New York, NY 10021

A little social-welfare piece for those who've fared well socially: An Elite ZIP Code Becomes Harder to Crack (NYTimes)

For those less familiar with NY's social hierarchy, 10021 is the zip code of NY's Upper East Side (UES). It now runs roughly from East 60th Street up to East 80th Street. It has long been a sought-after zip code (the wealthy have different concerns than you or i), although in recent times, many of the upper-crust have been reported to have ventured away from the UES, especially to the West Village.

The people getting screwed over, um, reassigned will fall into one of two categories. The new breakdown for the old 10021 is as follows:

• 10065 - 60th to south side of 69th Street (from Fifth Ave to East River)
• 10021 - north side of 69th Street to south side of East 76th Street
• 10075 - south side of East 76th Street to East 80th Street

Kinda sucks for those on the south side of 69th and the north side of 76th. It's like the "wrong side of the tracks" for rich people. I wonder if a notable difference in value will emerge because of this change.

My personal favorite zip code I ever had was for a brief 3 months while interning in NY. Living at 34th and 6th Ave gave me the very awesome zip code of 10001. Awesome, right? (is that a "who cares?" i hear?)

Lastly, what about the kids? I remember being confused enough about why zip codes existed when I was a kid. Good thing they never changed mine on me while still living in the same place...