One couple, three neighborhoods, & 2000 listings

A couple starts their apartment search. No budget yet, no fixed must-haves—just a bias toward the east side of Manhattan, because that’s what they know and love.

They also happen to be Hindu. While their faith isn’t the centerpiece of daily life, it’s something that will naturally influence their search.

Three neighborhoods rise to the top of the list:
Upper East Side
Gramercy
Lower East Side

To get a sense of what’s actually available, I pulled all listings up to $30M (as of Monday, 9/8). Here’s how the inventory breaks down:

Lower East Side (142 units total)*
*Includes StreetEasy’s definition of the LES, including Two Bridges.

• Studios: 9 (6%)

• 1-BR: 48 (34%)

• 2-BR: 57 (40%)

• 3-BR: 23 (16%)

• 4+ BR: 6 (4%)

Gramercy (583 units total)*
*Includes broader Gramercy area per StreetEasy: Stuyvesant Town/PCV, Gramercy Park, Murray Hill, and Kips Bay. TL;DR: Gramercy’s getting some Midtown East credit here.

• Studios: 136 (25%)

• 1-BR: 238 (44%)

• 2-BR: 135 (25%)

• 3-BR: 47 (9%)

• 4+ BR: 27 (5%)

Upper East Side (1,275 units total)*
*Based on StreetEasy’s UES boundaries: southeast corner of Central Park up to ~97th Street, excluding Roosevelt Island.

• Studios: 139 (11%)

• 1-BR: 331 (26%)

• 2-BR: 316 (25%)

• 3-BR: 238 (19%)

• 4+ BR: 258 (20%)

So what’s the takeaway? Each neighborhood paints a different picture:

Lower East Side: Mostly 1- and 2-bedrooms (74% combined), with just six listings offering 4+ bedrooms. A small-apartment zone perfect for those flying solo or duos keeping it cozy.

Gramercy: Even more skewed toward studios and 1-bedrooms (69% combined), affirming its rep as a starter-apartment haven for singles and couples.

Upper East Side: The wild card. With 1,275 listings and nearly 40% offering 3- or 4-bedrooms, this is the only east side ‘hood with real depth for families or anyone needing serious options for square footage.

Next time, we’ll layer in people and space data to better contextualize what’s possible—and where the value might be hiding.