Greenwich Village – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 11, 2018April 10, 2018

Village Cigars from “Just My Luck”

When planning a trip, my M.O. is to pore over as many area travel guides as possible and highlight spots I think the Grim Cheaper and I might be interested in seeing. I then pass the books along to him and he reads through all the passages I have marked, giving them a yay or a nay. One place that really piqued both our interests prior to our April 2016 NYC vacay was Village Cigars, which we learned about via The Best Things to Do in New York. Though the smoke shop is an institution in and of itself, the GC and I were most interested in stalking it because of a small triangular plaque located on the sidewalk out front.

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Originally established in the early 1900s, Village Cigars moved to its current home – a tiny triangular-shaped space situated at the intersection of 7th Avenue South, Christopher Street, West 4th Street and Grove Street in the heart of Greenwich Village – in 1922. Prior to that, a five-story apartment building known as the Voorhis stood at that site. Owned by Philadelphia-based landlord David Hess and his family, the property was acquired by the city via eminent domain in 1910 in preparation for a large subway expansion project that ultimately destroyed pretty much everything in its path – all in the name of saving a few bucks. In order to avoid the expensive process of deep bore tunneling, which would have preserved the buildings situated above, the government instead chose to use a ‘cut and cover’ procedure, i.e. removing streets to allow for subterranean digging and then replacing them upon project completion. As such, an entire stretch of about 300 city buildings, including the Voorhis, were razed and Seventh Avenue South was extended about a mile. A commenter named Tim on the Scouting New York website explains it best, saying, “Seventh Ave. used to end at Greenwich Ave. The cut to Varick St. was made in 1913 so the subway company didn’t have to spend big on expensive drilling, instead they convinced the City to demolish 9 city blocks worth of buildings – churches, businesses and apartments – anything in the path of the new Seventh Ave. South so they could use the cheaper ‘cut and cover’ method.”

You can read a great write-up on the massive undertaking on the Gothamist website here. Included in the article are the 1897 and 1916 maps pictured below (garnered from The New York Public Library Digital Collections) which provide a better visual of how the Seventh Avenue extension changed the landscape of the area. In 1897, the Voorhis (spelled incorrectly as “Vorhes” on the map) occupied lot #55, situated just southwest of Christopher Park (the green triangle denoted “park”). As you can see, the extension not only cut through that lot, but the ones numbered 51 through 54, as well.

Years after the Seventh Avenue expansion was complete, Hess’ heirs discovered that during the imminent domain process the government had somehow failed to secure ownership of a miniscule triangular portion of their former land. So they quickly claimed the rights to it. In an incredibly nervy move, the city then asked the Hess estate to donate the 500-square-inch section of sidewalk to New York. I’ve doctored the 1897 map below with an overlay showing the current position of Seventh Avenue and an arrow denoting the location of the land in dispute.

Not surprisingly, the Hess family refused to donate the plot and instead adorned it with a tile plaque reading “PROPERTY OF THE HESS ESTATE WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN DEDICATED FOR PUBLIC PURPOSES.” The black-and-white mosaic was installed on July 26th, 1922. To further drive their point home, the family even erected a fence around the signage at one point.

In 1938, the Hess heirs sold the land, one of the smallest plots still in private ownership in New York, for $1,000 to the proprietors of Village Cigars, who chose to leave the 25.5-inch by 27.5-inch by 27.5-inch plaque intact. Today, the tiny patch is known as “Hess Triangle.” You can read a fabulous accounting of the history of the triangle on the Chris Whong website here and here.

Though the plaque has never appeared in a movie or television show (at least that I know of – if I’m wrong please fill me in!), Village Cigars is a frequent screen star.

The store is visible twice in fave movie Just My Luck. It first pops up toward the beginning of the 2006 film in the scene in which Dana (Bree Turner) and Maggie (Samaire Armstrong) decide to test out Ashley Albright’s (Lindsay Lohan) good fortune by purchasing a lottery ticket for her at a magazine stand located across the street from Village Cigars to see if she wins. Spoiler alert – she does.

Later in the movie, after her luck has run out, Ashley heads to Christopher Park, across the street from Village Cigars, with Jake Hardin (Chris Pine) and accidentally sits on a park bench that has just been painted.

Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) passes by Village Cigars numerous times in the 1976 drama Next Stop, Greenwich Village.

