The Explorers Club

Fantastic events and space. Awesome that they honored the hokule’a with an event.

Unfortunately I did not have the warm welcoming experience that Peter did as someone who was just allowed to walk around. I recently dropped in because I had heard their library is a great place to read and study (I’m a graduate student and world traveler and was intrigued by the concept). The doors were open but no one was at the front desk. Someone came out from the group of people in the living room and I asked if their library was open to the public. She chuckled, said no and practically shoved me out the door, only to securely close the door behind me. It was abhorrent behavior for an innocent question. And if that is the only experience I have with the club, then it was one experience too many. I’d much rather actually travel the world with open minded pleasant individuals.

I have visit the exploreres club multiple times over the years. Mostly by just stopping in randomly and asking if I can walk around for a little, which they always let me do. More recently, I attended a lecture they held that was open to both members and the public. For $ 20, there was an open bar cocktail hour followed by a fantastic lecture and then a guided tour of the building at the end. Unlike some of the recent reviews posted, my experience was wonderful. No one was snotty or rude to me. Also, I could not find any information or articles online regarding controversies of members «paying» to go on expeditions to be a part of the club. Everyone was very chatty at the cocktail hour and they even had their outdoor terrace open for us to stand outside. The actual lecture itself was amazing — it featured a man named Zoltan Takacs who travels to different countries searching for rare snakes to extract their venom for medial research. It included videos and interesting stories of his travels around the world. He also held a Q&A session at the end in which anyone was allowed to partake in. Once the lecture was finished, I participated in a tour of the building where we walked to the top and then slowly made our way down with the guides explaining to us all the history and artifacts along the way.
I’m sorry to hear that not everyone had as great of an experience as I did. If you’re interested in learning more about them, I strongly recommend visiting their website and looking up the next speaker series they have (there is usually one monthly). It’s a great way to learn about the building and hear interesting facts from an explorer!

Iconic old building bursting with the history of exploration. Great lecture series and for members, a place to relax and share stories from around the world.

Stepping into the Explorer’s Club feels like the beginning of a National Treasure or Indiana Jones type movie. It’s exactly what it says — a club for world explorers. I was lucky enough to plan an event here for a client, and it was a really cool experience. There’s a stuffed polar bear of the second floor which attracts a lot of attention. The catering staff is great and professional — the passed appetizers were really tasty too. There’s a lot of history here with great stories and artifacts.

Incredible history, great events and some open to the public. A storied past and a building that houses artifacts from the moon, to the jungle, to the bottom of the ocean, just awesome and inspiring.

If Indiana Jones or Lara Croft were real, they would live and/​or hang out at the Explorers Club. This is probably my new favorite place in all of NYC. I want to be a member, but to do that, you have to actually BE an explorer or some other type of field scientist.
They have a huge taxidermied (is that even a word? stuffed sounds too cute) polar bear — gift of Rudolph Valentino — at the top of a gorgeous wooden staircase inside.
Of course they have a lovely old beautiful globe, perfect to close your eyes, spin, and point at to choose your next adventure.
One day I will be a member. In the meantime, I will continue to check out their awesome lectures and film festival. I recently heard an epidemiologist from the CDC speak about the last Ebola outbreak in Uganda that he spent a few months helping out at and studying. Amazing and heartbreaking yet intriguing stuff.