Will George Bush Join the “Club”?

In 1975, when New York was at its economic nadir, a famed headline in the New York Daily News proclaimed, "Ford to City: Drop Dead." Although Gerald Ford never uttered those words, his refusal to bail Gotham out of its fiscal woes certainly made for a juicy headline. (Even funnier, in retrospect, is the secondary headline on that front page: "Stocks Skid, Dow Down 12." Twelve whole points? Call my broker! Say what you want about Ford's snub of New York. At least he knew a Manhattan institution when he saw one. He, along with every sitting U.S. president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt visited the city's most beloved speakeasy, the '21' Club, while in office. Heck, Nixon even has a few bottles of vino still in storage in the eatery's wine cellar. Sadly, the unbroken string of presidential visits now looks to be in jeopardy. Despite repeated entreaties from the '21' Club's general manager, Bryan McGuire, and its ever-gracious director of public relations, Diana Biederman, the forty-third president has yet to grace the jockey-adorned townhouse on West 52nd Street with his presence. In a story that first appeared last week in the New York Sun, reporter Robert Simonson quotes Bruce Snyder, former manager of the restaurant, as saying that he, too, invited the president to come by, but was told by the president's aides, "He doesn't like to go out to dinner." Interestingly, the First Lady is on record as having said that '21' is her favorite restaurant in New York. The First Daughters, Barbara and Jenna, have also been to '21' (no word on whether Jenna attempted to score a drink prior to actually hitting the age of 21). This would not be the first time "W" has ruined the record books for followers of all things commander-in-chief. A few years ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting and befriending the photographer Arnold Newman, a man who had taken portraits of every U.S. president since Harry Truman. George W. Bush, not so much. Newman speculated to me that Bush the Elder must not have liked his photo and therefore, convinced his son to take a pass. Regrettably, the famed lensman died in 2006, and Junior missed his opportunity to sit for an amazingly talented man. The nation's chief exec has a little more than a year in office and presumably, will make at least a few more visits to Manhattan before he vacates the White House. A word to the wise: Mr. President, as you attempt to burnish your legacy with a new Mideast peace initiative, it might be a whole lot easier to remedy this situation. And though you're a teetotaler, make sure to pay a visit to the restaurant's hidden wine cellar. %%showphotos [setid=72157603324173375]%%