“Sex” and Your City: Locations from the “Sex and the City” Movie
Sex and the City: The Movie 2008
A feature revealing locations used in the hit “Sex and the City” movie.
After four long years of waiting, “Sex and the City” fans finally got their favorite show back - on the big screen! Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda are once again sipping Cosmos, navigating the streets of Manhattan - and navigating the tricky world of love, sex, and relationships. And you can be the fifth friend (in your own mind) by gallivanting around NYC and checking out the city hotspots featured in the “Sex and the City” movie!
This write-up contains movie spoilers! Do not read it if you haven’t seen the movie yet and don’t want to know what happens!
It’s at Italian restaurant Lumi at 963 Lexington Avenue that Charlotte runs into Big, yelling “I curse the day you were born!” before going into labor. Lenox Hill Hopital at 100 East 77th Street is where Charlotte gives birth to her daughter Rose, and where Harry tells Carrie that Big had been looking for her and hoping to run into her. Carrie and Louise meet for drinks at Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle Hotel on 76th Street between Park & Madison. The exteriors of Carrie and Big’s gorgeous apartment were shot at a building across from the MOMA, at Fifth Avenue & 82nd Street. Exteriors of Charlotte and Harry’s apartment were shot on Park Avenue at 81st Street.
East 55th Street & Park Avenue, near a Mercedes-Benz dealership, is where Carrie ran past a girl screaming at her boyfriend and into a club. Samantha tries to buy a ring for herself at Christie’s Auction House on East 49th between Fifth & Sixth.
Charlotte goes running in Central Park, at the Reservoir, and the park’s Ladies’ Pavillion on the west side is where Carrie and Miranda discuss the issue of forgiveness where Steve’s betrayal is concerned.
It was outside of St. Patrick’s Cathedral that Carrie screamed at Big, “you’ve humiliated me!” and threw her flowers at him, after he failed to show up for their wedding.
And of course the girls attend Fashion Week at Bryant Park (between 40th and 42nd Streets & Fifth and Sixth Avenues)… this is also where Harry and Charlotte take Lily on the carousel! Exteriors and the lobby of the Bryant Park Hotel (40 West 40th Street between Fifth Avenue & Sixth Avenue) were also used. The Piano Suite at the Hotel Giraffe was converted into Big’s apartment - you can find the building at 365 Park Avenue.
Big and Carrie’s wedding festivities were supposed to be at the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue & East 42nd Street - Carrie discovered it while returning her book of love letters. But don’t just visit; throw a party! The library rents Astor Hall and the McGraw Rotunda for wedding receptions (although they won’t let you perform the actual ceremony in the stacks). Like Carrie, you’ll need your own Anthony; the library requires that couples use a professional wedding planner.
Carrie meets with Enid at Vogue in the Conde Nast Building in Times Square. Also on Broadway is the Duane Reade drugstore where Carrie and Miranda shop for Halloween costumes. Carrie is shopping at Diane von Furstenberg at 874 Washington Street between 13th & 14th when she calls Samantha to inform her of her and Big’s marriage plans. (Miranda and Charlotte are with Carrie at The Modern on 53rd street when they hear the news.) Carrie and Charlotte shop for a new desk for Carrie at Luceplan on Greene Street. (Nearby is an empty store where producers re-created the Coffee Shop from the show!)
Carrie met her new assistant Louise for an interview at Starbucks, at 13 Astor Place #25. Later, Carrie meets Louise and her boyfriend at La Focaccia on Bank Street in Greenwich Village.
Carrie’s iconic brownstone steps are at 66 Perry Street and provide the meeting place for Miranda and Carrie to discuss the Valentine’s Day debacle (which took place at glam spot Raoul’s at 180 Prince Street).
Big and Carrie’s elegant engagement party took place at hotspot Buddakan, which is at 75 Ninth Avenue at the corner of 16th Street. Nearby is designer-owned brunch spot 202, which is where Miranda finally decided to forgive Steve. Vitra on Ninth Avenue between 13th & 14th was used as the exterior for Samantha’s 50th birthday celebration at the end of the film. When Miranda, Steve, Brady, and Magda went out to dinner, the Good World Bar & Grill on Orchard Street in Chinatown stood in for a Brooklyn eatery.
Several Brooklyn locations were used as well - obviously the Brooklyn Bridge, where Miranda and Steve had their moving reconciliation; the Brooklyn Supreme Court Building at 360 Adams Ave is where Big and Carrie finally tied the knot in a simple ceremony. The gathering after the wedding with their best friends took place at Junior’s on Flatbush Avenue, which is famous for its delicious cheesecake! Down the street on Dekalb Avenue between Washington & Waverly is the exterior used for Miranda and Steve’s home.
Now, go see the movie one more time and then retrace Carrie and the girls’ Manolo-ed steps throughout the city to all of these fabulous locations! We have an exclusive directory of all addresses featured in this story here. And don’t miss our tour of New York based on the original “Sex and the City” TV series!
- Christina LeBlanc and Bobby Guerette, Executive Editors
[...] near major cities, especially on the East Coast (good news for our “Sex and the City” movie and TV tour ideas). Newcomer BoltBus can bring you from Boston, Philadelphia, or Washington, D.C. [...]