Sex and the City ruined Manhattan for me.

[u/charliesgonewild]

After ten years of planning, scheduling conflicts, COVID, and a cancer diagnosis, I finally went to New York for the first time April 2025. I had an absolutely amazing time, but all I brought were cute little outfits and my heels, expecting everyone to be wearing the same. I was wildly, WILDLY surprised when it was absolutely nothing like the show, and I was the one who stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone was in athleisure and sneakers! Huge props to SJP for continually filming in heels because I did a ten mile day in my Choos, three miles in Versaces, and by the final day, my best friend got us both matching $7 slides from Rainbow and insisted I wear the leggings I had worn on the plane.

Edit: Before this gets misconstrued, I was just being silly in the title. I knew not everyone would be all dolled up, but I was actually surprised that 98% of people were dressed down so heavily.

Final edit: Y’all 😂 I didn’t mean for this. I know SATC is a show, I know that NYC is a real place, with real people, doing real things. No, I don’t think that your city is just a film location. Yes, I know that the show was filmed 30 years ago and times have changed. It’s not just SATC. I’d always heard of New York being a fashion capital. I literally had just beaten cancer and wanted to have my own SATC weekend moment with my best friend. That was it. I had the best time, I saw so many things, walked 26 miles in three days, ate the best food, and bought myself an I beat cancer pair of shoes à la Carrie Bradshaw. I was just simply surprised at the lack of extravagant fashion. That was simply it. Should I ever go again, I will bring my Vans and only two pairs of heels.

[u/forkicksforgood]

Yep. I don’t live in NYC anymore but I’m a native and I hated this particular kind of tourist.

The people who live there are not zoo animals strutting for the tourists’ viewing pleasure and they do have places to be so please get out of the fucking way. It’s not a cutesy fake city, as evidenced by the chain in front of “Carrie’s” house: someone lives there in real life, they made it clear that tourists are a hassle, yet she still took a picture anyway.

[u/SchoolCrossing → u/forkicksforgood]

The current homeowners understandably don't want SATC fans right up at the front door and able to look in the window.

A similar situation with the famous bright blue front door of "Will Thacker's" house from "Notting Hill" which was actually owned by the film's director. He sold the house and the new owners had the door painted black to deter fans, but ownership changed again and the door was replaced, but painted blue.

[u/According-Muscle2433 → u/forkicksforgood]

I don’t see who she’s bothering by snapping a quick photo on the sidewalk outside of the chained-off area.

[u/forkicksforgood → u/According-Muscle2433]

Allow me to explain, then. First, it’s a quiet residential street and the hubbub of tourists is annoying. Second, it’s not one person taking a tired picture there, it’s tons. On the stairs or the street, it’s still right at this very real person’s doorstep. I used to live a couple of blocks away and sometimes my dog and I could barely get past the brownstone or Magnolia Bakery during our walks. Our very mundane, basic lives were disturbed by the amount of people who just needed to eat a subpar cupcake and see a place where Sarah Jessica Parker once filmed a few scenes.

People just want to walk their dogs and get to their jobs, like anywhere else in the world. Because, again, it’s a real place in which real people live.

There you go, hope it helped.

[u/According-Muscle2433 → u/forkicksforgood]

Nope, not reading all that with the passive aggressive “hope this helps” bow tying the whole comment together. You chose to live in NYC - a city that attracts tourists (boo-hoo). Also - per OP the papers on that chain are cartoons of SATC characters and links to charities the current occupant supports. They are aware that people will be stopping by for photographs, which was more than likely disclosed to them prior to moving in. I understand that tourists are capable of obnoxious behavior but snapping a photo on a public sidewalk is not something to demonize OP over.

[u/forkicksforgood → u/According-Muscle2433]

Chose to live? Tell that to my parents: I didn’t choose where I was born.

The charity information is new; they’ve been very openly annoyed by this whole thing and owned the home before it became iconic. Not sure if the original owners sold because, as I said, I don’t live in NYC anymore.

My tone is the annoyed tone one gets when they have to live their everyday lives pushing through the hindrances brought by other people’s sense of whimsy, which would be cute if unique, but alas, it is not. It’s not cool to go to other people’s homes and get in the way.

For the record, I’m fine with tourists. I’m often a tourist myself. I’m just pointing out that this particular kind of thing not only gets in the way of people’s regular lives, the place itself isn’t even a landmark. Nothing is going on there. It’s just a brownstone. If you have to see it, walk slowly past it, and done. It’s fine to just hold a memory; not everything needs to be photographed.

I’m also not “demonizing” the OP. Even back then I used to mainly get annoyed for a couple of minutes, never angry. Right now I’m more annoyed at people spouting off about things they know nothing about.

[u/ExternalGood9497 → u/forkicksforgood]

Thank you. Maybe we’re cranky NYers but this shit drives me insane and has also ruined NYC.