York Avenue and Sutton Place are the names of a relatively short north-south thoroughfare in the
Yorkville,
Lenox Hill, and Sutton Place neighborhoods of the
East Side of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. York Avenue runs from
59th to 92nd Streets through eastern Lenox Hill and Yorkville on the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
. Sutton Place and its southern extension runs through their namesake neighborhood along the
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
and south of the
Queensboro Bridge, with Sutton Place South running from
53rd to
57th Streets and Sutton Place from 57th to 59th Streets. The street is considered among the city's most affluent, and both portions are known for upscale apartments, much like the rest of the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
.
Addresses on York Avenue are continuous with that of
Avenue A in the
Alphabet City
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
neighborhood, starting in the 1100 series and rising to the 1700 series. Addresses on Sutton Place vary.
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 or
Second Avenue. 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
Early years
The street that became York Avenue and Sutton Place was proposed as an addition to the
Commissioners' Plan of 1811
The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 was the original design for the streets of Manhattan above Houston Street and below 155th Street, which put in place the rectangular grid plan of streets and lots that has defined Manhattan on its march uptown ...
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. The earliest source found by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' 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.
The 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
Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt (February 17, 1861 – April 20, 1940) was an American heiress known for her marriages to prominent men and her role in the development of the Sutton Place neighborhood as a fashionable place to live.
Ea ...
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.
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
Rosario Candela (March 7, 1890 – October 3, 1953) was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the cit ...
. Development came to an abrupt halt with the
Great Depression, 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.
![Weill Cornell Medicine (48064045073)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Weill_Cornell_Medicine_%2848064045073%29.jpg)
In 1906, The Rockefeller Institute (the predecessor to
The Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classified ...
) moved its laboratories to the site of the former Schermerhorn farm at York Avenue (then called Avenue A) and 66th Street.
John D. Rockefeller purchased the land from the Schermerhorn estate between Avenue A and the East River extending from 64th Street to 67th Street in 1903 The Rockefeller Institute Hospital opened in 1910.
In 1912,
New York Hospital became affiliated with the
Cornell University Medical College
The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with New ...
and in 1932 moved to its current location, a joint facility, the
New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
, on York Avenue between
East 67th and
68th Streets. In 1998, NY Hospital merged with
Presbyterian Hospital to become
NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...
(NYP) and the site functions as one of the main campuses of NYP.
In 2019, NYP was ranked as 5th Best Hospital in the United States.
On the west side of Avenue A, across the street from the Rockefeller Institute, in 1925, the Rockefeller Garden Apartments opened. There were meant to be affordable housing, "good homes for low rents" for people with children.
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
Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964), also known as Sergeant York, was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine ...
, who received the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...
during World War I's
Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
York, commanding only a few men took over 125 German soldiers as prisoners. York's feat made him a national hero and international celebrity among allied nations.
In 1932,
New York Hospital and
Cornell University Medical College
The Joan & Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University is Cornell University's biomedical research unit and medical school located in Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York.
Weill Cornell Medicine is affiliated with New ...
(which affiliated in 1913) moved to its current location, a joint facility, the
New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
, on York Avenue at
68th Street. In 1998, NY Hospital merged with
Presbyterian Hospital to become
NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...
(NYP) and the site functions as one of the main campuses of NYP.
In 1939, the
Memorial Hospital opened on York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, on land donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
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
53rd Street is a Midtown Manhattan, midtown cross street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, that runs adjacent to buildings such as the Citigroup Center, Citigroup building. It is 1.83 miles (2.94 km) ...
. 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
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
apartment building designed by
Rosario Candela
Rosario Candela (March 7, 1890 – October 3, 1953) was an Italian American architect who achieved renown through his apartment building designs in New York City, primarily during the boom years of the 1920s. He is credited with defining the cit ...
. 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
The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...
. 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 and Queensboro Bridge-Night](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Sutton_Place_Park_and_Queensboro_Bridge-Night.jpg)
In 1939, city authorities took ownership of the property behind One Sutton Place South by
eminent domain
Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
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. 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 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.
Notable residents
Former and current residents of Sutton Place include architect
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
;
socialite
Consuelo Vanderbilt Balsan of the
Vanderbilt family
The Vanderbilt family is an American family who gained prominence during the Gilded Age. Their success began with the shipping and railroad empires of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the family expanded into various other areas of industry and philanthr ...
