Upper East Side

Last week, I noticed traffic coming to The Stylish City from a website called “Street Easy”. In case you are not familiar with the site, it serves as a resource for real estate information. It’s also a place for people to virtually congregate in order to discuss the various advantages and disadvantages of living in certain NYC neighborhoods.

One of our articles about the Upper East Side was apparently at the center of a controversial argument regarding whether or not the UES neighborhood lives up to its perceived coolness. There were voices arguing that Brooklyn — and Williamsburg, in particular — was a cooler place to live compared to the Upper East Side. I have no response to those individuals’ opinions, but I am really grateful that some people would rather live in Brooklyn instead of where I live, as it is quite expensive here.

Moving on to today’s choice designer sales. For those of you who love the preppy, colorful style of Lilly Pulitzer, the vibrant feminine collections by Michelle Smith of Milly, and/or the glamorous day wear from See by Chloe, I present you today’s picks. The kicker? Each of the aforementioned designers have locations on the Upper East Side. How cool is that?

Starting at 11AM:

Lilly Pulitzer at RueLaLa.com

Starting at 12PM:

Milly at Gilt.com

See by Chloe at Gilt.com

Almost a year ago, we wrote an article asking ourselves: “Is the Upper East Side finally cool?”

Yes, the UES had scenes from Gossip Girl and several from Sex and the City filmed here. Movie trucks are parked on the street both day and night and celebrity sightings aren’t anything out of the ordinary, either.

For example, two nights ago my dog met — and sniffed — Geraldo Rivera’s own canines (Rivera didn’t seem willing to enter into a conversation) and I am pretty sure it was Candice Bergen who stopped last year to pat the same furry companion. I should have gotten him an agent; he’s really a looker.

Still, despite our affluent, sometimes celebrity-status neighbors, we often find ourselves traveling to far away places like Soho for a good bowl of pasta. This might soon change with the opening of revered chef Michael White’s Ristorante Morini. However, considering the fact that I love Marea Ristorante and hate Osteria Morini, that is left to be seen.

Having said that, I must confess that I love my Upper East Side and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  That’s when I got the idea: Wouldn’t be nice if we had scouts on the ground in each neighborhood? Scouts who kept everyone informed about what is happening in terms of shopping? And then I thought to myself, why can’t I be that scout?

That’s precisely why I took on the role as the Upper East Side’s Stylish City Ambassador. Take that, Ms. Wintour. This is one ambassadorship you are not going to get.

So, that covers one New York neighborhood.  What about the rest of them?  Well, I need your help.  If you want to be a Stylish City Ambassador, contact me at [email protected].

Here are the “districts” — Stylish Games anyone? — we have to cover. And yes, you will receive compensation for articles written.

Downtown      
East Village, Alphabet City, Chinatown, Little Italy,  Greenwich Village, Soho, Meatpacking, Noho, Nolita, Tribeca, West Village, Huson Square

Financial District      
Battery Park City, City Hall, South Street Seaport, Wall Street

Midtown East
Midtown East, Beekman Place, Flatiron, Gramercy Park & Union Square, Kips Bay, Murray Hill, Stuyvesant Town / Peter Cooper Village, Sutton Place, Tudor City, Turtle Bay / United Nations

Midtown West
Central Park, SouthChelsea, Clinton / Hells Kitchen, Garment District & Herald Square,  Koreatown, Midtown West,  Theater District

Upper East Side
Carnegie Hill, Gracie Point, Yorkville, Lenox Hill, Roosevelt Island

UWS
Lincoln Square, Manhattan Valley, Upper West Side

As you all know, there are some 50-60 sample sales taking place in New York this week. Not an easy task to keep up with. As the week was winding down, we  started to breath easier, when we noticed a huge event we’ve almost missed: the Capsule Neighborhood Network  feting the Lower East Side, the East Village, and Nolita. During the shopping event that starts today, 100 boutiques will entice us with discounts to start shopping early for the holidays, and all these showrooms will hold sample sales:

Archetype Showroom
676 Broadway, 2nd Fl
212 529 1407

-VEDA
-Won Hundred
-LNA
-Porter Grey
-COMUNE

Claw Money and MadeMe
54 Clinton St

International Playground
13 Stanton St
212 228 2323

-Chromat
-Daniel Palillo
-H. Fredriksson
-Mary Meyer
-Osborn
-Uniforms for the Dedicated

Medium Concepts Showroom
9 St Marks Place Ste 2
646 684 4525

-ISAORA
-Quality Peoples
-Sidian, Ersatz and Vanes
-Warriors of Radness

Timothy Heenan Showroom
247 Centre St 7th Fl, Rear Unit
646 596 9768

-BillyKirk
-Crate
-General Assembly
-Loup
-Raen Optics
-Stones
-Vanishing Elephant
-Velour

WANT Agency
70 Wooster St
212 414 5814

-Want Les Essentiels De La Vie
-Maison Kitsune
-Nudie Jeans Co
-Arc’teryx Veilance
-Swims

Westerlind Showroom
194 Elizabeth St
212 219 1020

-Armor Lux
-Jungmaven
-Wool and the Gang

Neighborhood Network
November 16-17

For the complete list of participants, check out the Capsule Neighborhood Network [Official Site]

“Derek! Wait! OH MY GOSH IT’S DEREK JETER!”

I shouted these words five years ago as I saw the star Yankee shortstop walking from his Upper East Side Manhattan apartment to a stretch limo. To my surprise, my friends and I were the only ones excited to see him.

“Why is everyone walking around like seeing a celebrity is just an average occurrence?” I thought. Well, it turns out — for the residents of the Upper East Side — seeing a celebrity such as Derek Jeter was as normal as seeing your next door neighbor.

Celebrities, business moguls, high-end fashion models, political figures — they’re all here. If you’re fortunate enough to live in this neighborhood, you don’t need to be a celebrity to live the lifestyle of the rich and famous. While celebrity sightings sound appealing to most, the Upper East Side was not, in recent years, considered hip downtown’s humdrum cousin. Over the past year and half, however, the once stereotyped “sleepy and snooty” Upper East Side has become a destination thanks to an abundance of cool and attractive boutiques, restaurants and hotspots for a fun night out.

In the recent past, many younger generation people, including myself, wouldn’t think twice about where they would go to have a fun time in Manhattan. The easy answer? Hop on the subway and head straight downtown. Let’s be real: is there anywhere as fun as Soho or Tribeca, which offer trendy boutiques, luxurious lofts and fine restaurants? While this question may have been a no brainer in the past, many now reluctantly embrace the Upper East Side.

As mentioned in an article by WWD, “Madison Avenue has certainly come back in the past 18 months or so.”

In the past, Upper East Side stores catered to a more neighborhood-based clientele than trendy Downtown boutiques did. This is no longer the case, as these once stereotyped ritzy blocks are opening new doors to a more diverse group of people. These new stores include a plethora of younger labels which have attracted a crowd that, say two years ago, would default to shopping on the streets of Soho. Some of these new, trendy and long overdue hot spots on the Upper East Side include Joie, Vince, Rebecca Taylor. Others are expected to open soon, including Proenza Schouler and Ippolita.

Ryan Korban designed UES Joie store

In addition to the Upper East Side’s change in the retail climate, new restaurants and other hotspots have attracted crowds looking to get out and have fun. Many downtown regulars have found themselves migrating from popular downtown destinations to come to Uptown  workout facilities, including SoulCycle East and Brownings Fitness. (Who isn’t hungry after a great workout? I know I always am!)  You will be delighted to hear that less expensive uptown restaurants are popping up to offer good grub for less dinero. The Village Voice says that Toloache and Hospoda restaurants, in particular, are ideal for the young  generation to dine and hang.

Spending time on Manhattan’s Upper East Side is not only a chance to try out some of the city’s best restaurants and shopping, but also allows New Yorkers and tourists the ability to experience a popular neighborhood undergoing a revolutionary turning point — where old and new are still at each other’s foils.

By Candice Ibarra