And Just Like That… has been filled with shocking life changes for Carrie Bradshaw, most recently her controversial decision to get back together with her former fiancé Aidan for the fourth time. But in episode 9 of season 2, which dropped on Max on Aug. 10, the stylish Manhattanite considers a decision that’s truly unthinkable: selling her beloved Upper East Side apartment.
In the season 5 premiere of Sex and the City, which aired in July 2002, Carrie mused that her one great love may actually be New York itself—and her apartment was a major part of that. A constant through her every relationship and phase, the cozy space served as her home, office, and styling center: it was the place where did her writing, hosted her boyfriends, and stored her seemingly endless collection of Manolo Blahniks. Aspects of the apartment have become visual emblems of the show, from her iconic walk-through closet spilling over with party dresses to the brownstone stoop where she hailed cabs and made out with dates. And storylines that centered the apartment—including Aidan’s failed attempts to change it into a home where he fit and Carrie’s use of it as a safe haven in the first Sex and the City movie after she broke off her engagement with Mr. Big and again in And Just Like That… when he died—have only driven home the point that Carrie’s place is a huge part of who she is.
Which is why it feels so wrong that in the most recent episode of And Just Like That… Carrie declares she’s ready to sell her apartment in favor of buying a four bedroom on Gramercy Park to help her make it work with Aidan. Since the woodworker’s return earlier this season, the reunited lovebirds have been in a state of bliss—except for the fact that Aidan refuses to enter Carrie’s place because of the bad memories it holds for him. The man can’t exactly be blamed for being triggered by the apartment where he once put in hours of labor refinishing floors in hopes of a future that was dashed away first by Carrie’s infidelity and then by her cold feet. But having Carrie sell her apartment—the home that has seen her through six seasons of Sex and the City, two movies, and a season of And Just Like That…—feels like a wild turn. Not to mention laughably unfathomable in this economy.
Read More: Why Carrie and Aidan’s Reunion on And Just Like That Makes No Sense
The apartment—an exceptionally large alcove studio in a pre-war brownstone building located at 245 East 73rd St. (an address that doesn’t exist in real life)—was introduced on Sex and the City in the early 2000s as a rent-controlled property that Carrie lived in for the astonishingly low price of $700 a month. In one of the major plot points of her relationship with Aidan, the building became a co-op, so he bought the apartment for them to live in as a couple. When they broke up, Charlotte offered Carrie her engagement ring to help buy the place back.
For Madison Sutton, a Manhattan-based real estate agent with Serhant who also runs a TikTok account giving tips on NYC real estate, Carrie’s decision to sell her longtime home doesn’t make sense. Sutton estimates that the Upper East Side apartment would sell for anywhere from $650,000 to $750,000 while the tony Gramercy Park apartment Carrie is considering would go for about $4.5 million (an estimate Sutton calculated based on similar properties currently for sale)—plus fees, taxes, and closing costs. All of this amounts to a jump in housing costs that most people just wouldn’t choose to make. “I don’t think a financial advisor would advise it,” Sutton says.
Sutton also points out that given the current housing market, Carrie might have a hard time selling her apartment, especially since her co-op building is older and doesn’t have amenities like a doorman or gym. “Right now, we’re heavily affected by interest rates, especially in the sub-one million market,” she says. “Less people are buying right now than they are renting because of how high the interest rates are, so her place would likely sit on the market.”
Sutton estimates that Carrie’s maintenance fees for her Upper East Side home would realistically be between $1,000 and $1,200 per month. Assuming the writer has fully paid off her mortgage, that’s a relatively low cost for keeping a New York City apartment. She would advise Carrie to either sublet the place if her co-op allowed it or keep the property for use in the future. “If she has the financial freedom to hold on to her apartment for $12,000 a year, I would not sell in this market,” Sutton says. “From what we know of her financial background and what she likely inherited from Big, I’m not sure it makes sense for her to let go of this property.”
A true New Yorker appreciates the value of good real estate. And anyone who’s lived in the city as long as Carrie should understand the math here—to sell her UES apartment would be a loss and a risk on multiple levels, especially considering the volatility of her past with Aidan. Home ownership often has more longevity than romantic relationships do. “People come and go, but that apartment has been in her life for 30 years,” Sutton says. “A true friend would advise her to hold on to that—and a good agent would say the same.”
