Lenox Hill

Lenox Hill is a glorious New York neighborhood on the eastside of Manhattan. Barely half a mile from its southern tip at East 60th Street to its northern border at East 72nd Street, and just a mile from Fifth Avenue to the East River, this small area is home to BIG money and that’s what you’ll need to live here.

Rentals here are thousands of dollars more per month than in other Manhattan neighborhoods. Studios start at over $3,000 which is about the price of a one-bedroom on the west side. You are also more likely to find a space for rent from a co-op or condo owner, as many of the units in the area are investment properties for their owners. As a result, you will likely be limited to a one-year lease, with no protections regarding rent increases.

For those who dream of the life on the fashionable Eastside of New York and want to live in an area that is lively and urbane, not stodgy and mundane, Lenox Hill is a dream come true. Unlike entrenched neighborhoods to the north and south, this Eastside environ is home to a shifting parade of successful young yuppies and enterpreneurs, most of them single. This young demographic turns the neighborhood into a noisy, crowded party scene on weekends when residents and visitors fill the avenues on ‘pub crawls’ to the area’s many bars.

Beyond the high rents and mortgages in Lenox Hill, there are other cost-of-living expenses related to life in a luxury neighborhood. There are few cheap restaurants and most retailers reflect the upscale nature of the residents.

For example, food costs are abnormally high with Lenox Hill and other eastside supermarkets charging as much as 30% for items. This is why many people jump on the M66 and M72 cross-town buses and head over to the west side to do their shopping at Fairway and Trader Joe’s. Cross-town buses run regularly to this neighborhood, so it is easy (if crowded and occasionally time-consuming) to make the run.

While this is home to a lot of NY residents, this section of Manhattan is also home to many doctors. If you don't come here for the nightlife, then you are probably here for the museums or the doctors such as plastic surgeons. They abound here nestled in among the old beautiful doorman buildings, brownstowns and hi-rise condo buildings. This is a wonderful neighborhood to stroll through. Museums such as the Guggenheim and the Museum of Natural History are nearby so if you are looking for a great place to visit that is close to Central Park, this is a nice option. Boutique hotels also abound here, and you will pay a pretty penny to be near this area, which has nice eateries, bars and lounges. It's a quiet place at night, but there's something to be said about quiet in a big city like this. Buses run along the park going up and down, but trains are fewer on this side of town. So you might want to cab it if you find yourself in need of getting somewhere fast. Or catch a horse and buggy if you want down at 59th street if you have time to kill. This neighborhood is pricey but definitely worth a visit especially in summer! It's named after the renowned hospital in its midst, Lenox Hill Hospital.

Want to move up to the Upper East Side? Lenox Hill is about as good as it gets if you can afford it...and if you can find a vacancy. A great view of the park, upscale shopping boutiques and art galleries, and fancy eating, yep, sounds like the good life.

For residents, the only thing keeping most people out of this area is the price of every available apartment, if any are even available. You're right next to Central Park and square in the middle of the Upper East Side, one of the city's best area's to live. All sorts of shopping, food places, bars, and supermarkets are around ranging from the affordable to the highly upscale.

For tourists, the area is right next to Central Park and features some of the nicest looking buildings in the city. Not a whole lot of sightseeing or things to do except take a stroll in the park or enjoying lunch at one of the more affordable places in the area. The only attractions around are very nice art galleries and the Frick Collection, which is about $18 to get in and $5 for students, and The Whitney Museum of Art which boasts an impressive collection of more than 18,000 pieces. The two are just a short walk away from one another.

Lenox Hill is an Upper East Side neighborhood from about 60th Street to 77th Street. It isn't considered to go farther east than Lexington Avenue, and it runs west to about Fifth Avenue. The area is famous for Lenox Hill Hospital, which has catered to some stars. Miranda Richardson was treated there before her death. Don't think this means it's a fabulous hospital, though. It's average at best. Still, this neighborhood is decidedly upscale and caters to the wealthy, especially in the areas closer to Central Park. In other words, a Fifth Avenue or Park Avenue address will cost you big time. As you move east outside of Lenox Hill, you will find slightly more affordable rents.

