Sutton Place, Manhattan

Last updated

Sutton Place
Sutton Place - panoramio (9).jpg
Buildings on Sutton Place
Sutton Place, Manhattan
Interactive map of Sutton Place
Owner City of New York
Maintained by NYCDOT
Length2 mi (3.2 km) [1]
Location Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates 40°45′29″N73°57′37″W / 40.758094°N 73.960180°W / 40.758094; -73.960180
South end 53rd Street in Midtown East
Major
junctions		FDR Drive Shield free.svg FDR Drive in Lenox Hill
North end 59th Street in Midtown East
East FDR Drive
West First Avenue
Construction
Commissioned March 1811
Sutton Place Historic District
Location map United States Manhattan 2.svg
Red pog.svg
USA New York City location map.svg
Red pog.svg
USA New York location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location1--21 Sutton Pl. & 4--16 Sutton Sq., New York, New York
Coordinates 40°45′28″N73°57′57″W / 40.75778°N 73.96583°W / 40.75778; -73.96583 (Sutton Place Historic District)
Arealess than one acre
Built1920 (1920)
Architectural styleColonial Revival, Georgian revival
NRHP reference No. 85002294 [2]
Added to NRHPSeptember 12, 1985

Sutton Place is a short avenue and a neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, in New York City. Sutton Place and Sutton Place South run through their namesake neighborhood along the East River and south of the Queensboro Bridge. Sutton Place South runs from 57th to 53rd Streets. Unlike most north–south streets in Manhattan, building address numbers along Sutton Place South increase when headed south. Sutton Place runs from 57th to 59th Streets. The greater Sutton Place neighborhood is considered among the city's most affluent, and is known for upscale apartments, townhouses and historic landmarks, much like the Upper East Side. Part of the neighborhood comprises the Sutton Place Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Contents

Addresses on Sutton Place and Sutton Place South do not follow the usual pattern in Manhattan. North of 59th Street, Sutton Place becomes York Avenue.

The greater Sutton Place neighborhood, which sits north of the neighborhood of Turtle Bay, runs from 53rd Street to 59th Street and is bounded on the east by the East River and on the west by either First Avenue [3] or Second Avenue. [4] Sutton Square is the cul-de-sac at the end of East 58th Street, just east of Sutton Place; Riverview Terrace is a row of townhouses on a short private driveway that runs north from Sutton Square.

History

19th century

Townhouses line the east side of Sutton Place between 58th and 57th Streets Sutton Place Townhouses.jpg
Townhouses line the east side of Sutton Place between 58th and 57th Streets

The street that became Sutton Place was proposed as an addition to the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 for Manhattan, which designated 12 broad north–south avenues running the length of the island. The geography of Manhattan left a large area on the Upper East Side east of First Avenue without a major north–south thoroughfare, so Avenue A was added to compensate. Sutton Place, the name that applied to the whole street at the time, was originally one of several disconnected stretches of Avenue A built where space allowed, east of First Avenue.

In 1875, Effingham B. Sutton constructed a group of brownstones between 57th and 58th Streets. [5] The earliest source found by The New York Times using the term Sutton Place dates 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. [6] [7]

1900 to 1929

444 East 58th Street, an example 1901 building in Sutton Place 444 East 58th Street September 2025.png
444 East 58th Street, an example 1901 building in Sutton Place

At the turn of the 20th century new taller 6-floor apartment buildings started to be built in the neighborhood, with two surviving Beaux Arts architecture styled buildings designed by George F. Pelham still in place: 422 East 58th Street from 1900 and 444 East 58th Street from 1901.

Sutton Place first became fashionable around 1920, when several wealthy socialites, including Anne Harriman Vanderbilt and Anne Morgan, built townhouses on the eastern side of the street, overlooking the East River. Both townhouses were designed by Mott B. Schmidt, launching a career that included many houses for the wealthy. [8] Very shortly thereafter, developers started to build grand co-operative apartment houses on Sutton Place and Sutton Place South, including several designed by Rosario Candela such as One Sutton Place South, 4 Sutton Place, 14 Sutton Place South, and 30 Sutton Place. Stonehenge 58 [9] designed by George F. Pelhamin 1928 [10] is also a notable building from that era.

