See All of the Buildings Used as Carrie’s Apartment on ‘Sex and the City’

A mention of Carrie’s apartment to any “Sex and the City” fan will undoubtedly call to mind grand visions of a gorgeous walk-up with an iron-railinged stoop. But the spot initially used as hers was not a walk-up at all, nor did it have a stoop. In the pilot, which aired on June 6th, 1998, Carrie is shown to be living above a café in a rather nondescript five-story building complete with a bright neon coffee sign. It is on the street out in front of the structure that Mr. Big (Chris Noth) utters his now famous line, “Absof**kinglutely,” in response to Carrie asking if he’s ever been in love. The building, which is located at 960 Madison Ave. on the Upper East Side, also appears in episode two, “Models and Mortals.” Though the second level has been renovated a bit since filming took place over two decades ago, the top floors, where Carrie is purported to have lived, still look much the same, minus the neon coffee sign, which was likely just a prop brought in by production.

The exterior of Carrie’s apartment is not shown again until the season one finale, “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” and this time it’s a completely different spot! Because filming on a busy block of Madison Ave. would have been difficult to carry out on a regular basis, Carrie’s apartment location was shifted about a mile south to an attractive walk-up at 34 E. 62nd St. It is on the stoop of that building that she and Big break up – well, for the first time, at least  – after he refuses to tell her she is “the one.” Unfortunately, this location no longer exists. It was blown up in 2006 by its owner who, in the midst of a contentious divorce, sought out to not only commit suicide but destroy the family home in the process.  A new five-story townhouse, constructed by architect Henry Jessup in 2017, now stands in its place.

Season two brings even more apartment switch-ups! While Carrie is shown walking past a row of brownstones, presumably one of which is hers, in several early episodes of the season, we don’t get a definitive look at an exterior until “La Douleur Exquise.” As Big leaves Carrie’s apartment after the two break up once again in the episode, he heads down her front steps – but a different set of steps than was featured in “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” The scene is very brief, though, and only provides a limited overhead view of the location, and, as such, I haven’t been unable to identify it.

Two episodes later, audiences are shown Carrie’s brownstone once again – and once again it is a different spot entirely! The “Sex and the City” production team sure liked to play fast and loose with its locations! In the episode, titled “The F**k Buddy,” we see Carrie walking up the steps of 64 Perry St. in the West Village. The same site also appears as Carrie’s building in “Was It Good for You?” As season two location manager Tyson Bidner explained, “Perry Street was definitely chosen creatively as it really fit the character and the neighborhood lent itself to such a great look for the show.”

By the series’ season three premiere, “Where There’s Smoke . . .,” Carrie’s apartment has been relocated again – but not very far. This time filming only moved one house over to 66 Perry St. It is not hard to guess why the switch was made – the 1866 brownstone easily boasts the prettiest façade on the entire block and is perfectly befitting of the eternally fabulous Carrie Bradshaw.

That location went on to appear as Carrie’s building throughout the rest of the show’s run and in the two movies (though she doesn’t actually live there in “Sex and the City 2”) – well, except for one brief, inexplicable speed bump, that is.

In season three’s “All or Nothing,” Carrie steps out of what is purported to be her building under the pretense of walking her boyfriend Aidan Shaw’s (John Corbett) dog, though she is actually meeting Mr. Big, with whom she is having an affair. She loses Aidan’s dog shortly thereafter and, in turn, realizes how lost she has become herself. The location managers must have gotten a bit lost with this one, too, because instead of using 66 Perry as Carrie’s building, she is instead shown walking out of a brick brownstone five blocks away at 139 W. 13th St. Aside from that one outlier, though, 66 Perry served as Carrie’s home from season three on.

The stalker found it, its Carrie’s apartment.

Interestingly, Carrie is not shown actually entering 66 Perry until season four’s “Defining Moments.” As executive producer Michael Patrick King expressed of the occasion in the 2004 book, Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell, “We said, ‘Yes! She went in! Four years and she finally got in her door.’”

The fabulously chic interior of Carrie’s apartment – with that unique walk-through closet – cannot be found at any of the six locations used for exterior shots. It was just a set created by production designer Jeremy Conway at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City. Interestingly, though Carrie’s décor immediately resonated with fans and inspired a slew of imitators, Conway designed it with the notion that Carrie herself would not have put a lot of funding or thought into the place. As he explained to the Daily News, ”Carrie’s apartment is not about Carrie. What she’s wearing is where she spends her money, and her apartment is secondary to that. So we started ‘flea-ing’ and using found pieces she might reupholster. What was important to her was her persona when she went out the door.” Perhaps that is exactly what drew audiences to the aesthetic, though – the seeming effortlessness of it all.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Disclaimer: Please remember these are private buildings. Do not trespass or bother the residents or the property in any way.

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