10 New York City spots for those who love the TV series "Friends"

Let's start by debunking the myths. Contrary to the fact that "Friends" is as much a New York story as possible, most of the episodes were filmed in Warner Brother's Los Angeles set. Almost every one of these locations has real-life correspondences, though.

The main characters' apartment

Unfortunately, the real apartment of Monica and Rachel, as well as Chandelier and Joey, doesn't exist - it's all a movie set. But the facade of the building with fire escapees, which we could see in the series, is quite real - the house is located at 90 Bedford Street in the West Village neighborhood.

We can't help but think of the apartment of the "disgusting naked man" that the characters regularly observed from the living room windows of Monica and Rachel's apartment. Legend has it that in this building in Greenwich Village lived one of the producers, and the idea for the series was invented in this apartment during a party. By the way, the original title of the series was supposed to be "Once Upon a Time in Greenwich Village.

Central Perk Cafe

According to the story, in the same building there is a permanent meeting place for friends - Cafe Central Perk. In reality, it's a Mediterranean restaurant. For something more like Central Perk, we recommend going to Bloomingdale's, the real-life iconic New York department store where Rachel Green got her start in the Ralph Lauren boutique. The department store honors this history and has set up a Central Perk-inspired space with the same orange sofa as in the TV series. Moreover, everyone who buys something from the Ralph Lauren x Friends collection gets free coffee.

Ross Museum

The New York Museum of Prehistory, where Ross works, doesn't really exist, but the American Museum of Natural History is absolutely real. The atmosphere there is very similar to Ross' place of work, so you won't notice the substitution, and you'll spend your time with benefit.

Fountain

The fountain where the characters dance at the beginning of each episode. The scene was filmed in Los Angeles, in the fountain at Warner Brother's studio, but there are two almost identical fountains in New York - Cherry Hill in Central Park and the Pulitzer Fountain in Grand Army Plaza.

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The Plaza Hotel

One of the most movie-like places in New York! Of course, it's best known for Home Alone 2 and the adventures of Kevin McCallister, but it was also featured in Friends. At the end of season seven, this is where the friends celebrated Monica and Chandler's engagement over champagne.

Chandler's office

It's not completely known what Chandler did, but according to one version he was an IT procurement manager specializing in statistical analysis and data reconfiguration.

But his place of employment is pretty clear - Chandler worked in the Solow Building, located just west of Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th Streets, not far from the Bergdorf Goodman and the Plaza Hotel. Built in 1974, the 49-story-tall building is home to a number of law firms and hedge funds.

Lucille Lortel Theater

The West Village Theater, located at 121 Christopher Street, appears three times in the third season of the TV series Friends. The story involves Joey in a number of off-Broadway productions where he plays the lead in a play with Kate Miller (Dina Meyer), whom he initially can't stand but eventually falls in love with.

Moondance Diner

The 1950s-style restaurant where Monica worked as a waitress was actually a real diner in Manhattan, also appearing in 2002's Spider-Man and Sex and the City. But it moved to Wyoming in 2007 and eventually closed its doors for good in 2012 after the couple who owned it could no longer afford to run it.

You can still visit the spot where it once stood, though, in the Soho neighborhood on 6th Avenue between Canal Street and Grand Street.

Phoebe's apartment

It is known that Phoebe lived near her friends' apartments in Bedford Street. More specifically, Morton Street: in some episodes the characters even mention her address as "5 Morton Street". In other episodes, where the exterior of the building is shown, the number on the building reads 16. In real life, Morton Street is very close to the friends' fictional apartment - just a 10-minute walk away.

Central Park

It's impossible to make a TV series about New York City and not involve Central Park! And so it is with Friends - quite a few scenes were filmed in Central Park, recreated in Warner Brother's pavilions. In particular, in one memorable episode, the producers even recreated running paths and trails to film Phoebe and Rachel jogging.