1681 Second Avenue
1681 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10128
- Year built
- 1966
- Type
- Full-service elevator apartment building
- Units
- 118
- Landmark
- No
1681 Second Avenue is a product of the Upper East Side's post-war building wave — a twenty-story masonry elevator tower completed in 1966, in the heart of Yorkville between 87th and 88th Streets. It belongs to a specific and useful category of Manhattan inventory: the larger, full-service post-war building that trades period detail for scale, light, practical floor plans, and conveniences the pre-war stock a few blocks west simply does not offer — chief among them an on-site parking garage and ground-floor retail at the door.
Yorkville's character is part of the value proposition. This is the Upper East Side at its most genuinely residential — a neighborhood of long-tenured households, neighborhood retail, and a density that supports services without the formality of the Fifth and Park co-op blocks. The Second Avenue corridor in particular was transformed by the opening of the Second Avenue Subway: the Q at 86th Street, two blocks south, reset transit access along this stretch, adding a fast one-seat ride to Midtown and the East Side to the existing crosstown buses and the Lexington Avenue 4/5/6 a short walk west.
For a resident, the appeal is concrete. At 118 apartments across twenty floors, 1681 offers the efficient, light-filled layouts post-war construction was built to deliver, in a building large enough to support full staffing and shared amenities — and with a parking garage in the building and shops at street level, the daily-convenience case is unusually strong. It is not a landmark and does not pretend to be; its strength is livability at a more accessible price point than the avenue's pre-war and new-construction tiers, with Carl Schurz Park and the East River promenade a few blocks east and the Q a few blocks south.
Architecture and unit composition
1681 Second Avenue is a straightforward expression of mid-1960s Manhattan apartment design — a masonry elevator building organized for efficient floor plates rather than ornamental display. The post-war idiom prioritized larger windows, consistent ceiling heights, and rational layouts over the foyers and service wings of pre-war planning. The ground and lower floors carry the building's commercial space and parking garage, with residences rising above.
Across its 118 apartments, the unit mix spans studios through one-, two-, and three-bedroom configurations, with the higher floors capturing the open exposures and light that are the building type's signature advantage — including eastern light toward the East River. As with any building of this scale and era, individual apartments vary in renovation state; floor altitude, exposure, and layout are the variables that separate comparable homes.
Building operations
1681 Second Avenue operates as a full-service post-war elevator building with lobby attendance, a live-in superintendent, a central laundry, ground-floor retail, and an on-site parking garage — the parking and retail being genuine differentiators within Yorkville's housing stock. The 118-unit scale supports the staffing and the operational efficiencies of a large post-war building.
The building was extensively renovated in the late 1980s, the period when much of the Upper East Side's post-war rental stock moved into cooperative ownership. For a shareholder, the operative diligence items are the proprietary lease, house rules, and the board's financing, sublet, and pet posture; these follow standard Yorkville co-op norms.
Local Law 97
- 2024–2029 annual penalty
- $27,387/yr
- 2030–2034 annual penalty
- $137,337/yr
- Per unit / month range
- $19 – $97
Facade safety — Local Law 11
Safe to live in today — but the last inspection flagged repairs that are due on a deadline, so facade work and its cost are coming. Whether that’s a real concern depends on the scope, the timing, and how the building plans to pay for it — reserves or an assessment — which is exactly what we’d dig into for you.
QEWI = Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector — the licensed engineer the city requires to sign the report (the independent expert, not the managing agent). Source: NYC DOB facade filings (FISP) · The Roebling Research Library.
See the full facade history →Recent sales
Transaction cadence at a building of this scale tracks unit count: a 118-apartment building typically produces a steady stream of activity in any normal year, weighted toward the smaller and mid-size configurations that dominate post-war inventory. Pricing reflects Yorkville post-war values — generally more accessible than pre-war Upper East Side stock and well below the avenue's new-construction tier — with premiums for higher floors, open exposures, and renovated condition.
With variation by floor, exposure, and condition, building-wide averages are of limited use; a current apartment-level comparable analysis is the right tool for pricing any individual home.
What to know if you’re buying
Convenience is the headline. An on-site garage, retail at street level, and the Q at 86th two blocks south make this one of the more practical addresses in Yorkville.
The post-war format is the value. Efficient layouts, larger windows, and consistent ceiling heights at a more accessible price than pre-war or new-construction stock.
Light and floor altitude drive value. Higher floors with open exposures — eastern light toward the river especially — command the clearest premiums in buildings of this type.
Scale supports service. A 118-unit building carries the staffing and amenity base that smaller buildings cannot.
What to know if you’re selling
Lead with convenience and location. The on-site garage, ground-floor retail, improved Second Avenue Subway access, and Yorkville's residential character are the strongest selling points for post-war inventory.
Price against the corridor honestly. Position the apartment relative to comparable post-war Yorkville stock rather than against pre-war or new-construction tiers.
Foreground exposure and condition. In a large post-war building, floor altitude, light, and renovation state are the variables that separate comparable units.
Comparable buildings
If you're considering 1681 Second Avenue, also evaluate these nearby Yorkville and Upper East Side buildings:
- 345 East 86th Street — post-war Yorkville full-service co-op
- 1659 Second Avenue — nearby Yorkville Second Avenue building
- 320 East 86th Street — nearby Yorkville full-service building
- 535 East 86th Street — nearby Yorkville full-service building
The Roebling Team at 1681 Second Avenue
The Roebling Team at Compass specializes in the Upper East Side, Central Park West, and the broader Park-facing Manhattan market. We publish this building profile because Yorkville buyers and sellers deserve building-specific intelligence — operations, transactional mechanics, and pricing at the apartment level — not generic market commentary.
If you're considering a transaction at 1681 Second Avenue, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Get the full picture on this building.
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