Sarah Jessica Parker – IAMNOTASTALKER

June 18, 2018June 19, 2018

Bemelmans Bar from the “Sex and the City” Movie

I must be in a very New York state of mind because here I am yet again blogging about a Big Apple locale – a city landmark, actually – the iconic Bemelmans Bar, which is situated inside of The Carlyle Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I first learned about the popular lounge thanks to its appearance in the 2008 Sex and the City movie and stalked it – as well as blogged about it – later that same year. I hardly took any photographs of the watering hole on that visit, though, so the place went right back onto my To-Stalk List for my April 2016 NYC trip. As fate would have it, the Grim Cheaper and I happened to pop in while the bar was closed one morning and the super nice employee we spoke with welcomed us inside to snap some pics. Since then I’ve managed to dig up a few more of Bemelmans’ onscreen appearances, so I figured the site was most definitely worthy of a re-post.

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Bemelmans Bar came to be in the 1940s when famed author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans, creator of the beloved Madeline children’s book series, was commissioned by The Carlyle Hotel owner Robert Dowling to paint murals on the walls of a new lounge space. In lieu of payment, Ludwig asked for free onsite lodging for himself and his family while he completed the work. The installation, which he dubbed “Central Park,” was finished 18 months later and Bemelmans Bar opened its doors in 1947.

Bemelmans’ playful creation depicts animals such as elephants, rabbits, and dogs frolicking in Central Park during each of the four seasons.

It is the sole Bemelmans commission currently open to the public. As Regan Hofmann stated in a 2014 Punch article, “Of the many murals Bemelmans completed over the years—including the Austrian restaurant Hapsburg House in New York City, a Parisian nightclub on the Île St. Louis and the playroom on Aristotle Onassis’s yacht—the bar at The Carlyle is his only work still intact and available for public viewing.”

Truth be told, though, the murals are no longer entirely the work of Ludwig’s hand.

Not surprisingly considering their age, the pieces have required regular touch-ups and repairs over the years. In fact, The Carlyle Hotel staffs seven full-time painters just to maintain the murals. Their preservation weapon of choice? Wonder Bread! According to Edible Manhattan, during a 2001 restoration, it was found that the best way to remove nicotine stains from the prized paintings was a gentle application of wet slices of the classic white bread.

The bar’s understated décor was carefully chosen to accentuate Bemelmans’ work.

The Art Deco space is comprised of a black granite bar, sleek round glass tables, a 24-karat gold leaf ceiling, large leather banquettes, a grand piano on which live music is played nightly, and lamps with shades that mimic the murals.

The space is cozy, intimate and all-around wonderful.

Bemelmans Bar has long been the stomping ground of visiting elite and local luminaries alike.

Just a few of the public figures who have popped in for a libation or two include Harry Truman, Jackie Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Jean Reno, Al Pacino, Steve Martin, Frank Sinatra, Princess Diana, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, George Clooney, Robert Redford, David Bowie, Mariah Carey, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Lady Gaga, Liv Tyler, Drew Barrymore, Lorne Michaels, Kate Spade, Zac Posen, Cyndi Lauper, Nick Cannon, Angelica Huston, and Michael Kors.

It is not very hard to see how the site became such a bastion of old New York.

The lighting is dim and hazy (but in the best way possible), the atmosphere fanciful, and the drinks stiff. Some cocktails are even accompanied by a supplemental serving à la a classic diner milkshake. As Richard Carleton Hacker explains in a Robb Report article, “Elegantly presented by red-jacketed waiters, the dry martinis and Manhattans come with an extra-portion ‘sidecar’ carafe kept chilled in ice on the side, so that guests can top up their drinks.”

With its many quiet, tucked away spaces, warm ambiance, and array of film appearances, there is no better place in the city to enjoy an evening out!

In the Sex and the City movie, Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) takes Louise (Jennifer Hudson) to Bemelmans for cocktails and the two discuss their respective broken hearts. At the end of the scene, Carrie gives Louise this sage advice on age – “Enjoy yourself – that’s what your 20s are for. Your 30s are to learn the lessons. Your 40s are to pay for the drinks!”

In the book Sex and the City: The Movie, producer John Melfi says, “For the scene where Carrie and Louise go out for drinks, we shot in Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle Hotel. No one had ever shot there before.” He is actually incorrect, though.

Back in 2002, six years before Sex and the City was filmed, Bemelmans was featured in Hollywood Ending as the spot where Val (Woody Allen) met up with his ex-wife, Ellie (Téa Leoni), to discuss working together on a new motion picture.

Bemelmans has also popped up in a few productions post-Sex and the City. Arielle (Bérénice Marlohe) has a rather awkward first meeting with Brian Bloom’s (Anton Yelchin) parents, Arlene (Glenn Close) and Sam Bloom (Frank Langella), at the bar in 2014’s 5 to 7.

Several vignettes from the 2015 Netflix Original Holiday Special A Very Murray Christmas were shot at Bemelmans, including Bill Murray’s duet of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with Jenny Lewis.

In the Season 3 episode of Younger titled “A Kiss Is Just a Kiss,” which aired in 2016, Charles Brooks (Peter Hermann) asks Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) to meet him at Bemelmans, but when she walks in and spots him chatting with her daughter’s friend’s parents, she runs away.

Bemelmans is not to be confused with Café Carlyle, an adjacent lounge boasting similar murals, these by Marcel Vertes. That site was featured in the 1986 dramady Hannah and Her Sisters as the spot where Mickey (Woody Allen) takes Holly (Dianne Wiest) to see a performance by Bobby Short, who played himself.

The exterior of Bemelmans was featured at the end of that scene when Mickey is shown walking home after leaving Café Carlyle.

Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) and Rosemary (Charlotte Ray Rosenburg) attend a concert at Café Carlyle in 2005’s Little Manhattan.

Café Carlyle also popped up a couple of times in A Very Murray Christmas.

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: Bemelmans Bar, from the Sex and the City movie, is located at 35 East 76th Street, inside The Carlyle Hotel, on New York’s Upper East Side. You can visit the bar’s official website here.

