This area is located mainly between 79th and 94th Streets. Therefore, if location, location, location is your priority, then this is the place for you- of course if you have the money to afford the luxury. For many New Yorkers, this is the city's finest, if not quintessential, residential neighborhood. It has the city's highest concentration of major museums (Museum Mile) and fine schools, numerous religious institutions, a large supply of sizeable apartments, mostly in pre-war buildings. It has a healthy dosage of distinguished architecture, good public transportation, and proximity to Central Park. What more could one ask for? Much of this area north of 87th Street is known as "Carnegie Hill" because of the great mansion and fenced garden that the steel magnate built that is now the National Design Museum. For the most part the entire area from Park to Fifth Avenue is made up of large apartments and brownstones with a lot of architectural detail and craftsmanship. Surrounding almost every building are beautiful lawns and gardens, which in combination with Central Park make the entire area an oasis from the rest of the city. All of this, convenience, comfort and prestige can be yours too- for a large price of course. Much of the area between Fifth and Park Avenue between 79th and 94th Streets is included in official city historic landmark districts. The area's most important "asset" is the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 80th and 84th Streets, but it has many great institutions. Other museums in the area along Fifth Avenue's "Museum Mile" include the International Center for Photography at 94th Street, the Jewish Museum in the former Felix M. Warburg mansion at 92nd Street, the National Design Museum in the former Andrew Carnegie Mansion at 91st Street, the National Academy between 89th and 90th Streets and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum at 88th Street. Among the many fine private schools in this area are Spence, St. David's, Nightengale-Bamford and Dalton. There are also many religious institutions in the area such as St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church, the Park Avenue Synagogue, the Brick Presbyterian Church and the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest and clubs such as the Town Club in the former William Woodward mansion at 9 East 86th Street and Liederkranz Club in the former John S. Phipps mansion at 6 East 87th Street. For many years, 86th Street was the northern "cut-off" of socially "acceptable" addresses apart from Fifth Avenue, but the Carnegie Hill area became immensely popular beginning in the late 1980's and is now one of the most sought-after in the city. Part of the reason was that 86th used to be a bit rowdy when it was the "main street" of Yorkville, as much as of the east 80's used to be known, the city's most famous German neighborhood. It was lined with many German restaurants and dance halls and was one of the city's most popular areas for nightlife before the explosion of "singles" bars along First Avenue in the 1960's. A couple of German restaurants and stores remain, but the low-rise character of much of East 86th Street has largely vanished and been replaced by apartment towers of a wide range of architectural quality. The street's retail activity, however, remains quite vibrant and important on the Upper East Side with several movie theaters clustered around Lexington and Third Avenues as well as major stores such as HMV and Barnes & Noble. The Upper East Side's express subway station is at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue and cross-town bus service on the street is excellent. Because of its convenient public transportation, that location chosen by Gimbel's, the department store, for a major "satellite" store that survived for a few years but eventually was completely rebuilt and expanded into a large, handsome, Georgian-style apartment building with an entrance on 87th Street. Not only did 86th Street become a bit more sedate, but Third Avenue, once the noisy site of the "El", has been significantly redeveloped and high-rise "luxury" towers now have replaced the former Ruppert Brewery across from several attractive restaurants. Thus, the area north of 86th Street became more attractive and less "seedy" at about the same time as a greater appreciation for pre-war construction and quality architecture and such amenities as museums and good schools were being more widely appreciated. In addition, new apartment construction as far north as 96th Street began to solidify the northern edge of this area so much so that one of the city's great real estate controversies of the early 1990's involved a new apartment building on the south side of 96th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. Some community residents argued that the developer had violated the city's zoning for the site and built "too-tall" a structure. As a result of their protest and despite the fact that the "violation" was technical and more the city's fault than the developer's, the top 12 floors of the building were demolished, despite the fact that the owner offered a variety of compromises to the community and the fact that it was not even the tallest building in the vicinity. These protesters were much more successful than others who had opposed the demolition of the Brokaw mansions on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 79th Street to make way for a very tall apartment tower across from the French Gothic style quarters of the Ukrainian Institute of America in the former Isaac D. Fletcher residence. The new tower was quickly followed by another just to the north, both rising significantly taller than most others on the avenue, a controversial break in the avenue's quite consistent "cornice" line. A couple of decades later, another tall apartment tower, 1001 Fifth Avenue, also broke the "cornice" line between 81st and 82nd Street, albeit this time with a controversial "false front" mansard-style roof element. The cornice line on Park Avenue was also broached in the post-war period by tall towers at 900 Park Avenue and 115 East 87th Street. The area's skyline now has several prominent towers including the handsome red-brick tower at 45 East 89th Street and the angled tower at 40 East 94th Street. Significant new development in this area is rather unlikely because of the existence of historic landmark districts and very active community groups. The area now has a very pleasant "strip" of quite charming restaurants on Madison Avenue in the low 90's as well as some nearby major stores such as HMV and Barnes & Noble on Lexington Avenue at 86th Street. Some of the city's most impressive apartment buildings, such as 998, 1010, 1016, 1020 and 1040 Fifth Avenue and 1088 and 1185 Park Avenue, are located in this area and there are many handsome sidestreet buildings such as 12 East 87th Street and 2, 4 and 19 East 88th Street. One of the area's more unusual landmarks is the facade of the former Squadron "A" Armory on the east side of Madison Avenue between 94th and 95th Streets, which stands in front of a large playground behind the modern Hunter College Campus Schools on Park Avenue that was designed by Morris Ketchum Jr. & Associates in 1969 in a sympathetic style with the red-brick armory remains. |
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