It's a beautiful area containing some great museums, and it can even be quiet in parts considering that it's very much in the middle of everything. As you would expect, the stores and restaurants tend to be a bit more expensive and upscale as well in order to cater to the neighborhood inhabitants. For groceries, you might have to travel to at least Lexington Avenue. From what I understand, there aren't a lot of apartments available in Lenox Hill, as it isn't the kind of neighborhood where people let their apartments go. If you have one, believe me, you keep it!

Old-world money meets over-the-top shopping with European architecture as a backdrop in Lenox Hill, making it the perfect setting for the opulent life of “Gossip Girl” characters. Central Park’s green oasis is decorated with regal statues and accoutrements. Regal residences with marble floors, rich awnings and wrought-iron or golden doors opened and closed by doormen are lined with trees. Perfection runs rampant here. The sidewalks are filled with designer-bedecked teenagers and nannies pushing strollers. Along avenues like Madison, some of fashion’s greatest designers have set up shop for Ladies Who Lunch to spend what they will on the next big looks, while Lexington Avenue offers a better mix of high-end and affordable – well, affordable, relatively speaking. Lexington is your best bet commercially speaking, and where you’re most likely to find a diner, deli or bistros that don’t limit you to set courses. If it is the finer dining you’re seeking, try the neighborhood’s own Café Boulud, Caravaggio or, of course, the Carlyle Restaurant in the Carlyle Hotel – a beautiful institution that also features a rare book store, Café Carlyle and Bemelman’s Bar. Bars like Lexington Bar and Books maintain the aristocratic mood by offering an after-dinner cigar oasis. In short, Lenox Hill is one of the most upper-crust areas of the Upper East Side, but it doesn’t sacrifice its personality in the process.

Lenox Hill is a case of paying a whole lot for a so-so neighborhood. Yes, the residences are amazing, this I know first hand. They are also extremely expensive, this is know as well. Some of them have really fantastic views of Central Park and the rest of the city. I’m not so practical that I think that sort of thing isn’t worth paying for. But, if we’re really talking amazing views, consider someplace remarkably cheaper, like Long Island City in Queens, that has great views of Manhattan from the mid-80’s all the way to the southern tip of the island. All I’m saying is that there are better views for much less money.

So what makes Lenox Hill so great? There’s the fact that the interiors are amazing, there are good views, etc etc. But what really makes Lenox Hill desirable is that it’s Lenox Hill. The neighborhood is swarming with tourists, which is unpleasant. This portion of Central Park is always busy and the shops are always crowded. Besides the little dip the orange line down the road a bit, many commuters would have to rely on the swamped green line, which is several avenues away. And those avenues are long walks indeed when it’s freezing cold. But I suppose if you live here you could afford a cab. Or, wonder of wonders, you might own a car. Then, of course, you would have to deal with the constant traffic inching down Fifth Avenue.

So it is a fine neighborhood. It’s just not extraordinary enough to justify spending such an amount of money unless you’re really going for the prestige factor.

The one thing about Lenox Hill that it is famous for is the hospital. Lenox Hill Hospital has a 153 year history with a 652-bed hospital. Lenox Hospital is one of the best in NYC. Lenox Hill Hospital just joined forces with North Shore-LIJ Health System, which now provides a much larger hospital in NYC.

Besides the hospital, Lexnox Hill is also known for its landscape. The area was originally named for the farm of Robert Lenox, who happened to own property, that now makes up 68th to 74th streets, between Fifth and Park Avenues.

Besides having a famous hospital, it also has two popularly attended parks nearby. These parks are John Jay Park and St. Catherine's Park.

The parks are a great reason to stop by and take a look. If you go to the parks, you will find the area to be semi-quiet. But the closer you go to the hospital the nosier it gets.