At the beginning of the 1980 comedy Hero at Large, Steve Nichols (John Ritter) is dropped off in front of Village Cigars after a Captain Avenger media promotion.

Alice Detroit (Dyan Cannon) asks Ivan Travalian (Al Pacino) to meet up with her outside of Village Cigars in 1982’s Author! Author!

In the Season 2 episode of NYPD Blue titled “The Final Adjustment,” which aired in 1994, Detective James Martinez (Nicholas Turturro) and Leticia Beltran (Marta Martin) walk through Christopher Park with Village Cigars visible in the background.

Sonny Koufax (Adam Sandler) grabs a hot dog and “a lot of ketchup” with Julian ‘Frankenstein’ McGrath (Cole and Dylan Sprouse) across the street from Village Cigar in the 1999 comedy Big Daddy.

Village Cigars can also be seen in the background of the 2013 drama Inside Llewyn Davis in the scene in which Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) exits a Greenwich Village subway station with his friend’s cat.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Village Cigars, from Just My Luck, is located at 110 7th Avenue South in New York’s West Village. Hess Triangle can be found in the sidewalk just outside the shop’s front doors.

April 9, 2018April 6, 2018

Gray’s Papaya from “Sex and the City”

You will never catch anyone calling me a “foodie.” My palate leans much more toward comfort than epicurean with meals of choice consisting of chicken strips and ranch dressing, turkey and mashed potatoes, and hot dogs. I am a hot dog fanatic. My favorite spot to grab a ‘furter is Gray’s Papaya in New York. Their franks are simply sublime! I’ve sung the chain’s praises a couple of time on this blog – first in 2007 and then again in 2009. I got a bit of my reporting wrong in the later, though, when I stated that a scene from the Season 5 episode of Sex and the City titled “Plus One Is the Loneliest Number” had been lensed at the company’s Upper West Side outpost. A reader named Sabrina corrected me, commenting that SATC had actually been shot at the Greenwich Village Gray’s. As she explained, “You can see the phone box right next to the exit Carrie uses.” So I took a closer look at the episode and Sabrina was indeed correct! In “Plus One Is the Loneliest Number,” Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) grabs a dog at the GP located at 402 Sixth Avenue. So I immediately added the address to my New York To-Stalk List. Sadly, by the time I finally made it there in 2016, the eatery had closed and a Liquiteria juice bar had taken its place. I still figured it was worth blogging about, though.

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For those who have never had the pleasure of downing a Gray’s Papaya frank, it truly is an experience. The no-frills, walk-up hot dog stand was originally founded in 1973 by Paul Gray – a former employee of rival chain Papaya King – on the corner of Broadway and West 72nd Street on NYC’s Upper West Side. The eatery quickly became a hit with New Yorkers who loved the quality of the dogs and the bargain prices. It wasn’t long before additional outposts popped up around Manhattan, including the one at 402 Sixth Avenue which opened its doors in 1986. Though I never visited it, you can check out what it looked like when it was still in operation thanks to the archived Google Street View images from June 2011 below.

Sadly, though still insanely popular (you’d be hard-pressed to find any Gray’s location that is not crammed with people 24/7), the Greenwich Village outpost shuttered in January 2014 due to a rent hike. It followed the closing of another Gray’s at 539 8th Avenue in Midtown in February 2011 for the same reason, leaving the UWS eatery as the chain’s sole locale.

Things appear to be on the upswing, though. Not only is the flagship UWS outpost still flourishing 45 years after its inception, but a new Gray’s was opened in 2016 at 612 Eighth Avenue in Midtown. Customers have been lining up for the popular Recession Special – two dogs and a papaya juice drink or soda for $4.95 – ever since.

In “Plus One Is the Loneliest Number,” which aired in 2002, a “palpably lonely” Carrie attends the party for her book release sans a significant other. While heading home from the soiree, Carrie’s limo driver (Dena Atlantic) learns that Carrie has just written a book and insists on taking her somewhere to celebrate. The two hit up Gray’s Papaya (long known for being open 24 hours) and when the driver informs the man taking their order about Carrie’s new book, he insists on giving them the dogs for free. The scene was inspired by SATC writer Cindy Chupack’s first Emmy win. Of the experience, she is quoted in Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell as saying, “I didn’t have a date for the Emmys the year we won, and I lost our Sex and the City people at one point during the night, so I felt very ‘minus one’ until my driver said, ‘You won an Emmy? We have to celebrate this!’ and took me through a McDonald’s drive-through and told the guys in the window, ‘She won an Emmy!’ They gave me a free chocolate shake. The limo driver we cast in the episode was very much like the driver I had – although in the episode, Carrie goes to Gray’s Papaya, which is more New York and is actually a favorite place of Sarah Jessica’s.”

