Apartment rentals New York with Upper East Side

Living in New York City comes with a price tag. The higher the price, the better the neighborhood, the more premium the amenities on offer, and maybe a building with a great history, and well known past residents too. New Yorkers have a plethora of options like the uber expensive, recent combo-condo on the market at 15 Central Park West, at a whopping $125,000/month, which was not too long ago on the market for sale by owner Leroy Schecter for a slashed price of $85 million.

Manhattan’s rental market is cooling down after a strong upward rise over the last few years. However, it continues to progress slowly but surely. This means that more deals are on the market now than at any time since 2009. In neighborhoods such the Lower East Side and the Financial District prices have decreased on both studios to two-bedrooms, so apartment hunters can pay less and gain more while still being able to enjoy the luxury of a Manhattan lifestyle. Though the increase in Manhattan’s rental market has been minimal over the last month or so, thankfully there has been no stagnation or downfall. Based on a recent report, there are plenty of great apartments for renters to choose from.

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.

It’s not a boundary you’ll find on any map, but any Manhattanite will tell you that the stretch of 96th Street east of Central Park is one of the brightest and longest-standing borders in Manhattan real estate. With the ultra-prosperous Upper East Side on the downtown side and East Harlem on the north, 96th Street marked a long-standing class boundary as much as a dividing line between two neighborhoods. But, thanks in large part to a host of new luxury rentals on the upper reaches of the Upper East Side, the bright line along 96th Street is looking notably less distinct these days -- and two culturally rich neighborhoods have started to look more alike. Call it the upper Upper East Side if you like, but the changes along the northern part of the Upper East Side are unmistakable and undeniable. The Upper East Side, in other words, is moving uptown.

Manhattan real estate is not necessarily logical, and hardly a precise science. But for the most part, basic logic does apply, here. That is, it's easy to see why apartment listings in a certain Manhattan neighborhood are appealing to people looking for Manhattan rental apartments. A subway ride and a brief pub crawl is enough to explain why, say, people want to live in rental apartments in the East Village; a stroll through Central Park and a shopping jaunt at Fairway or Zabar's is enough to figure out what NYC dwellers see in Upper West Side rental listings. But while the appeal of Upper East Side rental listings is plain enough -- Central Park, museums, shopping, you already know all this -- it's about to get a little bit clearer. We're not saying that anyone would move to the Upper East Side because the UES just got its first branch of Danny Meyer's beloved burger joint Shake Shack. We wouldn't say that. But... have you ever been to Shake Shack? It's not impossible, and it's surely not unreasonable.