Owner of Carrie Bradshaw’s ‘Sex and the City’ Apartment Gets Approval for Gate

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved a Manhattan homeowner’s request to build a gate in front of what she called her “celebrity staircase.”

The staircase sits across the street from 66 Perry Street, a West Village brownstone that was built in 1866 but gained its celebrity status more than a century later, when it became the exterior setting for the Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment on the HBO show “Sex and the”. City.”

Barbara Lorber became emotional as she explained to the board of commissioners the need to erect a gate that would protect her building and its tenants from the constant stream of fans who come to hang out on the steps and take photos.

“This house should not have a fence,” she said, “but what was beautiful in the late 19th century unfortunately needs more protection in this century, in our time,” she said. she declared. “I had hoped for decades that this would pass, but at this point I think even someone as stubborn as me has to admit that this is not going to go away in the near future.”

The brownstone is part of the Greenwich Village Historic District, which means any updates to its facade must be approved. Ms. Lorber, who purchased the building from three families in 1979, had submitted a letter to the commission requesting permission to construct the gate, which would “adher to the existing authentic historic style.”

On Tuesday, architect Isidoro Cruz followed Ms. Lorber’s call by presenting his plans for a steel and cast iron gate that, Ms. Lorber hopes, “will add to the beauty of the facade, and not just look like a barrier “.

Although the eight commission members present at the hearing were unanimous in their approval of the design, some said they preferred to see a more minimal approach that did not include an arch. It was determined that Mr. Cruz would work with them to find a solution.

After Mr. Cruz’s speech, representatives from two architectural preservation groups, Village Preservation and the Victorian Society of New York, testified in favor of the gate design. So did AJ Parker, a neighbor of Ms. Lorber, who described the scene on the front porch as “one of the most egregious situations when it comes to attacks on personal property all day, every day.”

“Sex and the City” aired on HBO from June 1998 to February 2004, but its cultural relevance has endured through two subsequent films, the 2021 spinoff show “And Just Like That…” and a move to Netflix that started in April 2024. The concurrent emergence of social media, particularly Instagram, has made the iconic stoop a destination for countless fan photos and videos.

“Take all the photos you want on the street,” Ms. Lorber said Tuesday. “But please don’t climb into our space or through our windows.”