Fanspot
Friends' apartment
Hey, do you realize that at one time or another, we all lived in this apartment?
Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow)
Episode 21 of season 4 of Friends reveals that Rachel and Monica live at 495 Grove Street in Manhattan. An address that does not exist in reality. However, the building in which the two friends are supposed to live is located at the corner of Grove Street, at 90 Bedford Street. Although it houses a Mediterranean restaurant on the ground floor, the Little Owl, which has nothing to do with the Central Perk, this building has remained relatively unchanged since the 1990s. Interviewed by a New Yorker reporter in 2019, The Little Owl’s boss recalled that day when David Schwimmer, Ross’ interpreter, walked in to take a seat at a table. Wishing to spare him a crowd, the restaurant manager advised him to find a less exposed place, further away from the shop window. When the actor refused, the restaurant owner pointed to a horde of tourists approaching in the street. David Schwimmer had absolutely not recognized the building as being the one from Friends!
Chosen by the production because it was the place of residence of John Shaffner, the artistic director of the series, the building is however not completely in conformity from a geographical point of view. Monica’s apartment, for example, has a balcony, whereas in reality the building has none at all.
Years after the end of the series, this street corner is still going strong. Fans of all ages tirelessly take pictures of him, with one of those famous introductory tunes in their heads that once punctuated the start of every episode. More than a building, a true marker of pop culture!
Friends won 56 awards and was nominated 153 times.
90 Bedford St
This beautiful New York style building located at 90 Bedford St in the heart of Greenwich Village is one of the most sought after in Manhattan…
Located not far from the street that a famous troubadour, himself a resident of the neighborhood, popularized on the cover of his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, this building alone embodies the identity of a neighborhood once known for having been the nerve center of the counterculture on the East Coast of the United States, if not in the whole world. It houses in Friends a beautiful living space, about 140 m2 that could be rented today for more than $8,000 per month. In reality, the smaller units at 90 Bedford St start at $3,500 a month.
If Greenwich Village used to be popular with the slightly bohemian artists, notably because of the relatively affordable rents, gentrification has transformed this whole part of Manhattan to the point of making it relatively inaccessible to the average person. It is in these magnificent streets that some of them live, like Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Cruise. One might as well say that there are not many young actors who are unemployed and that the chefs living there are part of the elite of New York gastronomy.
The Fantrippers Buying Board
Guide New York to 1000 cult movies, series, music, comics and novels locations (French Edition)
Guide New York to 1000 cult movies, series, music, comics and novels locations NEW EDITION Discover New York differently with our best seller in a new edition enriched with many new places of worship, thirty courses, new photos and anecdotes in 640 exciting pages. The barracks of Ghostbusters,the famous bridgeOnce upon a time in America,the Katz Delicatessen of When Harry met Sally…,the building of Friends, Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment in Sex and the City, Superman’s Daily Planet, Leonard Cohen’s Chelsea Hotel, the subway station of the legendary music video Bad by Michael Jackson, the places evoked in the novels of Francis Scott Fitzgerald, Paul Auster, Marc Levy, Guillaume Musso… DISCOVER NEW YORK IN A NEW AND ORIGINAL CONCEPT
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Discover all the places Friends on our map
By Gilles Rolland
Passionné de cinéma, de rock and roll, de séries TV et de littérature. Rédacteur de presse et auteur des livres Le Heavy Metal au cinéma, Paroles de fans Guns N' Roses, Paroles de fans Rammstein et Welcome to my Jungle : 100 albums rock et autres anecdotes dépareillées. Adore également voyager à la recherche des lieux les plus emblématiques de la pop culture.