And just like that, Sex and the City enthusiasts may no longer be able to stand on the steps of character Carrie Bradshaw’s famous Manhattan home after its owner asked city officials to let her block them with an iron gate.
The move follows years of fans of the show and spinoff movies crowding around – and at times trespassing on – the stoop of the iconic brownstone in the city’s trendy West Village neighborhood, which served as the exterior of Bradshaw’s apartment, the lead in the hit HBO series played by Sarah Jessica Parker.
In a 14 January application to New York City’s landmarks preservation commission, which was first reported by the Substack newsletter Feed Me, the owner of 66 Perry Street explained her request to restrict access to the approach to her building, asking to be able to install an iron gate at the bottom of the steps.
The owner, identified by the New York Times as Barbara Lorber, said: “The front of my home appeared in the Sex and the City TV series as the exterior of character Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment. My fault: I felt sorry for the young location scout who was a recent grad from NYU Film School. He told me if he didn’t secure this house, he would lose his first real job in the business.”
She continued, to the outlet: “At the time, no one knew the show would turn into anything long lasting … much less the iconic fantasy vehicle and touchstone for NYC’s magic that it has become.” She added: “My home is now a global tourist destination … At any hour of the day or night, there are groups of visitors in front of the house taking flash photos, engaging in loud chatter, posting on social media, making TikTok videos or just celebrating the moment.”
Despite installing a “No Trespassing – Private Property” sign on a chain a few years ago, Lorber said that many visitors do not respect the chain and instead climb over it, pose, dance or lie down on the steps. She added that some visitors climb to the top to stare into the windows, try to open the main entrance door or ring the doorbells at night when drunk.
Lorber said that visitors had also spray-painted graffiti on the steps and carved their initials into the main door frame.
“After 20-plus years of hoping the fascination with my stoop would die away and fans would find a new object for their devotion, I have acknowledged we need something more substantial. In order to regain a reasonable quality of life for our tenants and ourselves, we need to install a proper gate,” she said.
The authorities have granted her permission to install a gate, although there is more discussion in the offing on the design.
Since airing on HBO in 1998, Sex and the City – which features the lives of four professional female friends living in New York City – gained worldwide popularity.
