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New York City – Gramercy Seat

The story of the men, who if they have not brought fame to our modest little Park have certainly enriched it with many associations, may well begin with James Duane, for he was as fine an example of the patriot of the Revolution as New York produced. A lawyer of prominence and of high social standing, having married the daughter of Colonel Robert Livingston, he was the friend of John Jay and Alexander Hamilton, and, like them, an ardent advocate of civil and religious freedom. He seems to have enjoyed to an unusual degree the confidence of his fellow citizens and was chosen to represent them as a member of the Continental Congress, of the State Senate when it was first organized, and of the Constitutional Convention of 1788, and it was only the fact that he was serving in the Provincial Congress of 1776, called to frame a State Government, which prevented him from being a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also active in municipal affairs and served for many years as a warden of Trinity Church and as a Governor of Kings College, of which he became a Trustee when its name was changed to Columbia. At the close of the Revolution he re-entered the city with Washington on November 25, 1783, to find his house in King, now Pine Street, practically destroyed, but his farm, “Gramercie Seat, in pretty good order, having been occupied by one of the British generals.” At this time the mayoralty of the city was an appointive office, the selection resting with the Governor of the State, and the Common Council promptly petitioned the Governor to appoint Duane as the first Mayor of the City, “as no one,” they say in their petition, “is better qualified, so none will be more acceptable to us and our constituents at large than Mr. Duane. Few have sacrificed more or deserved better from their country.” Accordingly he was appointed Mayor of the City in 1784, and served for six years, during which he officially welcomed Congress when it assembled in New York in 1785 and 1789, and received Washington as the President of the new republic. On his retirement as Mayor he was appointed by Washing-ton Judge of the United States District Court of New York and served in that capacity with the ability and fidelity which distinguished his whole career. Gramercy Park has had two other Mayors and many distinguished residents since Duane’s time, but he may well be remembered as being in a literal sense its first citizen.

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About New York City

New York City is the largest city of the United States by population. It was settled in 1613 by Dutch and originally called New Amsterdam. New York City is popularly known as the "The Big Apple", "Gotham City", "Empire City", "Fun City", "The Naked City" and the "City That Never Sleeps". Manhattan Island is often referred to as "The City" by New Yorkers, despite being only one part of the city itself. New York City is often referred to as "the Capital of the World", due to its size, wealth, and for its being the location of the United Nations headquarters.

Quotes And Facts

  • To write the history of Broadway would require a volume, for it would be the history of New York itself. The street was laid out in the days of the Dutch, and then, as now, began at the Bowling Green. By them it was called the “Heere Straas,” or High street. They built it up as far as Wall street, but in those days only the lower end was of importance. The site of the Bowling Green was occupied by the Dutch fort and the church, and on the west side of it was the parade and the market place. Ere long several well-to-do merchants erected substantial dwellings on the same side, one of these belonging to no less a personage than the Schout-Fiscal Van Dyck. The east side of Broadway, during the rule of the Dutch, was thickly built up with dwellings of but one room, little better than hovels. Eventually, however, some of the better class mechanics came there to reside, and erected better houses. Their gardens extended down to the marsh on Broad street, and they cultivated their cabbages and onions with great success, where now the bulls and bears of the stock and gold markets rage and roar.