Hear from an author and map designer who has been creating maps of the NYC subway, officially and unofficially, for over forty years!
A new street art hotspot has some unconventional holiday decorations!
From giant menorah lightings to New Year's Day hikes, check out our picks for how to spend the holidays in NYC!
The Amazon Prime original series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is back for its fifth and final season! The first three episodes are out now and the rest will be released once per week for the next six weeks. The show began in New York City in 1958, but as we enter the fifth season we are into the sixties, and even see glimpses further into the future. The series is part Mad Men-esque in its mid-century setting, part La La Land in its theatricality – minus the singing, though it often feels—like song and dance might break out any minute. These elements combined may seem cringeworthy, even to us period drama obsessed folks here, but the superb acting and comedic timing of the cast, led by Rachel Brosnahan of House of Cards, Tony Shalhoub of Monk fame, and Luke Kirby of Rectify, along with the spunky writing of Amy Sherman-Palladino, make this show a sleeper hit.
The premise: Upper West Side housewife Miriam “Midge” Maisel, of an esteemed Jewish family, seems to have it all—a successful husband, a great apartment, and two kids. Her husband Joel has taken on what Midge thinks is a hobby—doing standup comedy at the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, but it turns out he’s been straight up stealing routines from famous comedians. This leads to a comedy of errors, whereupon Midge drunkenly takes the stage showcasing her natural talent.
We left Midge in season 4 questioning what she’s willing to give up in order to really make it big. In the first three episodes of season 5, we see Midge taking on new challenges and chasing her dream. We’ll be updating this list as new episodes are released over the coming weeks. Read on to discover all of the iconic New York City locations featured in the new episodes and previous seasons!
In the final episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, we are treated to a visit to the lost automat of Horn & Hardart. The set was built inside a church in Crown Heights, close to the Untapped New York office. We got a sneak peek of the set when they were filming! The set featured Art Deco details and lettering, along with backlit display cases.
The replica Horn & Hardart set looked just like the self-service restaurants that used to exist in New York City. Different sections of coin-operated cubbies are labeled for what they contain inside: sandwiches, soups & salads, hot foods, pies and cakes, hot beverages, and ice cream. Midge grabs a slice of chocolate cake for her and Susie to share.
Midge and Lenny Bruce enjoy a late-night meal at 69 Bayard, a beloved spot in Chinatown that closed in 2016. The restaurant was known for having single-dollar bills stuck up on its walls. The money was taken down and the interior was renovated, but once reopened as WK Restaurant, the new owners encouraged patrons to keep up the money wallpaper tradition. According to Yelp, WK Restaurants has also since closed.
At the end of episode 8, Abe meets a group of men for dinner at the Wavery Inn and Garden in Greenwich Village. The cozy restaurant at 16 Bank Street was formerly a home, carriage house, and neighborhood liquor store. A restaurant first opened there in the 1920s and was called Ye Waverly Inn & Garden. It was a spot frequently visited by the bohemians, artists, and writers of New York City including Edna St. Vincent Millay.
In 2006, the restaurant was purchased by former Vanity Fair Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter and it became an exclusive dining spot for VIPs. The most notable feature of the restaurant is its decor- large-scale murals by illustrator Edward Sorel. The murals depict a raucous scene of New York creatives from Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman to Eugene O’Neill, Dylan Thomas, and James Baldwin.
In episode 8, the penultimate episode of the series, Midge and Susie get into a tense argument on the main concourse of Grand Central Terminal. Under the celestial ceiling, as crowds of commuters shuffle past, the pair let out their frustrations.
Secrets of Grand Central
The main concourse is largely the same now as it would have been in the 1960s, but there is one major difference – the departure boards. In 1996, the terminal’s split-flap Solari boards were replaced with digital screens. At that time, the design of the board still kept a vintage look. In 2019, the boards were replaced again and this time the look was new and modern.
In Episode 7, Abe visits his grandson Ehtna’s school, The Alcott, and tours the library. Abe is impressed by the school’s facilities…and its snacks…but not as impressed with Ethan’s academic performance. The historic library of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen Library in Manhattan, just blocks away from Bryant Park, was used as the filming location.
Founded in 1820, it’s the second oldest library in New York City (The oldest is the New York Society Library (1754)). The impressive space features a large skylight and four floors filled with stacks of books. The society also holds th John M. Mossman Lock Collection, “which has more than 370 locks, keys, and tools, dating from 4000 B.C. to the early 20th-century.”
