Historedia
AmericasEvent

Gramercy Park deeded to New York City

When
1831–1833
Where
Gramercy Park; New York City
Episodes
3

Gramercy Park was established as a private park held in common by surrounding property owners starting December 31, 1831. Samuel B. Ruggles later deeded the land to trustees in 1832 to formalize parkland use. Access remains restricted to residents who pay annual fees, with the park enclosed by a fence in 1833.

Episodes

  1. 1831-12-31 · Gramercy ParkCommon Ownership Establishment

    Gramercy Park was established as a private park held in common by surrounding property owners starting December 31, 1831.

  2. 1832-12-17 · New York CityTrust Establishment

    Samuel B. Ruggles deeded the land to five trustees in December 1832 to hold lots in trust for parkland.

  3. 1833-01-28 · New York CityStreet Access Permission

    Ruggles received permission in January 1833 to open Fourth Avenue to vehicular traffic, altering access to the park.

Background and detail

Background. Gramercy Park is a small, fenced-in private park in Manhattan, New York City. It is one of only three private parks in the state. Access is limited to residents of the surrounding structures who pay an annual fee for a key. The park is located within the Gramercy Park Historic District, bounded by streets that terminate at its northern and southern ends.

Establishment and Trust. Since December 31, 1831, Gramercy Park has been held in common by the owners of the 39 surrounding structures. Samuel B. Ruggles subsequently deeded the land to five trustees on December 17, 1832, to hold 42 lots in trust for parkland use. The Board of Aldermen granted tax-exempt status for the park in 1832.

Access and Development. The park was enclosed by a fence in 1833. Ruggles sought and received permission from the Board of Aldermen in January 1833 to open Fourth Avenue to vehicular traffic. The state legislature created Lexington Avenue and Irving Place, which feed into the park's development. Construction on surrounding lots began in the 1840s due to the Panic of 1837.

People involved

Sources

  1. Gramercy Park Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-04

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.