Why We Built Membrsonly: A Guide to NYC Private Clubs

It often begins with a name in a group chat. Someone mentions a club, someone else knows a member, and suddenly everyone has a different version of what it costs and how to get in. An address is easy enough to find. Understanding whether a place fits your life takes more work.

We created Membrsonly to bring those questions together. It is an independent guide to NYC private members clubs: what each place is, the atmosphere, how membership works, and what fees are publicly available or reported. We want readers to leave with a clearer picture before they decide to apply, ask for an introduction, or keep looking.

Start with the kind of place you want

A private club can mean very different things. A room for dinner and dancing serves a different purpose from a workspace, a wellness membership, or a long-established cultural institution. That is why our club guide begins with five choices: Nightlife, Wellness, Networking, Arts & Culture, and Heritage & Traditional.

Those choices are a starting point. Inside each profile, the details matter more than the label. We look at location, use, access, hours and membership costs, so you can compare places around the way you actually spend your time.

Clear information, without pretending every door is open

Private clubs do not publish everything. An application is not a promise of acceptance, a reported fee can change, and a hotel’s public restaurant is not necessarily part of its members-only offering. We distinguish published information from dated reporting and say when a detail has not been made public.

We use club websites and attributable reporting, with links readers can follow. Real photographs show the named venue or clubhouse, and captions identify the source. We do not present an editorial mood image as a club interior or a researched profile as a personal visit.

A New York project, made by students

Membrsonly began as a digital marketing project at NYU Stern. Our team wanted to explore how useful information and a considered design could make a confusing subject easier to navigate. You can meet the people building it on our Contact page.

This Journal gives us room to go beyond individual profiles: how to think about a first membership, what different club types offer, and which questions to ask before joining. Start with our guide to private clubs in New York for young people, or go straight to the club choices.

Our aim is simple: help you find your own NYC corner, with enough context to choose it for yourself.