Though very little of Gray’s exterior is visible in the scene and what is shown is only via a blurry camera pan, as you can see in the screen captures below as compared to the Google Street View images, the restaurant’s red trim . . .

. . . as well as the location and configuration of the side doors are a match to what appeared onscreen.

And, sure enough, there’s that phone box that Sabrina mentioned.

The Greenwich Village Gray’s has popped up in a couple of other productions, as well. In the 2008 comedy Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Thom (Aaron Yoo) calls Nick (Michael Cera) while standing outside of the eatery to let him know that he has lost Caroline (Ari Graynor).

And Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) takes Stan (Alex O’Loughlin) to grab take-out there in the 2010 romcom The Back-up Plan.

The other Gray’s outposts are popular filming locales, as well. In the Season 3 episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations titled “New York City,” which aired in 2007, Bourdain heads to the now defunct Gray’s at 539 8th Avenue (which you can see a photo of here), his “favorite local eatery,” for a late-night Recession Special. While there he extols the restaurant, saying, “But man, when I start missing New York, you know, this is one of the things I miss. Ah, come on! A good Gray’s dog!”

It is the original Gray’s Papaya on the Upper West Side (pictured below) that is the most popular with location scouts, though.

The Warriors encounter members of rival street gang The Baseball Furies outside of the Upper West Side Gray’s in the 1979 crime drama The Warriors.

Doug Ireland (Michael J. Fox) brings Andy Hart (Gabrielle Anwar) there for a quick bite in the 1993 romcom For Love or Money.

In 1995’s Die Hard with a Vengeance, John McClane (Bruce Willis) and Zeus Carver (Samuel L. Jackson) take a phone call from Simon Gruber (Jeremy Irons) at the payphone across the street from the UWS Gray’s.

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) briefly dines with Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) there shortly before heading out to meet NY152 at the end of 1998’s You’ve Got Mail.

The last time I visited New York, my friends Kim, Katie, Lavonna and I tried to pose for a photo a la Kathleen and Joe in Gray’s front window, but the reflection wreaked havoc with the image. If you look closely at the screen captures above, it actually appears that the restaurant’s window was removed for the filming of the You’ve Got Mail scene.

Lance Barton (Chris Rock) takes Sontee Jenkins (Regina King) for a meal at the UWS Gray’s in the 2001 comedy Down to Earth.

The eatery was shown in an establishing shot in the Season 1 episode of How I Met Your Mother titled “The Limo,” which aired in 2005, though no actual filming took place there.

Michael J. Fox returned to Gray’s in 2013 to shoot a scene for the pilot episode of his self-titled series The Michael J. Fox Show, in which Mike Henry (Fox) and Harris Green (Wendell Pierce) discuss the possibility of Mike returning to work while standing across the street from the restaurant.

The restaurant chain was also mentioned in the Season 4 episode of Glee titled “Makeover” and was a pivotal plot element in the 1997 romcom Fools Rush In, though neither production did any filming on the premises. And while several websites claim that the Season 3 episode of Louie titled “Telling Jokes/Set Up” and the 1998 romance Crossing Delancey were filmed at Gray’s, both were actually lensed at Papaya King outposts.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Gray’s Papaya from the “Plus One Is the Loneliest Number” episode of Sex and the City was formerly located at 402 Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Today, the site is home to a Liquiteria. The Gray’s that appeared in Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations was formerly located at 539 8th Avenue in Midtown. That spot now houses a Cohen’s Fashion Optical. The Upper West Side Gray’s, from You’ve Got Mail, is still in operation and can be found at 2090 Broadway. A second Gray’s outpost is located at 612 8th Avenue in Midtown. Gray’s Papaya restaurants are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

March 8, 2017March 7, 2017

Strand Book Store from “Sex and the City”

I have made no secret of my love for bookstores on this blog, especially in recent weeks (as evidenced here and here). I literally cannot get enough of them! So when I spotted a book boutique pop up in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City titled “The Freak Show,” which I was re-watching shortly before my trip to New York last April, I knew I had to track it down and stalk it. Come to find out, the place is one of NYC’s most famous and historic book sellers!

