Location and Neighborhood
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308 is situated between Second and First Avenues on the South side of 79th Street, which is a major two-way street in the Upper East Side and Upper West Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East 79th Street stretches from East End Avenue to Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, where it enters Central Park through Miners' Gate. East 79th Street is an unnumbered southbound only entrance to the FDR Drive. East 79th Street is the Southern end of East End Avenue, which runs north-south to 90th Street.
308 is an extremely large building, with a limestone and brown brick facade, that faces this wide cross-town thoroughfare which provides light and space similar to Park Avenue. Even with its Gotham sense of space, 308 East 79th Street has a feeling of a small neighborhood. Restaurant's, dinners, tailors, pharmacies are all located within walking distance. Agata and Valentina, Citerella, Butterfield's and Eli's Manhattan are some of the markets that can be found within few blocks. The building is situated between Central Park, 5 blocks West on 79th Street and John Jay Park at 78th the East River. Carl Schurz Park is 8 blocks east and north and also situated on the East River.
The Upper East SIde is a bound by 59th Street, 96th Street, Central Park and the East River. It is the most affluent area of New York City and has some of the most expensive real estate in the United States.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg lives in a five-story townhouse at 17 East 79th Street, between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Other notable residents of 79th Street include Tom Wolfe, Art Garfunkel and Eliot Spitzer. Socialite Nan Kempner lived on 79th Street at Park Avenue.
The top ZIP Code, 10021, is on the Upper East Side and generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and John Kerry.
The Upper East Side maintains one of the highest pricing per square foot in the United States. A 2002 report cited the average cost per square foot as $856; however, that price has noticed a substantial jump, increasing to almost as much as $1,200 per square foot as of 2006
The area is host to some of the most famous museums in the world. The string of museums along Fifth Avenue fronting Central Park has been dubbed "Museum Mile." It was once named "Millionaire's Row." Among the cultural institutions on the Upper East Side.
Some of the best public and private schools in Manhattan are located on the Upper East Side. The New York Society Library, at 53 East 79th street, is the city's oldest (1754) circulating library; it occupies a double-width townhouse built for John S. and Catherine Dodge Rogers
As of the 2000 census, there were 207,543 people residing in the Upper East Side. The population density was 118,184 people per square mile (45,649/km²), making Manhattan Community Board 8, coterminous with the Upper East Side, the densest Community Board in the city.[18] The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 88.25% White, 6.14% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.34% African American, 0.09% Native American, 1.39% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. 5.62% of the population were Hispanic of any race. Twenty-one percent of the population was foreign born; of this, 45.6% came from Europe, 29.5% from Asia, 16.2% from Latin America and 8.7% from other. The female-male ratio was very high with 125 females for 100 males.