May 4, 2018May 3, 2018

Big and Carrie’s Apartment from “Sex and the City 2”

Apparently I did a lot of stalking during my April 2016 New York vacation because there are some places I do not even remember visiting. Case in point – while organizing my photos from the trip a couple of days ago, I came across several images of the stately building above which I had no recollection whatsoever of taking – nor did I have any clue what production the structure was from. Thankfully “1030 5th Avenue” was painted on the awning, otherwise I might never have figured it out! Address in hand, I scanned through my NYC stalking list and was shocked to discover that the locale was actually where Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mr. Big (Chris Noth) lived in the 2010 flick Sex and the City 2. How I did not recognize it right off the bat is beyond me! I guess I have to chalk it up to some major stalking overload.

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The handsome 13-story property was designed in 1925 by J.E.R. Carpenter, the prolific architect/developer who was not only responsible for more than 25 buildings on the Upper East Side, but was dubbed “the father of the modern large apartment here in New York” in 1932’s The Real Estate Record & Guide.

The stunning 16-unit pre-war building is chock-full of modern amenities.

Deemed a “white-glove” property by StreetEasy, the neo-Italianate-style co-op features a fitness center, an elevator with an operator, a full-time doorman, a canopied entrance, a spacious lobby, and a laundry room.

Situated on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 84th Street, the structure also boasts stunning views of Central Park and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Each apartment is appointed with spacious dimensions, a multitude of rooms, high ceilings, and wood-burning fireplaces.

Considering its tony location and gorgeous trappings, it is not surprising that quite a few celebrities and public figures have called the place home over the years, including Academy-Award-winning producer Wendy Finerman, actor Robert Redford, journalist Diane Sawyer, director Mike Nichols, and CoreComm CEO George S. Blumenthal.

1030 Fifth Avenue pops up twice in Sex and the City 2. It first appears in a beginning scene that shows Carrie leaving her apartment and heading out to meet the girls at Bergdorf Goodman . . .

. . . before transitioning to a flashback of Carrie’s arrival in New York in the ‘80s. As you can see in my photographs as compared to the screen captures above and below, the building’s canopy was swapped out for a striped one during the shoot.

1030 Fifth is featured again a few scenes later when Big and Carrie return home from Stanford (Willie Garson) and Anthony’s (Mario Cantone) wedding.

In the movie, the building is said to be the same place where the couple purchased a penthouse in the first film. As Carrie narrates, “After Big and I sold the extravagant rooftop penthouse we thought we were meant to live in, we decided that maybe we needed to come a little more down to earth. So we did. Twelve floors to be exact.” In reality, the structure featured in the first flick is located two blocks south at 1010 Fifth Avenue. I blogged about that locale last July. The two sites do bear a striking resemblance to each other, though, as you can see below.

As to why the shift in locales was made from the first to second film, I am uncertain, but producers sure did find an extremely similar replacement.

In Sex and the City 2, Carrie and Big are shown to live in unit 12B.

In reality, the interior of their apartment was just a set built inside of a soundstage at Silvercup Studios in Queens where much of the movie was lensed. You can check out some photographs of what the actual twelfth floor unit, which takes up the entire level, looks like here. The stunning 6-bedroom, 6-bath space is currently for sale for a cool $38 million.

The last time I took a tour of Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank, I was thrilled to see Carrie and Big’s “good” couch on display in the Property Department.

And their ottoman . . .

. . . where Carrie is sitting when Big gives her a black diamond wedding ring, which is my favorite scene in the movie. I absolutely love when Carrie says, “It’s gonna be just us two. Are we enough?” And Big responds, “Kid, we’re too much!”

1030 Fifth Avenue also pops up in the 2010 comedy The Good Guy as the building where Tommy Fielding (Scott Porter) lives. (Please pardon the graphics on the images below – I had to snag the captures from the movie’s trailer.)

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: Carrie and Big’s apartment from Sex and the City 2 is located at 1030 Fifth Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side.

November 17, 2017November 17, 2017

The Many Apartments of Carrie Bradshaw on “Sex and the City”

While it is quite common for locations to shift after the pilot episode of a television series is shot (as I’ve mentioned countless times before on this blog), changes are typically few and far between from that point forward. The vast majority of my favorite shows tend to play fast and loose with their locales, though. On Beverly Hills, 90210, for instance, not only did two different pads portray the residence of Dylan McKay (Luke Perry), but three exteriors were used to represent both the family home of Donna Martin (Tori Spelling) and that of Andrea Zuckerman (Gabrielle Carteris). Then there’s Sex and the City, which completely thumbed its nose at any sort of location continuity. Though said to be at 245 East 73rd Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, no less than five properties were utilized as the apartment building where Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) lived during the program’s six-season run. The initial site, a third-floor flat situated above a café (complete with a very New York-style neon “coffee” sign), which appeared in the series’ first two episodes, has long been a craw in my side. Despite many attempts to track it down over the years, I could never seem to do so. Then, a couple of months back, I decided to do a deep dive into identifying it and was finally successful. As fate would have it, my good friend Kim visited NYC shortly after my discovery and graciously agreed to stalk the place on my behalf. Thank you, Kim! When I sat down to write a post on the spot earlier this week, I got a little obsessed with pinpointing the four other properties used, as well, and, after countless hours scouring the internet, managed to ID all but one! So here I present to you a round-up of Carrie Bradshaw’s many Sex and the City apartments.

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Mention Carrie’s apartment to any SATC fan and visions of a grand brownstone with an idyllic stoop will undoubtedly come to their mind. But the spot initially used as her dwelling was not a walk-up at all, nor did it have any sort of stoop. Instead, Carrie was first shown living on the third floor of a rather non-descript building housing a coffee shop on its ground level, as I mentioned above. The structure pops up twice in the pilot – first in an opening scene and then again in the episode’s closing when Mr. Big (Chris Noth) drops Carrie off at home after running into her at a club. It is on the sidewalk in front of the property that the duo’s now iconic exchange takes place, during which Carrie asks Big, “Have you ever been in love?” to which he responds, “Absof*ckinglutely.”

As was portrayed on Sex and the City, while the bottom two levels of the building are commercial space in real life, the upper floors house apartments.

Though the apartments appear to have been modernized in recent years (as you can see here and here), I am fairly certain from the way the episode was shot that one of the units was utilized as Carrie’s in the pilot.

As you can see in the stills above from the pilot as compared to the ones below from the series’ second episode, “Models and Mortals,” Carrie’s apartment interior looked completely different in the inaugural episode than it did during the rest of the series.

