A Walk Around Gramercy Park

My husband and I went to dinner with friends a couple weeks ago at a restaurant located next to Gramercy Park in Manhattan, and I thought you'd enjoy seeing a few photos of this beautiful and unusual park, and the opulent neighborhood that surrounds it.  The statue in the middle of the park is of Edwin Thomas Booth, a famous actor of the time, and considered by some theatrical historians as the greatest in the role of Shakespeare's Hamlet. However, he is usually remembered today only as the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.

The park is lush, verdant, and peacefully quiet. It would be a perfect place to bring a book and sit on one of the benches and read.

The grounds are beautiful and well maintained.

At only two acres large, it is the anchoring oasis of this exclusive neighborhood.

The park is entirely encircled by this tall wrought iron fence with locked gates!  Yes, this is a private park!  All of my photos were taken by my shooting through the fence posts. Since 1831 only residents of surrounding buildings are able to buy keys that allow them admission to the park.

This sign on the fence tells the entire story of the park and surrounding area.

Many of the buildings surrounding the park are remarkable in style. 

The Players Club is on the left, and The National Arts club is on the right. The Players Club is a social club founded by the noted 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, who purchased in 1847 a mansion located at 16 Gramercy Park. During his lifetime, he reserved an upper floor for his home, turning the rest of the building over to the private membership clubhouse. Its interior and part of its exterior were designed by architect Stanford White. 

The Players still maintains its entryway gaslights, among the few remaining examples in New York City.

The National Arts Club next door was founded in 1898 by Charles Dekay, an art and literary critic of The New York Times to "stimulate, foster, and promote public interest in the arts and to educate the American people in the fine arts."

The architectural details of the building are so interesting to see. The history of the building can be read in the photo collage above.

This building located at 34 Gramercy Park East was built in 1881 as one of the earliest luxury apartment buildings

It was the home to many famous people as you can see by the plaque on its exterior wall. I peeked into the luxurious foyer, and the beautiful tile floor is the background of my photo collage above.

The very elaborately Gothic decorated 36 Gramercy Park East is another luxurious apartment building built in 1905.  It was once the home to John Ringling of circus fame and the actor John Barrymore and his first wife,

One of these elegant 18th-century townhouses was the residence of James Harper, publisher and former mayor of New York City.

4 Gramercy Park West was his residency from 1847 until his death in 1849.

The intricate cast iron verandas date back to 1848.

We ended our walk around Gramercy Park by entering The Gramercy Hotel where we dined at Maialino. Maialino New York is a new Roman-style trattoria from award-winning Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. It serves lovingly prepared Roman-style cooking from Executive Chef Nick Anderer. You can see the menus on this link.

Our meal was fantastic! The portions were generous and we had sample portions of different kinds of pasta as our appetizers as the selection was so enticing. We could see why Maialino is such a popular restaurant and I highly recommend it!