Gramercy Park

Gramercy Park (sometimes misspelled as Grammercy) is a small, fenced-in private park in the Gramercy neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, accessible only to residents of certain townhouses in the area who have keys to the park. It is the only remaining private park in the city.

Related Topics:
Gramercy - Manhattan - New York City

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Gramercy Park is located between East 20th Street and East 21st Street and between Park Avenue South and Third Avenue (although it does not take up the entire block between these two avenues). Lexington Avenue, a major north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of Manhattan, terminates at the northern end of Gramercy Park.

Related Topics:
Park Avenue South - Third Avenue - Lexington Avenue

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The name "Gramercy" is almost certainly a corruption of the Dutch word "Crommessje," or "little crooked knife," the name of a small brook that flowed along what is now 21st Street. The area was part of Gramercy Farm till 1831, when its owner, Samuel B. Ruggles, donated the property to the city on condition that no commercial enterprise be permitted on the facing streets or in the park proper. To this day, the park contains no amusements, swing sets, snack shops or any other intrusions on its rusticity.

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The center of the park contains 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.

Related Topics:
Edwin Booth - John Wilkes Booth - Abraham Lincoln

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