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The New York Times just gave the Upper East Side some love—and it’s about time.
In a column titled “Psst, Mayor Mamdani: The Upper East Side Is More Fun Than People Think,” writer Dodai Stewart makes the case that our neighborhood is far more than the stuffy, old-money enclave of popular imagination. With the city’s new mayor settling into Gracie Mansion, Stewart assembled a guide to local spots that deserve his attention—and in doing so, delivered some well-earned recognition to businesses and institutions that Upper East Siders have known about all along.
The piece opens with an acknowledgment of the neighborhood’s reputation—the Gilded Age mansions, the marble-lobbied co-ops, the shorthand for “wealthy, refined, exclusive and possibly snobbish”—before pivoting to what longtime residents already know: the Upper East Side is complex, and layered.
Among the highlights: the rooftop soccer pitch at Loyola School on East 83rd Street, which Jessica Caunedo of NYC Footy describes as a hidden gem you can’t see unless you know it’s there. The piece also makes a pitch (pun intended) for the mayor to add lights to local fields so residents can play after work—or perhaps convert the Gracie Mansion lawn into a five-a-side pitch.
The Times also calls out the neighborhood’s art scene beyond Museum Mile, pointing readers toward Lévy Gorvy Dayan’s Beaux-Arts townhouse on East 64th Street and Salon 94’s neo-Renaissance mansion on East 89th.
Stewart’s dining recommendations read like a love letter to the neighborhood’s international food scene: A la Turka on East 74th for lamb adana, Al Badawi on East 89th for Palestinian cuisine, Zabb PuTawn on First Avenue for Northeastern Thai dishes from a Michelin-starred chef, and Bombay Chowk for an eclectic menu shaped by the chef’s journey from Punjab to the Philippines.
For date night, there’s Hoexters on East 82nd, where owner Alexandra Shapiro—a born-and-bred Upper East Sider—recently moved back to the neighborhood. And for late-night revelry, the Times points to Ethyl’s, the 1970s-inspired bar on Second Avenue, and the UES speakeasy hidden behind an ice cream shop on East 89th.
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Perhaps the most heartwarming mention goes to Punjabi Junction on First Avenue near East 87th Street. The Times highlights Harpreet Sohal’s dedication to her customers—including her 400-member WhatsApp group where she asks what childhood dishes people are craving—and notes that her biryani sells out before noon on Sundays.
Sohal told the Times she’s thrilled about Mayor Mamdani’s move to Gracie Mansion and wants to welcome him personally, adding: “I want to tell him that a piece of him also lives around him.”
It’s not every day the New York Times publishes what amounts to a highlight reel of Upper East Side businesses and cultural institutions. The piece serves as both a welcome guide for the mayor and a reminder to the rest of the city that there’s more to the neighborhood than what they see on “Gossip Girl” reruns.
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