Lena Dunham smiling, dark bobbed hair, April 2012 — Lena Dunham in New York on 25 April 2012, ten days after Girls began on HBO. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0

Allison Williams smiling, July 2012 — Allison Williams, who played Marnie, in July 2012, after the first season. Paul Stein · CC BY-SA 2.0

Alex Karpovsky in a dark jacket, April 2012 — Alex Karpovsky, who played Ray, in New York in April 2012. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0

Zosia Mamet smiling, October 2016 — Zosia Mamet, who played Shoshanna, in October 2016, before the last season aired. Daniel Benavides from Austin, TX · CC BY 2.0

Single origin · Greenpoint, Brooklyn · HBO

Girls

Poured: 15 April 2012 to 16 April 2017
Batches: Six seasons, 62 episodes
Origin: 193 Meserole Avenue

Girls begins on HBO on 15 April 2012. Lena Dunham created it, stars as Hannah Horvath and runs the show. Hannah and Ray work as baristas at Café Grumpy on Meserole Avenue. Pour from that counter below and the show’s real places come up, Greenpoint first, as far as Greenport, 140 km away.

Stickers: Lena Dunham in New York on 25 April 2012, ten days after Girls began on HBO. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0 Allison Williams, who played Marnie, in July 2012, after the first season. Paul Stein · CC BY-SA 2.0 Alex Karpovsky, who played Ray, in New York in April 2012. David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0 Zosia Mamet, who played Shoshanna, in October 2016, before the last season aired. Daniel Benavides from Austin, TX · CC BY 2.0

Sources

HBO, 2012–2017

From one small film
to six seasons.

62episodes over six seasons

2Primetime Emmys, with a Peabody and a BAFTA

Dunham’s 2010 feature Tiny Furniture won Best Narrative Feature at SXSW; that success led to the HBO pilot, made with Judd Apatow.

The first season is filmed from April to August 2011. The props and furniture come from New York vintage shops, among them the Brooklyn Flea and Geminola, the shop run by Jemima Kirke’s mother.

The show wins two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Peabody, a BAFTA, a Directors Guild award and the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy series. The last episode airs on 16 April 2017, after six seasons and 62 episodes. A five-episode HBO revival has been announced, with production set to begin in 2027.

Sources

Pour

Pour it from
the counter.

The ten marks on the glass are the show’s real places, outward from Café Grumpy. Hold the kettle to pour, or tap it for one measure at a time. Let the first measure bloom.

1The counter

2Hannah’s street

3Five quiet blocks

4A jam on purpose

5Marnie’s gallery

6A White Russian

7On the map

8The stages

9A post office

10Out east

Pour the first measure to wet the grounds.

0 of 10 poured

1Café Grumpy, GreenpointThe counter
Pour to reach mark 1.
2India Street, GreenpointA neighbourhood, not pinned
Pour to reach mark 2.
3BushwickA neighbourhood, not pinned
Pour to reach mark 3.
4Bedford-StuyvesantA neighbourhood, not pinned
Pour to reach mark 4.
5Lehmann Maupin, Lower East SideA neighbourhood, not pinned
Pour to reach mark 5.
6Tom & Jerry’s3.8 km from the counter
Pour to reach mark 6.
7The High Line5.2 km from the counter
Pour to reach mark 7.
8Silvercup Studios2.6 km from the counter
Pour to reach mark 8.
9Steinway Street, Astoria4.9 km from the counter
Pour to reach mark 9.
10Greenport140 km from the counter
Pour to reach mark 10.

Marks run outward from Café Grumpy: Greenpoint, the rest of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, then the North Fork. Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and the Lower East Side gallery have no address in any source, so they carry no distance. India Street is a street of private homes and is not pinned.

Sources

Café Grumpy

Coffee at Café Grumpy

193 Meserole Avenue, Greenpoint · Check the café for today’s hours

The Greenpoint café where Hannah and Ray work, still pouring at the corner of Meserole Avenue and Diamond Street.

Visit the café

The High Line

Walk the High Line

Gansevoort Street to 34th Street · Free · 7am–10pm April to November · 7am–8pm December to March

A free park on an old freight line, from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street, with lifts at four entrances.

Plan a visit

Café Grumpy’s painted door sign in Greenpoint — The door sign at Café Grumpy in Greenpoint, August 2025. Runawaymo · CC BY-SA 4.0

193 Meserole Avenue

Behind
the counter.

The café came into the show from Lena Dunham’s own life in Greenpoint; the owners did not realise it would become, in their words, a character.