; French-American writer, journalist and pianist
Eve Curie
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac language, Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories de ...
; cabaret singer and pianist
Bobby Short
Robert Waltrip Short (September 15, 1924 – March 21, 2005) was an American cabaret singer and pianist, who interpreted songs by popular composers from the first half of the 20th century such as Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold ...
;
rock stars
Freddie Mercury and
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
; actor
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Lawford ( Aylen; 7 September 1923 – 24 December 1984) was an English-American actor.Obituary '' Variety'', 26 December 1984.
He was a member of the " Rat Pack" and the brother-in-law of US president John F. Kennedy and se ...
and his wife
Patricia Kennedy Lawford
Patricia Helen Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite, and the sixth of nine children of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. She was a sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senat ...
of the
Kennedy family
The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy beca ...
;
Ziegfeld Girl
Ziegfeld Girls were the chorus girls and showgirls from Florenz Ziegfeld's theatrical Broadway revue spectaculars known as the '' Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), in New York City, which were based on the Folies Bergère of Paris.
Desc ...
and businesswoman
Irene Hayes
Irene Hayes (1896 – September 16, 1975) was a Ziegfeld girl and businesswoman who owned Irene Hayes Wadley & Smythe, a leading Manhattan florist, and Gallagher's Steak House after the death of her husband, Jack Solomon.
She bought the ...
; actresses
Lillian Gish,
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway theatre, Broadway. Crawford was si ...
,
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...
,
Maureen O'Hara,
Sigourney Weaver
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gramm ...
,
and
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
and her then-husband
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
;
actress and interior decorator
Elsie de Wolfe and actress, fashion designer and socialite
C. Z. Guest; clothing designers
Bill Blass
William Ralph Blass (June 22, 1922 – June 12, 2002) was an American fashion designer. He was the recipient of many fashion awards, including seven Coty Awards and the Fashion Institute of Technology's Lifetime Achievement Award (1999).
Early ...
[Cameron, Christopher (December 8, 2018]
"The status of NYC’s most elite buildings is sinking "
''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'';; and
Kenneth Cole and interior designer
Valerian Rybar
Valerian Stux Rybar (or Stux-Rybar; 17 June 19199 June 1990) was an American interior designer, called the "world's most expensive decorator" in 1972, and known for his opulent and extravagant taste.
Early life
Rybar was born on 17 June 1919, in ...
;
shipping magnate
Aristotle Onassis
Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; el, Αριστοτέλης Ωνάσης, Aristotélis Onásis, ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975), was a Greek-Argentinian shipping magnate who amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and wa ...
; banker
Richard Jenrette
Richard Hampton Jenrette (April 5, 1929 – April 22, 2018) was an American businessman who co-founded the investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ).
Early life
Jenrette was born on April 5, 1929, in Raleigh, North Carolina, the son of ...
;
hedge fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as s ...
manager
Raj Rajaratnam
Rajakumaran Rajaratnam (born June 15, 1957) is a Sri Lankan-American former hedge fund manager and founder of the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund management firm.
On October 16, 2009, he was arrested by the FBI for insider trading ...
;
Steven Hoffenberg, founder of
Towers Financial Corporation
Towers Financial Corporation was a debt collection agency based in Manhattan.Allan Sloan (February 16, 1993)"THE SEC VS. STEVEN HOFFENBERG: A CASE OF LEANING FORTUNES AT TOWERS FINANCIAL?,"''The Washington Post''. Between 1988 and 1993, Towers Fina ...
, a debt collection agency; John Fairchild, publisher of ''
Women’s Wear Daily
''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion". Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides inf ...
''; politician and business leader
Percy Sutton
Percy Ellis Sutton (November 24, 1920 – December 26, 2009) was an American political and business leader. An activist in the Civil Rights Movement and lawyer, he was also a Freedom Rider and the legal representative for Malcolm X. He was ...
; "Preppy Killer"
Robert Chambers and his ex-girlfriend, Shawn Kovell; former New York Governor
Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as ...
; and all
UN Secretaries-General since
Kurt Waldheim
Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for t ...
.
