Sex and the City fans come from all over the world to see where Carrie Bradshaw lived.
NYC is chock-full of Sex and the City filming locations. Unlike many popular shows of that era set in New York (Friends, Seinfeld, etc.) that were filmed in LA, SATC was actually filmed entirely in New York City.
I was a MASSIVE fan of Sex and the City. The show was still on the air when I first moved to NYC, and I can’t begin to describe what a pervasive part of the culture it was at the time.
I wore some absolutely insane outfits out and about the city early on, inspired by the over-the-top fashions on the show. (Yes, there are pictures. No, I will not put them on here.)
While my New York experience as a broke 18-year-old didn’t look much like the world of SATC, I loved the show, the characters, and the magical city that it was set in.
I know that many others felt the same way, so I completely understand wanting to check out some of the show’s filming locations when visiting NYC!
Of all of the filming locations in the city, one I would consider a must-see is the building that served as Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment.
Some say that Carrie Bradshaw's Upper East Side apartment might as well be the fifth main character as it features in so many important moments in Carrie's life.
If you ask any die-hard fan of the show where Carrie lives, they could likely give you an exact address: 245 E. 73rd Street.
So fans who go searching for the familiar building at that address while visiting NYC would get quite a surprise- the building isn’t there!
Exterior scenes of Carrie's apartment building were actually filmed at several locations, but none of them were actually located on E 73rd.
In Season 1, Carrie’s apartment building exterior scenes are believed to have been located at 960 Madison Avenue, a building without a stoop, but rather a storefront with apartments above.
At the end of the season, the exterior building scenes took place at a since-destroyed brownstone at 34 East 62nd Street.
By episode 14 in Season 2, Carrie's stoop scenes had moved to a leafier, charming location at 64 Perry Street.
From season 3 through the series finale, her stoop had relocated yet again, and remained at 66 Perry Street until the end of the series. (It is actually very similar to its neighbor next door, just with a slightly more ornate stoop.)
When most fans of the show picture Carrie’s apartment, 66 Perry Street is the building they will have in mind.
If you are visiting NYC and want that perfect Sex and the City location selfie, head down to Greenwich Village and visit Perry Street!
And, in the video below, Katie, a tour guide with us, Free Tours by Foot NYC, takes you on a virtual walk down Perry Street.
REACHING THESE BUILDINGS IS EASY
You can go on your own, but you can also take a bus tour of Sex and the City sights with other fans of the show.
This tour is included for free with the purchase of the New York Pass, a tourist concession card.
It's also 20% cheaper for holders of the Explorer Pass, another tourist card.
Additionally, we offer a Sex and The City self-guided tour. If you want to see all of the best Sex and the City filming locations- not just Carrie’s apartment- make sure you check it out!
Also, there are rules. The current owners of the building are not thrilled that fans take photos of their home day and night. We explain this in the next section.
WHERE IS CARRIE BRADSHAW'S APARTMENT?
It’s pretty easy to locate Carrie’s apartment at 66 Perry Street.
Below is a map of the area with the nearest subway stations underlined.
The walk to 66 Perry Street is no more than 6-7 minutes from any of these subway stations.
Click this link for directions to the building.
Be sure to read our post on mastering the NYC subway and choosing the best subway MetroCard for you.
If you are considering purchasing a hop-on-hop-off bus ticket to get you around NYC, then know that all buses make a stop just blocks away at Washington Square Park.
Some Things to Know
While the apartment is pretty easy to get to, there are some things to keep in mind if you want that perfect photo.
- If you don’t want to encounter a lot of other people, consider going earlier in the day. The streets in Greenwich Village are generally much emptier in the morning.
- Bring a friend! Because you will need to stand on the sidewalk in front of the stairs (more on that below), you may have trouble getting much of the building in a selfie. Have your friend stand all the way back at the curb (or even a little further into the street, if there aren’t cars coming!) and hold your phone vertically for the best shot.
