The National Arts Club Is a Mess
The National Arts Club, located in a mansion on Manhattan's tony Gramercy Park South, is known for its historic building, famous members, and lavish parties. Too bad part of it is in shambles and stuffed with junk.
Photos taken by former employees of the club show that many of the rooms upstairs—away from the well-maintained public spaces (see above)—are filled with boxes, junk, clothes, and, yes, even art work.
Ex-employees and current board members allege that O. Aldon James, the National Arts Club's president and a resident of the building, is not only renting out the apartments in the mansion for well below market value (as little as $356 a month), but that he and his twin brother, who also lives at the club, are using some of them as storage lockers. Someone please call A&E and tell them to dispatch a camera crew from Hoarders to the club stat! Photos of the mess, via yourfreepress.blogspot.com, below.
[Photo, top, taken during an event at the club via Getty Images. All other photos courtesy of Rafael Martínez Alequín, yourfreepress.blogspot.com]