The New York chapter of the Los Angeles-based Mattachine Society was established in 1955 with an office in the Gilded Age-era St. James Building on Madison Square Park. Three members of the society, including its president, staged the famous "Sip In" of Julius' bar in 1966, protesting prohibitions against serving alcohol to gays. The society then successfully challenged New York State liquor laws in the courts, opening the way for gay bars.