A New York Times article complains that some of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly's work-related expenses at the Harvard Club have been paid for by volunteer donors to the New York City Police Foundation rather than, as the Times apparently would prefer, the New York taxpayers compelled by government force to pay taxes. The Times article describes the club as "a rarefied spot in Midtown Manhattan whose membership is exclusively for those with Harvard degrees."
That is inaccurate. The Harvard club isn't particularly rarefied; it's swarmed with corporate functions from just about every bank, consulting company, and law firm in town, giving it a feel more like a hotel conference center than a private social club, to the extent that longtime members who recall the days when the place was rarefied now grumble about it. Second, the club's own Web site makes clear that membership is not limited to those with Harvard degrees but is available also to anyone who attended Harvard for a year, anyone who is on any Harvard board or committee; any Harvard "officer," which is a term that includes a lot of junior academic bureaucrats; and spouses and "life partners" of Harvard Club members.
