By Carrie Bradshaw, who was never real. The places are.
Sarah Jessica Parker, 1999. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0Carrie
Kim Cattrall, 1999. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0Samantha
Kristin Davis, 1999. Alan Light · CC BY 2.0Charlotte
Cynthia Nixon, 2008. Daniela Stanek · CC BY-SA 2.0Miranda
Start typing The skyline, drawn by hand. Before dark.
Sarah Jessica Parker plays a writer whose life and friendships are the material for her weekly column. The show began as a column too: Candace Bushnell’s, in the New York Observer, from November 1994. Write the next one yourself, and let the city answer it.
Where we read it
HBO describes the series as Sarah Jessica Parker playing a thirty-something writer whose life and friendships are fodder for her weekly column; Darren Star created it.
Candace Bushnell created the Sex and the City column in the New York Observer in November 1994; it ran for two years, was bought as a book in 1995 and sold to HBO as a series in 1996.
66 Perry Street from across the road, September 2022. Jim Henderson · CC BY 4.0
66 Perry Street · West Village
Not your stoop.
Carrie climbs her stoop after one bad date after another; Big comes to it to try to win her back before she leaves for Paris. From the middle of the second season Carrie’s stoop was 64 Perry Street; from the third season to the finale it was 66 Perry Street.
It is somebody’s front door.
A private home. Look from the pavement opposite; please do not sit on, climb or pose on the steps. It is not on our map.
Where we read it
401 Bleecker Street · at West 11th
Pink, on Bleecker.
Magnolia Bakery, June 2026. Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0
A bare cupcake. Pipe the first swirl.
Swirls 0 of 3
Sunday–Thursday 9.30am–10pm, Friday and Saturday 9.30am–11pm.
Where we read it
This week’s column
Type it. The city answers.
Six weeks, six questions. Type each column a line at a time, then file it and see which real place answers.
column_week_1.doc
Line 0 of 4 typed.
Week 1
Nothing filed yet.
The answer to “Is there anywhere in New York that isn’t Pastis?” is a real address. Type the column to find it.
Where does she live?
One name, three addresses.
BRADSHAW
Bradshaw. Three buttons, one name.
Central Park · the Lake at 74th Street
Lunch, then the Lake.
The Boathouse and its rowboats, July 2019. Ajay Suresh · CC BY 2.0
Lunch at the Boathouse. Miranda said not to.
Calvert Vaux designed the first boathouse here in the 1870s; the building there now dates from the 1950s.
The Reservoir, October 2023. Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0
Mid-Park, 86th to 96th · 1.2 km north of the Boathouse
Charlotte’s run
The Reservoir is Charlotte’s favourite place to run, with her dog, Elizabeth Taylor. It was built between 1858 and 1862 and named in 1994 for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who used to jog here.
On your marks.
The running track around the bank is open with the park.
Where we read it
Fifth Avenue to the East River
The big days.
The library on Fifth Avenue, August 2026. Aude · CC BY-SA 4.0
The pleasure of your company is requested at
The New York Public Library
Called off
Carrie and Big’s wedding is set for the library in the 2008 film, until Big cannot go through with it. In the series, Miranda tells two strangers on the library steps that he’s just not that into you.
Free to enter. The steps and the lions are on Fifth Avenue; check the library’s own hours before you go.
Where we read it
The Plaza from Fifth Avenue, April 2024. Epicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0
Your girl is lovely, Hubbell.
Outside the Plaza, after Big and Natasha’s engagement party, Carrie tells Big “Your girl is lovely, Hubbell”, the line from The Way We Were. Sex and the City 2 begins at the Plaza, with Carrie remembering how she met her three best friends.
A working hotel. See the front from Grand Army Plaza; afternoon tea is served in the Palm Court.
Where we read it
The Plaza
The Plaza
768 Fifth Avenue, at Central Park South
A filming location: Carrie says goodbye to Big outside, and the second film begins here. 282 rooms, 102 of them suites, and afternoon tea in the Palm Court.
A Brooklyn Bridge tower from the promenade, November 2024. Superbass · CC BY-SA 4.0
ManhattanBrooklynMS
Miranda starts in Manhattan; Steve starts in Brooklyn.