In a flashback to 1854, Abe meets with Joel in his office at Colu,bia University and they toast to Joel and Midge’s upcoming nuptials. The exterior establishing shot of this scene shows the Union Theological Seminary, located at 121st Street and Broadway. This seminary is the oldest independent seminary in the United States and is affiliated with Columbia University.
Founded by members of the Presbyterian Church in 1836, the seminary became the American hub of liberal Christianity in the late 19th century. Today, the school is open to people of all faiths.
Episode 6 covers many locations and many points in time. After an opening scene with Midge on stage, episode 6 takes us into the Friar’s Club, home of the celebrity roast. The private social club
at 57 East 55th between Park and Madison Avenueshas hosted
legendary members like Johnny Carson, Jerry Lewis, and Frank Sinatra.
The club was founded in 1904 by a group of press agents, but over the past 115 years, its members have included actors, musicians, business icons, and most famously, comedians.In the episode, we get to see many spaces of the clubhouse, or monastery as the members call it. We see characters getting out of their cars and entering the clubhouse, milling about in the lobby, and finally taking their seats inside the dining room for the roast of Susie Meyerson.
Interspersed with scenes from the roast are scenes of Susie on the golf course, not a place you’d expect to see her character. Decked out in a sweater vest and newsboy cap, we see Susie and her companions zipping around in golf carts and taking swings at the Wykagyl Country Club in New Rochelle, New York.
The Hudson Valley country club has a history that dates back to 1898, though the current course was built in 1972. The grand clubhouse, which replaced an old farmhouse on the property, was built in 1915. The name of the club is believed to have been inspired by Native American terms for birch bark (wigwos) and country (keag), as seen on an old Dutch map.
In Episode 6 we see the events that led up to the falling out between Midge and Susy, and how Joel is involved. Joel makes a deal with Nicky and Frank that keeps Midge clean, but ultimately leads to Joel getting in trouble. He meets with Nicky and Frank in a Brooklyn dive bar where the two mobsters are having a Christmas party. The bar used as a setting for these scenes is the Turkey’s Nest Tavern in Williamsburg near McCarren Park.
This is a location we’ve seen the cast at many times before. In episode 6, we’re in the year 1985. In a dramatic turn, the service is interrupted by the FBI. The real-life synagogue where the scene was shot is in East Midwood, Brooklyn. In the episode, you can see the magnificent stained glass windows that line the historic East Midwood Jewish Center, located at 1625 Ocean Avenue. It’s assumed that this Brooklyn synagogue is located in Manhattan in the show, as it would be a far trek for the Maisels from the Upper West Side.
Episode 5 ends with Midge and Gordon Ford out to dinner at a diner which is called “The City Spoon” in the show. In reality, the scene was shot at La Bonbonnierre, a location that has been featured multiple times throughout the show. This West Village breakfast spot is cash-only and serves up classic breakfast staples to hungry crowds every morning.
Episode 4 starts with a splash as viewers are treated to a behind-the-scenes look at a colorful performance rehearsal for the 1961 Building New York Expo. As Nicky and Frank ask a favor of Susie, they walk past a variety of different displays such as ‘Taxi of the Future,” “The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge” which was under construction at the time. This elaborate and massive set is full of easter eggs for those who love the history of New York City’s architecture and infrastructure, history, like us! At the expo, there are also booths for Madison Square Garden – which would start construction a few years later after the demolition of the original Penn Station – and the Second Avenue Subway.
Throughout the episode, we return to the expo hall for musical performances and a couple of dramatic encounters. The expo set was constructed inside the Kingsbridge Armory located in the Bronx. Opened in 1917, the now landmarked building was once the world’s largest armory in the world. The building has been largely vacant since 1996 when ownership was transferred to the City of New York. A redevelopment project for the structure is still in the planning stages. Possible new uses include a museum, convention space, media or film hub, sustainability education center, or athletic building, according to the Bronx Times.
Episode 4 finds Rose and Abe out to dinner in Greenwich Village with some of Abe’s colleagues and their wives. They are enjoying a meal at Minetta Tavern after seeing a play. Abe and Rose get into a debate over what the play was about. Seeing the playwright at a neighboring table, Rose decided to call him over and ask.
Minetta Tavern was a popular hangout spot for the likes of Ernest Hemingway, E.E. Cummings, and other famous writers. Opened in 1937, it takes its name from the Minetta Brook Creek that once flowed along 23rd Street to the Hudson River.
Rockefeller Center has a starring role in this season as Midge spends a lot of time there in her new job at the Gordon Ford Show. At the end of episode 4, we see even more of the famous Art Deco complex as Susie has a tense interaction with Gordon Ford’s wife, a blast from the past. The pair charge through the black and gold Art Deco lobby of 30 Rock and out into the street.
