The Owner of Carrie Bradshaw’s Apartment Is Tired of Tourists and TikTokers

People visiting the West Village townhouse have been acting disrespectful toward the property

January 13, 2025 4:51 pm EST
Sarah Jessica Parker, as Carrie Bradshaw, and David Eigenberg, as Steve Brady. (Photo by James Devaney/WireImage)
WireImage

If you’ve ever watched Sex and the City, you’d probably recognize the exterior of Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment building. It’s a brownstone townhouse actually located in the West Village, despite her residence being in the Upper East side throughout the show. It’s almost been 30 years since SATC first aired, but regardless, it’s become quite popular among Gen Z within the past few years. It’s led enthusiastic fans to check out the location of where the Carrie Bradshaw lives. I couldn’t help but wonder: Who actually lives there, and are they exhausted from having so many visitors stop to check out the residence? The answer is yes. 

On Jan. 14, the owner, who’s listed as Barbara Heyman Lorber in public records, will be presenting at the Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting in New York City in an attempt to receive approval “to install a stoop gate at the foot of my brownstone steps at 66 Perry Street in the West Village,” according to the owner’s statement in a 16-page document with images of layout plans linked on the New York City Government website

“My home is now a global tourist destination,” the document reads. “The show is in endless reruns in 34 different languages, increasing an already massive fan base coming to my stoop from throughout the U.S. and around the world. At any hour of the day or night, there are groups of visitors in front of the house taking flash photos, engaging in loud chatter, posting on social media, making TikTok videos, or just celebrating the moment.”

Emily Sundberg, editor of the Substack newsletter Feed Me, first broke the news and explained why the owner isn’t able to add the gate herself: Neighborhoods around the Greenwich Village area are designated as historic landmarks, and any kind of house changes that owners wish to make are required to be approved by the committee before anything can be done — even if it’s as simple as painting a wall or adding a gate. It’s what keeps all those townhouses you see uniform and neat. 

Row of brownstones in New York City
Row of brownstones in NYC
Getty Images

Plenty of people online already love romanticizing these kinds of New York City townhouses — especially when they’re Carrie Bradshaw’s. At one point or another, we’ve probably all been guilty of taking a quick peep into the window of a house with an eye-catching exterior. There’s always something rather alluring about admiring a benevolent-looking residence — let me be clear here — from a distance, briefly. But to others in the general public who may be part of an adoring fanbase, this interest is brought to an entirely different level when it’s a residence involved in famous consumable media. The fans stopping by the famous SATC spot don’t hide from sharing their visits online, overlaying their videos with the SATC theme song or iconic Carrie Bradshaw lines. 

@laura.henshaw

I had to do the run step 🥺❤️ A DREAM visiting Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment in NYC 😭❤️ #carriebradshaw #carriebradshawapartment #satc #sexandthecity #nyc #manhattan

♬ I shouldve stayed home by scardow – ✮

The owner continues to explain in her statement that years ago, she inserted a chain across the base of her steps with a “No Trespassing-Private Property” sign to deter people from actually climbing up or sitting on the stairs of the house, the way Carrie is seen doing through the show. While it’s helped somewhat, she says it hasn’t been enough.

“Many visitors respect the chain. But many do not,” she writes. “They climb over the chain, pose, dance or lie down on the steps, climb to the top to stare in the Parlor windows, try to open the main entrance door, or, when drunk late at night, ring the doorbells. We’ve also had graffiti painted on the steps and initials carved into the main door frame.”

Fans overstepping on properties is by no means a brand-new phenomenon; there have been plenty of examples of this. Sundberg cites this Guardian article in her newsletter, which discusses the White family home from Breaking Bad. It was listed for $4 million just a few days ago, with the family who owns it now saying they’re “done” with the overwhelming visitations that have caused the family to leave their home of roughly 52 years. 

Comparably, this also happened with the estate featured in Saltburn, the popular movie featuring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan from last year. It’s happened enough times that there’s even a documentary about it. The Home From… features owners of famous homes from all kinds of TV shows and movies — ranging from The Silence of the Lambs to Mrs. Doubtfire. Many of these owners tend to feel differently about it: Some people embrace the chaos, while for others, the number of visitors becomes too much. The owner of Carrie’s residence, however, ultimately blames herself.

“The front of my home appeared in the Sex and the City TV series as the exterior of character Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment,” her statement reads. “My fault: I felt sorry for the young location scout who was a recent grad from NYU Film School. He told me if he didn’t secure THIS house, he would lose his first real job in the business.” 

In an article published by The Gothamist, Tyson Bidner — an executive producer of The Bear now — confirmed he was the graduate doing the location scouting. He doesn’t remember saying he was concerned over losing his job, but he said there was likely some truth to it. “I’m sure I had a spiel about how she’d be taken care of and how well we’d treat it,” he said. 

It’s an interesting concept, really, to see how overenthusiastic fans quickly throw away basic decorum if they’re visiting an iconic filming location of some sort — how fans of a show become invested in memories of a home or place that was never theirs, that they’ve never even visited, that they hold through parasocial relationships at the expense of an owner who was there all along. But what can you do? Put up a gate after 30 years of exposure, hopefully. 

dd

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