Gramercy Park has intrigued passing pedestrians daily since the 19th Century. Located between East 20th and 21st Street, its wrought iron fence seems to protect the genteel park from the modern world, leaving it to flourish with its abundance of greenery.
The park is two acres in size—a seemingly huge plot of open space by New York City’s standards. It is meticulously maintained to the point of looking like a grand manor’s garden. Founder and president of the Gramercy Park Block Association Arlene Harrison, who is also a Park Trustee says, “Samuel B. Ruggles created Gramercy Park pursuant to an 1831 indenture as a private ornamental park for the use, benefit, and enjoyment of the owners and occupants of the surrounding lots. It really should have been called ‘Gramercy Garden’ and not park, which is misleading.” It is off-limits to the public, a private park in the middle of Manhattan. Some are disappointed, perhaps even miffed about this being so. But the story of Gramercy Park is really not one of exclusivity, but more of good neighborliness.
The name Gramercy is a corrupted form of the Dutch word Crommesshie meaning “crooked little swamp.” It's hard to imagine but the park was indeed once a swamp. It was part of a farm owned by the James Duane, the first New York City Mayor.
Samuel B. Ruggles was a lawyer and politician who dabbled in land development and a proponent of open city spaces, so he bought the land in 1831. After putting quite a bit of money and effort draining the swamp and landscaping the land into a park in 1844, he then gated and locked it up to protect the plantings inside. His plan was to create a space for the exclusive use of the occupants of the buildings surrounding the park. Essentially they would own a piece of the park and pay an annual fee for the upkeep.
Special gate keys made of gold were given out to residents. Over the decades they have included inventor Thomas Edison, author John Steinbeck, and actress Julia Roberts. Both Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy played in the park as children.
Though the gold keys have been replaced by rather bland and hard-to-copy Medeco-brand keys, but the rules of the park have changed little over the decades.
There are thirty-nine lot owner buildings with frontage on the park, and they have between one and four lots. Buildings pay a annual assessment of $8,000 per lot and receive 2 building keys per lot. Today 236 personal numbered keys have been purchased by residents living in thirty-nine lot owner buildings. Locks are changed yearly and losing one could cost a resident $1,000 to replace. Only five guests per key holder are allowed in at a time. And one might want to think twice before trying to sneak into the park without a key because one is required to get out too! Park rules include no alcohol, no smoking, dogs, bicycles, or recreation with balls or frisbees. Also feeding the squirrels and birds is a no-no.
A few of the lot owner institutions on the park are allowed to give guests access on a regular basis. Members of the The Players and the National Arts Club which surround the park are allowed access, as are members of the Brotherhood Synagogue, Calvary-St. George’s Church, and the luxury Gramercy Park Hotel. However, hotel staff must personally escort them in and out of the the park.
Inside, visitors are greeted by winding pathways which are surrounded by well-manicured rounded boxwood plants. Little groups of various plantings dot the park. There is also a rather imposing elm tree, somewhat twisted and marked by time. It is the only original tree left in the park.
Ms. Harrison describes the daily routine of regular visitors to the park. In the early mornings come the walkers out to get a little exercise. Mid-morning the babies and young children along with their nannies or mothers come out. By the afternoon, children will visit after a day at school. By evening families are there to finish out the day. Weekends seem to be reserved for working people wanting a little peace and quiet, often to read. “You have to remember, this place is essentially these people’s front yard,” she says.
Over the years. the park has been open for special occasions. After the Draft Riots in 1863, Union Soldiers were allowed to use the park as a thank you for protecting the neighborhood from rioters. And for some years the park was opened to the public one day every spring, but that no longer takes place. Still, if one really wants to experience Gramercy Park for themselves Christmas Eve is their ticket. The park is open that evening to the public every year.
Along with the manicured grounds, at one end of the park is an Alexander Calder sculpture entitled, “Janey Waney” on loan from the Calder Foundation. And sitting prominently in the center of the park is an imposing bronze statue of 19th century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth who lived nearby at The Players. Booth is also known as the brother of John Wilkes Booth who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. The statue depicts Booth in the Shakespearean play Hamlet. It was given to the park by “The Players” as a gift in 1913.
Again, the exclusivity of the park can rub some the wrong way. Some cry elitism, however they fail to understand the park land is indeed privately owned and maintained with private funds. It is no different than someone’s private front yard. The owners contend the park is closed off to protect the delicate plantings and original historic artifacts inside. It is understandable when inside for there is a different feel to this park than others in New York City. There is tranquility and order here. Not a speck of trash can be found. The park is serenely quiet as if visitors understand the shared solitude afforded by one another.
BOOTH AND HIS BROTHER
Perhaps one of the most extraordinary and ironic stories in American history involved actor Edwin Booth.
Somewhere around 1863 and 1865, he was on a crowded train platform in Jersey City, waiting to buy tickets. Suddenly a teenaged male noticed a man lose his footing and begin slipping between a slow-moving train and the gap between it and the platform. Booth grabbed him in the nick of time avoiding serious injury or possibly death.
Less than a year later Booth’s brother would kill the young man’s father—Abraham Lincoln.
When Robert Lincoln was saved by Booth, He knew full well who the famous actor was even calling him out by name to thank him and often recalled the story. Booth had no idea until later when receiving letters from General Ulysses S. Grant and Colonel Adam Badeau who happened to be a friend of Booth’s.
Robert Lincoln at the time was serving as an officer under the staff of Grant and relayed the story to both men. Booth was told told if there was anything the U. S. Government could do for him to ask. After his brother murdered the president, Edwin actually did try to call in the favor, requesting his brother’s body to be released to his family but was turned down.
Edwin was always haunted by his brother’s actions yet was said to take some solace in the fact that he saved the president’s son’s life.