At the end of the 2008 film Miranda and Steve meet on the Brooklyn Bridge and decide to move past his infidelity. John A. Roebling designed the bridge; it was built from 1869 to 1883. The bridge and its approaches run 6,016 feet; the pedestrian promenade is open at all times.
The pedestrian promenade is open at all times. Walk on from near City Hall Park in Manhattan or from Tillary Street in Brooklyn.
Where we read it
A table for four
Pull up a chair.
Carrie’s places
Carrie’s stoop, 66 Perry StreetHome, after the datePrivate home
Magnolia BakeryA pink cupcake
Il CantinoriThirty-five
PastisEveryone’s at Pastis
Onieal’sScout
Columbus CircleBy the fountains
The Boathouse, Central ParkIn the Lake
New York Public LibraryOn the library steps
The PlazaYour girl is lovely, Hubbell
Bemelmans Bar, the CarlyleA drink with Louise
BuddakanThe rehearsal dinner
Candace Bushnell at a New York premiere, September 2025. Vbrunophotog · CC BY-SA 4.0Candace Bushnell wrote the columnDarren Star, interviewed in 2017. Sidewalks Entertainment · CC BY 3.0Darren Star created the series
She wrote it for the New York Observer from November 1994; it became a book and, in 1996, an HBO series. He made it into television.
Where we read it
Sarah Jessica Parker plays Carrie, Kim Cattrall Samantha, Kristin Davis Charlotte and Cynthia Nixon Miranda Hobbes.
14 places you can visit, by neighbourhood. Carrie’s stoop at 66 Perry Street is a private home and Soho House is a members-only club: both are named here and not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Sunday–Thursday 9.30am–10pm, Friday and Saturday 9.30am–11pm.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Free. Tuesday–Sunday 10am–6pm, 1 April to 30 October; closed in winter.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Lunch Monday–Friday 12–2.45pm; dinner Sunday–Thursday 5–10pm, Friday and Saturday 5–10.30pm.
1Magnolia Bakery at Bleecker and West 11th Street, June 2026. Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0
401 Bleecker Street, at West 11th Street
Magnolia Bakery
Carrie and Miranda sit outside with pink cupcakes and talk about Carrie’s crush on Aidan.
Sunday–Thursday 9.30am–10pm, Friday and Saturday 9.30am–11pm.
Where we read it
2Jefferson Market Garden, the library tower behind the trees, July 2026. Kidfly182 · CC BY 4.0
Greenwich Avenue, between Sixth Avenue and West 10th Street
Jefferson Market Garden
Miranda and Steve marry in this garden beside the Jefferson Market Library.
Free. Tuesday–Sunday 10am–6pm, 1 April to 30 October; closed in winter.
Where we read it
3Il Cantinori on East 10th Street, June 2005. Rob Young · CC BY 2.0
32 East 10th Street, between University Place and Broadway
Il Cantinori
Carrie’s thirty-fifth birthday party here is barely attended; she sips a Shirley Temple while she waits for her friends.
Lunch Monday–Friday 12–2.45pm; dinner Sunday–Thursday 5–10pm, Friday and Saturday 5–10.30pm.
Where we read it
Stay
Two hotels in the story.
The Plaza is a filming location; at the Carlyle it is the bar downstairs.
The Plaza
The Plaza
768 Fifth Avenue, at Central Park South
A filming location: Carrie says goodbye to Big outside, and the second film begins here. 282 rooms, 102 of them suites, and afternoon tea in the Palm Court.
The hotel around Bemelmans Bar, where Carrie has drinks with her new assistant in the 2008 film. The rooms themselves are not a filming location. Opened in 1930.
The bakery and the garden in the Village, the Boathouse in the park, Bemelmans after dark, and a bus tour of the lot.
On Location Tours
Sex and the City Hotspots Tour
Departs near Fifth Avenue and 58th Street · About 3 hours · $83, premium seat $93
A bus tour of more than 40 places from the series and both films: the Plaza, the West Village, Buddakan and a cosmopolitan at Onieal’s (the drink is extra). Ages 18 and over.
Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Where we read it
The soundtrack album for the 2008 film, New Line Records, opens with Fergie’s “Labels or Love”.
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