Once outside, we see the pair pass under the neon sign for the Rainbow Room before settling across the street from the iconic neon marquee on the side of Radio City Music Hall.
The Maisels and Weissmans come together for Thanksgiving Dinner at Shirley and Moishe’s (Joel’s parents) house in Forest Hills. The large house is located off Ascan Avenue in the historic Queens neighborhood. At dinner, Abe and Rose announce that they’re going on a trip, while Shirley and Moishe have some more unsettling news to share.
The picturesque houses of Forest Hills have appeared on screen in a handful of well-known productions. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film “Strangers On A Train” features the West Side Tennis Club in a pivotal scene and more recent shows such as Boardwalk Empire, Elementary, and Blue Bloods, have been filmed there.
The TWA Flight Center (now TWA Hotel) serves as the airport where Midge must escort the magician Alfie onto a plane, as a favor to Susie. Midge arrives in a vintage yellow checker cab outside of the Eero Saarinen-designed terminal which dates to 1962. They wait for their gate number at the red-carpeted sunken lounge.
On the balcony of the TWA Flight Center, Midge runs into her parents, whose reservations to Florida were canceled. She also has a chance encounter with Lenny Bruce, who is on his way to Los Angeles, inside one of the terminal tunnels that connected the now-hotel to JetBlue’s terminal. The tunnels were also famously used in the film Catch Me If You Can starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. Check out our interview with the architect of the TWA Hotel here!
Another familiar setting appears in episode 1 as Susie, her assistant Dina, and Susie’s clients enjoy a potluck Thanksgiving dinner at the Stage Deli. When Midge arrives with Tupperware containers full of food, Susie asks her for a favor.
Scenes at the Stage Deli in earlier seasons were filmed after hours at Artie’s Delicatessen, a former retro Upper West Side deli that closed in April of 2017. For later seasons, the Deli was recreated on a soundstage. Deli culture is part of the promotion of this final season as Gruhbub is offering a special Maisel Tov Martini package to celebrate the finale. For a limited time, Maisel fans in Manhattan can order a pastrami-flavored martini paired with their choice of a deli sandwich. Order yours here!
Episode 2 opens with Midge, later in life, being interviewed for 60 Minutes. The industrial backdrop we see over her should is the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The shot specifically shows the historic dry docks behind Midge. These dry docks allow for maintenance works on ships and there are just six still active today.
The Brooklyn Navy Yard is a popular filming location that appears in shows like Gotham and many others. The Navy Yard is also home to Steiner Studios, the largest film studio in the country outside of Hollywood. It is also where The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel films scenes on their built sets.
Thanks to a chance encounter at Midge’s gig at the nightclub, she now has a new day job at the Gordon Ford Show which shoots at a studio in Rockefeller Center. On her way into her first day as the first female writer on the staff, she passes by the iconic Atlas statue on her way into the building.
Secrets of Rockefeller Center
At the end of episode 3, the final episode released so far, the Gordon Ford staff celebrate being the #1 show with an impromptu visit to the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. As the staff skate and slide around, Susie sneaks around the empty offices.
On her way to work at the Gordon Ford Show, after much deliberation over her “sitting outfit,” Midge takes the subway. During her commute, she runs into an old flame, and a chase ensues as Midge maneuvers her way through the crowded cars and platforms.
Underground NYC Subway Tour
She rides the IRT line and gets off at 72nd Street in the show, but this scene was actually filmed in the abandoned lower level of the Bowery station, one of the two subway stations where the MTA usually allows filming. This station can be seen in Mr. Robot, Hunters starring Al Pacino and many other New York City-based shows.
Abe has an important lunch meeting at the Orsay, a French restaurant. An awkward interaction takes place which has Abe questioning Penelope’s intentions. He returns to Orsay for dinner with Rose, who we know from previous seasons is a Francophile.
The restaurant, located on 75th Street and Lexington Avenue, has appeared on screen before in series such as Inventing Anna and Homeland.
Season 5 kicks off with Midge recovering from a bad night out after seeing Lenny Bruce play Carnegie Hall. At the end of Season 4, after a scathing conversation with Bruce, we see Midge leave the Hall and get swept up in a snowstorm. Now we are seeing the effects of her walking home to her Riverside Drive apartment in that frigid weather (Will she lose a toe?!).
This is the apartment she used to live in with Joel in previous seasons but now shares with her parents. The actual building where exterior shots of the apartment are filmed is The Strathmore at 113th Street on the Upper West Side. It was built in 1909 with an original floor plan that had two 10-room apartments on each floor. Keep reading to see filming locations from previous seasons!