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Thankfully, the locale was not very hard to identify. While scrutinizing “The Freak Show,” I spotted a red oval-shaped logo situated next to Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) with the word “Strand” centered in it and recognition immediately clicked. I had come across mentions of Strand Book Store, or “the Strand” as it is more commonly known, countless times over the years while researching interesting spots to check out in the Big Apple. Touted as one of NYC’s oldest and largest book shops, the place intrigued me and its name stayed lodged in my brain, but somehow I never made it a point to see it in person during any of my trips back east. So I decided to remedy that and put the site at the very top of April’s New York To-Stalk List.

Originally established in 1927, Strand Book Store was the brainchild of 25-year-old bibliophile Benjamin Brass. The shop was initially located on Fourth Avenue’s Book Row, a six-block area in Greenwich Village comprised of no less than 48 book sellers. Brass dubbed his emporium, which back then sold only used tomes, in honor of the famed Strand street in London where countless notable writers, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Virginia Woolf, have lived over the years.

In 1956, Benjamin’s son, Fred, took over management of the Strand and moved it to its current home on the corner of Broadway and East 12th Street the following year. Though Book Row and the 47 other boutiques once located there are no longer in existence, the Strand managed to not only survive throughout the years, but thrive.

Fred eventually purchased the building housing the store and expanded his retail space. Today, the Strand encompasses three and a half levels comprised of more than 2.5 million new and used titles – or as the Strand’s tag line states, “18 miles of books.” The boutique, which is now co-run by Fred and his daughter Nancy and tended to by 240 employees, also stocks gifts, cards, and various other sundries.

Unfortunately, the employee that I spoke with told me no photos were allowed inside the store, so I was only able to snap pics of the exterior.

In “The Freak Show” episode of Sex and the City, which aired in 1999, Carrie dates a succession of men who all turn out to have freakish habits. The segment shot at the Strand involved a broker named Max (Thomas Pescod) who, as Carrie learns, has a penchant for pilfering books. The brief scene took place outside of the store among the bargain dollar carts stationed on Broadway.

Sex and the City is hardly the only production that has been lensed at the Strand. In the 1993 drama Six Degrees of Separation, Ouisa (Stockard Channing) visits the bookstore with some friends to look for a copy of Sidney Poitier’s biography in order to see if her houseguest, Paul (Will Smith), is lying about being his son.

It is at the Strand that Julie Powell (Amy Adams) laments the unfavorable New York magazine article written about her to her friend Sarah (Mary Lynn Rajskub) in the 2010 biopic Julie & Julia.

Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) works at Strand Book Store in the 2010 drama Remember Me.

While the exterior of the Strand was featured briefly in the 2014 comedy They Came Together . . .

. . . interior filming took place at Community Bookstore, located at 143 Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn.

In the Season 1 episode of Master of None titled “Finale,” which aired in 2015, Dev (Aziz Ansari) contemplates his life choices while reading The Bell Jar at the Strand.

That same year, Bryan Robbins (Josh Helman) popped into Strand Book Store while looking for his sister, Claire (Sarah Hay), in the Season 1 episode of Flesh and Bone titled “Reconnaissance.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Strand Book Store, from “The Freak Show” episode of Sex and the City, is located at 828 Broadway in New York’s Greenwich Village. You can visit the shop’s official website here.

July 20, 2016July 19, 2016

Ashley’s Apartment from “Just My Luck”

I do not have the best taste in movies and am the first to admit it. Case in point – Just My Luck, a 2006 Lindsay Lohan romcom that I absolutely love. Have I lost you already? If so, it’s understandable. But I find the film adorable. I’ve seen it about a hundred times and never tire of it. Part of the appeal is the fact that it takes place – and was largely shot – in New York. (Some filming also took place in and around New Orleans.) Prior to heading to the Big Apple in April, I did some research on the flick and was thrilled to discover the location of the Parisian-style building where Ashley Albright (Lohan) lived. As it turns out, the gorgeous property has appeared in quite a few productions over the years

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Thankfully, Ashley’s apartment was an easy find – the real life address number of the building was visible in the movie’s opening scene.