Points of interest
![Sotheby York Av jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Sotheby_York_Av_jeh.JPG)
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
William Kissam "Willie" Vanderbilt I (December 12, 1849 – July 22, 1920) was an American heir, businessman, philanthropist and horsebreeder. Born into the Vanderbilt family, he managed his family's railroad investments.
Early life
William Kiss ...
. Next door, the
official residence
An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions. ...
of the
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
is a four-storey 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. The Secretary's home is from the UN Headquarters. These townhouses have a park at the rear with
FDR Drive running below (Sutton Place Tunnel) along the East River.
The
auction house Sotheby's
Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
is headquartered on York Avenue.
In popular culture
![I Sutton Place, New York City, NY, USA (2)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/I_Sutton_Place%2C_New_York_City%2C_NY%2C_USA_%282%29.jpg)
*1935/37 – Sutton Place at East 53rd Street is the ''
Dead End
Dead End or dead end may refer to:
* Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''.
Film and television
* ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by Davi ...
'' of the play and movie of that name, which began the movie careers of the
Dead End Kids
The Dead End Kids were a group of young actors from New York City who appeared in Sidney Kingsley's Broadway play '' Dead End'' in 1935. In 1937, producer Samuel Goldwyn brought all of them to Hollywood and turned the play into a film. They prov ...
.
*1936 – The lyric for
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...
's ''
On Your Toes
''On Your Toes'' (1936) is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939.
While teaching music at Knickerbocker University, Phil "Junior" Dolan ...
'' mentions Sutton Place as a desirable address: "This motto applies to folks who dwell in Richmond Hill or New Rochelle, in Chelsea or In Sutton Place."
*1936 – The movie ''
My Man Godfrey'' starring
William Powell
William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...
was about a hobo in a hobo jungle that once was adjacent the Queensboro Bridge and "Sutton Place" is mentioned frequently in the movie as where Godfrey the butler was found and hired.
*1947 – In
John Cheever's short story "
The Enormous Radio", the main characters, Jim and Irene Wescott, live in an apartment in the Sutton Place neighborhood.
*1948 – 43 Sutton Place is the home of Leona and Henry Stevenson (
Barbara Stanwyck and
Burt Lancaster) in the ''
film noir'' ''
Sorry, Wrong Number
''Sorry, Wrong Number'' is a 1948 American thriller film noir directed by Anatole Litvak, from a screenplay by Lucille Fletcher, based on her 1943 radio play of the same name. The film stars Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster. It follows a ...
''. Most scenes take place late one evening as Leona frantically tries to solve a murder plot that she overhears on the telephone. Through her bedroom window are night views of the
Queensboro Bridge.
*1948 – 1 Sutton Place North is the home of Alison Courtland (
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...
) and her husband Richard (
Don Ameche
Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which ...
) in
Douglas Sirk
Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for ...
's
film noir ''
Sleep, My Love
''Sleep, My Love'' is a 1948 American noir film directed by Douglas Sirk. It features Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings and Don Ameche.
Plot
Alison Courtland, a wealthy New Yorker, hasn't a clue how she ended up on a train bound for Boston. W ...
''.
*1951 – Sutton Place is mentioned in
J. D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in '' ...
's novel ''
Catcher in the Rye
''The Catcher in the Rye'' is an American novel by J. D. Salinger that was partially published in serial form from 1945–46 before being novelized in 1951. Originally intended for adults, it is often read by adolescents for its themes of angst ...
'' as the location of a "swanky" apartment.
*1953 – 36 Sutton Place South was an exterior location for the film ''
How to Marry a Millionaire'' starring
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
.
[, p.117]
*1958 – Sutton Place is featured in the "Lady Bug, Lady Bug" episode of the TV show ''
Naked City''.
*1960 – Sutton Place is featured in the film ''
Satan in High Heels
''Satan in High Heels'' is a 1962 American sexploitation film directed by Jerald Intrator and starring Meg Myles and Grayson Hall.
Plot
Stacey Kane (Myles), a cunning and ambitious striptease dancer in a cheap carnival, tricks her heroin-addict ...
''.
*1966 – The Avenue A Estate on Sutton Place was the site of the "East End Hotel," the home of Ann Marie in ''
That Girl
''That Girl'' is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from September 8, 1966 to March 19, 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewste ...
''.
*1970 – In an article in
''New York'' magazine,
Tom Wolfe
Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...
