For Black History Month in February 2022, the Gramercy Park Block Association asked member Dr. Arthur Lewin, a Black and Latino Studies professor at Baruch College, to write about African American history in the neighborhood. The resulting essay invited residents to see familiar buildings and streets through a wider historical lens.
Lewin began with Harry T. Burleigh, the singer and composer associated with St. George’s Church, and the musical exchange between Burleigh and Antonín Dvořák. That history connects with the Block Association’s own support for the Burleigh street co-naming.
His account also considered public higher education at Lexington Avenue and East 23rd Street, the development of Baruch College, and the leadership of Robert Weaver and Joyce Brown.
The essay turned to Hugh Hayden’s 2022 Brier Patch installation in Madison Square Park, whose school desks and branching wood raised questions about education. It also recalled Marcus Garvey’s 1920 gathering at the former Madison Square Garden.
