Manhattan's clutter suddenly breaks into the ordered open space of Gramercy Park , a former swamp between 21st and 22nd streets that divides Irving Place and Lexington Avenue. It is one of the city's prettiest squares. Its center is beautifully planted and completely empty for much of the day, for it is the city's last private park and the only people who can gain access are those rich or fortunate enough to live here. Famous past key holders have included Mark Twain and Julia Roberts, never mind all those Kennedys and Roosevelts.

Have a walk around the square to get a look at the many early-nineteenth century townhouses. The Players at 16 Gramercy Park S was created in 1888 when actor Edwin Booth turned his home into a private club for play and socializing, at a time when theater types were not accepted into regular society. Members have included Irving Berlin, Frank Sinatra and Winston Churchill - women were not admitted until 1989.

Next door, at no. 17, the School of Visual Arts occupies the former home of Joseph Pulitzer, while at the northeastern corner of the square, no. 38, is the mock Tudor building in which John Steinbeck, then a struggling reporter, lived between 1925 and 1926. At 52 Gramercy Park N stands the imposing 1920s bulk of the old-fashioned Gramercy Park Hotel , whose early elite residents included Mary McCarthy, a very young John F. Kennedy and Humphrey Bogart with first wife, Mayo Methot. Lining Gramercy Park West is a splendid row of brick Greek Revival townhouses from the 1840s.

Gramercy Park

• Gramercy Park

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