Upper East Side, A Neighborhood To Discover
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in New York located east of Central Park, Manhattan. This very upscale neighborhood is one of the best places to shop in New York, but it is also a place that enjoys a very strong cultural and artistic activity. Here’s a little overview of everything you can discover during a visit to the Upper East Side during your stay in New York.
The Chicest Neighborhood In New York
The Upper East Side is located between Central Park and the East River. Thanks to its prime location (in the heart of Manhattan and close to some of the city’s greatest landmarks), this is one of New York’s most upscale neighborhoods. Of all areas of Manhattan, the Upper East Side is undoubtedly the one where you can best experience New York elegance and luxury. The east side of Central Park is renowned worldwide for its museums, restaurants and luxury boutiques.
It is also one of the places in the United States where real estate prices are the highest, and there are many stars among the very affluent inhabitants of the Upper East Side, such as Woody Allen, Spike Lee or Madonna again.
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The area is also home to some of the most renowned hotels in the world, such as the Carlyle Hotel and the Plaza Hotel.
In the streets of the Upper East Side, you can discover many magnificent Victorian houses, large Beaux-Arts style mansions as well as large prestigious buildings, which house very chic lofts.
Upper East Side Museums
If you love museums, the Upper East Side is definitely the neighborhood you need to discover during your stay in New York. Much more than just a chic district, the Upper East is a place where you can make great cultural discoveries and visit some of the most famous museums in the world.
The Museum Mile is a long stretch that extends for the most part on the Upper East Side, along 5th Avenue, and which includes a majority of museums.
This sector is home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum, but also other very interesting museums. During the month of June (usually the second Tuesday of the month), you can even take advantage of the Museum Mile Festival to visit all the museums in the neighborhood for free. For the occasion, several museums even organize outdoor activities specially planned for children.
The Metropolitan Museum Of Art (The Met)
This is the largest museum in the city, which is to New York what the Louvre Museum is to Paris. The tens of thousands of historical objects and works of art that make up the MET ‘s collections pay tribute to the creativity of men across civilizations, over more than 5 millennia.
If you want to take full advantage of this experience, I advise you to spend at least half a day visiting this gigantic museum. Don’t forget either to take your tickets as soon as you have the possibility: as indicated above, who says biggest museum of the city, says significant number of visitors.
It would be a shame if you couldn’t enter the museum because the wait is too long, or because the maximum visitor capacity has already been reached…
The Met is home to more than 250,000 works of art in total, and its hundreds of galleries are spread across 17 different parts. You can find rooms devoted to Egyptian art, Greek and Roman art, medieval art, contemporary art, as well as many other periods of history. Each year, approximately 7 million visitors come to admire all the wonders present in the galleries of the Met.
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The Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum is the 4th most visited museum in New York, after the Met, the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum Of Modern Art. This contemporary art museumis almost as renowned for its building, designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, as for the collections it houses.
In this museum, which takes the form of a long spiral corridor, you can admire a wide variety of works from the 20th century, including paintings by great masters such as Van Gogh, Manet, Picasso, Cézanne and Renoir. Temporary exhibitions are also organized regularly, to highlight the work of contemporary artists.
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The Frick Collection
In this gallery located right next to the Met, you can admire just over a thousand works, paintings and sculptures from all over the world. In the collection of this museum, which includes works ranging from the 14th to the 19th centuries, you will discover some masterpieces known throughout the world, such as Ecstasy of Saint Francis by Giovanni Bellini and The Resurrection by Botticini.
The Jewish Museum
This is one of the smallest museums in all of Manhattan, but certainly not the least interesting. The 28,000 objects exhibited in this museum retrace the entire history of Jewish art, through several temporary and permanent exhibitions. In particular, you can see works by renowned artists such as Andy Warhol and Marc Chagall, as well as paintings, sculptures and objects discovered following archaeological excavations.
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Shopping On The Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is one of the shopping havens you can find in New York. In the main shopping streets of Madison Avenue, Lexington Avenue and 59th, 72nd and 86th Streets, you will have the opportunity to discover an impressive number of very luxurious stores and designer boutiques.
Madison Avenue is arguably the second best avenue in New York for shopping, second only to 5th Avenue. It is on this avenue, nicknamed the “Gold Coast”, that you can find the most luxury stores, with Hermès, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Dolce & Gabbana and many other major brands and renowned designers.
On Lexington Avenue, in addition to small shops, you can find several large stores such as the famous Bloomingdale’s and Barneys stores, which are true symbols of shopping in New York. These very large stores will delight fashion lovers, and you can find excellent bargains during sales periods, during the last week of July for example, or for Black Friday.
Visit Central Park
With its 4 km long and 800 m wide, Central Park is the largest park in the city, and of course the best known. During a stay in New York and a visit to the Upper East Side district, you will have the opportunity to discover this emblematic place of the Big Apple a little better.
You can visit it simply, at your own pace, during a short walk, and relax on its lawns. You will also have the opportunity to rent bikes there to discover not only the park, but also its surroundings. This will allow you to see more things, without necessarily getting too tired. A good compromise, especially if the weather is nice!
In summer, you can even take the opportunity to have a picnic and take a little sunbathing.
No matter what season of the year you make your trip, discovering Central Park will always be a memorable experience. In the fall, you can admire the trees changing color and take wonderful photos, while in the winter, you can enjoy the beauty of the park under the snow, and even take a ride to the Central Park ice rink.
If you walk through Central Park, you will come to the Upper West Side, directly across from the Upper East Side.
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Eating On The Upper East Side
In the streets of the district, you will have no trouble finding good places to have a meal. Even if some addresses in this chic neighborhood offer refined gourmet cuisine that is quite expensive, you can still quite easily find places to eat well without breaking the bank.
If you want to taste a delicious and very affordable burger, I recommend the JG Melon. This brand’s burgers are often considered to be among the best in town. This is a very reputable address and you will probably have to wait a bit before you can sit down to eat, but you won’t regret it.
To taste a typical New York pizza, you can go to the PQR pizzeria. In this small restaurant with a friendly welcome and a very warm atmosphere, you will find a wide choice of pizzas to eat in or take away.
If you want to have a meal a little more classic, do not hesitate to go to the Galaxy Diner, a favorite establishment for locals and tourists. You will find typical American dishes, hearty, made with good products and offered at very affordable prices.
However, if you want to have a memorable meal during your stay, Daniel is one of the most renowned establishments in the neighborhood, and even in the whole city. This two-star restaurant is truly one of the great places of gastronomy in New York. Here you can savor classic French cuisine, with refined and perfectly prepared dishes. In this prestigious restaurant, the bill will of course be higher, but your taste buds should not forget this moment anytime soon!
For breakfast, or to fill a little hollow during the day, I recommend the Two Little Red Hens. In this small pastry shop which only has a few tables to eat on site, you will find excellent cheesecakes and cupcakes. The choice offered is very wide, and it is very likely that you will very soon want to come back to Little Red Hens, to discover other flavors…