Located to the east of Third Avenue between 79th and 96th Streets, the Yorkville neighborhood is named after York Avenue.

This section of Manhattan had its origins with immigrants in the 1840’s. Germans and Czechs were the largest groups to settle in this area and its beer and dance halls were famous for decades until they were replaced in recent decades by high-rise residential construction.

The major drawback to the area is that the nearest subway is the Lexington Avenue line. There is, however, good crosstown bus service on 79th, 86th and 96th Streets.

The area’s major retail "strip" is on 86th Street between First and Lexington Avenues. While it does not have any major parks, The waterfront Carl Schurz Park is nearby at the east end of 86th Street at East End Avenue. The park, Carl Schurz Park, contains the Mayor’s Residence at Gracie Mansion and overlooks the East River and several major bridges to the north.

It is bordered by several of the Upper East Side’s swankiest apartment houses such as Ten Gracie Square and 120 East End Avenue and the prestigious Chapin and Brearley Schools are nearby. As a result, the Carl Schurz Park area is one of the most desirable in the city for family living. Henderson Place, a small street running north of 86th Street across from the park, is one of the city’s loveliest groups of townhouses. The street’s retail activity, however, remains very vibrant and important on the Upper East side as it has several movie theaters clustered around Lexington and Third Avenues as well as such major stores as Barnes & Noble and HMV.

The area north of 86th Street was slow to be redeveloped until the Ruppert Brewery was closed and replaced by a mammoth complex at Third Avenue and 90th Street of very large apartment buildings designed quite boldly by Davis, Brody & Associates. The east side of the avenue in this area is now filled with several "luxury" apartment towers and the west side has many attractive restaurants in low- and mid-rise buildings. The major cultural facility in this quadrant of the Upper East Side is the 92nd Street "Y," which has many interesting concerts and lectures. It is on the southeast corner at Lexington Avenue.

The popularity of the Carl Schurz Park neighborhood led to a cluster of "luxury" apartment towers along York Avenue in the high 80’s, but the most attractive post-war apartment is the green-glass building known as the Waterford at 93rd Street and Second Avenue, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle and Vinjay Kale. Third Avenue is now developed pretty fully, although Second, First and York Avenues still have many tenement blockfronts as do many of the area’s sidestreets east of Third Avenue.

Some sidestreets, such as 94th Street, east of Lexington, are delightful surprises full of attractive brownstones. There are many attractive restaurants along Third Avenue north of 79th street and the city’s most famous restaurant, Elaine’s, is on Second Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets.

The area was late to bloom as a luxury residential neighborhood because of the presence until the mid-1950’s of an "elevated" line along Third Avenue. With the demolition of this noisy line, Third Avenue has undergone significant redevelopment.

Among the more interesting landmarks in this area is the very handsome Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity at 312-322 East 88th Street, designed by Barney & Chapman.