In “Models and Mortals,” an establishing shot of the building appears twice. While scrutinizing the shot, I noticed a sign situated below Carrie’s apartment in which the word “Clea” and partial word “Col” could barely be made out. After a ridiculous amount of time Googling that phrasing along with “New York,” I finally landed on a mention on The Knot website of Clea Colet, a now defunct bridal wear vendor formerly located at 960 Madison Avenue. A quick look at that address on Street View confirmed that it was, indeed, Carrie’s original apartment building. Amazingly, while the second level windows were changed at some point in the 19-plus years since the first season of Sex and the City was filmed, the edifice otherwise looks much the same as it did onscreen. Though there is an eatery named 3 Guys Restaurant situated on the bottom level (it’s been there since the ‘70s!), I am fairly certain that the coffee sign visible next to Carrie’s window was not a real feature of the property, but a prop brought in for the filming.

As Kim noticed while stalking the place, a Christian Louboutin store is fittingly located right across the street.

After “Models and Mortals,” the exterior of Carrie’s apartment building is not shown again until the twelfth episode of the series, Season’s 1 finale titled “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” By that time, shooting had shifted from the Madison Avenue building to a new spot – a handsome brownstone with a picturesque stoop. In the episode, Carrie and Mr. Big break up – for the first time – outside of the structure after he refuses to tell her she is “the one.” Oddly, the site was only utilized in the one episode and while quite a bit of it was shown, I had a heck of a time tracking it down.

While doing my due diligence, I noticed that an address number of what I thought was “56” was visible on the building next door to Carrie’s brownstone in “Oh Come All Ye Faithful.” I examined pretty much all of the Upper East Side, as well as Greenwich Village, looking for properties numbered 56 that matched what appeared onscreen to no avail before finally calling in my friend Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, for an assist. Though he put in a Herculean effort, spending hours perusing the Upper West Side, as well as re-tracing my searches of Upper East Side and West Village neighborhoods, he could not find the pad either.

Then fate stepped in when, while hunting for the place via Google Street View, it struck me that the number on the building next door might actually be “36.” I dragged the little yellow man to the Upper East Side once again and started scrutinizing blocks in the 30 range for the right spot. It was not long before I came across 36 East 62nd Street. I had to do a triple take, though, because while the structure at that address matched what appeared on Sex and the City to a T, there was no brownstone adjacent to it. Instead, as you can see in the Street View image below, situated directly next to the building is a vacant plot of land. As I later learned thanks to this The New York Times article, a brownstone did once stand in the vacant space at 34 East 62nd Street, but it was blown up on July 10th, 2006 by its owner, who was involved in a bitter divorce and wanted to not only commit suicide, but to seek revenge on his ex in the process. The blast incinerated the structure, as you can see in images here, here, and here.

A photo of the home from when it was still intact is pictured below via Property Shark. Hard to believe it is just gone.

Carrie’s apartment doesn’t show up again until the third episode of Season 2, titled “The Freak Show.” Well, it sort of shows up. In the episode, Carrie walks in front of a row of brownstones at the end of her non-date with Ben (Ian Kahn) and at one point stops and says, “This is me,” but the exterior of a building is never actually visible. All that is visible is a rather fuzzy view of several walk-ups with iron porch railings.

A few episodes later, in “The Caste System,” Carrie walks with performance artist/bartender Jeremiah (Sam Ball) to a row of brownstones and heads up a set of stairs, but, again, no real exterior is shown. All that is visible is a row of buildings.

In Season 2’s “La Douleur Exquise!,” we finally get a definitive look at an exterior, though it is an overhead shot of Big leaving Carrie’s apartment – after yet another break-up – in which virtually nothing of the property is shown. I believe the same set of brownstones was utilized in all three episodes, but since so little is visible, I cannot say that with any certainty, nor can I even begin to guess where they might be located.

In Season 2, episode 14, “The F*ck Buddy,” Carrie’s apartment exterior is shifted yet again – this time to a brownstone at 64 Perry Street in the West Village. I found this locale thanks to a 2016 post on the StreetEasy Blog which mentioned the property’s use during the series’ early years.

Though very little of the exterior of Carrie’s brownstone is shown in “The F*ck Buddy,” thanks to its distinctive porch railing and some landmarks visible in the background, I was able to discern that 64 Perry was indeed the spot used.

64 Perry also appeared in Season 2’s “Was It Good for You?”

If the address sounds familiar, that is because the brownstone utilized as Carrie’s from the Season 3 premiere, titled “Where There’s Smoke . . . “, onward can be found right next door at 66 Perry Street. Why production decided to shift locales yet again to a brownstone located literally one door away from the previous one used is a mystery.

Though 66 Perry is undeniably charming and picturesque (that’s a picture of me on the stoop taken way back in 2004) and it is not hard to see how it came to be used on the series, as why it wasn’t chosen for filming during Season 2 instead of its neighbor . . . well, your guess is as good as mine.

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

Big THANK YOU to my friend Kim for stalking Carrie’s first apartment for me and to fellow stalker Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for helping in the hunt for her second apartment! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment from the first two episodes of Sex and the City is located at 960 Madison Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side. The brownstone used in “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” was formerly located at 34 East 62nd Street, also on the Upper East Side, but no longer stands. Her home from the latter part of Season 2 can be found at 64 Perry Street in the West Village. And the brownstone used from Season 3 on is right next door at 66 Perry.

August 30, 2017August 29, 2017

The Empire Hotel from “Gossip Girl”

My friend Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, always teases me for being a huge fan of “Hollywood randoms,” i.e. stars he has never heard of. One of my favorites of the so-called randoms is Ed Westwick, who played Chuck Bass on Gossip Girl. Out of all the male TV characters I’ve ever come across, Chuck is hands-down my most-loved. (Jack Donaghy from 30 Rock runs a close second.) The Grim Cheaper and I were obsessed with Gossip Girl when it was on the air, but haven’t seen the CW series since it wrapped in December 2012. Out of the blue, he put on the pilot last night and I can’t tell you how great it was to once again hear that famous intro speech narrated by Kristen Bell. You know the one – “Gossip Girl here – your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan’s elite.” Watching the episode got me to thinking about the Empire Hotel, which was owned by Chuck on the series and which I stalked while in New York last April. Somehow I had never gotten around to blogging about the place. So here goes.

