Upper East Side Webcam – Manhattan Streets and Rooftops

The Upper East Side Webcam looks west-northwest from the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 77th Street in Manhattan, over a block of low brick rooftops toward the Lenox Hill Hospital area. A tree-lined cross street runs away down the left side of the frame, with a crosswalk at the corner below the camera, cars and vans waiting at the lights and people crossing on foot. Tall apartment buildings line the far side of that street. On the right, skylight roofs, a white rooftop penthouse and a water tower step back toward taller towers in the distance. It is a working slice of the neighborhood rather than a landmark shot, and it changes with the hour and the season: the morning rush at the crossing, the street trees in leaf or bare, snow sitting on the flat roofs after a winter storm. The stream runs through the night, so the street stays lit and moving after dark.

About the Upper East Side

The Upper East Side runs from 59th Street north to 96th Street, and from Fifth Avenue and Central Park east to the East River. It counted 183,986 residents in the 2020 census and takes in several smaller neighborhoods, among them Lenox Hill, Carnegie Hill and Yorkville. The camera’s corner sits near the middle of that grid, three avenues east of Central Park.

Lenox Hill Hospital, which the operator names as the direction of the view, fills the city block between East 76th and East 77th Streets from Lexington Avenue to Park Avenue, with its address at 100 East 77th Street. It began in 1857 as the German Dispensary, moved to this site in 1869 and was renamed Lenox Hill Hospital in July 1918, when the First World War pushed it to drop its German name. It has 450 beds today.

Directly below the corner is the 77th Street station of the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, which opened on July 17, 1918. The 6 train stops there at all hours and the 4 joins it late at night. Two avenues east, the Second Avenue Subway, whose first phase opened on January 1, 2017, added stations at 72nd, 86th and 96th Streets.

Weather and Climate on the Upper East Side

New York’s official weather records come from Central Park, where the National Weather Service has kept its station at Belvedere Castle since 1919, west of the camera across Fifth Avenue. Winters are cold and often gray. January averages highs of 4 C (40 F) and lows of minus 2 C (28 F), and the park gets about 76 centimeters (29.8 inches) of snow in an average year. After a storm the flat roofs in the foreground can stay white long after the street below has been cleared. Spring warms quickly, with April highs of 17 C (62 F) and lows of 8 C (46 F), and the street trees on the left come into leaf.

Summer is hot and humid. July highs average 29 C (85 F) with lows of 21 C (70 F), and thunderstorms can darken the sky over the rooftops quickly on hot afternoons. October is mild, with highs of 18 C (65 F) and lows of 11 C (51 F), and the trees along the street change color through late fall. Rain and snow together come to about 1,258 millimeters (49.5 inches) a year. Because the camera faces west-northwest, the morning sun comes from behind it and lights the facades ahead, while late afternoons can turn hazy as it looks toward the setting sun.

Things to Do Near the Upper East Side

Central Park begins at Fifth Avenue, three avenues west of the camera’s corner. Belvedere Castle, the home of the weather station, stands on Vista Rock inside the park, and the station’s first wind instruments went up on its roof in 1919. Along Fifth Avenue, Museum Mile runs from 82nd to 105th Street and takes in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum and the Jewish Museum, all within walking distance of the camera.

Madison Avenue, two avenues west of Lexington, is one of New York’s best-known luxury shopping streets, with designer boutiques along its Upper East Side blocks. On the far side of the neighborhood, Carl Schurz Park runs along the East River and holds Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the city’s mayor.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

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• Times Square Webcam
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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Upper East Side located?

The Upper East Side is on the east side of Manhattan in New York City, between 59th and 96th Streets, from Fifth Avenue and Central Park to the East River. This camera is at Lexington Avenue and East 77th Street, above the 77th Street subway station.

What can you see on the Upper East Side Webcam?

The camera looks west-northwest over low brick rooftops with skylights, a white rooftop penthouse, a water tower and taller apartment buildings behind them. On the left, a tree-lined cross street runs away from Lexington Avenue, with a crosswalk at the corner, traffic lights, parked cars and people on the sidewalks.

Can you see Lenox Hill Hospital on the webcam?

The camera points toward it. The hospital fills the block just west of the corner, between East 76th and East 77th Streets from Lexington to Park Avenue, and the operator describes the view as looking toward the Lenox Hill Hospital area. No hospital sign is readable in the frame, so it is hard to pick out a single hospital building on the stream.

What is the difference between the Upper East Side and the Upper West Side?

Central Park separates them. The Upper East Side runs from Fifth Avenue to the East River between 59th and 96th Streets, while the Upper West Side lies on the other side of the park, between Central Park and the Hudson River from 59th to 110th Street. This camera is on the east side, three avenues from the park.

What is the weather like on the Upper East Side?

Winters are cold, with January highs around 4 C (40 F) and about 76 centimeters (29.8 inches) of snow a year, while summers are hot and humid, with July highs near 29 C (85 F). April and October are mild, with highs of 17 to 18 C (62 to 65 F).

Can you watch the Upper East Side Webcam at night?

Yes. The stream runs through the night. After dark the street on the left stays lit by streetlights, shop fronts and traffic signals, and lit windows dot the apartment buildings, while the rooftops in the foreground fall into shadow.

What is there to do on the Upper East Side?

Central Park is three avenues west, and Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue, from 82nd to 105th Street, holds the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim and the Jewish Museum. Madison Avenue’s boutiques are two avenues west of the camera, and Carl Schurz Park, home of Gracie Mansion, sits on the East River.

Source: Tripwebcam