Tom and Barney Shanley opened a restaurant on Sixth Avenue, between 23rd and 24th Sts., then the center of the nite life in the city.

[citation needed] Shanley's "uptown" spot became a rendezvous for stage and political celebrities.John and Ethel Barrymore, Teddy Roosevelt, Harry Houdini, David Belasco, Richard Mansfield, "Diamond Jim" Brady and Lillian Russell might be seen at adjacent tables.

William Travers Jerome (who prosecuted Harry Thaw), Tammany leader Charlie Murphy, the Sullivans; actors Sam Bernard, Lew Fields, Joe Weber, Douglas Fairbanks.

Among the ladies present, were: Louise Dresser, who later became famous in theater and films and Lillian Lorraine, described by Ziegfeld as the most beautiful woman in the world.

[citation needed] Shanley's, indirectly, was a motivating factor in the creation of ASCAP, today, one of the most powerful unions in the entertainment field.

Victor Herbert was dining at Shanley's, listening to the orchestra play a medley of his compositions, when the waiter handed him a staggering check.

The suit went all the way to the Supreme Court, where Oliver Wendell Holmes ruled in favor of Victor Herbert and as a result, ASCAP was founded.