| Surely an integral part of New York, the Upper East Side is a lavish neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, home to more than 200,000 residents. Situated between Central Park and the East River, Upper East Side real estate includes some of the most expensive properties in the entire United States. Upper East Side brownstones, Upper East Side condos, and Upper East Side coops sell at prices starting around $5 million. Upper East Side Manhattan, NY real estate (such as those elite properties located on Fifth and Madison Avenue) start at an impressive $20 million.
Presently, according to recent New York Times real estate classifieds, the most expensive Upper East Side penthouse, located in The Pierre Hotel, is listed for $70 million. The most expensive Upper East Side brownstone was sold for a record price of $58 million. Upper East Side Manhattan, NY real estate also maintains one of the highest pricing per square foot in the nation, with a 2006 report citing a cost as much as $1,200 per square foot of property.
While the area is world-famous for its delightful array of museums, elite schools, luxury boutiques, and close proximity to Central Park, Upper East Side real estate is also particularly famous for its number of high society residents. These residents include Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Barbara Walters, Katie Couric, Walter Cronkite, Caroline Kennedy, Howard Dean, 2008 presidential candidate hopeful Rudy Giuliani, and many more. The Upper East Side is quite prominent as a location of political fundraising in the United States. In fact, the Upper East Side generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and John Kerry.
Other famous residents of Upper East Side real estate include actors and actresses Woody Allen, James Cagney, George Gershwin, Paul Sorvino, Michael J. Fox, and Kevin Kline; actresses Candice Bergen, Joan Collins, Greta Garbo and Mary Tyler Moore; musicians Sean Combs and Art Garfunkel; and famous designers such as Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren. Famous athletes who own homes in the area include Tiki Barber and Jason Giambi. Business moguls occupying Upper East Side real estate are Rupert Murdoch, George Soros, and Bruce Wasserstein.
There are also several luxurious hotels that comprise the neighborhood, such as The Pierre Hotel, Carlyle Hotel, Plaza Hotel, Plaza Hotel Athenee, and Four Seasons-New York. World-renowned educational institutions in the area include Cornell University Medical School, Hunter College, Marymount Manhattan College, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Rockefeller University.
For those who enjoy high-end shopping and world-class dining and entertainment, Upper East Side, Manhattan NY real estate will never disappoint. The Upper East Side’s Madison Avenue from 60th Street through the 80s is known as the affluent crowd’s premier shopping strip, surpassing Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay to become the most expensive retail real estate in the entire world. Upper East Side real estate consists of the highest concentration of stores in the nation, with more than $1 million in annual sales reported by each store.
Where Is the Upper East Side?
Stretching from 59th Street north to about 96th Street, Upper East Side real estate is comprised of the neighborhoods of Yorkville, centered on 86th Street and Third Avenue; and Carnegie Hill, centered on 91st Street; and Park Avenue and Lenox Hill, centered on 69th Street and 1st Avenue.
The north-south avenues of the Upper East Side include Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, Lexington Avenue, Third, Second, and First Avenues, York Avenue, and East End Avenue.
Getting Around the Upper East Side
If you currently own one or more Upper East Side condos, Upper East Side coops, such as the Sutton Place Coops or Yorkville Coops, or other Upper East Side property, you most likely know that the area is served by one subway line: the four-track IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4, 5, and 6), as well as local bus routes. At present time, the Mass Transit Authority (MTA) is building a second subway line, known as the Second Avenue Subway, in the area. The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway will run from 96th Street to 63rd Street, where it will connect with the BMT Broadway Line. Service will be provided by a northern extension of the Q train. The latter phases of the subway project include extending north to 125 Street and south to Hanover Square. Additionally, a new T train will be created to serve the southern portion of the line.
Upper East Side Landmarks and Institutions
As stated previously, Upper East Side real estate is home to some of the most famous, highly regarded museums in the world. In fact, the string of museums along Fifth Avenue that face Central Park is referred to as the “Museum Mile.” At one point, this stretch was named “Millionaire’s Row.”
Some of the cultural institutions in the Upper East Side include The 92nd Street Y; The Asia Society; Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; El Museo del Barrio; The Frick Collection; Goethe-Institute New York; The Jewish Museum of New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The “Met”); The Museum of the City of New York; The National Academy of Design; The Neue Galerie; Society of Illustrators; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; and The Whitney Museum of American Art.
Education in the Upper East Side
Another exciting draw of Upper East Side real estate is the number of educational institutions located in this affluent area. Single-sex private schools include the following girls’ schools: The Brearly School, The Chapin School, Convent of the Sacred Heart; Dominican Academy, The Hewitt School, Manhattan High School for Girls, Marymount School, The Nightingale-Bamford School, and The Spence School. Private schools for boys include the Allen-Stevenson School, Browning School, The Buckley School, St. Bernard’s School, and Regis High School.
Co-educational private schools in the Upper East Side are The Birch Wathen Lenox School, The Dalton School, Lycee Francais de New York, and The Ramaz School.
Those who own or wish to own Upper East Side real estate and who plan to enroll their children in public schools may be interested to learn that the schools in this area include East Side Middle School, the Lillie Devereux Blake School, East Side Middle School, Senator Robert F. Wagner Middle School, Talent Unlimited High School, Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Hunter College High School, and the Urban Academy Laboratory High School.
