I know you are asking genuinely but to a New Yorker it sounds like you’re making a joke. A few from facts from Wikipedia [1].

“It has long been the most affluent neighborhood in New York City.”

“The Upper East Side maintains the highest pricing per square foot in the United States.”

“Four of the top five ZIP Codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top ZIP Code, 10021, is on the Upper East Side and generated the most money for the 2004 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and John Kerry.”

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_East_Side

I figured, but my perception of Manhattan is that neighborhoods can change drastically from one street block to the next, so while I know the upper east side is generally, well, upper, I wasn't confident in the exact location. Also, I was just flat out lazy and didn't bother looking up the street numbers on a map, where I would have realized the proximity to Central Park.

Aside from a few historically sleazy streets/areas in the past, I don't really associate those sorts of sharp boundaries with Manhattan nearly as much as I do some other cities, especially in the South. (Though, for obvious reasons, apartment buildings/condos across from Central Park tend to be higher-end than those east of there.)

> Is low 80s upper east side a good neighborhood?

It's what most people would consider so, yes. It's an upper-middle-class area, clean and safe, if more than a little stuffy and uptight.

> t's an upper-middle-class area

That's an understatement. It's consistently one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest (depending on the year) locations in the entire country.

It's wealthy, but not anywhere near the wealthiest area in the country, or even in Manhattan.

> It's wealthy, but not anywhere near the wealthiest area in the country, or even in Manhattan.

It is, depending on the year, how you measure it, and what you consider "Upper East Side". That last part is important: the UES has three main subneighborhoods with very different demographics and characteristics. It's also adjacent to East Harlem, which is historically not wealthy and brings the mean/median down for any measure that includes part of it.

For example, here the Upper East Side is listed as the wealthiest neighborhood in the entire city, all five boroughs: https://ny.curbed.com/2017/6/27/15881706/nyc-richest-neighbo.... This is using household income, which is one measure. Alternate measures include median rent (skewed due to rent regulations), net worth, property values, etc.

Point is: calling the upper east side an "upper middle class" area is an understatement. If it's not a wealthy neighborhood, then nowhere is.

Bethesda, MD and the surrounding areas, please stand up.

The averages skew things a bit here. Yes, many of the wealthiest people in the world live in the UES, but in between those single-family mansions and full service buildings full of quiet billionaires on the park, there are plenty of unremarkable apartments occupied by white-collar families. Its a more affordable neighborhood to rent in than some other family-oriented parts of Manhattan.

[delayed]

>Is low 80s upper east side a good neighborhood?

Yes. That's basically east of Central Park at the southern end of museum mile. So, generally, a very good (if somewhat sleepy) neighborhood.

High ceilings mean flats also take a lot more energy to heat in winter. If heating were out of my own pocket, I might pass on a flat with high ceilings even if rent were attractively low. Do NYC blocks like the GP describes typically include heating in the rent?

$6000/mo lower. Do you realize how much heat that buys?

Probably more like, if you can afford the rent on a place like this, you're in a position where you don't even notice the heating bill.

yes, old buildings will have central radiator heating and the heat is free. Very high probability the apartment in question has this.

It's one of the wealthier neighbourhoods afaik, so apparently it's pretty nice. I think 'low 80s' means when they started renting there.

"Early 80s" would refer to the year. "Lower 80s" in Manhattan means they live somewhere in the area bounded to the south by 80th Street and to the north by 85th Street--which includes part of the Upper East Side.

Those low-80s UES buildings are mostly walkups or have the worlds worst/slowest/broken-est elevators.

Also it's a miserable part of the city to live in.