Location: Upper East Side
Top Things to do in Upper East Side
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The 10 Best Things to do in Upper East Side, New York (NY)
Conquering New York in one visit is impossible. Instead, hit the must-sees – the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art – and then explore off the beaten path with visits to The Cloisters or one of the city’s libraries. Indulge in the bohemian shops of the West Village or the fine dining of the Upper West Side. The bustling marketplace inside of Grand Central Station gives you a literal taste of the best the city has to offer.
Restaurants in New York City
1. Frick Collection
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 8,658 reviews
The Frick Collection is your home for art from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. Founded by Henry Clay Frick (1849–1919), the museum offers visitors intimate encounters with one of the world’s foremost collections of European fine and decorative arts. The Frick—now in its temporary location at Frick Madison, at the Breuer-designed building at 945 Madison Avenue, while its historic buildings undergo renovation—features celebrated works by Rembrandt, Fragonard, Ingres, Bellini, Vermeer, and more. The Frick Art Reference Library, a leading art historical research center, was established one hundred years ago by Helen Clay Frick and provides access to its rich collections for scholars and the public alike.
Reviewed By JuliaManhattan - New York City, United States
Architectural critic Paul Goldberger may have said it best: "The Met is admired but the Frick is beloved." You can sit in peace in Henry Clay Frick's magnificent mansion, contemplating his extraordinary collection of old masters, all living serenely in a setting filled with Rococo and Renaissance furniture, and accumulated superb decorative arts, including Limoges enamels, Meissen porcelain, and Italian bronzes.
2. The Church of St. Ignatius Loyola
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 24 reviews
Reviewed By EugenioSalandra - Los Angeles, United States
The magnificent Church of St. Ignatius Loyola has been home to the Jesuit community in New York City for decades. It houses a beautiful Black Madonna reminiscent of the one at Monserrat. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ and James Martin SJ are among the Jesuits who have been associated with this parish. It was also for many decades the home parish of the great Hungarian-American master animator Tissa David.
3. Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 16 reviews
Reviewed By ashoki172 - Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Walking on Lexington Avenue, this Neo-Gothic Marvel surprises you and is a glimpse of the hidden gems that New York has in its urban crypt for the traveler
4. The Jewish Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 475 reviews
The Jewish Museum of New York offers acclaimed art exhibitions that explore art and culture from ancient to modern times. The Museum is located on New York's famed Museum Mile.
Reviewed By RJBLH - South Ozone Park, United States
A wonderful collection do Jewish contribution to culture only blocks north of the Met. There are many religious objects from various places and eras along with exhibits that highlight the influence of Jews on art, film and popular culture. It is housed on the former Warburg mansion across form Central Park. It is an easy walk from both the Met and the Guggenheim. Don't miss it!
5. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 580 reviews
Effective March 14, Cooper Hewitt is temporarily closed to support the effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. Our priority is to protect the safety and health of its staff, volunteers, and visitors. Please visit cooperhewitt.org for updates on our operating status.
Reviewed By JuliaManhattan - New York City, United States
A couple of blocks north of the Guggenheim, Cooper-Hewitt projects a sense of peaceful isolation, with an imposing iron gate protecting Andrew Carnegie's splendid mansion. With its eclectic but vivid exhibits it is very much worth the short walk uptown. (And you should see this part of Fifth Avenue anyway.) At the moment Cooper-Hewitt is showing Nature by Design, featuring four centuries worth of selections from its permanent collection, including jewelry, textiles, and furnitures by designers interpreting nature's beauty and science. And in celebration of the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus in Weimar, it has a compelling exhibit on Herbert Bayer, who spent his most productive years in the US, especially Chicago and Aspen. Cooper-Hewitt's interactive presentations will enchant the kids, especially Face Values, which takes composites of your features & tells you who you are, and Curiosity Cloud, a gorgeous chandelier w/ tiny sculptured chattering insects that you can wander through & around, producing different musical sounds and sensations. And so much more!
6. Upper East Side
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 265 reviews
High-rent neighborhood of New York City located along one side of Central Park, which is predominately residential with town homes and apartment buildings along with pricey shops, restaurants, and architectural gems such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Cooper-Hewitt.
Reviewed By 619jeffry - Essendon, Australia
The Upper East Side contains many of New York City's most desirable residences. The leafy streets are not crowded and it contains some of the world's best high-end shopping. The Upper East Side contains Museum Mile, home to institutions such as the Guggenheim and the Met. The Upper East Side is the home of New York's elite. The neighbourhood is bounded by 96th St in the North, and 59th St in the South; with the East River on one side and by Central Park and 5th Avenue in the West
7. Society of Illustrators
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 62 reviews
The mission of this museum is to promote and stimulate interest in the art of illustration by showcasing more than 1,500 works by such luminaries as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Rockwell Kent, Bernie Fuchs and Brad Holland.
Reviewed By 124C41NewEngland
The Bistro 128 is a lovely space with a second story outdoor garden. If you go to see the art, and you should, plan to have lunch. If you sit at the bar you will be looking at a hi=ugh original Norman Rockwell painting.
8. Gracie Mansion
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 49 reviews
In 1942 New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia opted to live in Gracie Mansions instead of his palatial residence on Riverside Drive. Since then it has served as the mayoral residence.
Reviewed By gayleg897 - San Jose, United States
I was able to take the virtual tour from California with a group of friends. It was fabulous, The tour guide was Susan and she was so knowledgeable and personable. We had a wonderful time and highly recommend this tour. Can't wait to do it in person!!!
9. Temple Emanu-El
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 55 reviews
Founded in 1845, this is the oldest reform congregation in New York City and one of the world's largest Jewish houses of worship, which features striking architecture, beautiful mosaics and stained-glass windows.
Reviewed By localgal920 - Brooklyn, United States
Temple Emanu-El was established in lower Manhattan, first using a former church, then, shortly after the Civil War, building a synagogue on Fifth Avenue just north of 42nd Street, and then, just before the stock market crashed in 1929, completing this spectacular structure just off Central Park. A visitor will have the opportunity to see a synagogue as spectacular as any European cathedral, which could in fact be mistaken for one, including the stained-glass windows, but all the imagery is Jewish. We visited three chapels, all of which are in regular use, and also visited a museum upstairs which has a permanent exhibit and also rotating exhibits of Judaica. The exhibit on offer in March of 2019 was of "yads" (Torah pointers).
10. Neue Galerie
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,598 reviews
A museum displaying works of art by German and Austrian artists and designers.
Reviewed By billmarsano - New York City, United States
And that's Gustav Klimt's portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. There's a Mona Lisa aspect to this piece: is it famous because it's great or is it great because it's famous? Either way it's wonderful, more so because the gallery forbid selfies EXCEPT below stairs, where there is an excellent full-size reproduction erected especially for nitwits who are addicted to this sort of thing. Would be worthwhile to first see "Woman in Gold,"(starring the peerless Helen Mirren), the 2015 movie about the painting, the Bloch-Bauer family, the theft by the Nazis and the final recovery of the painting after decades of mulish and cynical maneuvering by the Austrian government. Off Central Park & smack in the middle of Museum Mile, so you can easily plan a day's worth of exhibit-going.
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