Higher learning educational opportunities that undoubtedly enhance the value of Upper East Side real estate are Cornell University Medical School, Hunter College, Marymount Manhattan College, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and Rockefeller University.
Upper East Side On Screen
Because of its world-class museums, high end boutiques, expensive restaurants and proximity to Central Park, Upper East Side, Manhattan NY real estate has been the setting for many films and television series.
Movies filmed in the Upper East Side include Breakfast at Tiffany’s; The Boys in the Band; Live and Let Die; The Bonfire of the Vanities; Six Degrees of Separation; Manhattan Murder Mystery; Ransom; The Devil’s Advocate; Men in Black; A Perfect Murder; Cruel Intentions; Panic Room, The Nanny Diaries; 25th Hour; and Two Weeks Notice – just to name a few.
Some television shows that were taped in the Upper East Side include The Jeffersons, Dirty Sexy Money, Diff’rent Strokes, The Nanny, Gossip Girl, and of course the Manhattan television series topper, Sex and the City.
Sutton Place
Sutton Place coops are nestled within Sutton Place, an affluent street and surrounding enclave of Manhattan. Situated on the cusp of Midtown and Upper East Side neighborhoods, Sutton Place is positioned along the East River.
Sutton Place coops encompass two public parks, and houses prominent residents such as architect L.M. Pei, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and actress Sigourney Weaver. In addition, the United Nations Secretary-General makes his residence in a four-story townhouse in Sutton Place, surely one of the most expensive example of Upper East Side real estate. The townhouse was originally built for Anne Morgan, daughter of financier J.P. Morgan in 1921. It was donated as a gift to the United Nations in 1972.
Yorkville
Yorkville coops are situated in the neighborhood of Yorkville, located within the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Yorkville is bound by 72nd Street on the south; the East River on the east; 96th Street (also known as Spanish Harlem) on the north; and Third Avenue on the west. The main artery of the Yorkville neighborhood is East 86th Street, which is sometimes referred to as the “German Broadway.”
Yorkville is served by Manhattan Community Board 8. Originally, the neighborhood was characterized as a middle- to working-class neighborhood, home to many people of Albanian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Irish, Jewish, Lebanese, Polish, and Slovak descent. Although several of Yorkville’s ethnic establishments have since closed, a number of them remain operational today. Despite the development of Yorkville over the years, several of the area’s long-time residents still reside there.
Upper East Side real estate in Yorkville, such as Yorkville coops are highly valued, for the area takes great pride in its long-standing history. There are bars, clubs, and restaurants in the area, which include Brandy’s Saloon, a popular 84th Street piano bar that first opened in the 1920s.
A lot of students make their homes in this part of the Upper East Side, thanks to the Fordham Graduate Housing buildings on 81st Street between York and East End. Although Fordham Graduate School is located on the West Side, the University purchased these pieces of Upper East Side real estate in Yorkville in order to provide a safe area for graduate students.
Yorkville is considered an affordable place to live by New York standards, attracting several young people to the area. Many students and young people reside between First Avenue and East End Avenue.
Many Yorkville area students attend the nearby Hunter College, and enjoy the close proximity to Central Park where they can relax and study. Students from other colleges such as Berkeley College, New York Film Academy, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts are also attracted to the Yorkville area and the available Upper East Side brownstones, Upper East Side condos, and other available of Upper East Side real estate.
The neighborhood of Yorkville also includes Gracie Mansion, which is the official home of the mayor of New York City, and Carl Schurz Park. The neighborhood is also well known as the birthplace of baseball legend Lou Gehrig, in 1903. It is also the birthplace of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1920 by 11 local businessmen.
Upper East Side’s Gold Coast Properties
Perhaps the most valuable pieces of Upper East Side real estate, the Gold Coast properties, are mansions and huge pre-war buildings from the 1960s and 70s, located on and near Fifth and Park Avenues. Today, they remain highly exclusive properties owned by fabulously wealthy individuals. Incredible views, expensive meals, Madison Avenue shopping, and close proximity to some of Manhattan’s best private schools are just a few of the many amenities available to owners of such Upper East Side Manhattan, NY real estate.
Several young professionals and growing families make their homes east of Lexington Avenue, where they live in pre-war and post-war Upper East Side coops, Upper East Side condos, and Upper East Side brownstones. These properties are much smaller than those on Gold Coast, mostly one- and two-bedroom units and convertible studios.
By and large, the farther east you travel in this portion of Manhattan (away from the subway and outside the prime school districts) the lower you’ll find the Upper East Side real estate prices to be. However, this is only true until you get to East End Avenue where a view of the river is prominent, at which point Upper East Side real estate prices soar once again.
Thinking of selling your property on the Upper East Side of Manhattan? Let the experienced listing agents of Sellers Realty Group assist you in getting top dollar for your real estate. For more information about selling Upper East Side Manhattan, NY real estate, contact the expert Realtors of Sellers Realty Group at 212-482-0000 for Manhattan or 718-937-7900 for Brooklyn and Queens today.
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