I GUESS SUTTON PLACE, AFTER FIFTH AVENUE, IS THE MOST DISTINCTIVE AND EXPENSIVE ADDRESS IN MANHATTAN...
THE RICH HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THIS ESCARPMENT OVERLOOKING THE EAST RIVER AND THEN LATER ALSO WITH VIEWS OF THE 59TH STREET BRIDGE ( AS SEEN FROM LITTLE SUTTON PARK BELOW)
THE "REAL" SUTTON PLACE IS THE NORTHERN PART, BUT SUTTON PLACE SOUTH IS NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT..
THE ARCHITECTURAL DETAILING OF THE HOUSES ON SUTTON PLACE AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT OBVIOUSLY REFLECTS THE TASTES OF THE RICH..
NOW, FOR SOME HISTORY....
At its south end, York Avenue becomes Sutton Place, a wide avenue that runs only two blocks, from to , along the and south of the . The stretch that continues below 57th Street down to is called SUTTON PLACE SOUTH, which ends at 53rd Street. Both Sutton Place and York Avenue are considered one of the most affluent streets in the city.
Other streets that lie east of First Avenue include between 49th and 51st Streets, and Asser Levy Place (itself a former part of Avenue A before being severed by the construction of in the 1940s) between and 25th Street. Between 1st Street and , , consisting of through , lies east of First Avenue.
From 79th to 90th streets, lies east of York Avenue. runs along the shore, east of both York and East End Avenues.
The greater Sutton Place neighborhood is situated between the neighborhoods of on the south and the on the north, is bounded on the east by the East River, on the west by , and runs from 53rd Street to 59th Street. SUTTON SQUARE is the cul-de-sac at the end of , just east of Sutton Place; and RIVERVIEW TERRACE is a row of townhouses on a short private driveway that runs north from Sutton Square.
HISTORY
Sutton Place was originally one of several disconnected stretches of , where space allowed, east of . Effingham B. Sutton constructed a group of brownstones in 1875 between 57th and 58th Streets, and is said to have lent the street his name, though the earliest source found by dates back only to 1883. At that time, the New York City Board of Aldermen approved a petition to change the name from "Avenue A" to "Sutton Place", covering the blocks between 57th and 60th Streets. The vacant block between 59th and 60th Streets is now considered a part of York Avenue.
Sutton Place first became fashionable around 1920, when several wealthy socialites, including Anne Harriman Vanderbilt and , built townhouses on the eastern side of the street, overlooking the East River. Both townhouses were designed by , launching a career that included many houses for the wealthy.) Very shortly thereafter, developers started to build grand co-operative apartment houses on Sutton Place and Sutton Place South, including several designed by . Development came to an abrupt halt with the , and the luxury apartment buildings on the lower part of Sutton Place South (below 57th Street) and the northernmost part of Sutton Place (adjacent to the Queensboro Bridge) were not developed until the 1940s and 1950s.
Prominent residents of Sutton Place include architect , former New York Governor , his son-in-law designer , and actress . Former residents include Balsan, , & , , , , , , , , , , , , , and her then husband , , and to name a few.
One Sutton Place (North), an imposing townhouse at the northeast corner of Sutton Place and East 57th Street, was built as a residence for Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, widow of . This house is currently owned by an heiress to the fortune. Next door, the official residence of the of the is a five-story townhouse that was built in 1921 for , daughter of financier , and donated as a gift to the United Nations in 1972.
Sutton Place Park, with the in the background
PARK CONTROVERSY
Sutton Place encompasses two public parks overlooking the East River, one at the end of and another at the end of . The 57th Street park is separated by an iron fence from the landscaped grounds behind , a neo- apartment building designed by . The property behind One Sutton Place South was the subject of a dispute between the building's owners and the . Like the adjacent park, the rear garden at One Sutton Place South is, in fact, cantilevered over the FDR Drive, a busy expressway at Manhattan's eastern edge that is not visible from most of Sutton Place.
In 1939, city authorities took ownership of the property behind One Sutton Place South by condemnation in connection with the construction of the FDR Drive, then leased it back to the building. The building's lease for its backyard expired in 1990, The co-op tried unsuccessfully to extend the lease, and later made prospective apartment-buyers review the legal status of the backyard and sign a confidentiality agreement. In June 2007, the co-op sued the city in an attempt the keep the land, and on November 1, 2011, the co-op and the city reached an agreement in which the co-op ended its ownership claim and each side would contribute $1 million toward the creation of a public park on the land.
"Avenue A Estate" of New York & Suburban Homes Company, named before the Avenue was renamedYork Avenue from high atop
IN POPULAR CULTURE
* Sutton Place at East 53rd Street is the famous of the 1935 play and 1937 movie of that name, which also began the movie careers of the .
* Sutton Place is mentioned in 's novel (1951) as the location of a "swanky" apartment.
* Sutton Place is featured in the 1953 film and the 1960 film .
* In a 1970 article in , mentions "the famous Mrs. C--------, one of New York's richest widows, who has a 10-room duplex on Sutton Place, the good part of Sutton Place as opposed to the -looking part". The article was later reprinted in the book .
* Sutton Place is featured in 's 1973 film .
* Sutton Place South's wealthy residents are referenced in 's 1976 film .
* Sutton Place's park appears in 's 1979 film .
* had a scene in which () was on the telephone in the now-defunct 60th Street Heliport, now used as a dog run.
* In the 1986 film , the villain, Victor Taft (), resided on Sutton Place.
* In 's 1987 film , an excited broker () offers to show Bud Fox () some apartments on Sutton Place once she realizes how wealthy he is.
* In the 2000 film , Patrick Fugit's character is seen sprinting down Sutton Place.
* 50 Sutton Place South was one of the buildings used to film the 2007 movie .
* Sutton Place is mentioned in season 3, episode 2 of the TV series . Set in 1963, it's where the new British CFO finds a flat when he arrives in New York to run the advertising agency.
* The home of main character in 2008 novel . Ms. Clark owns an apartment in the neighborhood, and her characters (in several books) occasionally dine at Neary's, a (real) Irish bar & restaurant located on East 57th Street between 1st Ave & 2nd Ave.
* 1 Sutton Place North is the home of Alison Courtland () and her husband Richard () in 's 1948 film noir "".
* In 's short story "", main characters Jim and Irene Wescott live in an apartment near Sutton Place.
* 36 Sutton Place South was an exterior location for the 1953 film starring .
SEE ALSO
* , a crash just off of York Avenue/Sutton Place
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