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Gramercy Dental Arts: 8 Gramercy Park | New York, NY 10003 | Tel: gramercydentalarts.com | Plastic Surgery Manhattan Beach : Face Lift Manhattan Beach : Cosmetic... face-doctor.com |
 Gramercy Park is a neighborhood[1][2][3][4] in the New York City borough of Manhattan focused around Gramercy Park, a private park of the same name between East 20th and 21st Streets at the foot of Lexington Avenue. "Gramercy" is an Anglicization of "Crommessie", itself derived from the Dutch Krom Mesje, or "Little Crooked Knife,"[5] the name of a small brook, Crommessie Vly[6] that flowed in a deep gully along what is now 21st Street into the East River at 18th Street.[7][8] Gramercy Park's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, First Avenue to the east, 23rd Street to the north, and Park Avenue South to the west.[9] Recently, real estate agents and developers have expanded the use of the name to extend its northern boundary into the less prestigious Murray Hill section of Midtown at around 30th Street. To the west of Gramercy Park is the Flatiron District and Union Square, to the south the East Village, to the east are Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, two large red-brick middle-class residential tower projects located between First Avenue and the FDR Drive, and to the northeast is Kips Bay. Gramercy Park is generally perceived to be a quiet area, safer than many other parts of the city. The park for which the neighborhood is named, Gramercy Park, is a private park, one of only two in New York City, to which only people residing around the park who pay an annual fee have a key. The public is otherwise only allowed in the park one day a year.[9] The actor James Cagney once lived in one of the buildings on Gramercy Park South (East 20th Street), as did Margaret Hamilton. Amanda Peet grew up in the neighborhood. Many actors, actresses and artists live in the district including Jimmy Fallon, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts, Rufus Wainwright, Whitney Port, Joshua Bell, and Amanda Lepore. The fashion designer Narciso Rodriguez has his studio on Irving Place, insurance executive Robert Fiore lives there and the neighborhood is home to numerous models' apartments from nearby agencies on Broadway.
[edit] HistoryGramercy Park was a vision of Samuel B. Ruggles, a developer and advocate of open space. In 1831, he proposed the idea for the park due to the northward growth of Manhattan. Gramercy Park was once home of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt – whose birthplace is a National Historic Site – and John F. Kennedy. Many famous establishments are situated around Gramercy Park, including the National Arts Club, established 1884 in a Victorian Gothic mansion and originally home to the New York Governor and 1876 Presidential Candidate, Samuel J. Tilden and The Players Club, established in 1888 by acclaimed actor Edwin Booth, the brother of President Lincoln's assassin. The Club's members included Mark Twain, Arthur Miller, Carol Burnett and Margaret Hamilton. Oscar Wilde lived on East 17th and Irving Place for a while, next to his interior designer Elsie de Wolfe and her partner, literary agent Elisabeth Marbury, said to be the most fashionable lesbian couple of Victorian New York. Nineteenth Century brownstones and carriage houses abound in the neighborhood, though the 1920's brought the onset of tenant apartments and skyscrapers to the surrounding area. In the late 19th century, numerous charitable institutions influential in setting social policy were located on 23rd Street, and some, such as the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, still remain in the area. Calvary Church on Gramercy Park North has a food pantry that opens its doors once a week for one hour, and the Brotherhood Synogogue, established in 1857, served as an Underground Railroad station before the Civil War. The park and surrounding blocks were designated a historic district in 1966.[1] A proposed extension of the district would include nearby buildings such as The Manhattan Trade School for Girls, the Children's Court, and the Domestic Relations Court Building. [edit] Real EstateThe quiet streets perpendicular to Irving Place have maintained their status as fashionable residential blocks reminiscent of London's West End. In 1912, a multiple dwelling planned specifically for bachelors appeared at 52 Irving Place. This handsome Colonial Revival style structure with suites of rooms that lacked kitchen facilities was one of a small group of New York apartment houses planned for single men in the early years of the 20th century. While real estate in Manhattan is rarely stable, the apartments in Gramercy Park have experienced little turmoil. East 19th Street between Third Avenue and Irving is labeled "Block Beautiful" for its wide array of architecture and pristine aesthetic. Townhouses with generous backyards and smaller apartments alike coincide in a collage of architecture in Gramercy Park. The largest private house in the neighborhood, a 42-room mansion on Gramercy Park South, sold for $7 million in 1993.  Julia Roberts owns a penthouse here and Winona Ryder used to live at Gramercy Park but moved out in 1998 [edit] Gramercy Park HotelThe Gramercy Park Hotel was originally designed by Robert T. Lions and built by brothers Bing and Bing in 1925. In 2006, the hotel underwent a massive makeover by hotelier Ian Schrager in association with the artist Julian Schnabel. The hotel has views of Gramercy Park, and guests receive keys to access the park during their stay. Humphrey Bogart married Helen Menken at the hotel in 1926.[10] [edit] Irving PlaceAn assortment of restaurants, bars, and establishments line Irving Place, the main thoroughfare of Gramercy Park south of the park. Pete's Tavern, New York's oldest surviving saloon and where O. Henry wrote The Gift of the Magi, survived Prohibition disguised as a flower shop. Irving Plaza, on East 15th Street and Irving, hosts numerous concerts for both well-known and indie bands and draws a crowd almost every night. There are also a number of clinics and official city buildings on Irving Place [edit] Education and parksTwo public high schools are located in the area: Washington Irving High School on Irving Place, whose graduates include singer Bette Midler, and the School of the Future on 22nd Street at Lexington Avenue. P.S. 40[11], the only public elementary school in the neighborhood, is located on East 20th Street between First and Second Avenues, near the Augustus Saint-Gaudens Playground, Peter's Field, and the park at Stuyvesant Square. The School of Visual Arts, located on 23rd Street, has a strong presence in the neighborhood. The Gramercy Park Women's Residence, George Washington Dormitory and the New Residence house students from the school. Also, Baruch College of the City University of New York (CUNY) has several buildings in the area. Also located in neighborhood is The Epiphany School, a Catholic secondary school on 22nd Street at Second Avenue. Founded in 1885 for religious instruction in the parish of the Epiphany, the school has been a landmark – gutted and rebuilt – in the neighborhood for generations.[12] [edit] Notes
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