It’s no secret that the affluent Upper East Side has been exactly just that– affluent. The neighborhood has long been accosted where the elite “old money” families of New York can find the balance between luxury and the closest semblance to a serene, residential life in one of the busiest regions in the world.
But the “Upper East Side,” which encompasses East 96th street to East 59th street, is more than just home for the top 1% of Manhattanites. Between the historic mansions and high-rises that overlook Central Park, the adjacent George Washington NYCHA houses loom over brownstones and low-rise buildings inhabited by working class families. While lower than the borough and city wide average, the poverty rate in the Upper East Side was 6.1% in 2023, according to the NYU Furman Center. And even if they do not fall within the poverty line, over 22.6% of households in the area were severely rent burdened in that same year (meaning they spend more than 50% of household income on rent).
In the past year alone, Third Avenue has seen some changes, with the opening of a Whole Foods, Crumbl Cookies, and most recently, a Brandy Melville, the latter of which is a high-end clothing franchise targeted towards Gen-Z women, which took over the CVS Pharmacy that previously inhabited the space. The opening signified the changing tide of an already lavish neighborhood. One less place for residents to get everyday necessities or pharmaceutical needs at an affordable cost. Ultimately, CVS is just another retail chain and the neighborhood will survive. This transformation isn’t loud, but it’s not meant to be.
Commercial displacement often indicates a neighborhood is being gentrified before residential tenants experience displacement. Gentrification not only transforms communities in terms of the socioeconomic status of residents, but it also reshapes neighborhood businesses. Before your neighbors disappear, it’s the bodegas, diners, and bookstores that make their quiet goodbyes.
These past few years have seen local businesses encounter their fair share of hurdles. Neil’s Coffee Shop, situated on Lexington Avenue, closed in 2023 after failure to pay rent. Shakespeare and Co, where Hunter students could purchase class materials and graduation regalia, abruptly closed. Even Papaya Dog, the iconic hot dog shop (and enemy of Gray’s Papaya), initially experienced closure in 2023, but ultimately was able to keep doors open after downsizing and relocating. In their places come businesses that can keep up with the demands of the rising commercial rent prices.
It’s not much of a shock to point out that since 2006, the median gross rent price for residents has increased by over 35.8% on the Upper East Side (above the citywide average), or that in the past 15 years, over 3,500 units were developed in 4+ unit buildings across the Upper East Side. But when only 7% of those units were intended for low-income tenants to reside in, commercial and retail gentrification work in tandem to create an infrastructure that completely eliminates the low, and even middle-class residents out of the Upper East Side.
Names carry meaning. So it’s not about a Crumbl Cookies, or a Brandy Melville. But it’s about the Neil’s that are erased, or the mom and pop shops that once decorated the streets of Lexington or Third Avenue. Staples from other neighborhoods, like Tompkins Square Bagels in the East Village, move uptown to give other Manhattan neighborhoods a sense of homogeneity. Like Williamsburg, who has seen its share of local businesses being uprooted by franchises and other retail conglomerates, the Upper East Side known by locals is slowly losing its residential charm. Unlike what the media portrays, the Fifth Avenue penthouses from Gossip Girl were just a small part of the community. It was a day-to-day neighborhood that housed a variety of people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. But ironically now, The Upper East Side, more than ever, is shifting into that brand and itching away from its community roots.
