Well if it took somewhere around 100 years to get the 2nd avenue subway line built, then maybe it’s not so bad that the playground on West 60th street opened yesterday after a defunct pool closed about 2 decades ago.
The park with entrances on West 60th street and West 59th street between West end avenue and Amsterdam, was funded by real estate developers as well as about 15% by the City.
A quick search on listings site streeteasy.com shows 417 apartments under $1 million on Manhattan’s upper west side with 64 of those being condos. Under the $600k threshold, there are 124 co-ops and 7 condos. The upper west side has a mix of housing with walk up apartments, as well as doorman and non-doorman buildings. They run the gamut from a tiny $275k studio to penthouses in amenity rich buildings on Riverside boulevard with river views and outdoor space.
There are pockets of affordability in the far west 90’s and 100’s as well. With the B,C subway line serving Central Park west and the 1,2,3 running along Broadway, the work commute is not as much a hassle as the Upper east side which is overcrowded in the mornings.
There are plenty of restaurants of every imaginable type in the neighborhood as well as a cluster of bars on Amsterdam avenue in the low 80’s. You also have neighborhood live music venues like Smoke and also Cleopatra’s Needle. On the upper west side, you have plenty of super markets including two outposts of Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Zabaar’s, Fairway and the West side market. In addition, you can choose a park between Central Park and Riverside Park depending on location.
Affordability, convenience, and plenty of space make the upper west side a wise choice for your first Manhattan pad. Of course that is only my opinion and probably why I have lived on the UWS for 13 years. What do you think? Where do you want to buy your first Manhattan apartment?
A 2 bedroom/2 bathroom, south facing apartment, was just sold in the 400 Central Park west condominium. The property was in the market and sold right away for the full asking price of $1.75 million. The 400 Central Park west condo is located at the corner of West 100th street and features a 24 hour concierge, on site super as well as management, in addition to a bike room,storage, childrens’ playroom, laundry and private gardens. Parking is available on a wait list and at this point takes about 1.5 years but costs just north of $200.
The apartment itself featured a living room/dining room, galley kitchen and south facing balcony with beautiful views of Central Park. The market below $2 million continues to move well and apartments in this building as well as the Park west Village complex continue to sell.
Apartment 11k, a 1 bedroom condo with a south facing 18′ terrace has now entered contract. The building is the 400 Central park west condo which is at the corner of Central Park west and West 100th street on Manhattan’s upper west side. Amenities including storage, parking, 24 hour concierge, gym, childrens’ playroom, laundry, live-in-super, private garden and coming soon renovated interior hallways and a combined heat and power aka cogen system.
Recently in the Real Deal, Jonathan Miller of Miller-Samuel Inc., commented that apartments in the 1 million to $1.5 million have a inventory of about 8 months for condos and 4 months for co-ops. The lower end of the market continues to move well….
The New Jewish home is developing a nursing home at west 97th street and Columbus avenue right next door to PS 163. A previous court ruling stated that environmental and air quality issues were not taken into account in the proposal. According to the Chief executive, a decision is expected in the next several weeks following a May court hearing.
Well, it guess it depends on who you are speaking with but let’s take a look at what you get when you purchase an apartment on the upper west side.
You got to have Park
Anywhere on the Upper west side, you are sandwiched between Central Park and Riverside Park. Chances are you are near to one or the other. In both parks, you can ride your bike, play tennis, go for a picnic, dance, and watch outdoor movies. In Riverside Park, you can see the sunset while sitting at Pier I cafe having a burger and beer. In Central Park, you go swimming in the summer and ice skating in the winter in the same place! So if greenery and a park are important to you, you will love a pad on the UWS.
Great Schools
The Upper west side of Manhattan has some of the best public schools including PS 87 and PS 199. PS 87 had a profile in the New York Times a few years back because they were able to raise over $1 million through the PTA and provide the principal with much needed equipment. There are several other public schools also within District 3 and the upper west that are coveted as well. If you are looking for a private school, you have many excellent choices including-Trinity, Columbia Prep, Collegiate and the Dwight School.
