New York - Gramercy Park Historic District

The appeals court of the Supreme Court of New York State is the busiest in the world. Famous appeals here include those involving Babe Ruth, Harry Houdini, Edgar Allan Poe and Charlie Chaplin. A Palladian revival building, the courthouse is decorated with a dozen sculptures. Inside are some fine stained-glass windows and dome, murals and cabinetwork.

Block Beautiful is a collection of exceptionally lovely houses from the 1920s, all restored. Notable tenants in the past include silent film star, Theda Bara.

Gramercy Park is the city's only private park (only local residents may use it). It was one of four squares created in the 1830s and 1840s to attract society residences. Greg Wyatt's fountain--with giraffes leaping around a smiling sun--can be seen from the street.

Architects who designed the buildings surrounding the park include Stanford White. Past residents include Jimmy Cagney, former mayor, James Harper, and circus star, John Ringling.

The building of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company dwarfed the neighboring Flatiron Building as the world's tallest building in 1909. It was designed by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons. The huge four-sided clock has minute hands weighing 1000 lb each. Illustrator N.C. Wyeth's illustrations grace the lobby.

The National Arts Club is a large brownstone and former residence of New York governor, Samuel Tilden. Members of this private club have been leading American artists since 1898. In the beginning, members donated a work of art in lieu of a lifetime membership. The club is open several times a year for exhibitions.

The New York Life Insurance Company building was designed in 1928 by Cass Gilbert (who did the Woolworth Building). Inside hang enormous lamps, bronze doors and a grand staircase.

The original Madison Square Garden stood here. Its next incarnation, designed by Stanford White, also occupied this place where the architect was shot dead by millionaire Harry Shaw.

The Police Academy Museum contains one of the largest collections of police memorabilia in the world: nightsticks, billy clubs, antique uniforms and caps and badges galore.

The Players is a two-storey brownstone that was home of the brother of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. Edwin Booth hired Stanford White to remodel the club in 1888. An actors and business club, the Players has also embraced the likes of Mark Twain and Winston Churchill.

Roosevelt's boyhood home includes exhibits on his explorations, interests and political career.

Union Square opened in 1839 and has since become a magnet for soapbox orators and today a popular greenmarket at which New York State farmers sell their goods.