The backdrop for the above photo of the park is Rutherford Place, a residential building on 17th Street with a compelling history that is summarized on a plaque affixed to the building:
In 1899 construction began for the New York Lying In Hospital. Designed by Robert. H. Richardson and donated by J. Pierpont Morgan, the hospital opened its doors in 1902 and during its early years sixty percent all hospital births in Manhattan took place here.
The Lying In Hospital was considered the best maternity hospital at that time, serving both the rich and poor. The facade of the building is appropriately decorated with swaddled babies. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, an effort that SPNA supported.
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