The Upper West Side in a Starring Movie Role

Watchers of ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ may be familiar with some New York City landmarks in the award-winning series. In addition to these more iconic locations, a pre-war co-op apartment building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side has had a starring role. “The Strathmore, a 12-story 49-unit building at Riverside and 113^th Street, has regularly featured as the entrance to Midge’s childhood home. Street Easy has estimated that the value of a comparable apartment in today’s terms would be almost $9 million!

Production vehicles, street closures, and parking restrictions are nothing new to Upper West Siders. It’s not unusual for Upper West Side fans of this and other shows to report sightings of movie stars filming in the neighborhood. According to social media, these include glimpses of Steve Martin (“Only Murders in the Building) and Mariska Hargitay, star of the long-running series “Law and Order.”

Other popular TV shows and series have been filmed here over the years. They contain recognizable Upper West Side street shots and familiar neighborhoods. Take, for example, the long-running ‘Seinfeld.’ Monk’s Café, where Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer regularly met, is permanently associated with the corner of 112^th and Broadway. Tom’s Restaurant, a diner at this spot, provided the familiar exterior for the show’s coffee shop. To this day, comfort food, memorabilia, and tributes to the ‘Seinfeld’ stars can be enjoyed at Tom’s.  

Before streaming series and binge-watching were a part of the landscape, movies captured the neighborhood’s charm. Many of these have resulted in famous household movies and huge box-office hits. Some of these movies have depicted the Upper West Side landscape as gritty, jarring, and highly realistic for their time. Others have taken a lighter tone. 

West Side Story (1961) captured some of the social problems and more challenging aspects of multiracial life on the west side in the 1950’s. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) offered shots of the exterior of West 72^nd Street’s Dakota’s Apartments, the imagined home of the young couple at the story’s center, as its haunting horror story unfolded. And ‘Panic in Needle Park’ (1971), a movie that looks at life and love among heroin addicts, featured Sherman Square, located near 72^nd Street and Broadway, and some Riverside Park scenes.

Luckily, other movies have balanced things out! These have favored more familiar, reassuring, and happy-go-lucky Upper West Side settings. Remember scenes from Central Park, Café Luxembourg, and the West 96^th Street Plant Shed in ‘When Harry Met Sally’ (1989)? Ghostbusters (1984) featured Tavern on the Green and shots of Columbia University and Central Park.  And the romantic comedy ‘You’ve Got Mail’ (1998) liberally features food and beverages, with shots of Zabars, Barney Greengrass, Café Lalo, Ocean Café, and even Gray’s Papaya!

Whether showcasing iconic west side spots or everyday apartment buildings, Manhattan’s Upper West Side continues to be a well-established movie and TV show setting.