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The Empire’s history dates back to 1893 when construction began on a large 7-story lodging at the corner of West 63rd Street and Broadway on New York’s Upper West Side. The Hotel Casa Alameda, as it was set to be called, was never completed, though, and the property went into foreclosure. It was eventually sold, the construction finished and, in 1889, re-opened as the Empire Hotel. Nine years later, the Empire was purchased by Herbert DuPuy, who had lofty goals for the site. He had the building razed in 1922 and replaced it with a new, larger, 15-story hotel. The re-imagined Empire opened to the public on December 5th, 1923.

Its now iconic rooftop sign was erected at the same time.

Though Hotel Online states that the sign is “one of the first ever and longest standing neon billboards in the United States,” according to Curbed New York, it was actually replaced in the 1960s. I am unsure which site’s information is correct, but, regardless, the “Hotel Empire” sign makes for some amazing photo opportunities, as you can see here and here.

In December 2003, the Empire was shuttered after being slated for a condominium conversion project, but the plan was halted by a group of permanent residents who filed complaints with the city.

Instead, the hotel underwent a massive 3-year renovation, re-opening in August 2007.

The interior of the 413-room property was reimagined by interior design firm Goodman Charlton.

The result of their efforts is a very Old Hollywood-esque tapestry of golds, blacks, oranges, and the occasional zebra print.

The sweeping two-story lobby is marked by swaying curtains, tall cushy sofas, and a massive staircase.

It is not at all hard to see how the Empire wound up on Gossip Girl. Its design is so very, very Chuck Bass.

The site first showed up in the Season 3 episode of GG titled “The Lost Boy,” in the scene in which Chuck announces to his longtime girlfriend Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) that he has cashed in all of his Bass Industries stock in order to purchase the Empire.

The hotel’s next appearance on the series was in “How to Succeed in Business,” also from Season 3, in which Chuck opens a speakeasy on the premises.

The Empire then went on to be featured regularly in both establishing shots . . .

. . . and in various on-location shoots throughout the remainder of the series’ 6-season run.

The penthouse suite Chuck called home was just a set, though, located on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios East in Queens, where the show was lensed.

According to a January 2010 CNN Entertainment article, the Empire saw a 5-10% increase in bookings and a 50% increase in website traffic due to the filming – at a time when most hotels were experiencing a decrease in numbers. John A. Fox, a senior vice president at hospitality consulting group PKF, noticed the spike in bookings, but “had not thought to attribute it to the hotel’s guest appearance in a television show.” Um, hello! Thankfully, David Bowd, president of the hotels division of Amsterdam Hospitality, the company that owns the Empire, had more foresight. Of his reasoning behind the decision to allow filming on the premises, he said, “I think that teenagers can dictate where their parents stay over vacation and we saw a lot of that over the Thanksgiving holiday and into the bookings for Christmas and New Year’s.” Serious kudos to the Empire! So many hotels, restaurants, and businesses I’ve come across consider filming a nuisance and aren’t too keen on broadcasting their onscreen appearances, which I’ve never understood as cinematic stints can be such a massive draw for potential customers.

Gossip Girl is not the only production to have utilized the Empire. In the 2010 flick Sex and the City 2, the after-party for the premiere of Smith Jerrod’s (Jason Lewis) new movie is held in the property’s lobby, though the hotel is not mentioned by name. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) simply describes the place as “the VIP room at the after-party.”

It is in the Lobby Bar that Carrie catches Mr. Big (Chris Noth) flirting with the Senior Vice President of the Bank of Madrid, Carmen Garcia Carrion (Penelope Cruz).

As its name suggests, the Lobby Bar is located in a tucked-away corner of the Empire’s lobby.

In the Season 1 episode of Power titled “Not Exactly How We Planned,” which aired in 2014, James ‘Ghost’ St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) and Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) met with Felipe Lobos (Enrique Murciano) at the hotel.

The Empire masked as the Wooster Hotel, where SVU detectives Odafin Tutuola (Ice-T) and Dominick Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) investigated the rape of aspiring Olympic pole vaulter Jenna Miller (Kim Morgan) in the Season 18 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit titled “Heightened Emotions,” which aired in 2016.

The Empire was also supposedly featured in the Season 2 episode of The Equalizer titled “Solo,” which aired in 1987, but I could not find a copy of it anywhere to make screen captures for this post.

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 Empire Hotel, from Gossip Girl, is located at 44 West 63rd Street on New York’s Upper West Side. You can visit the hotel’s official website here.

July 31, 2017August 1, 2017

Carrie and Big’s Penthouse from the “Sex and the City” Movie

I know I am in the minority when I say that I like the 2008 Sex and the City movie. Was it the greatest flick ever? No. But I did enjoy it. Seeing it was like being with old friends again, friends I’d missed ever since the HBO television series went off the air in early 2004. The more I watch it, the more it grows on me. Though, again, I know I am in the minority. One aspect of the movie that audiences did pretty much unanimously adore was the exquisite penthouse apartment that Mr. Big (Chris Noth) purchased for longtime girlfriend Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker). So last April, while visiting New York, I, of course, was all about stalking the Ziegler House, which was used for interior shots of the penthouse. And, oh, what an interior it was!

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Before I get to the Ziegler House, though, I thought I should mention 1010 Fifth Avenue, the Upper East Side building that served as the exterior of Carrie and Big’s penthouse. I covered the property in a brief post back in 2008, but, in the interest of being thorough, figured it would be appropriate to detail it once again here.

The 15-story prewar building was designed by real estate developer Frederick Fillmore French in 1928.

The Italian Renaissance-style property, which was converted to a co-op in 1979, looks much the same in person as it did onscreen.

Located across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the tony site is just the type of place I’d picture Mr. Big calling home. You can check out what a unit in the building looks like here.

1010 Fifth Avenue is also where Chuck Rhoades, Sr. (Jeffrey DeMunn) lives on the Showtime series Billions, though, as you can see below, the address is changed to “10101 Fifth Avenue” for filming.

Now back to the penthouse interior! As soon as Carrie and Big step over the threshold of 1010 Fifth, they are standing in the Ziegler House, located about 20 blocks south at 2 East 63rd Street. I first learned of the locale thanks to a reader named Allie, who wrote a comment on my 2008 post tipping me off about where the inside shots were lensed.

The historic residence was originally built in 1921 for William Ziegler, Jr., heir to the Royal Baking Powder Company fortune.