It doesn't get more Woody Allen than this - posh is exactly the right word, but in an Upper East Side sort of way. The area is flourishing with condos and co-ops and other forms of luxury buildings; it is a permanent home to the city's upper crust...and that's about it. Tourists will find a lovely temporary stay here, and there are many things that draw them to the neighborhood besides its loveliness - like the Frick, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Asia Society. Anyone looking for the New York City that they've seen in movies about rich people will find it in this neighborhood - definitely a classic NYC hood.

Lenox Hill is the part of the Upper East Side which is closest to Midtown. As such, it has the grand, ornate presence of the rest of Midtown, and the stratospheric exclusivity that are so typical of the Upper East Side. Since both the Whitney Museum and the Frick collection are in this small patch of the Upper East Side, I have frequented the area and become accustomed to its many upscale delis for a quick bite to eat in between museum visits. The Frick collection is easy to love for its sumptuous rooms, fountains, and world class collection of art, and the Whitney Museum, host to the important biennial of contemporary American art, is a place I often attend, if only to complain about the most recent biennial selections, which seems to be a popular pastime in the art world. I also truly love Ursus Rare Books, located inside the Carlyle Hotel. It has an incredible selection of rare books and first editions. It is one of those wonderful and stylish experiences typical of this area as a whole, to visit Ursus, browse through rare copies of Joyce and Beckett, or just ogle page after page of the art books, and then head downstairs for a relaxed drink at Bemelman's Bar to top it all off.

Lenox Hill is the southern most part of the Upper East Side and it's where most of the UES reputation comes from. Lenox Hill is home to the shopping that we all know of New York City -- the very high end Madison and Park Ave, uber - old money wealthy, type of shopping and restaurants.
In my opinion, this neighborhood is horribly pretentious. And, it's not really a neighborhood like the way that Carnegie Hill is. It's too grand and intense to have a homey feel. It's an amazing place to walk around as a visitor because you feel like you're in all of the movies you grew up watching. The buildings are so ornate and glamorous and the place just reeks of money. But, the people in this neighborhood are as judgy and rude as you would expect. The housewives all have nannys carrying everything out of the dooman buildings so that they can lunch at Cipriani before they head over to Barney's. It doesn't just seem that way -- it actually is that way.
There are great things to see-- lunch in the Waldorf before heading to the Frick Museum (my favorite) and then window shopping as you walk down Madison Ave before you stop at Serendipity to have a dessert that is worth every bit of the hype (seriously). It's like living in a dream. But, if I lived here in real life, next to those people, I'd kill myself.

The Lenox Hill neighborhood extends from 60th street north to 77th Street and lies within the larger neighborhood of the Upper East Side in Manhattan. This neighborhood is one of the city’s most coveted and affluent neighborhoods, which is home to some of the wealthiest residents of the city. The eastern and western boundaries of this neighborhood are defined as Fifth Avenue and Lexington Avenue. The real estate mix in this area consists of apartment buildings which include both luxurious condos and pre-war co-ops as well as expensive townhouses and mansions.
Lenox Hill is named after a Scottish immigrant Robert Lenox who farmed 30 acres of the area in the early part of the 19th century. Today this neighborhood reeks of sophistication and elegance as it is populated by many chic restaurants and shops( Barneys, Fred Leighton, Prada, Dolce &Gabbana, Ralph Lauren) especially along Lexington and Madison Avenues. The neighborhoods also hosts several prominent cultural institutions within its boundaries like the Asia Society( 70th and 71st Street and Park Avenue), The Frick Collection( 70th Street and Fifth Avenue), The China Institute( 65th street between Park and Lexington Avenue) The Park Avenue Armory(66th Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue)
and The Whitney Museum of American Art( 75th Street and Madison Avenue). Also located within the boundaries of this neighborhood is the Lenox Hill Hospital which was the former German Hospital that was renamed due to anti-German sentiment during World War I. The Lenox Hill neighborhood is well connected by public transport as it served by the number 4,5,6 , N,R,W trains which call at the 59th street and Lexington Avenue station though the number 6 train also makes stops at the 68th Street and 77th Street subway stations . Lenox Hill is also served by a plethora of public buses like the M101, M102, M103, M1, M2, M3, M4 as well as the M66 and M72 cross town buses.