In 1928, a one-block section of Sutton Place north of 59th Street, and all of Avenue A north of that point, was renamed York Avenue to honor U.S. Army Sergeant Alvin York, who received the Medal of Honor during World War I's Meuse-Argonne Offensive. [7] [11] [12]

Lafayette A. Goldstone designed 444 East 57th Street. The 14-story condominium building was completed in 1929, and was later home to Marilyn Monroe and playwright Arthur Miller. [13] Cox and Holden designed 333 East 57th Street, one of the oldest co-op buildings in Sutton Place, with interiors designed by Dorothy Draper. [14] This white glove co-op was home to American author E.L. Doctorow [15] and is now designated a New York State Literary Landmark by the American Library Association. [16]

Development in Sutton Place came to an abrupt halt with the Great Depression.

1930 to 1945

River House, Art-Deco Sutton Place building designed in 1929, constructioncompleted in 1931 River House Manhattan.jpg
River House, Art-Deco Sutton Place building designed in 1929, constructioncompleted in 1931

The 26-story River House was architected in 1929 [10] and constructed in 1931 on the site of a former cigar factory and designed by William Lawrence Bottomley in the Art Deco style. [17] [18] [19]

In 1938 Emery Roth designed 2 Sutton Place South. [10]

After World War II

Sutton House, a typical post-war Sutton Place building Sutton House Manhattan.jpg
Sutton House, a typical post-war Sutton Place building

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. These include:

In 1985, part of the surrounding neighborhood (1–21 Sutton Place and 4–16 Sutton Square) was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Sutton Place Historic District. [21]

Park controversy

Sutton Place encompasses two public parks overlooking the East River, one at the end of 57th Street and another at the end of 53rd Street. The 57th Street park, named Sutton Place Park, is separated by an iron fence from the landscaped grounds behind One Sutton Place South, a neo-Georgian apartment building designed by Rosario Candela. The property behind One Sutton Place South was the subject of a dispute between the building's owners and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Like the adjacent park, the rear garden at One Sutton Place South is, in fact, cantilevered over the FDR Drive, a busy parkway at Manhattan's eastern edge that is not visible from most of Sutton Place.

Sutton Place Park at the end of 57th Street, with the Queensboro Bridge in the background Sutton Place Park and Queensboro Bridge-Night.jpg
Sutton Place Park at the end of 57th Street, with the Queensboro Bridge in the background

In 1939, city authorities took ownership of the property behind One Sutton Place South by eminent domain in connection with the construction of the FDR Drive, then leased it back to the building for $1 a year. The building's lease for its backyard expired in 1990. [22] [23] 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. [24] In June 2007, the co-op sued the city in an attempt the keep the land, [24] and on November 1, 2011, the co-op and the city reached an agreement in which the co-op ended its ownership claim to the eastern 6,000 square feet and the city relinquished its claim to the western 4,000 square feet (the land closest to the building). Each side also agreed to contribute $1 million toward the creation of a public park on the city's portion. [25]

Notable residents

Former and current residents of Sutton Place include architect I. M. Pei; [26] socialite Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan of the Vanderbilt family; French-American writer, journalist and pianist Eve Curie; cabaret singer and pianist Bobby Short; [26] rock stars Freddie Mercury [27] and Michael Jackson; actor Peter Lawford and his wife Patricia Kennedy Lawford of the Kennedy family; Ziegfeld Girl and businesswoman Irene Hayes; actresses Lillian Gish, Joan Crawford, [27] Mildred Natwick, Maureen O'Hara, Sigourney Weaver, [27] [26] [28] and Marilyn Monroe [27] and her then-husband Arthur Miller; [27] actress and interior decorator Elsie de Wolfe and actress, fashion designer and socialite C. Z. Guest; clothing designers Bill Blass [28] and Kenneth Cole and interior designer Valerian Rybar; [29] shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis; banker Richard Jenrette; hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam; Steven Hoffenberg, founder of Towers Financial Corporation, a debt collection agency; John Fairchild, publisher of Women's Wear Daily ; politician and business leader Percy Sutton; "Preppy Killer" Robert Chambers and his ex-girlfriend, Shawn Kovell; former New York Governor Mario Cuomo; and all UN Secretaries-General since Kurt Waldheim.

