Upper East Side Luxury Condos and Real Estate

Upper East Side Luxury Condos and Real Estate are Much in Demand

Upper East Side luxury condos and real estate command high prices because of the incredible reputation the area has for being chic and because the locale has so many things going for it. The district is close to the city’s central business district. It has a profusion of swank shops and restaurants. There are a host of cultural amenities close at hand, and the neighborhoods that surround it are likewise full of retail shops, office towers, and entertainment venues.

The neighborhood runs north and south from 96^th St. to 59^th St, and east to west from the East River to 5^th Ave. along Central Park. Formerly called the Silk Stocking District for its opulence, the place remains one of the most affluent sections of New York City. It originally began to develop in the 18^th Century as a market garden area to serve the need for produce of the fast growing metropolis at the southern end of Manhattan. In 1837 the New York and Harlem Railroad laid tracks into the area and established a station at 86^th St around which commercial development began. By the mid 19^th Century, farm land had largely given way to subdivided parcels containing businesses and homes. The area was not considered fashionable at the time because of the presence of heavily trafficked rail lines.

20^th Century Sees Luxury Housing Arrive

Once the Park Avenue Railroad became a subterranean line in 1910, well to do New Yorkers began building mansions and fancy townhouses here. The Vanderbilt family built a mansion along 5^th Ave. in the 1850’s. In the 1870’s a row of posh townhouses was built along 5^th Ave., between 57^th and 58^th Sts. Fancy villas were built along the East River. Gracie Mansion is the only one that remains to this day.

5^th Ave. fronting Central Park became lined with mansions owned by the likes of Andrew Carnegie and the Rockefeller family. By 1916, apartment houses began replacing the row of stately mansions.