What's up with these prewar co-ops that allow filming?
A "Love Story" detour took me down Fifth Ave and up Riverside Drive.
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Like much of the internet, I spent a lot of last week with Love Story playing in the background. But I’d wager that unlike most people, what I was focusing on, besides Naomi Watts’s poor interpretation of Jackie O's emblematic accent, was a curious detail that I've noticed across multiple recent shows set in and around fabulous New York City apartments: Where it was actually filmed.
As a broker who deals primarily in prewar co-ops of the Upper East and the Upper West Sides, I am no stranger to the fact that many buildings frown upon shutterbugs and videographers—similar to the policies of most uptown private clubs—let alone the general commotion and upheaval that a filming crew will often bring.
There are many townhouses around the city that allow filming, like the townhouse used in The Devil Wears Prada, then Gossip Girl, and most recently And Just Like That, the Sex in the City reboot. With a townhouse, you only need to deal with one owner. In a co-op, there are several owners who may all have very different ideas about what it means to be the filming location for a TV show.
There are two apartment buildings, though, one on Riverside Drive and the other on 5th Avenue, that seemingly not only welcome the spotlight (along with the fees I bet the co-ops are happy to pocket), but have also become somewhat of a go-to for Hollywood production across multiple networks and streaming platforms.
I’m sure the location scouts aren’t expecting viewers to connect the dots, but sorry for them, and thankfully for you, I am not most people. Even better, both of these buildings are especially notable. Let’s get to it.