In December 2013, the Gramercy Park Block Association shared Tom Miller’s architectural history of 3 and 4 Gramercy Park West. The Greek Revival houses are especially recognizable for their connected cast-iron porches, a delicate composition facing the Park.

The account connects No. 4 with publisher and former mayor James Harper and No. 3 with lawyer Benjamin Franklin Lee. It follows later changes at No. 3, including its use by the YWCA’s training school and the Netherland Club before conversion to apartments.

Look at the paired porches and the lamps at No. 4: these are the details that make the two houses so recognizable from the Park. Tom Miller’s history follows the owners and institutions behind that familiar view.

Berenice Abbott’s photograph of the elaborate ironwork, balconies and entrance steps at Nos. 3–5 Gramercy Park in 1935.
Gramercy Park, Nos. 3–5, November 27, 1935. Berenice Abbott

The neighborhood archive

Sources

Adapted from the architectural account shared by the Block Association.

  • GPBA shares the architectural account · December 5, 2013
  • Tom Miller’s building history · December 5, 2013