Living In: Yorkville -River Views, and Soon a Subway

The Yorkville neighborhood on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, snarled until recently by Second Avenue subway construction, is on the rebound.

One of Manhattan’s more inconspicuous neighborhoods despite its size — it sprawls between 79th and 96th Streets from Third Avenue to the East River — Yorkville has myriad types of housing, including high-rise rental complexes, co-op towers, new condominiums, townhouses and apartments in former tenements.

Its roughly 78,000 residents are a hugely diverse group. These days the area is drawing large numbers of young people, including young families, as well as retirees seeking more value for their dollar, according to real estate agents in the area.

“Prices are really on the ascent,” said Rena Goldstein, an associate broker with Halstead Properties who lives in Yorkville. “But the prices of apartments in Yorkville are still more competitive and more reasonable than other parts of Manhattan, and there are more listings to choose from.”

The average sales price in Yorkville, at $891,503 in 2013, was at its highest since 2005, according to data from the appraiser Miller Samuel. However, its average price of $846 a square foot was still well below the average of $1,176 for the entire Upper East Side.

Yorkville’s prices have risen despite the housing market collapse in 2008 and two prominent issues in the neighborhood: a planned garbage transfer station on the East River at East 91st Street, and several years of Second Avenue subway construction that drove away businesses and home buyers until recently, Ms. Goldstein said.

“It was poison,” she said of subway construction. “People would come to see a building, and it would shake because of the demolition, and they would just turn around and walk out.” Now, “the blasting has finished, and the most disruptive construction is done, so buyers are back.”

One reason Yorkville’s home prices may still be eclipsed by those on the rest of the Upper East Side is its distance from the subway, a 10- to 15-minute walk from parts of the neighborhood. That will change to some extent with the opening of the Second Avenue subway line from 96th Street to 63rd Street, which is scheduled for the end of next year.

Jill Weston, a 27-year-old Ohio native who bought her one-bedroom co-op for $400,000 in October upon returning from a stint in the United States Navy and landing a Midtown job as a financial consultant, knew nothing about Yorkville before moving there.

“But I absolutely love it,” Ms. Weston said. “You’re out of the bustling area of Midtown, where I spent my first few months, and it’s much more inviting and neighborly.”

Another buyer, David Baum, a retired graphic designer who has lived on the Upper East Side for about 40 years, upgraded his living situation last year by buying a one-bedroom apartment for $865,000 at 1 Gracie Terrace at East End Avenue. Mr. Baum, 74, said he searched for three years, seeking a price tag of less than $1 million and reasonable maintenance. He wound up just blocks away from his former home. “I could not be happier than where I am,” he said.

What You’ll Find

Yorkville, like some other East Side neighborhoods, has become the province of college students and postgraduate renters, with the often rambunctious bars and restaurants that cater to them. Nevertheless, life there is relatively quiet and family-oriented compared with other Manhattan neighborhoods, residents said.

McKenzie Young, 26, a research analyst who shares the $2,500 monthly rent on a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate, said she loves the neighborhood, with its clean, tree-lined streets and safe feel, but she has trouble enticing friends to visit from other parts of the city, such as Brooklyn.

“People automatically assume there’s not much to do up here,” Ms. Young said. But the area is slowly evolving, she said. For example, several gastro pubs have opened in recent years, like the Penrose on Second Avenue.

A city plan to reactivate a garbage transfer station on the East River at 91st Street has created an outcry in recent years. Despite some continued opposition, the transfer station is under construction and moving forward, with community members and the city working to mitigate health and safety concerns. Projected completion is in late 2016 or early 2017.

“At the height of the furor, with everybody talking about it, it was an issue” putting a damper on real estate sales in the immediate area, Ms. Goldstein of Halstead said. “But it’s quieted down, and it’s not as much of one now.”

What You’ll Pay

Co-ops are more prevalent than condos, with studios generally ranging from $350,000 to $500,000; one-bedrooms from $600,000 to $1 million; two-bedrooms from $1.2 to $1.9 million; three-bedrooms from $2 million to $5 million; and apartments with four or more bedrooms, typically made by combining apartments, priced at over $5 million, said Andrea D’Amico, an associate broker with the Corcoran Group who has lived in Yorkville for 15 years.

The average price for condos is “generally 20 to 50 percent higher, depending on building age, amenities and unit condition,” Ms. D’Amico said. “New construction is even more expensive.”

The average price of co-op apartments in Yorkville increased by 15 percent from 2012 to 2014, and condos increased by 8.5 percent over the same period, according to data from the Corcoran Group.

Townhouses, many of them brownstones, are typically priced around $6 million or $7 million, though they can go much higher, said Phyllis J. Gallaway, an associate broker with Sotheby’s International Realty.

What to Do

Yorkville’s centerpiece may be Carl Schurz Park, about 15 acres with a riverfront promenade and Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence. The park has two dog runs, playgrounds, basketball courts and roller hockey. Asphalt Green, a recreation center with an Olympic-size pool, is nearby. To the south, the 3.3-acre John Jay Park has an outdoor pool.

There is a Fairway Market on 86th Street, and a Whole Foods Market is set to open on Third Avenue at 87th Street later this month.

The Schools

One attraction for families moving to Yorkville is the quality of its public schools, Ms. D’Amico said, among them Public School 290 Manhattan New School, P.S. 77 the Lower Lab School, and P.S. 158 the Bayard Taylor School. Another elementary school, the Yorkville Community School (P.S. 151), which opened in 2009 and has about 480 students, has also caught the attention of families, Ms. Gallaway said. In the most recent state tests, 43 percent of students met standards in English, compared with 30 percent citywide, and 54 percent met standards in math, compared with 39 percent, according to the Elementary School Quality Snapshot. Private schools include the Chapin School and the Brearley School.

The Commute

The first phase of the Second Avenue subway, from 96th Street to 63rd Street, will add stops for the Q line at 86th and 96th Streets in Yorkville. While the timeline for the complete subway from 125th Street to the tip of Manhattan is uncertain, Yorkville residents said they anticipate that the limited opening will relieve congestion on the 4, 5 and 6 trains, which are a 10- to 15-minute walk from parts of Yorkville.

Buses remain popular, with the M79, M86 and M96 running crosstown and the M15 running up First Avenue and down Second. The M31 runs on York Avenue, and numerous buses run along Third Avenue.

The History

For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, Yorkville had Czech, Slovak, Irish, Polish, German, Hungarian and Lebanese immigrants. There are few remnants of this history today, though the German influence is still seen on Second Avenue in the Heidelberg Restaurant, along with Schaller & Weber, a maker and purveyor of German-style meats and charcuterie.

Copyright © 2015 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission. Edwin Torres/The New York Times. 

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