Ideas with a life beyond the neighborhood

Pine’s account moves easily between an intimate residential square and the ambitions of a growing city. Peter Cooper’s home at 9 Lexington Avenue connects Gramercy to manufacturing, technical education and the institution that became Cooper Union.

In Cyrus W. Field’s nearby home, a small group of collaborators developed the effort to connect Europe and America by telegraph. Pine describes the persistence behind the Atlantic cable and the neighborhood celebration that followed its success.

Libraries, publishing and public service

James Harper, the publisher and former mayor, lived at No. 4. Samuel J. Tilden’s home on the south side became the National Arts Club; his bequest helped make the New York Public Library possible.

John Bigelow, Tilden’s neighbor and biographer, was also central to the library’s early leadership.

Institutions and neighbors

Pine’s book follows a network of churches, schools, clubs and civic organizations as well as prominent households. Calvary Church, the Friends Meeting House and All Souls supported religious and social work; The Players and the National Arts Club brought people in the arts together.

The history chapters explore these connections in greater depth: the Atlantic cable, learning and libraries, faith and service and the arts and clubs.

Neighbors organize to preserve a place

Pine records the formation of the Gramercy Park Association in 1912 during a proposal to extend a street through the Park. The proposal was averted after the City changed its plan. The Gramercy Park Association subsequently supported protection of the surrounding residential district.

That earlier organization was distinct from today’s Gramercy Park Block Association, founded in 1994.

About us — Arlene Harrison & the Gramercy Park Block Association

Follow the people behind the addresses

Find the houses and their histories on the Buildings & Monuments map.

Sources

Based on John B. Pine, The Story of Gramercy Park, 1831–1921 (1921), printed pages 20–50.

  • Pine, 1921 · neighborhood and civic history