72nd and York - what's it like to live there?

I live in the area and looked at apartments in the Black and White houses. Ultimately decided against it because I wanted more of a quiet residential feeling. The Hospital for Special Surgery, MSKCC, NY Presbyterian Hospital/Cornell Weill, Rockerfeller U, Sothebys, etc. are all in that area so it has a busy, bustling feel. 15 minute walk to the 6 train. M72 and M31 buses close which can take you crosstown or to Midtown. Not sure about proximity to grocery stores either, probably over on 1st Ave...there's a Duane Reade on York nearby but otherwise not a lot of retail/commercial space immediately on York or far E 72nd.

Live in the area a bit north and agree with previous comment. Heavily congested during the day from the hospital, taxis, ambulances and deliveries that flow into side side streets. Fairway and whole foods 15 blocks away or so but there are some local supermarkets closer. M72 quite slow for cross town. M31 that takes to 57th convenient but also slow due to traffic. Have lived in the area for many years and it does feel rather isolated from the rest of the city.

72nd is a main street with a fair bit of traffic so it is relatively safe. I used to volunteer at a church on 74th and York which has a soup kitchen on Wednesday evenings. When I would leave the church around 8:00 p.m., there was plenty of activity on the street and the M31 bus runs both ways along York.
There are several modern apartment buildings on East 72nd past York, but my feeling is that once you pass York going towards the dead end of East 72nd Street there is much less traffic. A negative is the lack of restaurants in that area beyond the basics although there are a few nicer ones on 1st Avenue in the 70's.
It's a walk to the subway on Lexington and 68th or 77th if that is a concern for you.
Probably the closet gourmet supermarket is Agata and Valentina on 79th and 1st.

I live in Chelsea and recently visited somebody at Hospital for Special Surgery. It took me two subways and one bus, but the entire trip took 30 minutes, not a second more. Granted it was rush hour, and the trains & buses were running frequently. But I was amazed at how quickly I made the round trip. And at least during rush hour, the entire area was *very* busy.

I would stay away, lived there and it was bedpan alley. The traffic east of York on 72nd by the cul de sac can be horrendous between the cabs and ambulettes waiting for patients, and then you have the garage for Sotheby's that can be quite busy and block the road as well as the sidewalk.
You do feel isolated. The closest resaturant is Finestra, and the owner is a beligerrant SOB as well as the food being awful, Copperfield's is now closed. Closest grocery store is Food Emporium on First between 72nd and 71st. Very noisy as well from all the ambulances and honking horns.

Tomnevers,

I lived in the Solow building on 72nd and the East river for 3 years. I liked it very much but it depends on what you are looking for. I disagree with loveislife as I did not think there was a traffic problem at all and I didn't hear any noise at all. I do agree with Loveislife as the restaurants in the area leave a lot to be desired. If you dont mind walking 10 blocks either way you can find many places to eat.

I've never liked York. Ugly post-war buildings and isolation pretty much sums it up. 72 is a busy street, but 72 and York is much less busy than 72 and 3rd...York doesn't have much to offer, IMO. If your dream is to live on top of a Duane Reade, then move to York.

Mighty disparaging things to say about such a lovely address.
Ugly? York is "more" ugly than the rest of the upper east side? That's like trying to decide which Lee sister is the ugliest...is it Fug, Mofug, Beast, or Gast? The east side, east of Lex is uniformly ugly.
Congested? What part of this city is not congested. You have to live on a low floor close to the intersection to care anyway. We also have traffic light around here that makes street crossing almost palitable.
Near a Hospital...true, this does suck but you will rarely walk south on York below 70TH. It also makes for the greatest number of food places that will gladly deliver to your home. The hospital has attracted multiple eating choices, some quite excellent.
Action on York...effectivly none but, First Ave. has a large Food Emporium and multiple other good and services that will hardly make you feel like your on the dark side of the moon.

York Ave is the ugly girl from a good family. You don't win bragging rights but you live comfortably together forever.

I greatly dislike York ave on the upper east side. If I may exagerate, it's like living in Port Washington on the island, takes forever to get to a central location(or the LIE) for any direction.

Maybe if your place has a stellar river view, I could see possibly "dealing" with the other issues.

Thanks for the comments. We have seen some interesting places in this area, much larger floorplans than obviously anything we are looking at downtown. Schools look good and i can take the m31 to work in midtown.

Actually we have seen places in the black and whites mentioned above. The second one has a better layout but is a 5 floor walkup.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/749981-coop-531-east-72nd-street-upper-east-side-new-york
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/622211-coop-527-east-72nd-street-upper-east-side-new-york

These landmark co-ops are absolutely beautiful if you're able to do a walk up.

5BCD?
What are you Lance Armstrong?
Got the best doping of enhancement drugs in Manhattan?
Your gonna need to leave a ball on the first floor just to make it home.
Maybe the Postal Service will sponsor you.

lol, falcoro.

72nd and York is PS183 on 66th which has very good scores but lower than the three in the uptown direction (PS6 PS290 PS158). 1 more block north at 73rd is the dividing line to PS158 (York/77th) which has the highest scores in the city (I think) and challenges the notion that the two best schools in the UES are PS6 and PS290 (further west in the 80s).

M31 crawls once it reaches 57th. I would imagine hard to survive daily if standing.

The North side of 73rd is zoned for PS 158, the south side is PS 183. I would tour schools and talk to families with children attending each rather than simply looking at test scores, small difference and really doesn't give you the whole picture. I live in the area and speak from experience.

Lovely apartments and I really like the use of the terms "sitting room" and "seating area" on the respective floorplans. Next time I'm on the area, I'll have to go see which building this is.

All the crosstown buses on 57th Street are slow, but crosstown buses are typically slow. Sometimes it is faster to get off the bus and walk a few avenues.

FYI, Jin Soon is a nice shop for a manicure/pedicure on East 73rd between 1st and York.

long walk to the subway. Very isolated. Hated it and moved to Murray Hill