This season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel begins with Miriam incredibly upset after getting kicked off Shy Baldwin’s tour. Although she performed a great set (at the end of season 3), she’s insulted him. She and Susie are in a yellow cab heading back to the city from the airport and Miriam gets angry and starts throwing her clothes out the window. This scene is filmed in Greenpoint, in the industrial zone near Broadway Stages, a one of the major film studios in New York City. They head back to the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, where they’re going to sleep for the night.
The Gaslight Cafe was a real location—a coffeehouse and music venue that hosted the likes of Bob Dylan, beat poets like Allen Ginsberg, Jimi Hendrix, and many more. It was open at 116 Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village between 1958 and 1971. The famous venue has been shown in Mad Men and Inside Llewyn Davis.
Portions of the montage in the first season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel where Midge and Joel are in the cab going through Greenwich Village are filmed along St. Mark’s Place in Alphabet City, where you can see spots like the Yaffa Cafe and the bar St. Dymphna. The exit of the Gaslight Cafe is also filmed along St. Mark’s Place across from the Yaffa Cafe. The interior is a set filmed at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In the opening episode of the fourth season, Midge and Susie bring the whole crew of their show, musicians and all, to crash inside the club.
Midge goes for a walk in Greenwich Village, and we see her next to the fountain and next to the Washington Square Park Arch. She stops by a newsstand and sees news about two luxury hotels— but the news she’s upset about is that she’s been replaced by another performer and that Baldwin already knew that when she went to the airport. It was a deliberate humiliation.
We also see Susie run around the fountain to the newsstand as well to use the payphone. She pays the man using it so she can get on the phone to call Tess to inquire about the insurance check.
Joel is still trying to run his club in Chinatown with Mei, whose parents are interested in the club only because they need it as a front for other businesses.
The club is supposedly located at 227 Bayard Street, but that address address that doesn’t exist in real life because Bayard Street gets cut off due to the courthouses downtown. The club and basement are sets.
Midge goes to commiserate the money issues and the tour disaster at a dive bar. This scene was filmed in the former Hank’s Saloon, a beloved dive bar in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.
Hank’s closed down in 2019, but did move for a period of time to a location, which subsequently closed in the pandemic.
Moishe, Shirley, Joel, Rose, Abe and family all go to Coney Island for Ethan’s (sort of) birthday. In the scene, we see the Wonder Wheel, the Speedway, the Parachute Jump, the Coney Island Boardwalk. They buy Coney Island delicacies like funnel cake, and wait on line to get on the Wonder Wheel.
Miriam also shows up and faces are a lot of questions about the tour. The whole family gets on the ferris wheel cars and have the conversation about her getting fired and the loan she took from Joel’s father to buy her old apartment.
We’re back inside the Stage Deli! In season 4, Susie and Midge meet after some of the money problems have been solved. But other comics who hang out there come to rub their noses in Midge’s firing. In season 3, Midge calls up Lawyer Fred from the USO show to get updates on his assistance negotiating her contract for the tour with Shy Baldwin. The scenes from the last three seasons were shot inside Artie’s Delicatessen, a former retro Upper West Side deli that closed in April of 2017. Filmed after the closing, the interior was made extra retro for the shoot. It appears that for subsequent seasons, the deli was recreated as a set.
If you visited the exhibition Making Maisel Marvelous at the Paley Center for Media when the third season debuted, you would have been able to sit at one of those booths and had waitress Verla take your order. Or if you checked out the Carnegie Deli popup restaurant that arrived in Nolita timed with the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a lot of the design inspiration including the booth seats, the red chairs, and tiling, came from this set. Artie’s was opened in 1999 at 2290 Broadway by Artie Cutler, who also ran the chain of Ollie’s Chinese restaurants and Carmine’s, the Italian restaurant.
Susie goes to visit Sophie Lennox at a bucolic psychiatric facility where she has a butler at her service. If you’re wondering what the filming location for this spot is, it’s the Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf, a Gold Coast Gilded Age mansion on Long Island.
Susie is hoping Sophie will sign a document severing their contract, but it’s mostly wishful thinking. The scene is hilarious, in a classic Sophie Lennox fashion.
Midge has moved back into the apartment she used to live in with Joel, and in a complicated very Mrs. Maisel way, she’s bought the apartment from Joel’s parents but now can’t afford to pay for it after getting fired from the tour. She’s also invited her parents to move back in with her, so they don’t need to live in Forest Hills anymore with Joel’s parents.
