Eight episodes in and I still haven’t quite warmed to HBO Max’s new “Sex and the City” spinoff, “And Just Like That . . . ,“ which debuted last month. Even bringing back the legendary Atelier Versace Mille Feuille gown Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) donned her first night in Paris on the original series’ 2004 finale (which The New York Times deemed ‘the crown jewel of Carrie’s wardrobe”) for a brief cameo didn’t manage to win me over. “And Just Like That . . .” just feels lackluster. And I can’t help but wonder, where is New York? We hardly see the city that served as both the fifth character and the definitive heart of its predecessor.
Vox’s Alex Abad-Santos hits the nail on the head with his assertion that there is nothing “remotely aspirational” about the spinoff, in sharp contrast to the OG series, which painted life in New York as magical. He writes, “In the original show, Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), and the now-absent Samantha (Kim Cattrall) were fairy tale avatars of hope, grandeur, and success. Life’s low patches, which mainly were the result of dating and being broken up by terrible men, were nothing compared to living in New York City with fabulous shoes, fantastic outfits, and forever friends.” Indeed, even on one of Bradshaw’s worst days, when NYC “kicked her ass” in season five’s “Fleet Week” and had her contemplating the benefits of lithium-laced ice cream, both Carrie and Manhattan couldn’t have seemed more fantastic! But I’ve been hard-pressed to find anything envy-inducing about “And Just Like That . . . “ Even the sleek new apartment Carrie inhabited briefly in episode six, “Diwali” (which was just a set), seemed cold and devoid of personality.
One element of the show did spark joy for me in episode seven, “Sex and the Widow,” though. And no, it wasn’t the Gucci belt bag Charlotte toted to her tennis match. My breath was instead taken away by the tony fitness center where the game was played, namely the stunning wooden staircase that Charlotte and husband, Harry (Evan Chandler), walked down following the contentious match. One glimpse of the curving span, which looks more like a work of art than a means to travel from one floor to another, and I was smitten!
As it turns out, the tennis scene was lensed at the Waterline Club, the luxe amenities facility at the center of the Upper West Side’s new upscale Waterline Square community. The residential complex, which spans two city blocks overlooking the Hudson River, was the brainchild of the GID Development Company. According to president James Linsley, the group set out “to reinvent what an urban highrise living experience can be” with the project. To that I say, mission accomplished! Waterline Square is nothing if not one-of-a-kind.
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Image Credit: GID Development Company Waterline Square is the result of a collaboration between Richard Meier of Meier Partners, William Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Rafael Viñoly of Rafael Viñoly Architects, each of whom was individually tasked with creating one of the complex’s three distinctive buildings. Despite a trio of design visionaries at its helm – and a fourth firm, Hill West Architects, brought in to oversee the project – the site is a cohesive, striking and alluring addition to the New York skyline.
Comprising a total of 2.2 million square feet, the mixed-use community boasts 1,131 condominiums and luxury rental units, a plethora of retail space that includes “Cipriani’s only combined food hall, market, restaurant and bar concept as well as James Beard award nominee Chef Alex Stupak’s Empellón,” and a private three-acre park abutting the waterfront.
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Image Credit: Noe & Associates with The Boundary Completed in 2020, the world-class complex is now over 85% sold, though there are still a few units up for grabs, including a dazzling penthouse currently being offered for a cool $27 million. The full-floor condo (pictured above), located in the 37-story Meier-designed One Waterline Square building, is the community’s last remaining available penthouse and features an incredible five bedrooms and seven baths in 6,566 square feet.
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Image Credit: Noe & Associates with The Boundary Just a few of the unit’s selling points include “postcard views” from every angle that showcase virtually all of Manhattan, a private service entrance, a library, an owners’ suite with a dressing room and dual baths, and an open kitchen with Pedini cabinetry, Gaggenau appliances and a central island with a waterfall countertop.
