The area which is now Gramercy Park was once in the middle of a swamp, called by the Dutch settlers Krom Moerasje, meaning "little crooked swamp",through which ran the spring-fed stream Krom Mesje ("little crooked knife"), which had, over time, carved out a 40-foot deep gully on its way along what is now 21st Street to the East River at 18th Street. These original names became corrupted to "Crommessie", which itself was further corrupted to "Gramercy."
By 1831, when Samuel B. Ruggles bought the property from James Duane, a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, it was farmland, called "Gramercy Farm". 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 60 parcels of land he had plotted to surround it, and sought tax-exempt status for the park, which the Board of Alderman granted in 1832. The park was fenced in in 1833, but construction on the surrounding lots did not begin until the 1840s. Ruggles also brought about the creation by the state legislature of Lexington Avenue and Irving Place, two new north-south roads laid out between Third and Fourth Avenues and feeding into his development at the top and bottom of the park.
In the center of the park is a statue of one of the area's most famous residents, Edwin Booth. Booth was one of the great Shakespearean actors of 19th Century America, as well as the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln. His mansion still stands at, "No. 16," and is today the home of the Players' Club.
In 1966, GrameryPark was designated an historic district.
One of the most significant steam explosions in New York City occurred near GramercyPark in 1989, killing two Consolidated Edison workers and one bystander, and causing damage of several million dollars to area buildings.
LOCAL PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT
Gramercy Park Irving Place at 19th Street
[ between East 20th and 21st Street ]
MadisonSquarePark East 23rd to 26th Street, Broadway to Madison
StuyvesantPark2nd Avenue and 16th Street [ between 15th and 17th Streets ]
AsserLevyRecreationCenter,
Pool, and Playground Asser Levy Place and East 24 and 25th Street
BelevueSouthPark East 26th and 28th Street
[ between 1st and 2nd Avevue ]
UnionSquarePark East 14th to 17th Street, Broadway to 4th Avenue
Flatiron Building 175 Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street
SalmagundiMuseum of American Art 47 Fifth Avenue
[ between 11th and 12th Street ]
The RoseBar and The Jade Bar,
Gramercy Park Hotel 2 Lexington Avenue
Theodore Roosevelt ’s Birthplace 28 East 20th Street
[ between Park and Broadway ]
PoliceAcademyMuseum235 East 20th Street [ between 2nd and 3rd Avenue ]
RESTAURANTS
Abigael’s 1407 Broadway [ between 38th and 39th Street ]
40/40 Club 6 West 25th Street
SCHOOLS
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Friends Seminary 222 East 16th Street
Jack & Jil Schol 208 East 16th Street
P.S. 226 345 East 15th Street
P.S. 40 Augustus St. Gaudens 319 East 19th Street
P.S. JHS 47 - Schol for the Deaf 225 East 23rd Street
United Nations International 25-50 FDR Drive
HIGH SCHOOLS
Baruch Colege High Schol 17 Lexington Avenue
Mabel Dean Bacon Vocational High Schol 127 East 22nd Street
United Nations International 25-50 FDR Drive
Washington Irving High 40 Irving Place
POLICE
13th Precinct 230 East 21st Street [ Tel. 212. 477.7411 ]
Tiaheem Byrd Lic Associate Broker at Compass is committed to the Fair Housing Act under the New York State Human Rights Law. To learn more about it, please click here.