The apartment is located on the Upper West Side at 404 Riverside Drive, a fancy apartment known as The Strathmore at 113th Street. It was built in 1909 with an original floor plan that had two 10-room apartments on each floor. The entrance marquee, originally in glass but since replaced, is French-inspired, and has vintage lamps alongside. The interior is filmed on a set, but the exterior is filmed at The Strathmore.
Midge’s family and Joel’s family all go to Broadway to see the show of one of the children of the Catkills vacation set. The scene is filmed in the lobby of the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, one of the five opulent Loews “Wonder” theaters. The theater underwent a dramatic restoration in the early 2010s and is now one of the premiere concert venues in. New York City.
The show will cause a dramatic situation in the Jewish community, following Abe’s Village Voice review of the show which comes out the next day.
The last time we saw this jail in the fictional 8th Precinct in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is when Midge and Lenny Bruce have their first encounter in the pilot of the first season. It’s actually filmed at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center on the Lower East Side, in the former P.S. 160 school.
It has several theaters, exhibition galleries, and incredibly, a witch school. The organization focuses on serving the Spanish-speaking community on the Lower East Side.
Rose and Abe live at 404 Riverside Drive, a fancy apartment known as the Strathmore at 113th Street built in 1909 with an original floor plan that had two 10-room apartments on each floor. The entrance marquee, originally in glass but since replaced, is French-inspired, and has vintage lamps alongside. The interior is recreated on a set nearly exactly as the apartments are inside, but the exterior is filmed at the Strathmore.
In the third season, the couple is grappling with Abe’s decision to quit his job at Columbia University and his plans to move out of the apartment he feels is too extravagant.
If you’re wondering how 1960s Las Vegas was recreated for this season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, look no further than New York City. That’s right, a portion of Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn was transformed into the Las Vegas streetscape. The scene where the band is drag racing looks to be filmed here as well.
If you haven’t been to Floyd Bennett Field yet, it’s worth a visit with historic airplane hangars, abandoned buildings, and even a place restoring World War II-era planes. The field was home to the take off and landings of aviations greats, including Howard Hughes, Charles Lindbergh, and Amelia Earhart. Today it is a National Park Service site. The interior of the fictional Phoenicia casino was filmed in Woodhaven Manor, a former movie Loew’s Willard Theater turned catering hall/event space in Queens.
Faced with losing their apartment and no good housing prospects, Rose and Abe (plus Zelda) move in with the parents of Joel Maisel. They’ve just moved to a vary large house on one of the private streets off Ascan Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens. The stay proves pretty untenable, as you’ll see!
The Mrs. Maisel/Shy Baldwin Tour continues to Miami, where Midge and Susie stay at the real Hotel Fontainebleu. Susie is decidedly not relaxed, even sitting by the pool. Midge attempts to teach Susie how to swim, to humorous effect.
The hotel, which was renovated in 2008, has been show in many films, including the James Bond film Goldfinger, The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston, Scarface and The Sopranos. When Midge arrives, she imagines herself descending the grand staircase, which she gets to play out.
Susie is managing Sophie Lennon now and manages to get her a starring role in a production of Miss Julie (a play by August Strindberg which in real life was made into a movie most recently with Colin Farrell and Jessica Chastain). The show is going to take place at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, located at 243 West 47th Street in the Theatre District.
The usual highjinks occur with anything connected to Sophie Lennon. A lot of the time, Susie is managing things from Florida, where Midge is on tour, so we see the cast and crew calling Susie trying to figure out how to deal with Sophie. In the show we see the exterior and interior of the theater, and finally even get to see how the play went when Susie and Midge attend the opening night performance.
Midge’s father Abe used to teach mathematics at Columbia University, with students who would follow him at the drop of a hat. After quitting last season, he returns to his old classroom where the students are clearly still petrified of him. The exterior shots of Columbia University are not filmed there, but we saw the classroom in previous seasons. It’s located in 309 Havemeyer Hall at Columbia University.
This is considered one of the most filmed classrooms because it has appeared in numerous television shows and movies, including the Spiderman films and Kinsey. It fits 330 students and has cool moveable chalkboards.
While Shy Baldwin is taking a break from tour for exhaustion, Midge and Susie hit up the radio airwaves recording commercials and live bits for money. One of the studios they film in is supposedly located in the Metropolitan Life North Building, right on Madison Square Park. Midge and Susie are seen jumping into cabs right on the street with the products they’ve been paid with for the commercials.
If you visit this building in person, don’t forget to check out the beautiful skybridge that connects the Met North Building and the tower next door. The building is now home to the New York Edition hotel.
