Upper East Side

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Image:Upper East Side At Sunset.jpg
The Upper East Side at Sunset

The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA, between Central Park and the East River.

The 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²) neighborhood, with elegant rows of landmark townhouses, once known as the 'Silk Stocking District', has much of the most expensive real estate in the United States, with 2+ bedroom apartments starting at $5 million and the famous Fifth and Madison Avenue townhouses starting at $30 million. The most expensive Upper East Side penthouse (in the The Pierre Hotel) in the New York Times real estate classifieds is listed for $70 million, and the most expensive townhouse (on Madison Avenue) is listed for $58 million[1].

The Upper East Side is famous for its many high society residents (Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, Barbara Walters, Rudy Giuliani, etc.); luxurious hotels (Carlyle Hotel, Plaza Hotel, Plaza Hotel Athenee, Four Seasons-New York, The Pierre Hotel, etc.); high-end shopping; world-class dining and entertainment; and nationally ranked single-sex and coeducational private schools.

In the 19th century, and until the Park Avenue railroad cut was covered (finished in 1910), rich industrialists including Pittsburghers Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick began building stylish mansions and townhouses on the large lots along Fifth Avenue, abutting Central Park. One of the first sections to be developed was around 86th Street, where several prominent families of German descent, including the Schermerhorns, the Astors, and the Rhinelanders built (what were then) country estates.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, the third wealthiest person in history and patriarch of the prominent Vanderbilt Family of New York, planted his family's roots on the Upper East Side in the 1800's and his descendants went on to build the great ten Fifth Avenue Vanderbilt mansions, which were torn down in the early 1900's as a result of the Fall of the House of Vanderbilt[2].

Yorkville, as it was known, soon moved east past Lexington Avenue and became a suburb of middle-class Germans, many of whom worked in nearby piano factories, stables, and breweries.

A long high bluff fronting the river north of Beekman Place was dotted with fine suburban villas in the 19th century, the last remaining one being Gracie Mansion, now home of New York's mayor.

The Upper East Side is also notable as a significant location of political fundraising in the United States. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top ZIP Code, 10021, is on the Upper East Side and generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and John Kerry.[3]

Madison Avenue from 60th Street well into the 80s is the monied crowd's main shopping strip, recently vaulting ahead of (though in terms of prestige, arguably always outclassing) Hong Kong's Causeway Bay to become the most expensive retail real estate in the world. Zip code 10021 has the highest concentration of stores in the United States with more than $1 million in annual sales each.[4]

Contents

[edit] Geography

The Upper East Side stretches from 59th Street north to about 96th Street.[5] Embedded within the Upper East Side are 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. While still wealthy, Yorkville does not compare to Carnegie Hill in the scale of its wealth, but it boasts greater activity at longer hours of the night due perhaps in part to the cinemas in the area.

Its north-south avenues are Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue, Park Avenue, Lexington Avenue, Third, Second and First Avenues, York Avenue, and East End Avenue (the latter runs only from East 79th Street to East 90th Street).

[edit] Demographics

As of the 2000 census, there were 207,543 people residing in the Upper East Side. The population density was 118,184 people per square mile (45,649/km²). The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 88.25% White, 6.14% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.34% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.39% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. 5.62% of the population were Hispanic of any race. 21% of the population was foreign born; of this, 45.6% came from Europe, 29.5% from Asia, 16.2% from Latin America and 8.7% from other. The female-male ratio was very high with 125 females for 100 males.

Given its very high population density and per capita income ($85,081 in 2000), the neighborhood is believed to be the greatest concentration of individual wealth in the nation. Its affluence is certainly correlated to a very high educational attainment of its population. In 2000 75.6% of adults (25+) had a bachelor's degree or higher.

[edit] Cost of living

The Upper East Side maintains one of the highest pricing per square foot in the United States. A 2002 report cited the average cost per square foot as $856; however, that price has noticed a substantial jump, increasing to almost as much as $1,200 per square foot as of 2006.[6] [7] Basic commodities, perhaps partly due to real-estate costs and partly due to New York labor costs, can cost 50-200%+ more than in suburban areas.

[edit] Transportation

The Upper East Side is currently served by one subway line, the four-track IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4 5 6 <6>), and local bus routes. Due to severe congestion on the subway and buses, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is currently building a new subway line, the Second Avenue Subway, along Second Avenue. The first phase will run from 96th Street to 63rd Street, where it will physically connect with the BMT Broadway Line; service will be provided by a northern extension of the Q train. In later phases, the line will be extended north to 125th Street/Park Avenue in Harlem and south to Hanover Square in the Financial District, and a new T service will run its entire length.

[edit] Landmarks and Cultural Institutions

The area is host to some of the most famous museums in the world. The string of museums along Fifth Avenue fronting Central Park has been dubbed "Museum Mile." It was once named "Millionaire's Row." Among the cultural institutions on the Upper East Side:

[edit] Political Institutions

[edit] Educational Institutions

[edit] Primary and secondary schools

[edit] Private Schools

Girls' Schools


Boys' Schools

Coed

[edit] Public Schools

Public Lower and Middle Schools

Public High Schools

[edit] Colleges and Universities

[edit] In popular culture

The Upper East Side has been a setting for many movies, television shows, and many other media due to its world-class museums, expensive restaurants and boutiques, proximity to Central Park, elite schools, and influential residents.

[edit] Movies

[edit] TV

[edit] Books

[edit] Fictional places

[edit] Famous residents

The neighborhood has a long tradition of being home to some of the world's most wealthy, powerful and influential families and individuals. Some of the notables who have lived here include:

Actors, Artists, Musicians, and Writers:

Athletes:

Business Moguls:

Journalists:

Political Figures:

Socialites:

The Upper East Side is also the location of Sutton Place, an enclave home to many notable residents. It is also the site of a four-story townhouse built for Anne Morgan, daughter of financier J.P. Morgan, and now the official residence of the United Nations Secretary-General.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ Big Donors Still Rule The Roost, accessed July 18, 2006.
  4. ^ Belson, Ken. "In This Town, Even a Mall Rat Can Get Rattled.", The New York Times, December 20, 2006. Accessed June 7, 2007. "Already, Paramus has 320 stores with more than $1 million in annual sales each, second in the country only to the 10021 ZIP code on the East Side of Manhattan."
  5. ^ Malbin, Peter. " If You're Thinking of Living On/Fifth Avenue; Culture, Convenience and Central Park", The New York Times, August 11, 2002. Accessed September 23, 2007. "North of 96th Street, the traditional, if fuzzy, boundary between the Upper East Side and East Harlem, rents, like purchase prices, are often less stratospheric."
  6. ^ Hevesi, Dennis. " Residential Real Estate; TriBeCa Is Priciest Neighborhood", The New York Times, May 17, 2002. Accessed June 7, 2007.
  7. ^ [3]
  8. ^ Day, Sherri. "Disappointment for Woody Allen, but Not at Box Office", The New York Times, March 26, 2004. Accessed November 30, 2007. "The state's highest court yesterday dismissed an effort to halt construction of a 10-story building on the Upper East Side, ending a six-year battle that pitted Woody Allen and a group of fellow Upper East Siders against the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission."

[edit] External links

[edit] Community interest sites

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