The Neighborhood: Kips Bay

      Good Shepherd is located in the section of Manhattan known as Kips Bay. This neighborhood stretches from East 23rd to East 34th Street and from Lexington Avenue to the East River. It is named for Jacobus Henderson Kip, a Dutch farmer who settled the area in the mid-17th century. Kips Bay has approximately 33,000 residents. The housing stock comprises a mixture of new high-rises, a few public housing projects, single family brownstones and many pre-World War II apartment houses. The mid-range rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,000 and higher. A one-bedroom condominium in the neighborhood runs in the $500,000 range, while co-ops are somewhat less at $425,000. Single family townhouses in the area generally sell for over $2 million. The New York Times recently described the neighborhood in "Living in...Far East 34th Street."

As with much of Manhattan, this area is ethnically and racially mixed. Its proximity to the United Nations and to several large hospitals (Veterans Administration, Bellevue, NYU Medical Center and the new NYU Cancer Center) adds to what has often been called the "mosaic" of the city.

The neighborhood is served by P.S. 116, at 210 East 33rd Street. This highly rated K-5 public school boasts gifted and talented programs and has developed affiliations with Lincoln Center and Teacher's College. The majority of Baruch College's campus buildings are also located in Kips Bay. In 2000, the College completed the construction of a stunning 17-story academic complex, located on Lexington Avenue between 24th and 25th Streets.

Located between Second and Third Avenues, the tree-lined street on which Good Shepherd rests is primarily residential. Nearby are restaurants representing an array of cuisines, including Vietnamese, Indian, Afghani and Turkish, among many others. In 1999, Loews Theaters opened one of its first stadium-seating cinemas in Manhattan on Second Avenue near 31st Street.