Susie decides that taking cabs eats too much into the money they’re making on the radio spots, so they take the subway. The teal interiors of the vintage subway car match perfectly with the Pursettes and Midge’s coat. Based on the signs, they are on what is now the F line, which makes stops at Houston-2nd Avenue and Forest Hills, Queens.
Filming of vintage trains, of which many are on display in the New York Transit Museum, are done in conjunction with the MTA. This specific train appears to be the type of Bluebirds that were used for the World’s Fair train (or a classic Redbird given a full makeover for this shooting). Though the Bluebirds are already light blue on the outside, for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, it looks like a teal paint job and teal upholstered seats were added to the interiors.
Susie and Reggie hang out with the rest of Shy’s crew at a barbershop, listening to a boxing match over the radio. This scene is filmed in Ludlow Blunt barbershop, located in Williamsburg. Though it’s not one of the original old-school vintage barbershops in New York City, it has the look down pat and has also been seen in Billions.
In a flashback between today and before, Midge and Joel are at lunch in La Bonbonniere, an old school luncheonette in Greenwich Village. In the flashback, they’re talking about potentially having kids and Midge drops that she’s actually pregnant at the last second. In present-day, they’re arguing about where to send their son Ethan to school and what they can afford.
A great scene, where the set completely takes over an entire street, as Midge makes her way to Moishe’s garment shop, is actually filmed on West 19th Street where Bed Bath & Beyond is. Cars are running, garment racks are everywhere, and Midge weaves her way through the busy street.
Midge is beyond excited to be opening up for Shy Baldwin at The Apollo, the legendary theater in Harlem. She gets unnerved by the comments of Moms Mabley’s manager, who claims Midge took Mabley’s spot on tour. Midge gets advice from Reggie, who doesn’t know just how well she knows Shy’s secrets, and while the set goes well for the audience, not so much for Midge’s future with Shy on tour. We’ll see how Midge and Susie rebound for next season!
Joel, Midge’s estranged husband, and his friend Archie commiserate at Old Town Bar at 45 E. 18th Street, one of the oldest bars in New York City. It’s Joel’s favorite spot, where those close to him know they can call and find him there. In season 1, Joel’s secretary/paramour Penny Pann calls; in season two it’s his mom.
Old Town Bar opened in 1892 as Viemeister’s. Like many other bars in New York City, it survived Prohibition by becoming a speakeasy under the name Craig’s Restaurant. The mahogany wood and marble bar, 55 feet long, tiled floor, wooden booths (where alcohol was stored in a compartment underneath the seats during Prohibition), vintage cash registers, and historic mirrors, make Old Town Bar a popular filming location in New York City for period pieces.
The Gaslight Cafe was a real location—a coffeehouse and music venue that hosted the likes of Bob Dylan, beat poets like Allen Ginsberg, Jimi Hendrix, and many more. It was open at 116 Macdougal Street in Greenwich Village between 1958 and 1971. The famous venue has been shown in Mad Men and Inside Llewyn Davis.
Portions of the montage in the first season where Midge and Joel are in the cab going through Greenwich Village are filmed along St. Mark’s Place in Alphabet City, where you can see spots like the Yaffa Cafe and the bar St. Dymphna. The exit of the Gaslight Cafe is also filmed along St. Mark’s Place across from the Yaffa Cafe. The interior is a set filmed at Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
The film location for the exterior of B. Altman, the department store Midge goes to work for at the makeup counter in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, is at 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. Though the landmarked building today is the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, it was built as a B. Altman department store.
The specific entrance the show films at is along 34th Street, You can see the grand awning and the set designers built custom windows to be fitted onto the facade to look like department store windows. The interior of the store is a set built within a former bank in Williamsburg, Brooklyn that is now the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center.
Another B. Altman location was at 629 6th Avenue between 18th and 19th Streets along Ladies Mile. The store today is the Container Store.
In Paris, Rose agrees to a dinner (at the appropriate Parisian time of 9 PM) with Midge and Abe. They dine at Chez Paul, a real restaurant at 13 rue de Charonne near the Bastille Opera House in the 11th arrondissement. It’s also down the street from a fabulous and hidden artist enclave, appropriate given Rose’s latest Bohemian phase. The scene is filmed in the actual interior of the restaurant, notable for the yellow walls and eclectic art. We’ve dined there—it’s great!
