Just had to watch the video of Leslie Jones on the U.E.S. from SNL after reading this article.
There is not a cleaner and more elegant avenue in the city. While staid, the Upper East Side has Central Park, many of the city's greatest museums, wonderful shopping, reliable if not fabulous restaurants and top schools. It is safe and immaculate. When the condos downtown start to look dated, and it's denizens get tired of concrete, perhaps this beautiful area will have a resurgence. But that won't happen until the boards of the buildings get a wake up call. The restrictive cooperative approval process, makes Park Avenue buildings more like social clubs. It is killing the value of apartments and the accessibility to them as well.
The Park Avenue Malls’ planting are funded entirely by donations from neighbors and adjoining buildings.
I keep hearing Eva Gabor singing the theme song from the old TV show "Green Acres":
I just adore a penthouse view /
Darling, I love you, but give me Park Avenue.
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What, no Park Avenue South? Not that I have any interest in it - we live in Murray Hill - but there are numerous buildings south of 42nd, some higher-end and modern properties, along with numerous restaurants...
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While all the trend seekers migrate like lemmings downtown, I continue to enjoy the relative abundance of light, air, culture and civility of the Upper East Side. As Lisa Douglas plaintively chirped, “Darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue!”
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While all the trend seekers migrate like lemmings downtown, I continue to enjoy the relative abundance of light, air, culture and civility of the Upper East Side. As Lisa Douglas plaintively chirped, “Darling I love you, but give me Park Avenue!”
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If one is looking for greenery in all its finest, look no further than Parkchester in the Bronx, which, as I understand, got its name from Park Avenue.
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@Peateabe Parkchester's grassy malls along Unionport Road and Metropolitan Avenue (plus Metropolitan Oval) are indeed green and beautiful - but not really comparable to Park Avenue.
Parkchester's name was derived from the adjacent neighborhoods near it's location: Park Versailles and Westchester Heights.
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In the mid-60's, my aunt and uncle bought a co-op at Park and 83rd. I remember being awed at the paneled elevator-piloted by a uniformed operator and the plush seat in the elevator. The apt. itself was huge and very glam...it shared the floor it was on with only one other apt., as a child, I didn't quite realize how soigne it was...it's still remains in the family, with a third generation occupying it. Wish I were closer to them!
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I would have flipped the article around. The author ends with a brief mention of the lost park with walkways down the middle. The reason for the street name.
I would have put more focus on what was lost to cars, and put some hope into restoring the park some day in the near future.
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The article fails to mention that, in addition to very high prices for apartments on Park Avenue, a great many of those buildings will not approve a buyer who won't have a net-worth (or cash liquidity) equal to x-times the cost of the apartment AFTER buying the apartment; some buildings are all-cash-only.
Thus, not only is Park Avenue pricier than many other neighborhoods, but its apartments are, in many real ways, NOT actually *available* to buyers who are not already very wealthy. The exclusion factor is huge!
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@L And your point is? The law is specific on the very difference between co-op's and condo's. And yes exclusion is a HUGE factor. It has always been that way, and will continue. And it is legal. Nowdays someone can easily pay cash for a 50 million dollar co-op. But if they do not "belong" they can be refused. And no reason can be given for your not getting approved, the law states that clearly. So if a co-op does not suit you, get a condo. It is kind of like trying to join the Knick. Some get in and others are turned away. That is life.
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@PerAxel
Discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, and other factors is forbidden.
Also, a co-op can suffer adverse tax penalties if the board rejects an applicant because it wants to pressure the shareholder to sell to them at a favorable (to the board member) price.
Exclusion is a factor that also cuts against the shareholder trying sell. What if the board rejects a potential purchasers just to settle a score with the seller? I guess that's just life on Park Ave.
I wish they would bring back the walkways. Here in Murray Hill. we have few if any green spaces other than the mostly-paved St Vartan Park. North of 37th or so, there isn't even access to the river. This is NOT the Park Avenue spoken of in this article.
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@Stan G - We are lucky enough to live in a condo community that overlooks its own park, covering just over 3 hectares, although it is referred to as a courtyard, at Kips Bay between 2nd and 33rd to 1st and 30th. I've often thought of it as a very much unappreciated amenity, never mentioned in real estate articles touting greenery. It's very peaceful, our placing facing inward and away from traffic, and that with our ability to walk to work, adds to our already healthy lifestyle.
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The dogs in the picture look perfect for walking their owners on the street.
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I don't think anyone would say Park Ave ends at 32nd. It may start being called Park Ave South there, but I don't see why you'd call that the end of the street. There's no clear stopping point there other than the minor name change.
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@J
Most would say Park Ave starts above the Helmsley Building. Certainly there is a complete cultural and economic difference. Park Ave South is completely different regardless of what any real estate agents might say. Park Avenue South is slightly more desirable. Used to be more so, but now there is lots of money down there too. Sigh.
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Oh, "Jack Rudin Way" at East 51st Street. Only on Park Avenue does the criminal class gain respect.
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@george eliot
Hmmm. As I can recount there is only one "trump" "building" on Park Avenue, so yes, criminal.
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The NYT metro coverage is below par as evidenced by this article. Yes, we know the rich have everything including some pathetic patches of flowers along fifth avenue. But compared to most European major cities, NYC is lagging in roadside beauty. For those of us New Yorkers who were born and raised here, we remember how the great NYT used to have a whole, separate Metro section that really covered the real New York. Truly sad for the alleged greatest city in the world.
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@Mickey who mentioned “fifth avenue”? I thought the article was about Park Avenue.
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I still miss Christopher Gray's "Streetscapes".@Mickey
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