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Image Credit: Noe & Associates with The Boundary The penthouse’s real pièce de résistance, though, is its private rooftop terrace which boasts an outdoor kitchen, a cabana, a fireplace and an incredible 986 square feet of space! That’s bigger than most Manhattan apartments!
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Image Credit: Evan Joseph The property’s lucky buyer will also be “just an elevator ride away” from the Waterline Club and its slew of exclusive creature comforts. The remarkable facility was designed by Rockwell Group founder and president David Rockwell, who aspired to “break the mold of other amenities that are offered in the city.” And break the mold he did!
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Image Credit: Evan Joseph Just a few of the luxe offerings you’ll find at the 100,000-square-foot state-of-the-art club include an indoor gardening studio, a private spa and salon, a Pilates studio, a basketball court, a bowling alley, an art studio, an indoor pool, a fitness center, a rock-climbing wall, a recording studio, a billiards room, an indoor soccer field, a half-pipe skate park, a business center and a screening room.
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Image Credit: Evan Joseph For the kiddos, there’s a 4,600-square-foot indoor play area created by the Roto design firm. The magical space, which is the stuff of dreams, feels like the children’s reading room from “Matilda” come to life with a spiral slide, whimsical structures to climb, a toddler’s room and a party room.
And lest the pets in your life feel left out, Waterline Club also boasts special areas for Fido, including an indoor playroom, a training studio and a dog washing salon.
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Image Credit: Evan Joseph The staircase I became so enamored with on “And Just Like That . . . “ is part of the club’s great room, which is known as the Nexus. Bright, open and airy with ceilings towering thirty feet above the marbled floor below, the grand space is considered an atrium, though it unbelievably sits entirely below ground! The dramatic site offers plenty of areas to relax, unwind and gather with neighbors, all capped by the sleek wooden stairs which snake spectacularly through the open air above.
The room seems to have been tailor-made for the screen, so it is no surprise it was pegged to cameo in “And Just Like That . . . ,” serving as the one gleaming location standout in the sea of mediocrity that has been featured thus far.
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Image Credit: Evan Joseph Waterline Club also, of course, boasts a tennis court among its 30+ sports venues. But it’s not just any court, mind you! The space is the only indoor regulation-size tennis court that can be found in a residential building in all of New York City! The site makes two appearances in “Sex and the Widow,” initially popping up early in the episode when Charlotte and her new BFF Lisa Todd Wexley (Nicole Ari Parker), aka LTW, play a fierce game of doubles against some other club members.
Later in the episode, Harry and Charlotte team up to compete against LTW and her husband, Herbert (Chris Jackson), and wind up getting into an epic fight when Charlotte accidentally knocks Harry down while going for the ball and then refuses to apologize. According to the HBO Max companion podcast “And Just Like That . . . The Writers Room,” the storyline came straight from executive producer/writer Elisa Zuritsky’s life and filming at the Waterline Club, which executive producer Michael Patrick King calls “an uh-ma-zing complex,” took one full day to complete. Fun fact – Davis doesn’t actually play tennis in real life and had to take many lessons to prepare for the shoot.
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Image Credit: HBO The court also served as a backdrop for a season three episode of the HBO series “Axios” in which tennis legends Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss were interviewed about women’s equality in sports.
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Image Credit: Showtime Networks Waterline Square recently popped up on the most recent season of the Showtime series “Billions,” as well. The amenity club’s golf simulator is where Bud Lazzara (Wayve Duvall) is coached on his game – and served a bill for his doorman’s hazard pay – in the episode titled “Lyin’ Eyes.”
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Image Credit: Showtime Networks And the 18th-floor amenities space at Two Waterline Square posed as the offices of Todd Krakow (Danny Strong) in the episode titled “STD.”
Unfortunately, despite what was shown on “And Just Like That . . . ,” non-residents can’t actually join the Waterline Club. If you want to make like Charlotte, Harry, Herbert and LTW, you’re going to have to buy a place there! Penthouse, anyone?