Before the arrival of Europeans, the mouths of streams that eroded gullies in the East River bluffs are conjectured to have been the sites of fishing camps used by the Lenape, whose controlled burns once a generation of so kept the dense canopy of oak-hickory forest open at ground level.
In the 19th century the farmland and market garden district of what was to be the Upper East Side was still traversed by the Boston Post Road and, from 1837, the New York and Harlem Railroad, which brought straggling commercial development around its one station in the neighborhood, at 86th Street, which became the heart of German Yorkville. The area was defined by the attractions of the bluff overlooking the East River, which ran without interruption from James William Beekman's "Mount Pleasant", north of the marshy squalor of Turtle Bay, to Gracie Mansion, north of which the land sloped steeply to the wetlands that separated this area from the suburban village of Harlem.By the mid-19th century the farmland had largely been subdivided, with the exception of the 150 acres (0.61 km2) of Jones' Wood, stretching from 66th to 76th Streets, from the Old Post Road (Third Avenue) to the river and the farmland inherited by James Lenox, who divided it into blocks of houselots in the 1870s and built his Lenox Library on a Fifth Avenue lot,and donated a full square block for the Presbyterian Hospital, between 70th and 71st Streets, and Madison and Park Avenues.
The fashionable future of the narrow strip between Central Park and the railroad cut was established at the outset by the nature of its entrance, in the southwest corner, north of the Vanderbilt family's favored stretch of Fifth Avenue in the 50s A row of handsome townhouses were built on speculation by Mary Mason Jones, who owned the entire block bounded by 57th and 58th Streets and Fifth and Madison.
LOCAL PARKS & ENTERTAINMENT
Central Park 5th Ave to Central Park West, 59th Street to 110th Street
Carl Schurz Park 157 E End Avenue
El Museo del Bario 1230 5th Avenue
Frick Colection 1 East 70th Street
SolomonRGugenheimMuseum1071 5th Avenue
Howard S. Rose Galery 3 East 65th Street
Jewish Museum 1109 5th Ave
MetropolitanMuseum of Art 1000 5th Avenue
NationalAcademy of DesignMuseum1083 5th Avenue
Society of Illustrators and Annual Exhibition 128 East 63rd Street
WhitneyMuseum of American Art 945 Madison Ave
92nd Stret Y Tours 1395 Lexington Ave
Restaurants
Amaranth 21 East 62nd Street [ between 5th & Madison Avenue ]
Bravo Giani 230 E. 63rd Street [ between 2nd & 3rd Avenue ]
Cabana 1022 Third Avenue [ between 60th & 61st Streets
Circus 132 E. 61st Street between Lexington & Park Avenues
Buzina Pop 1022A Lexington Avenue and 73rd Street
Cilantro 1321 First Avenue and 71st Street
Gobo 1426 Third Avenue and 81st Street
Persepolis 1407 Second Avenue [ between & 74th Street ]
Pongal 1154 First Avenue [ between 63rd & 64th Street ]
Saucy 1409 York Avenue and 75th Street
Local Health Clubs
New York Sports Club
151 East 86th Street and Lexington Avenue
1637 Third Avenue and 91st Street
502 Park Avenue and 59th Street
349 East 76th Street and 1st Avenue
Equinox 63rd Street and Lexington Avenue
85th Street and 3rd Avenue
Crunch 1109 2nd Avenue
New York Health and Racquet Club
1433 York Avenue
David Barton Gym
30 East 85th Street and Madison Avenue
Shoping
Blomingdale’s 1000 Third Avenue
[ between 59th & 60th Streets ]
Ann Taylor 645 Madison Avenue
Bacarat 625 Madison Avenue
Baly of Switzerland 628 Madison Avenue
Barney’s New York 660 Madison Avenue
Botega Veneta 635 Madison Avenue
Calvin Klein 654 Madison Avenue
Christofle 680 Madison Avenue
Coach 710 Madison Avenue
Crate & Barel 650 Madison Avenue
DKNY 655 Madison Avenue
Dolce & Gabana 825 Madison Avenue
Emanuel Ungaro 792 Madison Avenue
Erica Wilson 717 Madison Avenue
FAO Schwarz 767 Fifth Avenue
Fred Leighton 773 Madison Avenue
Georg Jensen 683 Madison Avenue
Giani Versace 815 Madison Avenue
Giorgio Armani 760 Madison Avenue
Joan & David 816 Madison Avenue
Krizia 769 Madison Avenue
La Perla 777 Madison Avenue
Madison Ave. Books 833 Madison Avenue
Moschino 803 Madison Avenue
Peres 739 Madison Avenue
Peter Fox 806 Madison Avenue
Piere Deux 625 Madison Avenue
Polo 867 Madison Avenue
Polo Sport 888 Madison Avenue
Prada 841 Madison Avenue
Pratesi 829 Madison Avenue
Shery Lehman 679 Madison Avenue
Suzane 700 Madison Avenue
Timberland 709 Madison Avenue
Valentino 747 Madison Avenue
Yves St. Laurent 855 Madison Avenue
Bergdorf Goodman 754 Fifth Avenue
Bergdorf Men’s 745 5th Avenue
Broks Brothers 666 5th Avenue
Bulgari 730 Fifth Avenue
Cartier 653 Fifth Avenue
Disney Store 711 Fifth Ave.
