8. The Roosevelts had homes in Murray Hill
The Roosevelt family has had a long history in New York City, starting before Theodore Roosevelt was born. One of just two presidents born in New York City, he was raised at 28 East 20th Street, just a block from Gramercy Park and a few blocks south of Murray Hill. Eleanor Roosevelt was born and raised just west of Murray Hill at 56 West 37th Street, and 20 years later in 1904, she married Franklin after meeting him while he was studying at Harvard.
They moved to a townhouse at 125 East 36th Street in Murray Hill, which still stands today. Sara Delano Roosevelt, Franklin’s mother, paid their rent. Franklin and Eleanor lived in the townhouse for about four years before moving north to 49 East 65th Street, while Sara Delano moved into 47 East 65th Street. It was in that townhome that FDR became more involved in politics after recovering from polio, though the Murray Hill home was truly where FDR got his start. The Murray Hill home was located just a block north of where Ayn Rand lived and wrote much of The Fountainhead, 139 East 35th Street.