It stands next to Broadway Stages, a production studio, and was rented partly because of that and at a location scout’s request. Ray Ploshansky, Hannah Horvath and Elijah Krantz all work there in the show.

Caroline Bell and Chris Timbrell founded Café Grumpy in 2005, opening the first café in Greenpoint; the company roasts its own coffee in Brooklyn. Blue Bloods, Lipstick Jungle and The Black Donnellys have also filmed there.

A working coffee shop at the corner of Diamond Street. Hours have changed over the years: check with the café before a special trip.

Sources

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

60 Furman Street, Brooklyn · See the site

Not a filming location: a hotel on the Brooklyn waterfront at 60 Furman Street, a ferry or subway ride from Greenpoint. Its page showed offers but no nightly rates. Pictured: the India Street pier, Greenpoint.

See rooms

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Brooklyn neighbourhood and TV location tours

Brooklyn

Live marketplace results for walking tours of north Brooklyn and New York TV locations. Check which stops each makes.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

Steinway Street, Astoria

A post office
for a morning.

Shops along Steinway Street in Astoria — Steinway Street at 31st Avenue, Astoria, a block from the 2014 shoot, October 2022. Tdorante10 · CC BY-SA 4.0

July 2014: a shop between 28th and 30th Avenues dressed as a post office.

Sources

In July 2014 a storefront on Steinway Street becomes a mock post office for a morning’s shooting, with Zosia Mamet and Alex Karpovsky on set.

Zosia Mamet and Alex Karpovsky were seen on set; a food tent and equipment trucks lined much of the block.

In May 2014 the crew stages a traffic jam in Bed-Stuy, and causes a real one. On 3 and 4 June 2014 season four films on five quiet blocks of Bushwick.

The series films at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City, in the old bakery where The Sopranos and Sex and the City were made.

Street: Steinway Street at 31st Avenue, Astoria, a block from the 2014 shoot, October 2022. Tdorante10 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Sources

Greenport village street on Long Island — Greenport village on the North Fork of Long Island, March 2025. Mike Peel · CC BY-SA 4.0

Greenport, Long Island

The end
of the line.

The cast filmed in Greenport’s village centre for season three, inside and outside The Market at 44 Front Street and outside Claudio’s Restaurant.

Producer Ilene Landress said the director Jesse Peretz has a home in Greenport and called the village a great place to film; the week before, the show had filmed in East Marion.

Greenport was settled in 1682 and incorporated as a village in 1838; it has been the eastern end of the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line since 1844.

A village at the end of the Long Island Rail Road. Walk from the station to Front Street and Claudio’s on the water.

Sources

Claudio’s

Lunch at Claudio’s, Greenport

111 Main Street, Greenport · Check the restaurant for seasonal hours

The waterfront restaurant the crew filmed outside for season three, at the foot of Main Street.

See the restaurant

Time Out New York

A drink at Tom & Jerry’s

288 Elizabeth Street, Manhattan · Daily noon to 4am · cash only

The Elizabeth Street bar where Jessa orders a White Russian. Over-21s, cash only.

Read the listing

Where it is now

6 places you can visit. India Street is a street of private homes: walk it, but the house is not named or pinned. Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and the Lower East Side gallery have no exact address, so they are listed but not pinned. Silvercup is a working studio: see it from the street.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

Building reference · Public access · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working coffee shop at the corner of Diamond Street. Hours have changed over the years: check with the café before a special trip.

The door sign at Café Grumpy in Greenpoint, August 2025. Runawaymo · CC BY-SA 4.0
Greenpoint and Brooklyn · 193 Meserole Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Café Grumpy, Greenpoint
Hannah and Ray work as baristas at Café Grumpy on Meserole Avenue in Greenpoint.
A working coffee shop at the corner of Diamond Street. Hours have changed over the years: check with the café before a special trip.
Sources

Stay

Sleep near the places.

One hotel on the Lower East Side, one on the Brooklyn waterfront.

Hotel on Rivington

Rivington Street, Lower East Side

Not a filming location: a glass tower at 107 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side, a walk from Elizabeth Street. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls; some rooms have balconies. Pictured: the Lower East Side.

Check rooms

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

60 Furman Street, Brooklyn · See the site

Not a filming location: a hotel on the Brooklyn waterfront at 60 Furman Street, a ferry or subway ride from Greenpoint. Its page showed offers but no nightly rates. Pictured: the India Street pier, Greenpoint.

See rooms

Go there