Apartment rentals New York with Upper East Side Rental Listings

The Upper East Side is famous for being a quaint neighborhood with tree-lined streets, countless upscale restaurants with outdoor seating, iconic nearby parks, and numerous museums. Here is a profile of three luxury rentals located in this classic NYC neighborhood.

Classy, chic and comfortable—these are the words that are often used when describing the Upper East Side neighborhood of New York City. And now, here’s another adjective to throw into the mix: cool. At first, this may be a little hard to comprehend; after all, this Manhattan neighborhood has long had a reputation of being rather pricey, thereby keeping hip (but cheap) New Yorkers at bay. With its beautiful pre-war buildings that are located blocks away from Central Park, apartments on the Upper East Side have always been in high demand and, therefore, have been mostly out of reach for the “cool crowd.” But, of late, the homes here have suddenly become affordable, and the reason for that is, interestingly enough, coming from underground—the Second Avenue Subway construction.

Here at Luxury Rentals Manhattan, we have already discussed the fact that the much-predicted and highly-anticipated traditional summer rise of rental prices is underway. Prices for luxury rental apartments have risen in both May and June, and we recently predicted the probable continued rise of prices before the summer’s end. There is more information available now that gives a better picture of what is happening with the Manhattan rentals market, and -- as is fitting for New York real estate experts such as ourselves -- the stats match our predictions. Based on second quarter reports put out by Citi Habitats and Prudential Douglas Elliman, it is clear to see that the rentals market is growing stronger, and rental prices have yet to hit their peak.

The Manhattan real estate market is a complicated thing, as any regular Luxury Rentals Manhattan visitor -- and anyone who has ever tried to find a rental apartment in Manhattan -- could tell you. But one of the most peculiar features of the ongoing turnaround in the Manhattan rental marketplace is just how much more quickly the market for high-end Manhattan luxury rentals has turned around than has, say, the market for $2500-per-month Manhattan rental apartments. Given that there are more people in New York capable of paying more modest monthly rents than there are those willing or able to cut five-figure checks on the first of each month, the turnaround would seem to be somewhat backwards. But this is Manhattan real estate, and the top-down turnaround has become both harder and harder to ignore and -- per a recent New York Times report -- even more pronounced in the early months of summer. The demand for five-figure NYC rental apartments has been higher than that for smaller, less expensive Manhattan apartments.  So, what exactly does this mean for Manhattan real estate?

Beloved Manhattan grocery institution Fairway bills itself with the slogan, “Like No Other Market.” Which is true insofar as no other NYC market we at Luxury Rentals Manhattan can name has higher stacks of produce, a more competitive olive bar -- even Amar'e Stoudemire could get boxed out in there -- and a better selection of gourmet foods. For Upper East Siders, though, the sad fact of the matter was that Fairway was like no other market on the Upper East Side. Which takes nothing away from the Upper East Side, which has its own unique charm and charisma (and some very nice luxury rental listings, naturally). But the Upper West Side-envy with which Upper East Siders were previously afflicted should be ameliorated by the news that a new Fairway outpost will be moving into the old Barnes and Noble spot on East 86th Street this winter. While it's tempting to say that the Upper East Side's new Fairway is is Like No Other Asset To The UES, there is actually one with which it has something in common -- that would be the new Upper East Side Shake Shack, which opened just a couple blocks west on East 86th Street. The Upper East Side has always been one of Manhattan's elite places to live, and home to some of the finest luxury rental listings in Manhattan. Now, belatedly, it's increasingly home to the sort of fun, Upper West Side-y foodie joints that it had previously been missing. If you're wondering how this makes Upper East Side rental listings more appealing, you obviously haven't been to Fairway (or Shake Shack) recently.