Gracie Mansion Conservancy

"A visit to Gracie Mansion, surrounded by trees at the northern end of the East River, is like escaping to the country - only it's right on the Upper East Side. The 1799 Federal-style home is the office residence for the Mayor of New York City. Most people don't reallize they can enjoy private tours here and a chance to see how New York's first families live. Built as a private home for Scottish-born merchant Archibald Gracie, this mansion was a quiet escape from the frenetic streets of Lower Manhattan and hosted guests like Alexander Hamilton and John Quincy Adams. After many different lives, it was turned into the mayoral residence in 1942, and since then, each mayor has left his mark. In the 1980s, Mayor Edward Koch was determined to bring the mansion back to its Federal-style roots. He visited the White House and was smitten with the Zuber wallpaper Jackie Kennedy had added (see ch. 30). Miraculously, a similar 1830 Zuber wallpaper was discovered in its original packaging in the attic of a home in upstate New York. It was installed in the mansion's dining room and still dazzles todav. In 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg preferred to live in his own townhouse, but he oversaw a major renovation of Gracie Mansion. The black-and-white floor in the foyer only looks like marble. It was painted to look like stone in the 1800s and then restored in recent years by New York City artisans living with HIV. Nowhere are the layers of history more prominent than in the ballroom, where a period fireplace was added in 1966. The mantle's actual story goes back to 1804, when Alexander Hamilton was shot in a duel. The founding father was brought to his friend's house in Greenwich Village, where he died the next day - in front of this same fireplace. Finally, watch out for the spirit of Elizabeth Wolcott-Gracie, who died here in 1819. She is known to make appearances."