Transportation
There are many options in the neighborhood including the B and C train on Central Park west and the 1,2,3 trains on Broadway. So if you work in midtown or downtown your commute will be reasonable. Plenty of crosstown buses that transverse Central Park west are available to help you go West-East as needed. Now thanks to Citi Bike’s expansion, you can find stations everywhere up to 110th street.
Housing Options
You can find everything from prewar to postwar to brand new on the Upper west side and plenty of townhouses if you want more space. Typically, you can find a 1 bedroom co-op starting in 600’s and condos start in the high 700’s for JR1 (studio converted to a 1 bedroom) Family sized apartments of at least 1000 sqft (93m2) will start at around $1.3 million for a co-op and slightly higher for a condo. If you want to find something on Central Park west, in the high 90’s to low 100’s there are some excellent values and not all are co-ops. Included among the best values are the buildings of Park West Village at 372,382,392, and 400 central park west where a 2 bedroom/2bath of 1141 sqft (106m2) will start at just under $1.8 million.
If you are searching for new, you can find a new construction condo of about 2000 sqft(186m2) for as low as $4 million and for a little more, a great view of the Hudson River. Townhouses start at just under 4 million and go up depending on the condition.
Restaurants and night life
While the upper west side is not known for the nightlife of downtown or Brooklyn, it has it’s fair share of bars especially in the low 80’s on Amsterdam avenue including Brother Jimmy’s and Dead Poet’s Society. For foodies, the only problem may be too many options including vegetarian and vegan options :Ayurveda Cafe, Peace Food Cafe as well Hampton Chutney. For the more carnivorous, you have Stella’s, Gabriella’s as well as many other choices like Carmine’s.
Supermarkets
Whole Foods is present in Columbus Circle as well as Columbus Square (West 97th street) in addition to Trader Joe’s (W 72nd st and coming soon to W 93rd st), Fairway, Zabar’s and the Upper West side market. Plenty of choices for organic fare anywhere on the UWS.
With all of these conveniences, it’s easy to see why many people purchase on Manhattan’s upper west side and many of those purchasers stay for the long haul. Is it Manhattan’s best neighborhood? What’s your opinion?
The Citi Bike stations are now live in the West 90’s. There is a station on West 96th street and Central Park west and also one on West 95th street and Broadway. This makes sense so that instead of waiting for the M96 to take you from CPW to Broadway, you just grab a bike. The one on Central Park west at West 96th street has 52 docks which is a big station.
Today there was an installation of a station on the sidewalk adjacent to the condo complex known as Park West Village. When the sidewalk is wide like the one between 400 CPW and 372 CPW, Citi Bike likes to make sidewalk installations.
Citi Bike’s long awaited upper west side expansion has begun. Yesterday they installed a station at West 87th and Amsterdam and are planning to add 20 new stations going as far up as 110th street. This will include one adjacent to the Park West Village Complex between 400 Central Park west and 372 CPW.
Do you think that having a Citi Bike station near your building adds or detracts from the property values?
Stonehenge Partners faced a complaint with the Human Rights Commission brought by Jean Green Dorsey, a 75 year old upper west side widow. Green Dorsey and other rent stabilized tenants were prevented from using the gym in the building located at 160 W 97th street even after they offered to pay separately. She had pledged to donate the proceeds from her lawsuit after deducting her attorney fees to charity. Stonehenge will have to pay about $40k in fines to the City of New York as well.
According to a recent study of best NYC neighborhoods, the Upper West side is the 33rd best nabe. The UWS as a neighborhood scored high due to schools, transportation and shopping but it’s score was lowered due to affordability of real estate. Interesting that TriBeCa got the number one spot and the Upper East side was 28th!
Seems to remind me of a recent episode of the Jim Gaffigan show on TVLand where there was a list of top 100 NYC comedians and he was not even on it. When he asked the author of the list why, she responded that it was for comedians who live in NYC and since he lives in Ohio he was not part of it. Of course on the show, Mr. Gaffigan lives in a 2 bedroom downtown NYC apartment.
Read the full story and view the list (angry comments optional)
