The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River.
Once known as the 'Silk Stocking District', it has some of the most expensive real estate in the United States. The most expensive Upper East Side penthouse (in The Pierre Hotel) was listed in the classifieds for approximately $70 million, and the most expensive townhouse was listed for $75 million.
History
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, including the Astors and the Rhinelanders built (what were then) country estates.Cornelius Vanderbilt, the tenth 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 1800s and his descendants went on to build the great ten Fifth Avenue Vanderbilt mansions, which were torn down in the early 1900s as a result of the Fall of the House of Vanderbilt.
Several members of exclusive families, including the industrial Rockefellers
, political Roosevelts
, political dynastic Kennedys
, thoroughbred racing moneyed Whitneys
, and tobacco and electric power fortuned Dukes
, have made residences on the Upper East Side.
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.
Geography
The Upper East Side stretches from 59th Street to 96th Street (in the zip codes of 10021, 10022, 10065, 10075, 10028 and 10128). Embedded within the Upper East Side are the neighborhoods of Yorkville, centered on 86th Street and Third Avenue and Carnegie Hill, centered on 92nd Street and Fifth Avenue and Lenox Hill centered on 69th Street and 1st Avenue.
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).
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. As of 2000, 75.6% of adults (25+) had attained a bachelor's degree or higher.Politics
Upper East Side is one of few areas of Manhattan where Republicans constitute more than 20% of the electorate. In the southwestern part of the neighborhood Republican voters equal Democratic voters (only such area in Manhattan), whereas in the rest of the neighborhood Republicans are between 20 and 40% of the registered voters.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.
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. 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.Transportation
The Upper East Side is currently served by one subway line, the four-track IRT Lexington Avenue Line 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.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:
- The 92nd Street Y
- The Asia Society
- Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
- El Museo del Barrio
- The Frick Collection
- Goethe-Institut New York
- The Jewish Museum of New York
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Museum of the City of New York
- The National Academy of Design
- The Neue Galerie
- Society of Illustrators
- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- The Whitney Museum of American Art
- The Irish Georgian SocietyPolitical institutions
- The Council on Foreign Relations
Educational institutions
Primary and secondary schools
Private Schools
Girls' schools
- The Brearley 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
- The Spence SchoolBoys' schools
- Allen-Stevenson School
- Browning School
- The Buckley School
- St. Bernard's School
- St. David's School
- Regis High SchoolCoeducational schools
- Birch Wathen Lenox School
- Dalton School
- Loyola School
- Lycée Français de New York
- La Scuola d'Italia Guglielmo Marconi
- Rudolph Steiner School
- Trevor Day School
- Ramaz School
Public schools
Public lower and middle schools
- PS 183 (Robert Louis Stevenson School)
- PS 77 The Lower Lab school
- East Side Middle School
- PS 6 (Lillie Devereux Blake School)
- PS 158 (East Side Middle School)
- Senator Robert F. Wagner Middle School (JHS 167)Public high schools
- Talent Unlimited High School
- Eleanor Roosevelt High School
- Hunter College High School
- Urban Academy Laboratory High School
Colleges and universities
- Cornell University Medical School
- Hunter College
- Marymount Manhattan College
- Mount Sinai School of Medicine
- Rockefeller University
- Metropolitan Hospital (NY Medical College)
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.Movies
- Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
- The Boys in the Band (1970)
- Live and Let Die (1973)
- The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
- Juice (1992)
- Six Degrees of Separation (1993)
- Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)
- Ransom (1996)
- The Devil's Advocate (1997)
- Men in Black (1997)
- A Perfect Murder (1998)
- Cruel Intentions (1999)
- American Psycho (2000)
- 25th Hour (2002)
- The Producers Roger DeBris townhouse. (2005)
- The Nanny Diaries (2007)
- Two Weeks Notice (2002)
- The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
- Sex and the City: The Movie (2008)
- I Am Legend (2008)
- The Devil Wears Prada (2007)
TV
- The Jeffersons (1975-1985)
- Dirty Sexy Money (2007-)
- Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986)
- The Nanny (1993-1999)
- Sex and the City (1998-2004)
- Gossip Girl (2007–)
- The Real Housewives of New York City (2008-)
Books
- Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
- The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
- Gossip Girl by Cecily von Ziegesar
- The Nanny Diaries by Nicola Kraus and Emma McLaughlin
- ''The A-List by Zoey Dean
Fictional places
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- Woody Allen.
- Candice Bergen
- James Cagney
- Joan Collins
- Sean Combs
- Greta Garbo
- Art Garfunkel
- George Gershwin
- Rosemary Harris (part time)
- Steve Hofstetter
- Donna Karan
- Ralph Lauren
- Marx Brothers
- Mary Tyler Moore
- Paul Sorvino
- Michael J. Fox
- Kevin Kline
- Utada Hikaru
- Sean Connery
- Sarah Michelle GellarAthletes
- Tiki Barber
- Jason GiambiBusiness moguls
- Michael Bloomberg
- Rupert Murdoch
- George Soros
- Bruce WassersteinJournalists
- Katie Couric
- Walter Cronkite
- Barbara WaltersPolitical figures
- Howard Dean
- Rudy Giuliani
- Soong May-ling
- Caroline Kennedy
- Jackie Onassis
- Eleanor Roosevelt
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Eliot SpitzerSocialites
- Nan Kempner
- Brooke Astor
The Upper East Side is also the location of Sutton Place, Manhattan Sutton Place. It is 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.
See also
References
External links
Community interest sites
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Last updated on Saturday July 26, 2008 at 09:07:39 PDT (GMT -0700)
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