The 21 Club opened on New Year’s Eve 1930 at 21 West 52nd Street as a speakeasy and restaurant. Legend has it that when powerful gossip columnist Walter Winchell was banned from the club, he ran an item wondering why the 21 Club had not yet been raided by Prohibition agents. (Winchell, of course, was the inspiration for the character of J.J. Hunsecker in The Sweet Smell of Success, which features several scenes at 21.) The next day 21 was raided and, soon after, the owners installed a secret wine cellar located behind a camouflaged door opening into the neighboring building, 19 West 52nd. The cellar remains behind that 2 ½ ton door to this day, where tasting menus are offered near the booth supposedly favored by Mayor Jimmy Walker. more ›