Susie, Nicky, and Frank head to the Rockaways to Susie’s house by taking the IND Rockaway subway line (now the A train). The Rockaways is a slip of land in southern Queens, and Susie says she lives on Broad Channel avenue. The actual filming location of her house is at 4 Beach 85th Street, on a house that sits on a pier just off Beach Channel Avenue. Nicky says he lives in the Rockaways too, on Seagull, to which Susie responds, “Woah, you’re in the fancy section.”
Midge wanders through the Montmartre neighborhood of Paris and comes across Madame Arthur Cabaret, a transvestite cabaret show. Unsurprisingly, Midge accidentally ends up on stage, as she’s trying to fix the dress of one of the singers, and then is amazed to discover the singer was a “he!” She then embarks on a stand up set, with an American woman who lives in France translating for the crowd.
The Madame Arthur Cabaret is a real venue located at 75 bis rue de Martyrs, and is named after the song Madame Arthur by Du Baiser au Portier from the late 19th century.
Later, Midge’s mother Rose goes to an art class at the Rodin Museum, located in the Hôtel Biron, a gorgeous Hotel Particulier near the Invalides. They see the sculptures in both the interior of the museum and in the courtyard. Rose then comes across two nuns and schoolchildren looking just like a scene from Madeline.
The dancing scene along the Seine River at the end of the montage in episode two of season two takes place just behind Nôtre Dame cathedral.
The Music Inn is another real location, looking as quirky as it probably did in Greenwich Village in the ’50s. The store is located at 169 West 4th Street and opened in 1958, the year the show is set. The interior has instruments hanging from the ceiling and rows of records, and does have a lower level (now filled with percussion instruments).
The location is shown in the first and second seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and the store cat appears in both! In the second season, Susie overhears the unofficial record of Midge the first night she did standup at The Gaslight and erupts in anger against the owners.
The scenes inside the Stage Deli where Midge meets Herb Smith, who “writes” her bad set jokes and the William Morris agent were filmed inside Artie’s Delicatessen, a former retro Upper West Side deli that closed in April of 2017. Filmed after the closing, the interior was made extra retro for the shoot.
If you’ve visited the Carnegie Deli popup restaurant that arrived in Nolita timed with the second season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, a lot of the design inspiration including the booth seats, the red chairs, and tiling, came from this set. Artie’s was opened in 1999 at 2290 Broadway by Artie Cutler, who also ran the chain of Ollie’s Chinese restaurants and Carmine’s, the Italian restaurant.
Joel takes his parents to get a line of credit at a bank run by a friend of Archie’s. Joel spends much of the episode locating money his mom has stashed all over their apartment, factory, and even in Midge’s parents’ apartment, using a “treasure map.” Joel’s father likens the banking hall to the Vatican.
The bank scene is filmed in the banking halls of the Dime Savings Bank in Downtown Brooklyn, which is undergoing conversion into a new residential development that will be the tallest in Brooklyn, and one of the very tallest in the city.
Midge’s family, with Joel visiting on occasion from Manhattan, head to the Catskills’ Borscht Belt, a major holiday destination for New York area Jews from the 1920s to ’60s. The scenes are filmed at Scott’s Family Resort, renamed in the show as the Steiner Mountain Resort, located in Deposit, NY on Oquaga Lake. The Scott’s Family Resort has been in operation since 1873 and the family, which still runs it, has an illustrious history in show business.
Some of the famous Borscht Belt resorts mentioned in the show include Grossinger’s Resort (now abandoned) and the Concord, which was demolished (although this author spent a few days there in her high school years and can attest how large the dining room was, as referenced in the show).
Midge and her new beau Benjamin, who she met in the Catskills, go to an art opening and then get a drink at McSorley’s, one of the oldest taverns in New York City. It’s a who’s who inside, with artists Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell, and activist Jane Jacobs (who had an appearance in season one). Artist Declan Howell is also present, played by actor Rufus Sewell. In one shot, you get a clear view of the wishbones on the chandeliers, left over from each local East Village boy who did not make it back from World War I.
Although the scene is shot at the real McSorley’s, the show refers to the bar as Cedar Tavern. The real McSorley’s was closed to women until 1970.
Midge and Susie head back from a rather disastrous tour and get stuck in traffic in the Holland Tunnel (times have certainly not changed). We love this scene because you actually see in operation one of the catwalk cop cars speeding away on the lefthand side of the shot. You also see the border tiles between New York and New Jersey in this shot.
The original Kettle of Fish Bar was located next door to the Gaslight Cafe. Bob Dylan hung out here along with other musicians between sets at the Gaslight Cafe. Gaslight employee, Susie Myerson (played by Alex Borstein) takes Midge to this bar after she bails her out of jail.
The Kettle of Fish still exists but has moved locations several times. It is currently located at 59 Christopher Street.