43 Fifth Avenue, as the property is known, was originally constructed in 1905 by architect Henry Andersen.

The 11-story structure, which originally operated as an apartment building, became a cooperative in 1978.

The pre-war site boasts 42 units (each with 10 1/2 foot ceilings!), a marble lobby with bas-relief sculptures, a two-story mansard roof, bay windows, wrought iron balconies, a 24-hour doorman, and, my personal favorite, a dry moat that lines the perimeter. The property is absolutely gorgeous and it is not hard to see how it wound up onscreen multiple times.

You can see photographs of the lobby area, as well as some of the units here.

The building next door (which was featured prominently in 13 Going On 30) is currently under construction and, unfortunately, some equipment was set up in front of 43 Fifth Avenue when we showed up to stalk it which kind of marred our view.

Numerous luminaries have called 43 Fifth home over the years including Marlon Brando, Jennifer Jason Leigh, fashion designer Roland Leal, novelist Dawn Powell, and screenwriter Noah Baumbach. One particular unit, #9E (which you can see photos of here), has had two big-name celebrity inhabitants – both Julia Roberts and Holly Hunter lived there at different points in time.

Way back in 1914, Chevalier Giacomo Fari Forni, Italian Consul General to New York, lived in the building. On October 14th of that year, a terrorist group known as the Black Hand put a bomb in the property’s boiler room with the hopes of killing Forni. The Consul General was not in New York when the explosive was detonated, though, and remained unscathed. William Waters, one of the building’s employee’s, was not so lucky. His skull was fractured in the blast. Several first floor apartments were damaged, as well. You can read more about the events of that day here and here.

43 Fifth Avenue only shows up briefly in Just My Luck as the spot where Ashley lives before she unwittingly transfers her luck to stranger Jake Hardin (Chris Pine) via a kiss at a masquerade ball, at which time she becomes unlucky, her apartment floods and she is forced to move in with friends. Like I said, my taste in movies isn’t the greatest.

Only the exterior of the building appeared in the flick. Interiors were shot on a soundstage in Louisiana.

43 Fifth Avenue was also used in the 2004 comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which not so coincidentally was directed by Donald Petrie, who also directed Just My Luck. The property showed up a few times in the flick, most famously in the scene in which Ben Barry (Matthew McConaughey) arrives at Andie Anderson’s (Kate Hudson) apartment to take her to a party and she walks out wearing an unforgettably stunning yellow dress.

In the 2000 comedy Small Time Crooks, 43 Fifth served as the apartment of David (Hugh Grant). (I apologize for the poor quality of the screen shots below – I got them off of YouTube.)

Kate (Catherine Keener) and Alex (Oliver Platt) lived in the building in the 2010 dramedy Please Give, though very little of the exterior was shown.

43 Fifth’s ornate lobby made an appearance in the film, as well.

The building also popped up in A Kiss Before Dying, but I could not find a copy of the flick with which to make screen captures for this post. And while it was supposedly featured in both Deconstructing Harry and Everyone Says I Love You, as well, I scanned through both movies and did not see the structure anywhere.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Ashley’s apartment from Just My Luck is located at 43 Fifth Avenue in New York’s Greenwich Village.

November 10, 2009November 10, 2009

Commerce Restaurant

One of the locations that I was most excited about stalking while in New York this past month was a little restaurant named Commerce which appeared in the very last episode of fave show Sex and the City. Well, truth be told, at the time SATC was filmed, the restaurant was known as Grange Hall, but that space closed its doors back in 2004, shortly after filming took place. A few years later, a nouveau American cuisine restaurant named Commerce opened in the same spot and it is that eatery that I set out to stalk last month. I found this location thanks to favorite stalking book New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, which featured a brief blurb about the fact that Grange Hall was used in SATC’s series finale. Unfortunately, though, it failed to point out what specific scene took place there. So, being the anal stalker that I am, before leaving on my New York vacation, I made it my mission to figure out which part of the episode, which was entitled “An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux”, was filmed at the restaurant. And, let me tell you, I really had my work cut out for me on this one! Because several different eateries were actually featured in the finale, I found it virtually impossible to discern which one was Grange Hall. After watching the entire sixty minute finale all the way through, I came up completely empty-handed. But then an idea struck me! I thought that listening to executive producer Michael Patrick King’s DVD commentary about the finale might provide some insight. And, sure enough, it did!

