Joel's Blog

The Ghouls of Gramercy

10/28/2026

We take construction seriously in this city

Happy Halloween!
A few years ago I wrote about the Halloween decorations on the Upper East Side. But in the neighborhood for which the Gramercy Tools brand and logo is named, Gramercy Park, some people also put in a fair amount of effort.

The Gramercy neighborhood is loosely 14th Street to 23rd Streets, Park Avenue South to First Avenue. The area in the teens and twenties was first built just before the Civil War. Small houses with stores lined the avenues and the side streets were full of townhouses. Once upon a time the Third Avenue Elevated train ran along Third Avenue and blocked light and air and consequently froze development. When the El was torn down in the 1950s ("farewell, 'El,' a long, long, long farewell," said the New York Times), a huge expansion of large apartment buildings began on the avenue. The side streets came to include large buildings but also tenement buildings and many wonderful mid 19th century townhouses (that now command premium prices).

Many homeowners and landlords put up either "Autumn" displays Or full blown Halloween experiences. Here are a few:

All three carvings are on 18th street between 2nd and 3rd Ave

Who knew gourds and pumpkins came in such an assortment of colors

A frightful freight entrance of a modern apartment building. Simple - but it shows imagination. "Sir - can you send someone up - there are giant spiders creeping up to get me"

This takes real effort to do well - I'm impressed

The most elegant of displays - inside a ground floor living room window

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The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the blog's author and guests and in no way reflect the views of Tools for Working Wood.

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