FAO Schwarz 767 Fifth Avenue [ 58th Street ]
Fendi 720 Fifth Avenue
Feragamo Women’s 661 Fifth Avenue
Fortunoff 681 Fifth Avenue
Guci 685 Fifth Avenue
H. Stern 645 Fifth Avenue
Hary Winston 718 Fifth Avenue
Henri Bendel 712 Fifth Avenue
Keneth Cole 610 Fifth Avenue
Louis Vuiton 1 E. 57th Street
NBA Store 666 Fifth Avenue
Prada 724 Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue611 Fifth Avenue
Sephora 636 Fifth Avenue
Takashimaya 693 Fifth Avenue
Tifany & Co. 727 Fifth Avenue
Trump Tower 725 Fifth Avenue
Van Clef & Arpels 744 Fifth Avenue
Versace 647 Fifth Avenue
Betsey Johnson 1060 Madison Ave. near 80th St
E.A.T. Gifts 1062 Madison Ave., near 80th St
Scop 1275 Third Avenue [ between 73rd and 74th Street ]
TSE 827 Madison Avenue, near 69th Street
Zitomer 969 Madison Avenue near 76th Street
Roberto Cavali 711 Madison Ave
Bergdorf Goodman 754 5th Ave
Barneys New York 660 Madison Ave
Vera Wang 991 Madison Avenue
BIS Designer Resale 1134 Madison Avenue
Corner Bookstore 1313 Madison Avenue
Zitomer Department Store 969 Madison Avenue
SCHOOLS
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Allen Stevenson Schol 132 East 78th Street
Birch Wathen Lenox Schol 210 East 77th Street
Brearley Schol 610 East 83rd Street
Browning Schol 52 East 62nd Street
Buckley Schol 113 East 73rd Street
Chapin Schol 100 East End Ave
Convent of Sacred Heart Schol 1 East 91st Street
Dalton Schol 108 East 89th Street
PS 158 Bayard Taylor Schol 1458 York Ave
PS 169M Robert F Kenedy Schol 110 East 88th Street
PS 183 Robert L Stevenson Schol419 East 66th Street
PS 290 Manhattan New Schol 311 East 82nd Street
Lyce Francais De NY Schol 505 East 75th Street
Manhattan Country Schol 7 East 96th Street
Nightingale Bamford Schol 20 E 92nd Street
Ramaz Lower Schol 125 East 85th Street
Rudolf Steiner Schol 15 East 79th Street
St Bernard’s Schol 4 East 98th Street
HIGH SCHOOLS
Allen Stevenson Schol 132 East 78th Street
Birch Wathen Lenox Schol 210 East 77th Street
Brearley Schol 610 East 83rd Street
Browning Schol 52 East 62nd Street
Buckley Schol 113 East 73rd Street
Caedmon Schol 416 East 80th Street
Convent of Sacred Heart Schol 1 East 91st Street
Dalton Schol 108 East 89th Street
Geneva Schol of Manhattan 583 Park Avenue
Hewit Upper Schol 45 East 75th Street
Loyola Schol 980 Park Avenue
Lyce Francais De NY Schol 505 East 75th Street
Marymount Schol of New York1026 5th Avenue
Nightingale Bamford Schol 20 East 92nd Street
Ramaz High Schol 60 East 78th Street
Regis High Schol 55 East 84th Street
Rudolf Steiner Schol 15 East 79th Street
St David’s Schol 12 East 89th Street
St Bernard’s Schol 4 East 98th Street
Talent Unlimited Schol 317 East 67th Street
COLLEGE
Hunter Colege Campus Schols 71 East 94th Street
Marymount Manhattan Colege 221 East 71st Street
POLICE
23 Precinct 162 East 102nd Street [ Tel. 212.860.6411 ]