Points of interest

One Sutton Place North, a townhouse at the northeast corner of Sutton Place (dead end) and East 57th Street, was built as a residence for Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, widow of William K. Vanderbilt. Next door, the official residence of the Secretary-General of the United Nations is a four-story brick townhouse that was built in 1921 for Anne Morgan, daughter of financier J.P. Morgan, and donated as a gift to the United Nations in 1972 by industrialist Arthur A. Houghton Jr. [30] The Secretary's home is 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from the UN Headquarters. These townhouses have a park at the rear with FDR Drive running below (Sutton Place Tunnel) along the East River.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sutton Place, Manhattan" (Map). Google Maps . Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Claire (June 15, 2003). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Sutton Place; Prestigious Address With Villagelike Feel". The New York Times . Retrieved November 14, 2014. ...Sutton Place, a tidy and somewhat out-of-the-way Manhattan enclave that runs from 53rd to 59th Streets between First Avenue and the East River.
  4. ↑ Johnston, Laurie (May 27, 1984). "If You're Thinking of Living in Sutton Place". The New York Times. Retrieved November 14, 2014. ...the name [Sutton Place] reflects its glow south to 53d Street, west to Second Avenue and even a bit farther west on 57th Street.
  5. ↑ "Sutton Place Park Highlights : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  6. ↑ Senft, Bret (June 12, 1994). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Sutton Place; A Riverside Enclave for the Well-to-Do". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Gray, Christopher (September 21, 2003). "Streetscapes/Sutton Place, Sutton Place South and One Sutton Place North; A Prestigious Enclave With a Name in Question". The New York Times. Retrieved December 27, 2007.
  8. ↑ Hewitt, Mark Alan. "About Mott Schmidt: Beginnings and Sutton Place". The Architecture of Mott B. Schmidt. MottSchmidt.com. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ "Stonehenge 58". Stonehenge NYC. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Permit Search". Office for Metropolitan History. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  11. ↑ Pollak, Michael (August 7, 2005). "The Great Race". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  12. ↑ During his October 8, 1918, attack, York captured four German officers and 128 men and several guns. "Medal of Honor Recipients - World War I". United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007.
  13. ↑ "444 East 57th Street". City Realty. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  14. ↑ "333 East 57th Street". Street Easy. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Asking 2.1 Million". 6sqfeet. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Literary Landmark 333 East 57th Street". American Library Association. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  17. ↑ Bernstein, Jacob (November 6, 2013). "Roiling the Waters at River House". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  18. ↑ Rubinstein, Dana (March 24, 2010). "The Has-Been". Observer. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  19. ↑ Barbanel, Josh (September 26, 2013). "A View and a Price, Both Astounding". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  20. ↑ "St. James Tower". City Realty. Retrieved October 12, 2025.
  21. ↑ National Park Service (1994). National Register of Historic Places, 1966 to 1994: Cumulative List Through January 1, 1994. National Park Service. p. 549. ISBN   978-0-89133-254-1 . Retrieved March 2, 2026.
  22. ↑ Bagli, Charles V. (December 31, 2003). "In Sutton Place's Backyard, Private Oasis on Public Land". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  23. ↑ Steele, Lockhart (December 7, 2004). "Sutton Place Private Lawn Going to the Masses". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  24. 1 2 Bagli, Charles V. (June 19, 2007). "A Co-op on Sutton Place Sues to Keep Its Backyard". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  25. ↑ Flegenheimer, Matt (November 2, 2011). "Co-op Ends Fight With City Over Its East Side Backyard". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  26. 1 2 3 Wilson, Claire (June 15, 2003). "If You're Thinking of Living In/Sutton Place; Prestigious Address With Villagelike Feel". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 "Sutton Place: New York's Happy Place". Elliman Insider. February 26, 2018. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
  28. 1 2 Cameron, Christopher (December 8, 2018) "The status of NYC's most elite buildings is sinking " New York Post ;;
  29. ↑ McKay, Jeff (May 22, 2013). "Then: Sutton Place". New York . Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  30. ↑ Teltsch, Kathleen (July 15, 1972). "Town House Offered to U. N." The New York Times . Retrieved December 27, 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.