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Gramercy Information
Gramercy, also called Gramercy Park, is a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, focused around Gramercy Park, a private park between East 20th and 21st Streets. The area is named for a stream which meandered like a 'crooked little knife,' or Crommesie in Dutch.
Roughly speaking, Gramercy is bound by 14th Street, First Avenue, 30th Street, and Broadway. Some consider its northern boundary to be 23rd Street, and consider the area north of 23rd street to be Rose Hill, though the usage of Rose Hill has never entered the popular lexicon. Others jokingly refer to the area north of 23rd street as Curry Hill, because of the prevalence of South Indian restaurants. Today, the northern boundary of Gramercy more likely meets the Murray Hill section of Midtown at around 30th Street. To west is the Flatiron District and Union Square, to the south the East Village, and to the east Stuyvesant Town.
Gramercy, particularly the area immediately around Gramercy Park itself, is generally perceived to be a quiet area, safer than many other parts of the city. Gramercy Park is a private park, to which only people residing around the park have a key. The public is otherwise only allowed in the park one day a year. The actor James Cagney once lived in one of the buildings on Gramercy Park South (East 20th Street), as did Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. Amanda Peet grew up on the park. many actors, actresses and artists live in the district including Jimmy Fallon of Saturday Night Live, Kate Hudson, Julia Roberts and Rufus Wainwright. Due to the beauty and exclusivity of the park as well as The Players Club loacted on it's South side, it is not uncommon to recognize a face or two.
The name "Gramercy" is almost certainly a corruption of the Dutch word "Crommessje," or "little crooked knife," the name of a small brook that flowed along what is now 21st Street. The area was part of Gramercy Farm till 1831, when its owner, Samuel B. Ruggles, donated the property to the city on condition that no commercial enterprise be permitted on the facing streets or in the park proper. To this day, the park contains no amusements, swing sets, snack shops or any other intrusions on its rusticity.
The center of the park contains a statue of one of the area's most famous residents, Edwin Booth. Booth was one of the great Shakespearean actors of 19th century America, as well as the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln.
Because of the park's private nature, film companies are not supposed to shoot there. However, in the movie Notting Hill (film), a famous actress is shown starring in a film called "Gramercy Park," which was also the name of the production company for Notting Hill. |
