What part of New York City is Park Avenue?

Answer 1

Park Avenue is a two-laned avenue that runs north/south and south/north through the borough of Manhattan, on the East Side. It starts at East 14th Street, and runs north until it hits the Harlem River (which flows south and joins the East River), at approximately East 132nd Street. From East 14th Street to East 34th Street it is called Park Avenue South.

Not all of Park Avenue is ritzy and posh; as it is a very long avenue, it runs through quite a few different neighborhoods. The northernmost part of Park Avenue -- from East 96th Street up to the Harlem river -- runs through East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, which is a predominantly Latino community, and one of the poorest neighborhoods in Manhattan. Strange as it sounds, some of the poorest people in the city live on Park Avenue.

The famously ritzy part of Park Avenue is between East 96th Street and approximately East 59th Street, in the heart of the wealthiest neighborhood in the city, the Upper East Side. Since the Upper East Side ends at East 96th Street, and Spanish Harlem begins at East 96th Street, the wealthiest neighborhood in the whole city is right next to one of the most impoverished ones. The race and class divide between the south side of East 96th and the north side is so precise, it's almost Orwellian.

From East 59th Street down to East 34th Street, Park Avenue runs through Midtown. Although Midtown is mainly a business and commercial neighborhood, Park Avenue is almost entirely comprised of residential buildings from East 96th Street all the way down to the end of Park Avenue South, at East 14th Street. From East 59th Street to East 34th it becomes a bit more middle class, but not by all that much.

From East 34th Street to East 14th Street (Park Avenue South), it forms the eastern border of the Flatiron District and the western border of the Gramercy Park neighborhood, and it becomes more ritzy again. However, even though Park Avenue South is fairly ritzy too, when people talk about Park Avenue being glamorous, as in, "She has a penthouse on Park Avenue," they are generally referring only to the famously ritzy part, between East 96th and approximately East 59th.

You can find Park Avenue fairly easily on a Google Maps map of Manhattan, as it is the only avenue that is labeled and highlighted in yellow on the East Side of Manhattan.