The History Of Gramercy Park

Samuel B. Ruggles created Gramercy Park in 1831 with the vision of having a private park for the use of owners and residents of  mansions, townhouses, row houses and houses of worship that were built on the four sides of the park similar to the residential squares that exist in London. His vision was to make Irving Place the main artery of approach to his private park.

In the initial period of its development in the 1840’s and early 1850’s the streets of Gramercy Park were lined with brownstones, row houses and mansions along with some buildings that housed churches. During the 1920s the entire character of the north end of Gramercy Park was transformed as the row houses were replaced by 60 Gramercy Park North designed by Emery Roth with Italian and Spanish motifs. Among the first multifamily buildings to come up on the north side of Gramercy was the prestigious 1 Lexington Avenue designed by architect Herbert Lucas in 1910 . A few years later Herbert Lucas was commissioned to design 24 Gramercy Park South which is considered by most people as a sister building of 1 Lexington Avenue on account of the similar architectural design. These cooperatives along with 34 Gramercy Park East which was one of the the first cooperatives built in New York city in 1883 had large apartments to attract affluent families to Gramercy Park.

Over the years the character of Gramercy Park has evolved with modern architects leaving their foot prints. In 1966 Gramercy Park was given the historic district designation by the newly formed  Landmarks Preservation Commission.