Gramercy Park

Gramercy Park is a lovely park in Manhattan, located at East 21st Street and Lexington Avenue.  The park dates from 1831.  Although the park was once an isolated swamp, a lot of landfill yielded a 2 acre green oasis, now enveloped by the city.  The park is well-maintained and lush green year round.  

Anyone can view the park . . . through its iron spiked fence.  Unfortunately, not everyone may enter the park, since the park is private.  In fact, very few people may enter the park.  Entry is limited to local residents with the cherished, hard-to-acquire "key" to the park.  Around the park, certain houses and apartments pay an annual assessment and enjoy the right to obtain a key for an annual fee.  The assessments and fees are used to maintain the park.  If you don't reside in one of the entitled locations, "no soup for you".

Gramercy Park during Spring

Map of Gramercy Park, with the Gramercy Park Historic District outlined in blue.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule.  We recently took advantage of one of the exceptions.  On Christmas Eve, the park is opened to the general public for 2 hours to listen to a local church choir sing holiday songs.  As you can imagine, the line to enter was very long.  We listened to the choir, while we toured the 2-acre park.  The park was lovely . . . even in the dark.

Photo of holiday tree in Gramercy Park (12/24/2015)

Making Gramercy Park even more beautiful, Sally and Susan in Gramercy Park (12/24/2015)

Carolers in Gramercy Park (12/24/2015).  Note:  Coats were shed that day because the high temperature in NYC was an unseasonal 72°F.

There are other exceptions to the prohibition on non-residents entering the park.  In New York City as elsewhere, we have found there is usually an exception to most rules.  If you dig a little, you can usually find an exception. 

"Pssst.  Hey, buddy.  Want to buy a key to Gramercy Park?"

Virtual reality technology is one cool way to experience Gramercy Park from the inside.  Check it out: click here.

Another way is to visit New York and stay at the Gramercy Park Hotel.  Guests at the hotel may enter the park during their stay, with an escort.  Rooms range from more than $300/night to over $1,000/night.  (Instead of dropping major ducats, you can always stay with us and we can walk around the edge of the park together.)

The limit on access is jealousy guarded while the limit offends many.  An incident not too long ago puts the issue in perspective.  According to a Wikipedia article, in 2001, a member of the adjacent National Arts Club (who had a key and was entitled to visit the park) brought 40 or so children into the park from the nearby high school.  The children were mostly minorities.  The trustee of the park called the NYC police and claimed that the children were trespassing.  Huge mistake.  The police, not surprisingly, refused to arrest the children.  Calling the police was an expensive blunder.  A subsequent lawsuit on behalf of the children resulted in a financial settlement of $36K . . . per child.  Oops!

At the end of the day, while the park is lovely, it has a lot of rules for visitors.  "Visitors to the park . . . cannot drink alcohol, smoke, ride a bicycle, walk a dog, play ball or Frisbee, or feed the birds and squirrels."  They are taking all the fun out of visiting the park.  Let's go to Central Park instead.