by Uppereast.com Staff
Located along the bank of the East River, Sutton Place is one of the most sought-after residential addresses not only in NYC, but in the world. There are many New Yorks depending on your perspective, and Sutton Place’s New York is that of seclusion, gentility and wealth-encrusted permanency. Rarely do people move from this chintz-and-mahogany enclave that stretches north of the U.N., from 53rd-59th Streets along Sutton Place, an extension of York Avenue.
Geography lends itself to this community’s seclusion, along with the orientation of its highly elegant mansions and townhouses. Bound to the east by the F.D.R. and the East River and the 59th Street Bridge, to the north, the neighborhood is also enclosed by two public parks, one at 57th St and the other at 53rd St. The buildings on the east side of Sutton Place are strung together by private, communal gardens that back onto the river. Often the best of the architecture is not visible from the street, but faces the river.
Prominent residents include: architect I.M. Pei, Mario Cuomo, Sigourney Weaver. Former residents include: Bill Blass, C.Z. Guest, Bobby Short, Irene Hayes, Elsie de Wolfe, and Marilyn Monroe & Arthur Miller. The official residence of the United Nations Secretary-General is a four-story townhouse at 3 Sutton Place. The townhouse was built for Anne Morgan, daughter of financier J.P. Morgan, in 1921, and donated as a gift to the United Nations in 1972. It is currently going through renovations as its last major update occurred in 1950.
In the late 1870s, shipping magnate Effingham B. Sutton bought a tract of East River bluff, unceremoniously known as Avenue A, rescuing the area from the cigar and button factories and breweries that occupied it. Before becoming a marina for Sutton Place’s wealthy residents, that spot in the river was the site of a Baptist immersing place.
The opening of the 59th St. Bridge exposed the neighborhood to motor cars in the early 20th century. New York’s most prominent social-register families moved in in the 20s, but the construction of the East River Drive (FDR) hemmed in the neighborhood from access to the river. One of the ways around this was to enclose the highway and build private gardens over it, blocking out the noise and smell of the roadway and affording residents private, unobstructed views of the East River. Affluent residents of River House kept their yachts anchored on the East River before the Drive was completed in the early 40's.
All the buildings on Sutton Place are stunning, but One Sutton Place South is its showpiece and one of the city’s classic addresses. The Neo-Georgian mansion designed by classic New York architect Rosario Candela was built in 1927. It has a triple-arch driveway and a large lobby that opens onto a private garden.
River House, home of the Kissingers, is the quintessential Sutton Place address and one of the city’s finest apartment buildings. The art-deco building is full of large apartments and duplexes that give way to gardens, terraces and river views.
Sutton Place is a close rival for the well-known addresses of 5th and Park Avenues, but despite its closed-door reputation, it may be easier to get into than some of the premium buildings closer to Central Park. While the boards are just as selective, the prices are a bit lower, and unlike the buildings on Park and 5th, Sutton Place co-op boards allow financing, if only for tax purposes (except for One Sutton Place South which only accepts cash).
As a result, young families are moving in. Also, new development under the 59th Street bridge has brought in a less-staid crowd.
Its dog-friendly buildings and copious dog runs make it a destination for dog lovers, while convenient access Manhattan’s East Side hospitals make the area popular with doctors.
It’s not accessible to the subway, but has good bus service, and FDR proximity makes it easy to commute in and out of the city.
However the serenity of Sutton Place may be disrupted because the city wants to turn the One Sutton Place South garden into a public park. The building’s lease for the garden expired in 1990, but the idea to turn the land over the FDR Drive into a park surfaced in 2003 when the city had to tear the garden up to make repairs to the expressway below. The city promised to restore the garden after the work was done, but in the bureaucratic process discovered that it may own the land and intends to put it to municipal use. The battle has been raging for four years now, and there’s no end to it yet, but if the city wins, it will forever change the character of Sutton Place.