A nondescript building in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood houses, variously, the offices of the Fader magazine, the offices of the National Ins

What if the Solution to Men’s Loneliness Is … Freemasonry?

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2024-10-05 17:30:08

A nondescript building in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood houses, variously, the offices of the Fader magazine, the offices of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies (and various therapists’ rooms therein), and the infrastructure consulting firm AECOM.

Visitors to the building, coming in through the 23rd Street entrance, might glimpse some strange imagery decorating the lobby—a mural full of odd symbols, men in aprons moving blocks of stone around a pyramid featuring a golden sun.

The Masonic Hall was built by Freemasons in 1873, and is still owned and operated by them. The 23rd Street half of the city-block-spanning building is the commercial side, rented out to tenants, but the other side is entirely occupied by Masonic lodge meeting rooms, libraries, and administrative offices, and has been for over 150 years.

For the uninitiated, a Masonic “lodge” (a word the organization uses in a nongeographical sense) is an affiliation of local Freemasons. As for what a Freemason is—well, he’s a member of a Masonic lodge.