Designed by architect Frederick Sterner, the ornate 4-story, 75-foot wide pad is laid out with all of the rooms surrounding a central brick courtyard with a fountain. Along with said courtyard, the property boasts a grand entrance hall, two rear gardens, a library, a 25-foot by 40-foot living room, a formal dining room, a servants’ dining room, a massive kitchen that almost looks to be commercial-grade, two master suites (each with its own dressing room), and fireplaces galore. You can see some interior photos of the place here.

For whatever reason, Ziegler and his then wife, Gladys, only lived in the home for a year before moving out and putting it up for sale in 1925. The dwelling finally sold in 1929 to Norman Bailey Woolworth, of Woolworth five-and-dime fame. He owned the property for the next two decades before donating it to The New York Academy of Sciences, a scientific society that was originally founded in 1817.

NYAS put the house on the market in 2001 and it sold four years later to billionaire financier Leonard Blavatnik for $31.25 million. Blavatnik never moved in, though. Instead, the site, which today goes by the name “Academy Mansion,” is mainly used as a special events venue and for filming. While I really wish I could have taken a peek at the property’s stunning interior, I have to admit that the exterior is nothing to shake a stick at.

Seriously, the photo below looks like a postcard!

The Ziegler House popped up twice in Sex and the City. It first appeared in the beginning of the movie in the scene in which Carrie and Big go apartment-hunting with their real estate agent at 1010 Fifth. Sadly, the wrought iron and glass doors that Carrie and Big walk through in the scene cannot be seen from outside. You can check out a photo of them here, though.

The doors are actually located inside the home, behind the massive wooden entry doors pictured below.

In the scene, the Ziegler House’s palatial entrance hall masked as the lobby of 1010 Fifth. You can see a photo of what the entry hall looks like in real life here.

The elevator situated at the rear of the lobby was faked for the movie. In actuality, there is a doorway located in that area, as you can see here and here.

That doorway leads to the Ziegler House’s stunning living room, which actually looks more like a grand ballroom. It is that room that Carrie first sees upon entering the penthouse, causing her to exclaim, “Oh my God, I have died and gone to real estate heaven!” You can check out some pictures of the living room here, here, and here.

Carrie is next shown the penthouse’s rooftop terrace. In actuality, that space is the Ziegler House’s central courtyard and it is located on the ground floor of the property, not on the roof. You can see an image of it here.

The penthouse’s master bedroom was just a set built on a soundstage at Silvercup Studios in Queens, where much of the movie – and the television series – was lensed. You can check out images of the real Ziegler House bedrooms here, here, here, and here.

The Ziegler House was also utilized in the scene at the end of the movie in which Carrie returns to the penthouse to retrieve her never-been-worn $525 Manolos.

Though Carrie and Big have sold the penthouse by that point and broken up, when she sees him standing in the closet he built for her, all is forgiven, the two embrace, and Big gets down on one knee to propose. Heartbreakingly, Carrie’s spectacular custom closet was just a set. You can see what the Ziegler House’s dressing rooms look like here, here, and here. They’re not too shabby, either!

On a side-note – I actually have a version of the Timmy Woods Eiffel Tower purse that Carrie, ahem, carried in the scene in which she and Big first toured the penthouse! A dear and incredibly thoughtful friend named Marie gifted it to me for my birthday last year. I didn’t have it at the time I stalked the Ziegler House, sadly, otherwise I so would have posed with it outside! Winking smile

The Ziegler House has been utilized in a couple of other productions besides Sex and the City. In the Season 2 episode of White Collar titled “Point Blank,” which aired in 2010, the property masqueraded as the Russian Heritage Museum.

For the shoot, the Ziegler House’s living room, aka Carrie’s piece of real estate heaven, was dressed as a gallery and looked considerably different than it did in SATC.

“Point Blank” also gave us a great view of the property’s terrace.

In the Season 2 episode of Person of Interest titled “Masquerade,” which aired in 2012, the Ziegler House portrayed New York’s Brazilian Consulate.

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 exterior of Carrie and Big’s penthouse from the Sex and the City movie is located at 1010 Fifth Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side. The film featured the building’s canopied main entrance, which can be found around the corner on East 82nd Street. The interior of Carrie and Big’s penthouse, aka the Ziegler House, aka Academy Mansion, is located at 2 East 63rd Street, also on New York’s Upper East Side.

May 10, 2017May 9, 2017

Soup Burg from “Sex and the City”

I am the first to admit that I get fixated on the most random things. A few years back, I became obsessed with identifying the diner featured at the very end of the Season 1 episode of Sex and the City titled “Models and Mortals.” Though the eatery only appeared briefly, I was consumed with tracking it down. What can I say? I love a good diner. It took some legwork to find the place, but find it, I did. Sadly, by that time, Soup Burg, at 922 Madison Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side, had long since closed its doors. So while I never got the chance to eat there, I still ran right out to stalk its former location during my trip to the Big Apple last April.

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In “Models and Mortals,” Mr. Big (Chris Noth) and Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) run into each other at a fashion show after-party and strike up a conversation, during which he asks her where she writes her “cute” weekly newspaper column. She responds, “Well, about half the time, I’m at my apartment and the other half I’m over at this coffee shop on 73rd and Madison.” Flash forward to the episode’s final scene. Big surprises Carrie by randomly showing up at said coffee shop, where they discuss men who date models. During their brief conversation (he’s late for a meeting, you see), he informs her, “First of all, well, there are so many goddamn gorgeous women out there in this city. But the thing is this – after a while, you just want to be with the one that makes you laugh.” For those not well-versed in all things Sex and the City, Big is speaking about Carrie. The two get together just a few episodes later.

While scrutinizing “Models and Mortals” for clues as to the coffee shop’s whereabouts, I noticed that a sign reading “Soup Burg” was very briefly visible behind Mr. Big when he first sat down . . .

. . . as well as on the door when he left the restaurant.

So I headed to Google and quickly came across a Yelp page for a defunct eatery by that name which stated its former address as 1095 Lexington Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side. Eureka, right? Wrong. It was not long before I figured out that while Soup Burg was a longtime UES staple dating back to the ‘40s, during its heyday the restaurant actually boasted three outposts, none of which was still in operation. The Lex Ave location did not open until 2004 and the third iteration at 1026 1st Avenue was also established around that same time. Since “Models and Mortals” was lensed in 1998, I knew the episode could not have been shot at either of those two spots. Filming had to have occurred at the original Soup Burg. So back to the drawing board I went. Another Google search led me to this 2014 The New York Times article which noted that the restaurant’s inaugural site was on the corner of East 73rd Street and Madison Avenue – exactly where Carrie had said it was in the episode! D’oh! The article also mentioned that the space was now home to a cashmere shop. From there it was easy to pinpoint the eatery’s exact former address of 922 Madison.