As it turns out, Grange Hall was not actually portrayed as a New York restaurant in Sex and the City ,which explains why I had such a hard time locating it in the episode. In “An American Girl in Paris, Part Deux”, Grange Hall stood in for the Paris eatery where Carrie’s French fans threw her a party towards the end of the episode. It is after Carrie shows up late to this party, only to find that her new friends have already left, that she realizes that Paris isn’t turning out quite how she had expected.

I was shocked to discover that both the interior and the exterior of Grange Hall were used in the filming of “An American Girl in Paris”. I had incorrectly assumed that the exterior shown in the episode was actually that of a real French restaurant. In reality, though, producers dressed up the entire street in front of Grange Hall to make it look Parisian, even going so far as to add French street signs and French street lamps (as you can see in the above screen captures). Why they didn’t just film this particular scene at an actual restaurant in Paris is beyond me, especially being that the majority of the finale was actually shot on location there. But that’s Hollywood for you! 🙂

I am VERY happy to report that even though the Grange Hall space has gone through a succession of ownership changes since the SATC series finale was filmed, both the interior and the exterior of the restaurant still look EXACTLY the same as they did onscreen. 🙂 The decor, the booths and tables, and even the wood and glass partition that separates the entryway from the rest of the restaurant are all still very recognizable from the episode. YAY! I can’t tell you how happy I am that Commerce restaurant kept the Grange Hall interior intact for all of us Sex and the City fans to appreciate! 🙂

Commerce restaurant’s name was derived from the fact that it is located on Commerce Street in Greenwich Village. The building that houses the restaurant is actually quite famous in and of itself, aside from the fact that Sex and the City once filmed there. The property has been in existence since the early 1930’s, at which time it housed a speakeasy. In the 1940’s, the Blue Mill Tavern took over the space and quickly became something of a New York landmark. Blue Mill enjoyed a successful run for over half a century, serving such famed customers as Eugene O’Neill and Ethel and Julius Roseberg. In 1992, Blue Mill Tavern closed its doors and Grange Hall opened in its place. Grange Hall quickly became a celebrity hotspot, with regular patrons such as Brad Pitt, Jennifer Esposito, Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler (who hosted her 16th birthday party at the restaurant), and Bill Clinton. Grange Hall also appeared quite a few times on the silver screen. According to New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, besides the SATC finale, the restaurant was also featured in the movies The Brothers McMullen and Anything Else and a commercial for a French cell phone company starring Martin Scorsese. In 2004, due to an increase in rent, Grange Hall was forced to close its doors and, after a few unsuccessful turnovers, Commerce restaurant was opened. Commerce is an absolutely adorable little place and I so, so, so wanted to grab a bite there during this year’s New York vacation, but unfortunately ran out of time. 🙁 It is DEFINITELY on my list of places to dine during next year’s trip, though. 🙂

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Commerce restaurant is located at 50 Commerce Street in New York’s Greenwich Village. You can visit their website here. You can read a great article about the former Grange Hall here.

January 26, 2009February 17, 2009

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Former New York Digs

While doing some stalking in New York this past December, I just had to snap a photo of Gwyneth Paltrow’s former Greenwich Village townhome, which just happens to be located right around the corner from SJP’s house. Gwyn purchased this Greek Revival style townhouse back in 1998 when she was still a single New York gal. She later lived in the four story, four bedroom home with musician husband Chris Martin and their produce-monikered daughter, Apple. The couple decided to put the townhouse on the market in February of 2005 in order to move to a safer building with a doorman – no doubt to help keep the paparazzi at bay. The home ended up selling in June of ’05 for the bargain price of $6.995 million.

I found this location thanks to my go-to NYC stalking guide John’s Star Maps. Gwyneth’s picturesque former townhome was built in 1899, is 2,800 square feet, and boasts a basement, 3.5 baths, a garden, a rooftop terrace and two washers and dryers. Which begs the question – who does that much laundry??? LOL You can view the home’s 2005 real estate listing here. Gwyn’s house actually reminds me a lot of Kate Hudson’s New York pad which I blogged about a couple of weeks ago and is pictured above. That’s somewhat ironic because Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson actually remind me a lot of each other, too.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Gwyneth’s former Greenwich Village home is located at 278 West Fourth Street. She currently owns a 3,982 square foot condo in the River Lofts Condo building, located at 92 Laight Street in Tribeca. Meryl Streep also lives in the same building.