![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/upper-east-side-skyline.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Free Upper East Side News, Delivered To Your Inbox<\/a><\/p>\n The New York Times just gave the Upper East Side some love\u2014and it\u2019s about time.<\/p>\n In a column titled \u201cPsst, Mayor Mamdani: The Upper East Side Is More Fun Than People Think<\/a>,\u201d writer Dodai Stewart makes the case that our neighborhood is far more than the stuffy, old-money enclave of popular imagination. With the city\u2019s new mayor settling into Gracie Mansion<\/a>, Stewart assembled a guide to local spots that deserve his attention\u2014and in doing so, delivered some well-earned recognition to businesses and institutions that Upper East Siders have known about all along.<\/p>\n The piece opens with an acknowledgment of the neighborhood\u2019s reputation\u2014the Gilded Age mansions, the marble-lobbied co-ops, the shorthand for \u201cwealthy, refined, exclusive and possibly snobbish\u201d\u2014before pivoting to what longtime residents already know: the Upper East Side is complex, and layered.<\/p>\n Among the highlights: the rooftop soccer pitch at Loyola School<\/a> on East 83rd Street, which Jessica Caunedo of NYC Footy<\/a> describes as a hidden gem you can\u2019t see unless you know it\u2019s there. The piece also makes a pitch (pun intended) for the mayor to add lights to local fields so residents can play after work\u2014or perhaps convert the Gracie Mansion lawn into a five-a-side pitch.<\/p>\n The Times also calls out the neighborhood\u2019s art scene beyond Museum Mile, pointing readers toward L\u00e9vy Gorvy Dayan\u2019s<\/a> Beaux-Arts townhouse on East 64th Street and Salon 94\u2019s<\/a> neo-Renaissance mansion on East 89th.<\/p>\n Stewart\u2019s dining recommendations read like a love letter to the neighborhood\u2019s international food scene: A la Turka<\/a> on East 74th for lamb adana, Al Badawi<\/a> on East 89th for Palestinian cuisine, Zabb PuTawn<\/a> on First Avenue for Northeastern Thai dishes from a Michelin-starred chef, and Bombay Chowk<\/a> for an eclectic menu shaped by the chef\u2019s journey from Punjab to the Philippines.<\/p>\n For date night, there\u2019s Hoexters<\/a> on East 82nd, where owner Alexandra Shapiro\u2014a born-and-bred Upper East Sider\u2014recently moved back to the neighborhood. And for late-night revelry, the Times points to Ethyl\u2019s<\/a>, the 1970s-inspired bar on Second Avenue, and the UES<\/a> speakeasy hidden behind an ice cream shop on East 89th.<\/p>\n ALSO READ: Here\u2019s When the Upper East Side Became Cool<\/a><\/p>\n Perhaps the most heartwarming mention goes to Punjabi Junction<\/a> on First Avenue near East 87th Street. The Times highlights Harpreet Sohal\u2019s dedication to her customers\u2014including her 400-member WhatsApp group where she asks what childhood dishes people are craving\u2014and notes that her biryani sells out before noon on Sundays.<\/p>\n Sohal told the Times she\u2019s thrilled about Mayor Mamdani\u2019s move to Gracie Mansion and wants to welcome him personally, adding: \u201cI want to tell him that a piece of him also lives around him.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s 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\u2019s more to the neighborhood than what they see on \u201cGossip Girl<\/a>\u201d reruns.<\/p>\n