Heisman Will Be Presented at Yale Club

The Heisman Trophy is moving uptown from its home in the Downtown Athletic Club, whose long-term financial troubles were heightened by the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

This year’s trophy will be presented at the Yale Club in Midtown on Dec. 14, said Jim Corcoran, president of the Downtown Athletic Club.

“This is certainly an appropriate venue for the award presentation and the prestige of the Heisman is perpetuated by the association [with the Yale Club],” Corcoran said.

Corcoran said the move is temporary for now. Last year’s presentation was at a Manhattan hotel.

A long-running decline in revenue, combined with a post-Sept. 11 drop in visitors, created uncertainty over the Downtown Athletic Club’s ability to remain in its landmark Art Deco building, said Rudy Riska, the trophy’s executive director.

The club, about three blocks from where the World Trade Center stood, has been shuttered since the attack.