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
Miami Beach-looking part". The article was later reprinted in the book ''
Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers''.
*1973 – Sutton Place is featured in
Larry Cohen
Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American screenwriter, producer, and director of film and television, best known as an author of horror and science fiction films — often containing police procedural and ...
's film ''
Black Caesar''.
*1983 – Sutton Square, the cul-de-sac at the end of East 58th Street just east of Sutton Place, was depicted as the home of the lead character (a wealthy playwright) in the Dudley Moore film ''
Romantic Comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
''.
*1983 – ''
Scarface'' had a scene in which
Tony Montana
Antonio Montana is a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1983 film ''Scarface''. This character is portrayed by Al Pacino in the film and is voiced by André Sogliuzzo in the 2006 video game '' Scarface: The World Is Yours''. Embod ...
(
Al Pacino) was on the telephone in the now-defunct 60th Street Heliport, now used as a dog run.
*1984 – On his album ''
New Sensations'',
Lou Reed, in the song "High in the City", sings: "Let's not walk down Sutton Place; you know everybody there's got Akitas."
*1986 – In the film ''
Legal Eagles
''Legal Eagles'' is a 1986 American legal romantic comedy mystery crime thriller film directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. from a story by Reitman and the screenwriters, and starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and ...
'', the villain, Victor Taft (
Terence Stamp
Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...
), resided on Sutton Place.
*1987 – In
Oliver Stone's film ''
Wall Street'', an excited broker (
Sylvia Miles
Sylvia Miles (née Scheinwald; September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019) was an American actress. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969) and '' Farewell, My Lovel ...
) offers to show Bud Fox (
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estévez (born September 3, 1965), known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''Platoon'' (1986), ''Wall Street'' (1987), '' Young Guns'' (1988), '' The Rookie'' (1990), ''The Thr ...
) some apartments on Sutton Place once she realizes how wealthy he is.
*2000 – In the film ''
Almost Famous
''Almost Famous'' is a 2000 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe, and starring Billy Crudup, Frances McDormand, Kate Hudson, and Patrick Fugit. It tells the story of a teenage journalist writing for ''Rolling Stone ...
'', Patrick Fugit's character is seen sprinting down Sutton Place.
*2007 – 50 Sutton Place South was one of the buildings used to film ''
American Gangster''.
*2008 – Sutton Place is the location of the home of the main character in
Mary Higgins Clark
Mary Higgins Clark (born Mary Theresa Eleanor Higgins (December 24, 1927 – January 31, 2020) was an American author of suspense novels. Each of her 51 books was a bestseller in the United States and various European countries, and all of he ...
's novel ''
Where Are You Now?''. Clark owns an apartment in the neighborhood, and in several books her characters occasionally dine at Neary's, an actual Irish bar and restaurant located on East 57th Street between First and Second Avenues.
*2013 –
Vampire Weekend
Vampire Weekend is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 2006 and currently signed to Columbia Records. The band was formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Ezra Koenig, multi-instrumentalist Rostam Batmanglij, drummer Chris Tomson ...
's song "Hudson", on their album ''
Modern Vampires of the City
''Modern Vampires of the City'' is the third studio album by American indie rock band Vampire Weekend. It was released on May 14, 2013, by XL Recordings. The group began to write songs for the album during soundchecks on the supporting concert t ...
'', contains the line "But I was born on Sutton Place".
See also
*
2006 New York City plane crash
On October 11, 2006, a Cirrus SR20 aircraft crashed into the Belaire Apartments in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, at about 2:42 p.m. EDT (18:42 UTC). The aircraft struck the north side of the building, causing a fire in ...
, a crash just off of York Avenue/Sutton Place on October 11, 2006
*
Beekman Place
Beekman Place is a small street located in the Turtle Bay neighborhood on the East Side of Manhattan, New York City. Running from north to south for two blocks, the street is situated between the eastern end of 51st Street and Mitchell Place, ...
*
Pleasant Avenue
Pleasant Avenue is a north-south street in the East Harlem neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It begins at E. 114th Street and ends at E. 120th Street.
The street was the northernmost section of Avenue A, which stretched f ...
References
External links
{{Manhattan streets
Neighborhoods in Manhattan
Streets in Manhattan
Sutton Place Park
Midtown Manhattan
Upper East Side
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