for a childhood encounter with a pregnant tiger who got his head in her mouth and London supper clubs such as 5 Hertford Street, where rumor has it Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had their first date.
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The Madison Avenue members-only club will encompass a 12,000-square-foot, two-story space formerly known as the Westbury Hotel, the New York Post reported in May 2022.
The report notes Birley signed a 20-year-lease.
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The nightclub king quickly encountered opposition from neighbors who raised concerns about delivery traffic, late night noise and a Community Board 8 application they called “seriously deficient.”
In October, Birley — reportedly courting members of New York’s creative class — returned to the board with a lengthy document filled with stipulations in an attempt to assuage neighborly concerns.
Specifically, Birley promised to relegate all club-related traffic to Madison Avenue, not to operate a valet service and to issue stern warnings to members not to park in a nearby East 70th Street garage.
Neighbors from an East 70th Street building said they still couldn’t support the proposal, but board members voted unanimously to support the application.
To bolster the bid, the club had brought along supporter Stephen A. Schwarzman, the billionaire Donald Trump ally and Upper East Sider whose name can be found on the New York Public Library Main Branch.
“To let Robin’s application fail,” Schwarzman said, “would be an awful moment for New York.”
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