Midge and Joel live on the Upper West Side at 404 Riverside Drive, a fancy apartment known as The Strathmore at 113th Street built in 1909 with an original floor plan that had two 10-room apartments on each floor. The entrance marquee, originally in glass but since replaced, is French-inspired, and has vintage lamps alongside. The interior is filmed on a set, but the exterior is filmed at The Strathmore. The show also filmed in nearby Riverside Park.
Joel is a vice president at Tri-Borough Plastics, which has sales offices on Park Avenue. It’s not too clear what he does exactly and he doesn’t seem to be too into it at any rate. When he calls Midge from the office, she asks him “How’s work?” and he answers, “I believe something got sold today.” That evening, Midge heads to his office, the exterior of which is shot at 299 Park Avenue, the office of the investment bank UBS in real life today, between 48th and 49th streets. They head out the revolving front doors and get into a vintage yellow checker cab.
In the background of the shot, we see the backside of Grand Central Terminal and 230 Park Avenue, the Helmsley Building. Discerning Untapped New York reader Michael Kane has pointed out that 299 Park Avenue was not actually built when the show was set, but instead, was constructed starting in 1962 and opened in 1964.
Midge walks happily down the street when she realizes that she indeed has some comedic chops, and heads into the subway. The bar behind is 7B, also known as the Horseshoe Bar located in Alphabet City, also seen in shows like Jessica Jones. The subway station entrance doesn’t really exist here though. It’s one of the entrances to nowhere that are added when television and movies shoot in New York City.
Midge then gets on a vintage subway car, likely one that is on display at the New York Transit Museum in downtown Brooklyn.
Midge’s father Abe (Tony Shalhoub) teaches mathematics. You probably recognize this classroom as 309 Havemeyer Hall at Columbia University, because it has appeared in numerous television shows and movies, including the Spiderman films and Kinsey. The large stadium seating classroom is supposedly the most filmed classroom. It fits 330 students and has cool moveable chalkboards.
The Friars Club, where Susie goes to find comedy talent manager Harry Drake, is a real private club in New York City, located at 57 East 55th Street. The club is known for its celebrity toasts and roasts, which were aired on Comedy Central between 1998 and 2002.
The building the club is located in was not built for the club originally, but as the mansion of an investment banker. For historical accuracy, the club would have indeed been located in this location, having moved here in 1957.
Midge goes to see Lenny Bruce open for a jazz band at the Village Vanguard, a venue founded in 1934 and located at 178 7th Avenue South since 1935. Originally known primarily for folk music, poetry readings and stand-up comedy, the Village Vanguard began to focus on jazz starting in 1957.
Midge ends up in a rally in Washington Square Park organized by none other than Jane Jacobs, protesting Robert Moses and his plan to build a highway through the park. Midge has no idea who Jane Jacobs is, but quickly decides she supports the cause. Jacobs calls her onto the stage to “share her story.” Revel in the historically accurate posters in the crowds during this scene. Moses would lose the fight.
Joel’s favorite watering hole is the Old Town Bar, where Penny Pann learns she can call when she needs to locate where he is at night. This tavern, located at 45 East 18th Street, is one of New York City’s oldest bars and a film location favorite, with mahogany bar and seats, tin ceiling and dumbwaiter still preserved. A bar has been operating here since 1892.
Joel decides it’s time for his parents to meet Penny Pann and they head to dinner. The scene is filmed inside the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park, where lunch is still served on weekdays to members and members of sister clubs, like the Salmagundi Club. The club is in the former Samuel Tilden Beaux-Arts mansion and has a stunning stained glass ceiling and wood bar.
Susie once again tracks down Harry Drake, this time in an old-school barbershop. The scene is filmed at York Barbershop on the Upper East Side at 981 Lexington Avenue. York Barbershop opened in 1928 and retains the period detail from the wood paneled walls, vintage lamps, and checkered floor.
The synagogue shown in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel where the Midge’s parents attend services is actually located in East Midwood, Brooklyn. The East Midwood Jewish Center, located at 1625 Ocean Avenue, was built in 1929 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Given that the family lives on the Upper West Side, it is unlikely they would attend this actual synagogue.
Midge and Imogene co-host a birthday party for their kids at the Prospect Park Carousel, a ride that was constructed in 1912 by famed carousel designer Charles Carmel. The carousel has 53 horses, along with other creatures including dragon chariots, a lion, and giraffe. Midge talks to Joel on the ride suggesting that they move forward with their divorce.
Also, check out our Film Locations column for many more shows!
Subscribe to our newsletter
