Upper West Side: Brownstones, Parks and Great Hotels

The Upper West Side is just as stately as the Upper East Side, but with one subtle difference: its residents are far more cosmopolitan, liberal and bohemian. It was, after all, John Lennon and Yoko Ono's neighborhood.

If you love shows and sitcoms set in New York as much as I do, you probably know this is The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's neighborhood, the home of Liz Lemon's apartment in 30 Rock and of Will & Grace. But did you know it was also Oppenheimer's home? 💣.

It's one of the New York neighborhoods richest in history and pop references. It's definitely one of the areas to stay in New York that I recommend with my eyes closed: well connected to the attractions, yet quiet, residential and seriously beautiful.

What to see in the Upper West Side

The Upper West Side stretches between the Hudson River and Central Park, from Columbus Circle up to 110th Street.

It's full of elegant buildings and mansions, gems of Art Deco, the Belle Époque and prewar neo-Gothic. It's an architectural paradise frozen in time.

It's one of the parts of New York favored by the Jewish community, especially between 85th and 100th streets, so you'll find plenty of kosher food spots like the famous Zabar's, a traditional delicatessen market.

For example, J. Robert Oppenheimer grew up on Manhattan's Upper West Side. That's right, the leader of the Manhattan Project, the father of the atomic bomb, the man who «became death, the destroyer of worlds,» was an uptown Manhattan neighbor.

While this part of Uptown Manhattan is residential, it has several major attractions:

1. Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center is one of the most important cultural centers in New York and in the world. It's considered the country's acropolis of the arts. It brings together ballet, opera, jazz concerts and classical music.

2. Apple Store

If you like visiting Apple Stores every time you travel, the Upper West Side location is great. Roomy and with few tourists (1981 Broadway).

3. The Dakota Building

Facing Central Park stands the imposing, famous Dakota Building, John Lennon's New York residence and the place where he was killed in 1980.

4. Strawberry Fields

Across from the Dakota you'll find the John Lennon Memorial in Central Park: Strawberry Fields, a pilgrimage site for Beatlemaniacs from all over the world.

5. American Museum of Natural History

If you're traveling with kids, visit the American Museum of Natural History. It's an educational and awe-inspiring place for little ones, especially the dinosaur skeletons.

6. Riverside Park

The long Riverside Park runs alongside the Hudson River from 72nd Street to 129th. Woody Allen used it as a location in several of his films.

It has several monuments and is always full of locals walking their dogs and kids playing.

Right across from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Riverside Park, you can see the luxurious building where Oppenheimer lived, 155 Riverside Drive at West 88th Street.

It was a 10-room apartment with Hudson River views on the second-to-top floor. As you can see, the father of the atomic bomb came from a German Jewish family that made its fortune in New York's textile industry.

Since then, this Riverside Drive building, like its neighbors, has changed: the apartments were divided up after World War II, and today there are five where there used to be only two.

The Oppenheimer family's building is also famous for its recurring appearances on the show «Will & Grace».

7. Columbia University

The campus of the renowned Columbia University sits at the northern end of the Upper West Side. Technically it's in the Morningside Heights neighborhood, but it's part of the academic, cosmopolitan aura of this Manhattan neighborhood filled with students from all over the world.

Pop culture references in the Upper West Side

Besides John Lennon and James Dean, plenty of other celebrities have lived in the Upper West Side: Lauren Bacall, Barbra Streisand, Mia Farrow, William Hurt, Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Robert Duvall, Mick Jagger, Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman, Christopher Walken, Michael J. Fox, Madonna, Sean Penn

The Upper West Side has been the setting for several shows and iconic characters that left a mark on all of us and, to a large extent, are the reason we're madly fascinated by New York ❤️🗽.

Here's where some of my favorite fictional characters who live in the Upper West Side call home:

Dana Barrett's apartment in Ghostbusters

Among the characters from iconic New York movies who lived in the Upper West Side, one standout is Dana Barrett from Ghostbusters, played by Sigourney Weaver (if you're a fan of the film, check out the Ghostbusters filming locations in Manhattan).

Dana lived at 55 Central Park West, a real building facing Central Park.

Of course, only the exteriors were filmed there, since the terrifying Gothic temple on its roof is pure Hollywood fiction (though it would fit right in on one of Manhattan's Gothic buildings).

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's neighborhood

This series follows the life of Midge Maisel, a 1950s housewife who becomes a stand-up comedian after a string of unexpected events.

The story unfolds mainly in the Upper West Side, and although many of the settings are fictional, the neighborhood plays an important role as a symbol of elite New York life at the time.

Midge and her family live in a luxury building facing the Hudson River, whose exteriors belong to The Strathmore (404 Riverside Drive).

As with Ghostbusters, the interior scenes were shot on a soundstage.

Liz Lemon's apartment in 30 Rock

Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey in her hit comedy 30 Rock, also lives in the Upper West Side.

Although Liz's life is always chaos, on the show she lives in a building full of upper-middle-class Manhattan professionals (168 Riverside Drive). If you look closely, she's Oppenheimer's neighbor and very close to the apartment where the Maisels live 😛.

The Will & Grace apartment in the Upper West Side

In Will & Grace, another iconic comedy set in New York, Will Truman and his best friend Grace Adler live at 155 Riverside Drive, the same building, as I mentioned, where Oppenheimer grew up.

Here's one last thought: if we did a crossover, Will, Grace, Liz Lemon, Mrs. Maisel and Oppenheimer could all bump into each other strolling through Riverside Park 🤣.

Map of Uptown Manhattan

You'll find the Upper West Side on this map of northern Manhattan, between the Hudson River and Central Park and between 59th and 110th streets.

How do you get to the Upper West Side?

Subway lines 1, 2 and 3 serve the Upper West Side, with several stations between 59th and 110th streets.