Soup Burg was originally established at the Madison Avenue site way back in 1948. I am unaware of who initially founded it, but in 1964, the café was purchased by Greek native Peter Gouvakis, who had worked on the premises since 1958. Soup Burg thrived under Gouvakis’ tutelage, becoming a veritable New York institution.

During the 1970s, Peter’s son Jimmy started working at Soup Burg, eventually taking it over, along with his brother, John, and their brother-in-law, Timmy Vlachos. The trio further grew the business and perfected the recipes. Soup Burg became known citywide for its burgers, which Time Out NY rated as the third best burgers in all of Manhattan in 2004. Though the two sister cafes were opened, the Madison Avenue location remained the best-loved. Of the site, New York magazine had this to say, “There are a few places on the East Side with this name, each as small as your first – or current – apartment, each looking like it was built in two days, each routinely buffed to a high Formica shine, and each with a menu big enough to daunt the banquet kitchen at the Marriott Marquis. Ignore all of them but the one at this address.”

In July 2006, Jimmy was informed that the rent on the Madison Avenue site was increasing from $21,000 a month to $65,000. Sadly, Gouvakis could not afford the increase and the restaurant (which, by that time, had been operating in the same space for 58 years!) shuttered later that month. By November, the upscale Manrico Cashmere boutique had moved in. You can see what the Madison Avenue Soup Burg looked like while it was still in operation here, here, here, and here. And you can read two great articles on its closing on the Doktor Weingolb blog here and here.

By that time, the 1st Avenue location had also closed its doors. And though the Lexington Avenue outpost remained open and extremely popular with New Yorkers as one of the only spots in the neighborhood to get a decent, affordable meal, it, too, faced a rent hike in 2014 and shuttered in June of that year. The increase was a pretty dumb move on the landlord’s part if you ask me, being that, per Google Street View, the space is currently vacant and does not look to have ever been occupied since Soup Burg moved out.

Many mourned the loss of the last operating Soup Burg. The New York Times journalist Anne Barnard had this to say about the closure, “The Soup Burg is – was – the archetype of what in today’s homogenized, all-American city is usually called a diner. Premillennial, pre-Starbucks New Yorkers would call it a coffee shop. Not the kind where you get a latte, though that item was grudgingly added to the menu. The kind where you get a burger bigger than its bun, or home fries with sweet peppers and onions, or a chicken orzo soup with saltines. Where you can sit down and eat for $10, with a bottomless, not distractingly good $1.50 coffee, and where they know your face, your order and sometimes even your name.”

I’m really sad I never got the chance to dine at any of the Soup Burg restaurants, but at least the original is forever immortalized onscreen thanks to Sex and the City.

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: Soup Burg, from the “Models and Mortals” episode of Sex and the City, was formerly located at 922 Madison Avenue on New York’s Upper East Side. The space currently houses Manrico Cashmere. Via Quadronno, one of my very favorite Big Apple eateries, is located right around the corner at 25 East 73rd Street. It also appeared in “Models and Mortals.” You can read my post on the restaurant here.

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.

October 31, 2016September 29, 2017

The Los Angeles Filming Locations of “Hocus Pocus”

It’s finally here, folks! The day I wait for all year long. Halloween! I hope all of my fellow stalkers have a fabulous, spooky and safe holiday! I figured what better way to celebrate my favorite day than with a post about one of the world’s most beloved Halloween movies, Hocus Pocus. Last week, my friend Katie detailed the Salem, Massachusetts locations featured in the 1993 flick, so I thought I would write about a few of its L.A. locales. Yep, that’s right – portions of the film were lensed right here in Los Angeles!

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A couple of years ago, I came across a Whittier Daily News article that chronicled the various filming that had taken place in the city over the years. I was shocked to learn that Hocus Pocus was shot in the area. At the time, I was under the impression that the movie had been lensed solely in Salem, but as the column stated, in December 1992, HP did some filming “in and around Central Park with inside shots at the Uptown YMCA.” So I immediately popped in my DVD and started scanning through it. While I did not see any scenes that looked to have taken place at the YMCA or in Central Park (as I later found out thanks to this article, the park scene was cut), I did notice an address number of 6536 posted above the door of the Victorian-style house where the Devil (Garry Marshall) lived with The Master’s Wife (Penny Marshall).

Feeling lucky, I did a Google search for “Victorian house,” “Whittier,” and “6536” and one of the first results kicked back was an article on the Historic Whittier Homes website about a residence located at 6536 Friends Avenue. Sure enough, the images shown matched the Devil’s house to a T. As it turns out, the dwelling is situated along the eastern side of Central Park, which is also known as Friends Park.

The picturesque property only popped up briefly in Hocus Pocus, in the scene in which the Sanderson Sisters – Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) – inadvertently find themselves on the doorstep of a hapless man dressed up as the devil on Halloween night. Thinking he is their master, the witches head inside to do his bidding. The man’s wife is having none of it, though, and quickly boots the three sisters.

The residence looks much the same today as it did when Hocus Pocus was filmed back in late 1992.

I am unsure if interiors were also filmed inside the home or if those segments were lensed elsewhere.

The same pad also served as the residence of Rita Robbins (Glenne Headly) in the 1996 comedy Sgt. Bilko.

In real life, the Devil’s house was constructed in 1911 and boasts 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1,792 square feet of living space, and a 0.16-acre lot. According to the Historic Whittier Homes website, the dwelling has been featured in 7 movies, including Hocus Pocus, though, aside from Sgt. Bilko, I am unsure of what the others are.

After identifying the Devil’s pad, I decided to do some further digging and discovered that another scene was filmed just two doors down – a very brief set-up scene in which extras dressed in costume were shown trick-or-treating.

The property featured in that segment is another gorgeous Victorian, originally built in 1896.

The colorful 2,512-square-foot dwelling boasts 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, tin ceilings, stained glass windows, wood moldings, hardwood flooring, and a fireplace. You can check out some interior images of it here.

