York Avenue and Sutton Place

The street that became York Avenue and 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.[4] 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.[5][6] 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 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.[7] 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. 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.

Gates of The Rockefeller University on York Avenue

In 1906, The Rockefeller Institute (the predecessor to The Rockefeller University) moved its laboratories to the site of the former Schermerhorn farm at York Avenue (then called Avenue A) and 66th Street.[8] 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 [9] The Rockefeller Institute Hospital opened in 1910.[8]

In 1912, New York Hospital became affiliated with the Cornell University Medical College and in 1932 moved to its current location, a joint facility, the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, on York Avenue between East 67th and 68th Streets. In 1998, NY Hospital merged with Presbyterian Hospital to become NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and the site functions as one of the main campuses of NYP.[10] In 2019, NYP was ranked as 5th Best Hospital in the United States.[11] On the west side of Avenue A, across the street from the Rockefeller Institute, in 1925, the Rockefeller Garden Apartments opened.[12] These were meant to be affordable housing, "good homes for low rents" for people with children.[12]

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.[6][13][14] 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 (which affiliated in 1913) moved to its current location, a joint facility, the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, on York Avenue at 68th Street. In 1998, NY Hospital merged with Presbyterian Hospital to become NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) and the site functions as one of the main campuses of NYP.[10]

In 1939, the Memorial Hospital opened on York Avenue, between 67th and 68th Streets, on land donated by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.[15]

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

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.[16][17] 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.[18] In June 2007, the co-op sued the city in an attempt the keep the land,[18] 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.[19]