East 64 St, Upper East Side

While many of the Upper East Side's streets become increasingly less pleasant as you head towards the East River, the East 60's are a notable exception. While the area noticeably changes - as is the case throughout the East Side - it nevertheless remains charming. While East 64th Street between Fifth and Lexington is perhaps one of the "poshest" districts in New York City, with white-glove doorman buildings (co-ops so exclusive that even New York's finest often find themselves rejected), head furthest East for an area that - while it lacks real "neighborhood" definition, is nevertheless a perfectly pleasant middle-class family area. Notable places to go in this area include Alice's Tea Cup, a tea house with a large selection of flavors in a whimsical Lewis-Caroll atmosphere (there's a few in the city), trendier Jojo and Accademia dell'Vino, and Primola. Indeed, this street is notable for the sheer number of restaurants located along it - a rarity for New York's side-streets. It's also home to the Rockefeller University campus.

If you walk down E 64th St. to 188 E. 64th St, you will find a very impressive, 40-story, 205-unit condominium tower standing tall against the backdrop of Third Avenue and 64th St.

The building kind of reminds anyone who looks at it as an asparagus as the top half is more elaborate than the lower half and the crown almost comes to a point.

The building was developed by Ian Bruce Eichner, Robert Michaelson, and Martin Gang. If you look at it from a short distance away, you can see how this tall building can be very dramatic and sporty.

The further uptown you go on the east side, the more homier everything seems. That is, signs of trendiness begin to disappear and the neighborhood takes on a diner-and-department store type of vision. On this street, this transition isn’t complete, but you can find just as many laid-back restaurants as expensive trendy ones. If you’re in the mood for some laid-back teatime, check out Alice’s Tea Cup Chapter 2.

I love a store I found on this street, which was very sexy, called Noel Vanessa. It housed some very chic women’s fashion. I’m not a huge fan of owning what everyone else owns, so this store provided me with the originality that I love. A cool Restaurant to try would be Jojo’s restaurant for some interesting twists on good American cuisine.