Residents of the real apartment building used for establishing shots on Friends are protesting a planned promotional stunt for the sitcom’s 25th anniversary.
Ninety Bedford Street in Manhattan’s West Village doubled as the apartment building that housed Monica, Rachel, Joey and Chandler for much of the long-running series, leading to it becoming a popular tourist attraction in the city.
In celebration of the show’s forthcoming 25th birthday, Warner Bros Television had hoped to plant a replica of the show’s Central Perk coffee shop sofa outside of the building. But residents are now complaining that the proposed stunt will only increase nuisance, crowds and, at least according to one resident, public urination.
“We have at least 400 tourists a day coming to look at that building. They take pictures all day and all night. I come outside and there’s 20 people hanging out on my stoop or taking a pee around the corner,” Bedford Street resident Rezar Skoda told the New York Post. “To close off the street or a section of the sidewalk would make it crazy.”
Warner Bros had applied for a permit that would fully close the Bedford Street sidewalk, allowing fans to take photographs while sitting on the sofa in front of the building. A community board meeting unanimously voted down the permit application, but the Post claims that Warner Bros could still successfully go forward with their plans if they are signed off by a higher authority in the city.
“We are hopeful we can still move forward with the permit and create a unique experience for fans,” Warner Bros Television said in a statement.
