UES Now Boasts City’s Two Most Powerful Political Leaders

The Upper East Side is now officially the political epi-center of New York City with the two most powerful political leaders living less than a mile apart. Mayor Zohran Mamdani who was sworn in on Jan. 1 is moving from his rent stabilized apartment in Astoria to Gracie Mansion, on East End Ave. and E. 88th St. Then a week after the inauguration, Julie Menin, the UES’s District 5 Council Member was unanimously elected to be Speaker of the Council.

Their neighbors include Assembly Members Rebecca Seawright and Alex Bores (who is among ten people now vying to succeed Jerry Nadler in Congress) and newly elected CM Virginia Maloney. Other notable UES elected include Supreme Court Justices Suzanne Adams and Jim Clynes, and former Congress Member Carolyn Maloney. It’s also home to the influential Four Freedoms and Lexington Democratic Clubs.

The UES abounds in cultural venues and houses of worship, including synagogues, churches and the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, a mosque and cultural center located on 3rd Ave between 96th/ 97th Sts, on the edge of East Harlem. In the late 80s, I saw the mosque being built from my 2nd floor apartment window in the then new Normandie Court high rise on 3rd between 95th/96th St. Actually, I was one of the first tenants in the sprawling edifice and loved every minute of it. It’s still here. I’m five blocks south.

In addition to the powers-that-be and the religious and cultural institutions, Gracie Mansion’s got its neighborhood favorite shopping and dining venues. I reached out to longtime Upper East Sider and former Dem district leader Frank Wilkinson, a decades-long resident and known as the Baron of Yorkville and who lives in the immediate vicinity of the mansion, for some neighborhood suggestions for shopping and dining for the Mamdani family.

Shopping and dining are definitely different than the shopping and dining venues in the Mamdani’s former hometown of Astoria. Here are some of Wilkinson’s local picks: Luna Rossa at 347 E. 85th St and Il Carino on 2nd Ave between 88th/89th, for Italian. Across 2nd, Cafe D’Alsace has transformed the old Elaine’s into a French restaurant. The Heidelberg on 2nd at 86th and the neighboring market Schaller & Weber offer solid German food and are the last remnants of old Yorkville. And the Mansion restaurant/diner on 86th and York, open since the 1940s, he says serves diner-like American fare and is a neighborhood institution.

For food shopping, he suggests C-Town on 1st Ave at 89th and 1st and the bigger Key Food on 2nd at 92nd where they offer bargains that change weekly on Fridays. He likes Gristede’s at York and 86th. Finds it pricey although seniors get a 10% discount on Tuesdays.

Welcoming Mamdani - UES voters were not Mamdani voters. They went Cuomo. With all that behind us, here’s an UES welcome to the new Mayor, as posted by Upper East Side Community Unity Initiative on their Facebook and including congratulations to Speaker Menin and newly elected CM Virginia Maloney:

“Upper East Side Community Unity Initiative warmly welcomes Mayor Zohran Mamdani and First Lady Rama Duwaji to our community as they move into Gracie Mansion. We look forward to seeing the Mayor and his wife on the streets of the Upper East Side as they get to know our cultural institutions, local businesses, community organizations, and, most importantly, our neighbors.

“We also congratulate Councilmember Julie Menin on becoming the seventh Speaker of the New York City Council and thank Councilmember Keith Powers for his service, while welcoming Councilmember Virginia Maloney as she begins representing the Fourth Councilmanic District.

The Upper East Side is proud to be home to leaders helping shape the future of New York City, and we look forward to working together to strengthen our community and our city.

And a Salud to the new year with a Del Maguey Vida Rita cocktail.