And then the West Village.
There is a lot to say about the feeling of getting off a bus with 50 people and walking down a quiet West Village street, Perry Street for Carrie’s apartment, someone’s residence, as a group, and repeatedly taking photos for, like, 10 years. My version is a little immersive theater, just to show something that I was implicit in for many years. What toll does it take on a neighborhood to have tourism at this level? Part of what I’m kind of exploring is that, at one point, Sarah Jessica Parker had her shoe store on the corner, and there was Magnolia Bakery and the apartment. It was almost a small Disney World block of Sex and the City craziness, and it was obviously convenient for the tour. But my tour’s whole thing is meta, with the West Village being now what it is and how much it’s changed since I started doing the tours.
Are you talking about the West Village girl archetype? Is she directly related to the show?
My whole thesis is, yes, it is Sex and the City’s fault, but also, no, it’s not. I think the show is the inspiration, but it’s a bit misinterpreted. It’s a convenient scapegoat for a larger issue. Is it a gorgeous neighborhood that was in part the backdrop of the show? Yes, but the show ended such a long time ago. There are TikTok girlies getting people to move here. State universities are pumping guys to work in the financial sector nonstop and they move to the West Village.
What were the tourgoers like on your original tour?
A lot of people who would say they had been friends for 30 years, or who had watched the show together in college. Those people really identified with the friendships on the show and humanity. They understand Sex and the City is not just about dating guys and getting drinks. I think that “fantasy” that I’m talking about, which is coming here, going out, doing whatever, it’s not contributing to the city. It’s using resources and then leaving versus like the women in the show who put down roots. They are transplants, but they had lives, they had children, they bought homes. There’s a difference between that and someone who comes for three to four years after college. That is the diluted version of that fantasy, like, it feels like now almost a hologram. It’s a little flattened.
