Gramercy Park is another spot I probably walked by a dozen times. I am so thrilled to be able to go to the city so often now that I can take my time and see places I have missed. This was just over the top fantastic, and for the architecture lovers out there, a must see in person.
Can you spot the Chrysler building?
The area which is now Gramercy Park was once in the middle of a swamp. In 1831 Samuel B. Ruggles, a developer and advocate of open space, proposed the idea for the park due to the northward growth of Manhattan. He bought the property,acres of what was then a farm called "Gramercy Farm", from the heirs of James Duane, son of the former mayor, father of James Chatham Duane, and a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant. Ruggles then deeded the land on December 17, 1832 to five trustees, who pledge to hold 42 lots in trust to be used as parkland. To develop the property, Ruggles spent $180,000 to landscape it, draining the swamp and causing about a million horsecart loads of earth to be moved. He then laid out "Gramercy Square", deeding possession of the square to the owners of the 66 parcels of land he had plotted to surround it, and sought tax-exempt status for the park, which the city's Board of Aldermen granted in 1832. It was the second private square created in the city, after Hudson Square, also known as St. John's Park, which was laid out by the parish of Trinity Church
As a private park, Gramercy Park is held in common by the owners of the 39 surrounding structures, as it has been since December 31, 1831.Two keys are allocated to each of the original lots surrounding the park, and the owners may buy keys for a fee, which was originally $10 per key, but as of 2008 was $350, with a $1,000 fee for lost keys, which rises to $2,000 for a second instance. The Medeco locks are changed annually, and any property that does not pay the annual assessment of $7,500 per lot has its key privileges revoked; additionally, the keys are very hard to duplicate. As of 2012, there were 383 keys in circulation, each individually numbered and coded.
Members of the Players Club and the National Arts Club as well as guests of the Gramercy Park Hotel, which has 12 keys, have access, as does Calvary Church and the Brotherhood Synagogue; hotel guests are escorted to the park and picked up later by hotel staff. In addition, the owners of the luxury condominium apartments at 57 Irving Place, completed in 2012, can obtain key access to the park by becoming members of the Players Club, even though the building is located several blocks from the park.
Exterior of the Players' Club, founded in 1888 by Edwin Booth, at #16 Gramercy Park
This is such beautiful architecture
Some famous folks who have or still live here are: Vincent Astor, Julia Roberts, Edwin Booth, Steinway family, James Cagney, Gregory Peck, John Barrymore, Alfred Ringling, Stanford White, Uma Thurman, Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar Wilde, Chelsea Clinton.
Some of the original townhouses surrounding the park, were built between 1844 and 1850
If money was no object, who would not want to live here.
Block beautiful lives up to it's name and then some!
It doesn't get any better than this walking around New York City! I hope you enjoyed these photos and that you will visit this area the next time you are in the city. It is just spectactular!
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