18 Gramercy Park

18 Gramercy Park is a historic building in Manhattan, New York City, USA. Built as a hotel in 1927, it was a women's temporary residence owned by The Salvation Army from 1963 to 2008. It was redesigned by Robert A. M. Stern Architects as a luxury residential building in 2012.

History

The 19-story building was completed in 1927. It was built as a women's hotel and designed by the architectural firm Murgatroyd & Ogden. It was acquired by The Salvation Army and turned into temporary housing for single women from 1963 to 2008. It was then known as the Parkside Evangeline.

The building was sold by the Salvation Army to Eastgate Realty for US$60 million in 2010. The investors were the Zeckendorf family and Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer.

In 2012, the building was redesigned into a residential building with 16 apartments by Robert A. M. Stern Architects. The duplex penthouse was purchased by Leslie Alexander, the owner of the Houston Rockets basketball team in 2012, reportedly for US$42 million.

19 Gramercy Park South

19 Gramercy Park South, also known as 86 Irving Place or the Stuyvesant Fish House, is a small four-story row house located at the corner of Gramercy Park South (East 20th Street) and Irving Place in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

History

The house was built in 1845 by William Samuel Johnson, a Whig politician, and then had the address 86 Irving Place. Johnson sold the property to Horace Brooks, who added a fifth story and constructed a stable on the unused southern part of the property. The census of 1880 shows a number of different people living at the address, suggesting that it had been converted into apartments by that time.

In 1887, this modest property was expanded and altered by noted architect Stanford White at the cost of $130,000 into a mansion with an interior marble staircase and a ballroom on the top floor where Mamie Fish gave elaborate parties for New York society. The building was also re-numbered 19 Gramercy Park, an address which had not existed prior to that time.

Gramercy Park

Gramercy Park/ˌɡræmərsi ˈpɑːrk/ is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park and the surrounding neighborhood that is referred to also as Gramercy, in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States.

The approximately 2-acre (0.81 ha) park, located in the Gramercy Park Historic District, is one of two private parks in New York City – the other is Sunnyside Gardens Park in Queens– as well as one of only three in the state; only people residing around the park who pay an annual fee have a key, and the public is not generally allowed in – although the sidewalks of the streets around the park are a popular jogging, strolling and dog-walking route.

The neighborhood, which is divided between New York City's Manhattan Community Board 5  and Manhattan Community Board 6, is generally perceived to be a quiet and safe area.

The neighborhood, associated historic district, and park have generally received positive reviews. Calling it "a Victorian gentleman who has refused to die", Charlotte Devree in the New York Times said that "There is nothing else quite like Gramercy Park in the country." When the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission created the Gramercy Park Historic District in 1966, they quoted from John B. Pine's 1921 book, The Story of Gramercy Park: