Jay-Z’s famously blingy, star-studded 40/40 Club, launched in 2003, named for the Major League Baseball feat of having hit 40 home runs and stolen 40 bases in a single season, has popped its last bottle and unleashed a final blast of beats.
The decadent sports-bar on steroids, complete with a blue-felt-topped pool table atop a zebra patterned rug and a corridor adorned with prized pro sports jerseys, closed its ornately-logoed doors last week.
The joint, which boasts oversized TV screens everywhere, drew stars like Mary J. Blige, LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather, Lil’ Kim, Barack Obama (who held a fundraiser there in 2012) and Leonardo DiCaprio.
A source told The Post that Leo walked in one night and word immediately swirled that he was there to find Rihanna, supposedly a good friend who he is said to have never actually dated.
Whatever the case, she qualified as 40/40 royalty and enjoyed at least one VIP room liaison there with then on/off guy-pal Chris Brown.
Even moguls like Robert Kraft and Warren Buffett made their way to 40/40.
“I saw Warren there, in 2012, and told him to throw up the Roc sign,” photographer Johnny Nunez told The Post, adding that he had to instruct the Sage of Omaha on how to make the triangular gesture with his fingers.
“Jay had his back to it all, so I tapped him and said, ‘Hov, [Jay Z’s nickname] can I get a picture of you and Warren Buffett?’ Jay hugged him, Warren made the sign and it was like the young Jedi and the Jedi are together.”
While the 40/40 website promises a reopening at a new location next February, for the club’s regulars, it will be hard to top the good times that were had at the West 25th Street hotspot.
Its star proprietor designed the place to “retain the relaxed feel of a clubhouse,” albeit one where the bathrooms were coed.
On some nights, Jay-Z himself could be caught cruising through in a splashy tuxedo, eyes hidden behind darkly tinted glasses, eschewing security to carve his own way to one of the coveted VIP rooms.
“It was the place to be seen, with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Derek Jeter all in there,” DJ Envy, of the Breakfast Club broadcast, told The Post. “It’s a shame that 40/40 is going. I don’t think there’s another place like it in New York City.”
The club was a magnet for rappers and athletes: 2 Chainz had an album release party there for the debut of “Based on a T.R.U. Story” and Jay-Z himself put on a listening blowout for “4:44.”
LeBron James and A-Rod both had birthday bashes at the elite lounge.
Swizz Beats could be seen hanging there with Jay-Z at his side.
The superstars were so comfortable that they sometimes got carried away with themselves.
“There was one night in the lobby of the private VIP rooms,” a regular told The Post, “when [a player from the Jets], was riding around on a two wheeled skateboard. Nobody minded. Everyone thought it was funny – especially when he fell off.”
Fewer laughs were had when professional boxer Jermall Charlo showed up straight from Barclays Center, where his fight was postponed due to an opponent’s injury.
Charlo happened to be carrying a duffle bag with $115,000 of bling – contents included a championship ring, plus gold boxing gloves festooned with diamonds — and $40,000 in cash.
At 3 a.m., Charlo jumped into an unsanctioned brawl with security.
His bag of cash and jewels wound up in the hands of a woman celebrating her birthday at the club.
She fled the fisticuffs and the bag went missing until she surrendered it to police the next day. Her lawyer insisted that she was handed the bag and “ran for her life.”
In 2017, a man would have done well to follow suit.
Instead, he stuck around long enough to get his right cheek slashed by a woman wielding a busted wineglass.
More celebratory was the club’s 18th anniversary bash in 2021, which coincided with the end of Covid 19 restrictions.
Crowds of people fighting their way to the signature blue carpet in front were such that “you couldn’t even get on the block unless you knew somebody,” Don Pooh, owner of Brooklyn Chop House told The Post. “Megan Thee Stallion was there, Dream, Lil Uzi Vert, Meek Mill, Fabolous, Swizz Beats.
“Everyone was celebrating, everyone was dressed up and set a tone. It was a night of celebration. Every guy had a blazer on and everyone had a glass of Ace of Spades.”
At $1,000 a bottle, plus tip, Armand De Brignac Ace of Spades champagne, was the house beverage at 40/40.
The point was underscored when rapper Fat Joe celebrated his 40th birthday bash at the place in 2018. Jay-Z treated the rapper to $60,000 worth of champagne.
“All you saw were gold bottles going through the club that night,” Pretty Lou Ortega, who served as MC, marveled to The Post. “Jeezy was there and so was Busta Rhymes. It was a great night and a great experience.”
As to what drew the rich and famous “to pop bottles upstairs,” as Ortega put it, while bridge and tunnel types helped pay the bills downstairs, one $20 cocktail at a time, the unifying factor seems to have been an opportunity to party at Jay-Z’s place.
“People felt fortunate to have been chosen to be there,” photographer Nunez said of the legendary club. “You were on spiritual hip-hop ground.”