A further search of “Hocus Pocus” “filming,” and “Whittier,” led me to a post about the movie on the Life at Cloverhill website in which a commenter named Efrain stated that interior school scenes were shot at East Whittier Middle School. While I have never stalked the school, I believe that information to be correct.

I found a video about East Whittier that was filmed in one of the school’s actual classrooms and, as you can see above and below, that classroom appears to be a direct match to the Hocus Pocus classroom.

The archways visible outside of the French doors in the movie also seem to match those of East Whittier.

As I mentioned in my February 2016 post for the Mike the Fanboy website, some Hocus Pocus filming also took place at Warner Bros. Ranch. The park where Dani (Thora Birch), Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and Max (Omri Katz) celebrated the supposed death of the Sanderson Sisters towards the end of the movie is located at the Ranch. As I also mentioned in my Mike the Fanboy post, the park, and its fountain, should be recognizable to Friends fans – they were featured each week in the hit series’ opening credits.

The house visible behind Max in the scene is none other than the Griswold residence from Christmas Vacation, though it looks quite a bit different today than it did when both Hocus Pocus and CV were shot.

Warner Bros. Ranch makes another appearance in Hocus Pocus. It is on the lot’s Blondie Street that Sarah haphazardly drove a city bus. (And what do you know? There’s the Griswold house again!)

I was thrilled to discover during a recent re-watch of the movie that the interior Halloween party scenes were shot at a place I am very familiar with – The MacArthur. Formerly known as the Park Plaza Hotel, the oft-filmed site has popped up in hundreds upon hundreds of productions over the years. I toured the space as a possible wedding venue back in 2009 and became quite enamored with it.

Filming of the Halloween party scene took place in The MacArthur’s Elks Hall, a grand room featuring sweeping archways, carved wooden columns, and ornate chandeliers.

And last, but not least is a location I just now figured out! While scanning through the movie making screen captures for this post, I almost fell out of my chair when I realized that the interior of Allison’s mansion was none other than the interior of the Crank House, aka the Omega Beta Zeta house from Scream 2, aka the Strong residence from Catch Me If You Can! As you can see in the screen captures below, the interior shown in Catch Me If You Can matches the inside of Allison’s mansion perfectly! I had always wondered where the interiors of Allison’s residence were shot, so I am floored to have finally figured it out! You can read a more in-depth post on the Crank House here.

I am fairly certain that a few other Hocus Pocus scenes were shot in L.A., including the trick-or-treating segments pictured below, but as of yet I have not been able to figure out where. If any of my fellow stalkers happen to know, please fill me in!

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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 Devil’s house from Hocus Pocus is located at 6536 Friends Avenue in Whittier. The residence from the movie’s trick-or-treating scene can be found two doors down at 6546 Friends Avenue. East Whittier Middle School, where the interior school scenes were filmed, is located at 14421 Whittier Boulevard. Warner Bros. Ranch, where Dani and Allison celebrated the supposed death of the Sanderson Sisters, can be found at 411 North Hollywood Way in Burbank. The MacArthur, where the interior Halloween party scenes were shot, is located at 607 Park View Street in Westlake. And the Crank House, which was used as the interior of Allison’s mansion, can be found at 2186 East Crary Street in Altadena.

October 27, 2016September 29, 2017

The Salem Filming Locations of “Hocus Pocus”

Today, we have a very special guest post brought to you by my good friend/Hocus Pocus aficionado Katie, who recently took a trip to Salem, Massachusetts to stalk the locations featured in the bewitching (pun intended!) 1993 film. When she kindly proposed writing a column about her adventure during my Haunted Hollywood postings, I immediately took her up on the offer and I could not be more excited about the result! So take it away, Katie!

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Growing up, Hocus Pocus was one of my absolute favorite Halloween movies, and definitely still is! I had always wanted to visit Salem, Massachusetts after watching the beloved Disney film, and as I grew up and heard more and more of the history and legends of the little town, my interest in it only grew. While planning a trip to New England this summer, I was completely shocked when I discovered that some of the production had actually been filmed in Salem, and I knew I had to check it out. So, after packing my witchiest outfit, I dragged my parents along for a quick detour to Salem, Massachusetts, and put all of the stalking skills I learned from Lindsay Blake to work! [Editor’s note – LOVE it!]

1. Ropes Mansion (318 Essex Street)- The beginning of our Hocus Pocus filming location journey began with Ropes Mansion, located a few doors down from the famous Witch House of Judge Jonathan Corwin. The Ropes Mansion is used in the film as the obnoxiously beautiful home of Max’s love interest, Allison, and where the legendary famous words from Dani, “Max likes your yabbos”, were first muttered. The mansion was recently refurbished and reopened to the public, along with the well-loved gardens frequently visited by Salem residents which are located behind the house. Unfortunately, there were no Rococo-inspired Halloween costume balls or candy filled cauldrons inside of the mansion, but if you’d like to step in and see for yourself, the mansion is open to the public for self-guided tours and a glimpse into Salem history.

Built in 1727, the Ropes Mansion housed four generations of the Ropes family before becoming a part of the Peabody Essex museum. One of the original owners of the house, Nathaniel Ropes, died as a patriot mob attacked the mansion in 1774, and Abigail Ropes died in 1839 due to her dress catching on fire. Both are said to haunt the property.

2. Old Town Hall (32 Derby Square)- The Halloween party where the Sanderson Sisters sang the iconic musical number, “I Put a Spell on You”, took place in the Old Town Hall in downtown Salem. Though the interior shots of the party were filmed elsewhere, the exterior of the building is extremely recognizable from the film. Located in the historical district in Salem, the building is now home to the Salem Museum, where tourists are able to learn about the town’s extensive past. The interactive play, Cry Innocent, is also housed by the historical hall, where the story of Bridget Bishop’s trial is depicted and the audience acts as the Puritan jury, deciding whether she is guilty or innocent.

The doors of the backside of the town hall can briefly be seen as Max and Dani’s parents leave the party after dancing the night away under the Sanderson sisters’ spell.

3. Max and Dani’s House (4 Ocean Drive)- A bit of a hike from the central locations of Hocus Pocus is the house used as the home of the Dennisons, which looks almost exact to the film. This home is so distinct that it has practically become a tourist attraction of its own! Built in the 1870s, this charming little house sits on the oceanfront in a residential area of Salem, and has a stunning view of the sea, which you don’t see in the film.

Trick-or-treaters are shown many times lingering in front of the house before Max and Dani leave to begin a Halloween adventure of their own.

