The Seamless Web Real Estate Index?

By A. Ready | January 11, 2011 - 2:41PM

Hunting for a new-construction condo in Harlem, a first-time buyer on StreetEasy gets some advice with an interesting twist.

"The definite best places if you want Manhattan style amenIties not super far away are the FDB [Frederick Douglas Boulevard] from 110th-125th corridor (not east of ADC/7th) and East Harlem below 106th (especially below 101st). Outside of that...well, just look up how many restaurants deliver to the two places I mentioned on Seamlessweb or Deliver.com versus anywhere else in Harlem, and that is as good a proxy as any," the buyer is told.

Intrigued, BrickUnderground decided to apply the Seamless Web food delivery metric to some of the developments referred to on the StreetEasy thread.

Residents at The Livmor (2131 FDB and 115th Street) have 41 food delivery options on SeamlessWeb compared to a paltry 16 choices available to apartment-dwellers at The Kalahari (116th between Fifth and Lenox Avenues).

A little higher up, 2280 FDB, stretching from 122 to 123rd street, garners some praise for its physical aspects (along with some criticism for its pricing) but measures a so-so on its 23 food delivery options. Nearby 88 Morningside (on 122nd two blocks west of FDB) has 26.

But both 2280 FDB and 88 Morningside are doing okay on the Seamless Web index compared to further-north FDB neighbor 239 West 135th, with only 8 restaurants.

To get a sense of just how emerging this restaurant scene is, however, consider the options available to the residents in a couple of neighborhoods known for their abundance of dining locales.

Those who call 123 Third Avenue (at E. 14th Street) home, in the food-centric East Village, are presented with 408 Seamless Web delivery options. Live at The Dillon (425 West 53rd Street at Ninth Avenue) and 299 restaurants will bring food to your door. While the dining scene has improved in Harlem, it has a ways to go before it offers anything close to this level of variety.

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