A Walking Tour of NYC's Upper West Side Inspired by 'You've Got Mail'

The weather in NYC has been teasing springtime for weeks now, gearing up city inhabitants to once again explore and fall in love with every neighborhood they can reach. What better muse to follow than the most romantic of all New Yorkers, Nora Ephron? Inspired by just one of Ephron’s city-based love stories, you can follow along for a guide to New York’s Upper West Side neighborhood through the lens of the 1998 film You’ve Got Mail.

Shakespeare & Co (2020 Broadway)

Where better to kick off your tour of star-crossed book lovers Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) and Joe Fox’s tale (Tom Hanks) than an independent bookseller? Shakespeare & Co, located on 69th and Broadway, has titles crowding their floor-to-ceiling shelves, as well as a front cafe to fuel your impending stroll. Consider picking up Shakespeare & Co’s “Blind date with a book” for a surprise love affair with a novel you may never have picked for yourself in honor of the love between the movie’s two protagonists.

Gray’s Papaya (2090 Broadway)

If you’re feeling hungry already, this seen-all-over-New-York hot dog vendor is right north of our first stop. Gray’s is an ideal all-night stand for purposefully running into unrealized crushes and affordable (and frankly delicious) hot dogs.

Verdi Square (72 W 73rd)

Verdi Square sits between Broadway and Amsterdam Ave on 73rd and is equipped with an abundance of benches and a statue of composer Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi, of whom the park was named after. Seen multiple times from You’ve Got Mail’s opening sequence to the penultimate friendship-quest montage scenes, this is an Ephron-approved stop to sit and read or pass through on your way to the next destination.

Zabars (2245 Broadway)

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Source: The Infatuation & Product Placement Blog

Beyond the world of Nora Ephron, Zabars, a gourmet grocery store that has been located on the corner of 80th & Broadway for the past eighty years, is a New York institution. So, never mind the fact that Tom Hanks once played an arrogant knight in shining armor in the check-out line of this market, a deli bagel from Zabars is an obvious Upper West Side must.

Westsider Rare & Used Books Inc. (2246 Broadway)

While the Kelly women’s ‘Shop Around The Corner’ doesn’t actually exist on New York’s Upper West Side, Westsider Rare & Used Books Inc. does. Once in danger of closing its doors, loyal customers swarmed the shop to purchase and support through fundraisers, keeping the used books and vinyl reseller in business after 37 years. If you tend to side more with Kathleen’s male counterpart when it comes to shopping for books, across from this hole-in-the-wall indie is a Barnes and Noble retailer (at 2289 Broadway). Feel free to check out the best of both book worlds.

Cafe Lalo (201 W 83rd)

Not quite your “I’ll have what she’s having,” this Upper West Side cafe has sat on 83rd Street, just off of Amsterdam Ave, since 1988 and is the self-proclaimed “most famous cafe in NYC.” Serving everything from brunch to desserts, liquor to coffees, you are sure to find something you love even if your online date doesn’t show (except they actually do and you just don’t know it).

An 89th Street Detour (328 West 89th)

On your way to the final destination, please feel free to take a detour down and pass by the brownstone at 328 West 89th. This double-doored building was used as the exterior of heroine Kathleen Kelly’s tidy apartment where the online love affair between Kathleen and Joe began.

91st Street Garden (91st St & Riverside Park)

Ending your walk just as cinematically beautiful as the 1998 film, the last stop on this tour is Riverside Park’s 91st Street Garden. As spring begins to blossom across New York City, this spot will fill with flowers, providing a picture-perfect background for a park-bench read or long-awaited kiss between two unlikely lovers. You know, whatever works.

New York is easy to fall in love with, and the Upper West Side is no exception. Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail featured this neighborhood in a way that feels familiar and as if you too grew up between the Broadway adjacent bookshelves, but bursting with the potential of what you haven’t yet noticed. Fuel your own city love affair by embarking on this tour, and if you are lucky, you too will cross paths with a golden retriever waiting to be pet.

What is your favorite spot on this walking tour? Leave a comment below.