The Hatching Cat of Gotham

Murphy Park, officially known as Municipal Park, was named after George L. Murphy, a Department of Public Works employee who helped transform the empty lot once occupied by the Dutch Reformed Church into a public park. By 1901 the lovely little park had become a panhandler’s paradise for dozens of loafers, bums, tramps and thieves. As one news article noted, “The scoundrels turned a pretty place into a little hell on earth.” Photo: New York Public Library