Top 6 NYC Locations in Unbreakable

By Anjuli Johnson

Talk of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix’s new original comedy series, is all over the internet, along with the show’s catchy, uplifting theme song. If you’ve seen the show, “hashbrown no filter” is probably part of your daily vernacular, “pinot noir” has a whole new meaning, and the auto-tuned line “females are strong as hell” is stuck in your head 24/7. If you haven’t binge-watched the thirteen episodes of the first season yet, what are you waiting for? Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt was filmed on location in New York City, so we picked some of our favorite locales featured on the show.

Rockefeller Center

When Kimmy (Ellie Kemper) and her fellow “mole women” are rescued from the doomsday cult that kept them underground for 15 years, Matt Lauer interviews them on the TODAY Show at Rockefeller Center. After the interview, Kimmy parts ways with the mole women on West 49th Street between 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the NBC News building, determined to start over in New York.

Times Square

Titus (Tituss Burgess), Kimmy’s new roommate, works in Times Square (“where New Yorkers shop!”), handing out flyers in a fake Iron Man costume. Kimmy finds him there to deliver an impassioned speech about how they can’t let life break them. She tells him he can’t give up on his dreams and they sing “Circle of Life” together for the crowds of tourists in Times Square.

Dylan’s Candy Bar

Kimmy wanders the city, exploring her newfound freedom, when she stops at Dylan’s Candy Bar to grab some candy for dinner. Later that day, she returns to ask about job opportunities but ends up chasing a young candy thief, Buckley (Tanner Flood), out of the store.

Jacqueline’s apartment

Kimmy takes Buckley home to 11 East 82nd Street on the Upper East Side, just down the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where she meets Jacqueline Voorhees (Jane Krakowski) who hires Kimmy as her personal assistant/nanny/dog masseuse. After getting fired, Kimmy returns the next day, determined to get her job back.

Cherry Hill Fountain

Kimmy goes for a jog through Central Park and hears someone say that the Cherry Hill Fountain is where they filmed the opening credits of Friends. She takes her Vietnamese friend, Dong (Ki Hong Lee), to the fountain to recreate the scene, but a friendly police officer tells them the truth: it’s not actually the real fountain from Friends (or “Six White Complainers” as Dong claims the show is called in Vietnam).

Tavern on the Green

After Kimmy and Dong talk about their favorite Central Park movie scenes, Kimmy decides she wants to go to Tavern on the Green, the restaurant from Ghostbusters, for dinner on her date with Logan (Adam Campbell). Dong sees them there together and he’s heartbroken.

NYC is more than just the backdrop of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. The city gives Kimmy the freedom that was stolen from her for 15 years. The city is her new beginning. Welcome to New York, Kimmy!
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About the writer: Anjuli has been a TV/movie fangirl for as long as she can remember and a loyal OLTer since she was 16. She loves most television shows, but some of her favorites are Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Blacklist, and Person of Interest. She enjoys tracking down productions on the streets of NYC and probably spends too much time thinking about the lives of fictional characters.