How to Make a Subway Map with John Tauranac
Hear from an author and map designer who has been creating maps of the NYC subway, officially and unofficially, for over forty years!
Broad City is a new and quirky show on Comedy Central that documents the lives of 20-somethings Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer who are living on their own in Brooklyn, making the most of their post-graduate lives. The show is filmed throughout the city, playing on stereotypes of neighborhoods as well as the personalities embodied by their residents. Check out this list of a few awesome locations from the first six episodes of Broad City.
Abbi Jacobson works harder than anyone else at this gym, and she’s not even a trainer (yet?). She works on the maintenance staff at the gym and has singlehandedly cleaned more pubes than anyone else she knows. Soulstice Gym, as it’s called in the show, is actually filmed at Chalk Gyms in Williamsburg at 193 N 9th Street
Washington Square Park is a great hangout in real life and in the show, and Abbi knows its the best spot to get into trouble. She has an awkward conversation with another wanderer while looking for some illicit substances. We’ve covered WSP a bunch before and you’d be really surprised at some of the secrets this location holds.
Ilana has her hands full trying to work extra jobs and make a little spending money. She comes in to temp for a secretary and commits to walking dogs instead of manning the desk. When this proves overwhelming, she accidentally fails to keep an eye on one of the dogs, who becomes sick. Luckily the dog is nursed to health after a visit to the Lower East Side Animal Hospital located at 241 Eldridge Street.
Grounded Coffee at 28 Jane Street in Manhattan is the location of Jane’s Sandwich Shop in the show, where Abbi has her first “art show,” which in reality consisted of various pieces displayed and sold as part of the shop. She sold one piece, and barely made enough money for three sandwiches. It was later revealed that her best friend, Ilana, bought the only piece.
At the beginning of episode 5, Abbi is checking her voicemails from Ilana while getting waxed at Grand Relax, located at 297 Grand Street in Brooklyn. She is a regular there, but the lady working there knows how long it has been since her last visit.
Abbi and Ilana come to Swine on 531 Hudson Street when they decide they need to, let’s say, “expand their friend circle.” Abbi loses her phone in here when she gets too drunk, and the entire episode follows Abbi’s epic adventure throughout the city following her phone’s location on a map.
The two girls follow Abbi’s phone to Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park. Ilana thinks the only way for them to find it is to lure the phone thief to take a picture of her while dancing topless in the park. However, she’s not the first to dance topless in Central Park, so she doesn’t draw any attention.
After the ladies make it out of the Upper East Side alive, they force themselves into Times Square following the phone. Abbi gets tackled by an angry and rude New Yorker for having a soliloquy while standing in the middle of the crosswalk.
They give up on finding Abbi’s phone for a bit to see Ilana’s friend perform in a show that takes place at KGB Bar on 84 East 4th Street. The improv show is funny at first, but Tyler’s quirky antics and horrible acting ultimately harms their relationship in the long run.
After a long day of checking out the tourist sites in Manhattan, Abbi figures out the last place every tourist goes: Magnolia Bakery at 401 Bleeker Street. She races downtown, cutting the whole line that wrapped around the corner, and finds her phone with a ditzy girl she met the night before.
In “The Last Supper,” the first season finale, the main characters Abbi and Ilana head to the fictional “Octavia,” a fancy restaurant for Abbi’s birthday. Ilana gets a near fatal allergy to seafood and Abbi accidentally injects herself with the Epipen. The exterior the restaurant City Hall New York on Duane Street but the interior is the now-closed Firebird, a Russian restaurant on W. 47th Street in Restaurant Row.
Check out more film locations from Season 2 of Broad City! Get in touch with the author @uptownvoice.
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