- If you are traveling solo, consider going in the afternoon when it will be busier. You may have to wait to get a picture, but there will likely be other fans around who will be willing to help you get that perfect shot.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE RULES
As you can imagine, hundreds of people visit Carrie’s apartment every week. And what good is a picture if you aren’t standing on the stoop?
The owners of 66 Perry are not thrilled about the constant visitors gawking at their home, and posing on their stoop, so they placed a chain across the stairs with a “No Trespass” sign.
As a fan of the show, I completely get wanting your picture on the stairs. As a New Yorker who has actually had tv shows filmed inside my (former)apartment building- I can’t imagine dealing with that every day, and completely get where the owners are coming from.
So the happy medium is for people to stand on the public sidewalk, off of the stairs, in front of the chain.
In the past, there was a sign asking for $1 donations to be placed in a box that would be used to help homeless dogs and cats, though our guides have reported that the box is no longer there.
Should it reappear while you are visiting, it would be nice to leave a donation.
The current sign on the chain says “Do NOT go on the staircase please.”
Do not take it lightly and step over the chain.
Even Sarah Jessica Parker herself caused a commotion in October 2014 when she filmed a commercial for her new shoe line along the public sidewalk in front of 66 Perry.
That was fine – but when she reached over the chain to place shoes from her new shoe collection onto the stairs, it caused a major uproar with the owners.
As for that selfie or photo you simply must have, it’s fine to take a picture while standing on the public sidewalk in front of Carrie's stoop, but the real residents deserve some privacy.
The building owners have gone so far as to have Google Maps blur their building on the Google Street view picture! This should give you a better idea of how they feel about the people crowding around their home.
Keep your volume down when visiting as well. Perry is an otherwise pretty quiet street, so it would be easy for noise to carry to the residents inside.
RENT: REALITY VS. FICTION
In the show, Carrie lived in a spacious one-bedroom with a walk-through closet and bathroom and a full kitchen on East 73rd Street. That would put her living in the pricey Upper East Side neighborhood.
She paid about $700 a month when in reality comparable apartments on East 73rd would currently cost over $4,000 per month.
How did Carrie – a newspaper columnist making a middle-income salary afford to live in such a swanky part of town and afford all those Manolos?
Turns out that Carrie’s apartment was rent-controlled, thus her incredibly low rent was subject to strict laws about rent hikes.
The same was true for Monica and Rachel’s apartment in the TV hit “Friends” who could never have afforded their huge apartment in Greenwich Village.
This is a commonly used tactic for television shows set in NYC. As someone who has worked on several film and tv sets, I understand.
It would be incredibly difficult to maneuver and film inside the small spaces many New Yorkers actually live in!
In reality, there are currently about 24,000 rent-controlled apartments in all of NYC. This accounts for about 2% of all apartments in the city.
The lease for these apartments must have begun before 1971, and for characters the age of Carrie Bradshaw or Monica Geller, the lease would have to have been inherited from a family member. (They actually specify this in Friends).
Cupcakes!
Just one episode of Sex and the City was enough to make nearby Magnolia Bakery, located at 401 Bleecker Street and West 11th Street, a tourist destination.
In Season III, Episode 5, Carrie and Miranda sink their teeth into Magnolia’s signature cupcakes as they discuss their love lives.
If you are going to visit Carrie’s apartment, you may as well pick up another Sex and the City filming location- and a pretty tasty cupcake while you are at it!
The fact is, regardless of appearing on SATC or not, Magnolia Bakery is delicious.
While they are famous for their cupcakes (and that would be the appropriate order for a SATC filming location visit), I have to give a shout-out to their banana pudding as well.
It is truly delicious! Maybe get both? You deserve it.
If you are interested in seeing the apartment building used in the TV show "Friends", then it’s just a 6-minute walk from Carrie's stoop and located on top of the Little Owl Restaurant.
For directions and other fun facts, see our post on the Friends Apartment Building.
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