I’m pretty sure every kid who grew up watching this movie was immediately jealous of the crow’s nest in Max’s bedroom, which can clearly be seen from outside the house, and definitely made this place the house goals of the 90s youth. It was the perfect place to sulk in teen angst, which Max took advantage of after a rough day of his Jimi Hendrix pickup line being rejected and having his shoes stolen.

4. Phillips Elementary School (86 Essex Street)- “Tis a prison, for children!” Winifred Sanderson says, as she stands in front of Phillips Elementary School, which depicted Jacob Bailey High School in the film. During the sisters’ hunt for children, they are lured to the school by Max, Dani, and Allison, only to be trapped in the school’s ceramics kiln where they meet their presumed demise. The school also appears at the beginning of the film, where the story of the Sanderson Sisters was told in Allison and Max’s classroom. Apparently, the school shut down a year before Hocus Pocus was filmed, making it the perfect place for a Salem high school. The building now serves as a condominium complex overlooking the Salem Common.

“This place reeks of children!”

Smoke from the aftermath of the Sanderson Sisters’ fate of being locked in the school’s kiln can be seen billowing out of the chimney at the front of the school.

6. Salem Common (Washington Square)- Located just across from Phillips Elementary, which was used as the high school of Max and Allison, and the Salem Witch Museum, the Salem Common is a prominent area in the town. The Common was initiated in 1667, and was a partial swamp where livestock roamed freely among the 8-acre park. From around 1685, the Common was used as an area for the residents of Salem to practice shooting and training for military purposes. In 1714, the town decided that the Salem Common would be “forever kept as a training field for the use of Salem.” The Common now acts as an attractive park, and the spot in the movie where Allison hands Max a note, which he believes to be her phone number, but soon realizes after she’s left that it’s actually his own number handed back to him. Ouch.

7. Pioneer Village (98 West Avenue)- The very first location we see at the beginning of the film takes place in Salem’s Pioneer Village, which was used as the home of Thackery Binx (before his cat days). This location is shown for a brief period of time before Thackery heads to the Sanderson Sisters’ cottage, which unfortunately was filmed on a sound stage. The mock village of life in 1630 was built in 1930, and was the first ‘living’ history museum in America. The village has very strange hours and tours, so be sure to check out the website before you plan your visit. Unfortunately, we didn’t plan ahead and the museum was closed, but thanks to some wandering around the perimeter and making use of our investigative skills, we were able to sneak a peek in and could clearly see Thackery Binx’s home! [Editor’s note – again, LOVE it! I’ve taught you well, Katie!]

Well, that’s that, all of the Hocus Pocus filming locations in Salem! I want to give a huge thank you to Lindsay for giving me the opportunity to write a guest post, I had so much fun doing this and I hope you had fun following along with me! Happy Halloween stalking, everyone!

[Editor’s Note – big THANK YOU to you, Katie, for this fabulous post! I regularly receive emails from Hocus Pocus fans asking for information on locations from the movie, so I could not be more thrilled with this spellbinding compilation!]

August 1, 2016July 29, 2016

The “Sex and the City” Starbucks

One of the best things about starting this blog is the people it has put me in contact with – a myriad of fabulous individuals who share my unique affection for filming locations. One such fellow stalker, a New Yorker named Gary, has gifted me with countless Big Apple locales since we first started exchanging emails way back in 2010. Most of Gary’s knowledge comes from driving a cab for three years. The job took him all over NYC, made him familiar with its nooks and crannies, and he now knows the city like the back of his hand. He has also come across quite a few filmings during his tenure in New York and, thanks to his hawk-like memory, can recall where each took place. One such filming was of a Sex and the City episode that Gary witnessed being shot at the Starbucks at 16th Street and Eighth Avenue. Well believe you me, when I read the words “Sex and the City” and “Starbucks,” I practically came unglued and added the locale to my NYC To-Stalk list. And while Gary could not remember which episode the scene appeared in, it did not take me long to figure it out.

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In Season 4’s “The Good Fight,” Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) heads to the Eighth Avenue Starbucks for some respite after getting into a huge fight with then fiancé Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) over the lack of space in their newly shared apartment. (You can watch that fight here.) While there, she says, “I used to think those people who sat alone at Starbucks writing on their laptops were pretentious posers. Now I know – they’re people who have recently moved in with someone. As I looked around, I wondered how many of them were mid-fight, like myself. The hard thing about fighting in relationships as opposed to Madison Square Garden? No referee. There’s no one to tell you which comments are below the belt or when to go to your separate corners. As a result, someone usually gets hurt. And it seems the closer a couple gets and the more stuff they have between them, the harder it is to figure out exactly why they’re yelling. When it comes to relationships, I couldn’t help but wonder, what are we fighting for?” Despite the fact that I have re-watched the entire Sex and the City series a copious amount of times, I often forget how ingenious the writing is. When the Grim Cheaper and I first moved in together, we had Aidan and Carrie’s exact same fight. In preparation for our move – and the tiny closet at our new apartment – I had thrown out countless outfits that I loved. So when the GC showed up with six (six!) medium-sized boxes filled solely with white undershirts, I practically had a meltdown. Thankfully, we survived our tiff (after five of those boxes of undershirts were thrown out, of course), but Carrie and Aiden did not. They broke up just two episodes later.

Most of the Starbucks scene was shot looking in through the property’s south window.

Though the café’s exterior remains unchanged from its onscreen appearance in 2002, I somehow failed to snap a photograph of the correct window.

You can check out Google Street View images of it below, though.

While very little of the Starbucks interior was shown in “The Good Fight,” it is apparent that the space has been remodeled since filming took place and looks a bit different today.

In the scene, Carrie sat at a tall shared table in the middle of the café.

That exact table is no longer there, but a similar one currently stands in the same spot.

I was excited to see that the seating that runs along the south window, which was visible in the scene, remains intact.

It was raining when we showed up to stalk “The Good Fight” Starbucks and, as a result, the place was exorbitantly crowded, which made it a bit difficult to snap pics. The deluge is also the reason I did not pose for my normal photograph out in front of the locale. And although I hate rain pretty much more than anything, as I said that day to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, “I’ll take rain in New York over sun in Palm Springs any day!” Smile

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

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Gary for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Starbucks from “The Good Fight” episode of Sex and the City is located at 124 8th Avenue in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.