Those ubiquitous movie-set trailers that seem to take over the streets of New York on a daily basis can make living in the city feel like you’re subletting a space on a Hollywood lot.
But even the most hardened grump will admit to a bit of joy at watching a blockbuster TV series like CBS’s “Elementary” or HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and recognizing local haunts.
Here are a few real NYC spots you might recognize on a screen near you this fall:
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1. The Carrie Diaries
“The Carrie Diaries” star AnnaSophia Robb stretches her Manhattan-centric legs shooting a scene with Chris Wood on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. The CW’s prequel to the cultural touchstone “Sex and the City” has gained fans who like the portrayal of a fashion-forward teenager trying to make it in the grittier New York City of the 1980s.
Setting: Manhattan
Shot in: Greenwich Village, Midtown and Brooklyn
TV scene: Carrie is a Manhattan girl at heart, but she has made a few trips to Brooklyn over the course of the show, including a scene with Adam at the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
NYC reality: The Promenade is not only one of the most picturesque spots in all of the city, it’s been in countless films, including “Annie Hall,” “Saturday Night Fever,” and “Moonstruck.” The surrounding neighborhood is full of gorgeous brownstones, and a walk down to nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park, via a pedestrian bridge at Middagh Street, continues the stunning views of Manhattan from one of the city’s newest parks.
TV scene: Rushing to a work appointment in this season’s Episode 4, airing Nov. 15, Carrie passes by a Manhattan office building that’s easily recognizable because of a giant red sculpture of the number 9 out front.
NYC reality: The 9, designed by graphic artist Ivan Chermayeff, is for 9 W. 57th St., also known as the Solow Building. It’s no stranger to TV audiences either: Chandler Bing worked here in “Friends.” And it’s been featured in movies such as “Superman,” “Cloverfield” and “Zoolander.” Its restaurant, 8½ Brasserie, was even featured on the original “Sex and the City.”
TV scene: In the episode airing Friday, young Carrie (AnnaSophia Robb) enjoys some cold ones at a Manhattan pub with Adam Weaver (Chris Wood), the playwright wunderkind she has to interview for her job.
NYC reality: The bar is McSorley’s Old Ale House (15 E. Seventh St.; 212-474-9148). In business since about 1854, it courted controversy by not serving women until 1970. A onetime hangout for gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, it’s more likely to host frat-boy tourists today. But McSorley’s Ale, at two 8-ounce mugs for $5, can’t be beat.
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2. Boardwalk Empire
Steve Buscemi (center) in a “Boardwalk Empire” casino scene shot at Park Slope’s Montauk Club. The period drama is about mobsters and corruption in Prohibition-era Atlantic City, but you’ll see New York on-screen.
Setting: Atlantic City and NYC
Shot in: Greenpoint, Park Slope and Greenwich Village
TV scene: In the Martin Scorsese-directed pilot, we see the “real” Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) when he’s patrolling Lolly Steinman’s casino.
NYC reality: The casino is filmed at the Montauk Club (25 Eighth Ave., Park Slope; 718-638-0800), a private social club in a big Victorian building where presidents from Cleveland to Kennedy have visited.
TV scene: In this season’s Episode 7, “Joe the Boss” (Ivo Nandi) meets with “Lucky” Luciano (Vincent Piazza) in the smoky back of an NYC Italian restaurant.
NYC reality: Old-school John’s of 12th Street (302 E. 12th St.; 212-475-9531) is the perfect location, with its still-functional 1919 GE box refrigerator. The restaurant’s upstairs actually served as a speakeasy during Prohibition.
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3. Elementary
Sherlock Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) and Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) have moved their adventures from London to NYC. The retelling of the Arthur Conan Doyle classic detective series debuted last year, taking the detective out of London and dropping him in modern-day New York City, with an added twist: a gender-swapped Watson.
Setting: New York City
Shot in: Brooklyn Navy Yard, Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo
TV scene: Thursday’s episode found Sherlock dining with Watson and his older brother, Mycroft (Rhys Ifans), at a trendy new Dumbo spot, which fits in with the show’s frequent love for the Brooklyn waterfront Brooklyn neighborhood.
NYC reality: The restaurant is Atrium (15 Main St.; 718-858-1095), which made its TV debut just three months after opening. The nouveau American cuisine spot with an open kitchen and live plant wall sprang up in the space after previous tenant Governor was flooded out by Hurricane Sandy. Co-owner Alexander LaPratt recommends trying one of the maple and rye cocktails, made with a limited-production New York Distilling Company rye called Chief Gowanus, along with smoked maple syrup, bitters and alpine liqueur, topped with a flaming citrus twist.
TV scene: The Oct. 17 episode “Poison Pen” opens with Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller) sparring in the ring while assistant Joan Watson (Lucy Liu) sits watching. “Did you learn anything, Watson?” Holmes asks. “Yeah, that you fight dirty,” she replies. “I fight without mercy,” he snaps.
NYC reality: The gym here is Gleason’s Gym in Dumbo (77 Front St.; 718-797-2872), the training center where Mike Tyson learned to throw punches. It should look familiar: CBS also used it as a setting for the shows “Person of Interest” and “Golden Boy” last year, but you might know it most from its star turn in the Oscar-winning boxing movie “Million Dollar Baby.”
“You couldn’t name a show that didn’t film here,” owner Bruce Silverglade boasts.
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4. Girls
Café Grumpy, where Hannah and Ray work on “Girls,” is pretty much the same in real life. Lena Dunham’s ode to a generation of Brooklyn 20-somethings will be back for its third season Jan. 12, but its first two have already helped spread the allure of the youthful corners of the borough across America.
Setting: Brooklyn
Shot in: Greenpoint, Williamsburg
TV scene: Café Grumpy is the much cooler, younger analogue to Central Perk from “Friends,” a neighborhood coffee shop where Hannah (Dunham) and Ray (Alex Karpovsky) work. It’s the site of a pivotal showdown with a neighbor (Patrick Wilson) over proper disposal of the shop’s trash.
NYC reality: The real cafe looks and runs much like it does on the show. Café Grumpy (193 Meserole Ave.; 718-349-7623) is packed with freelancers typing away at laptops; the shop is known for its house-roasted coffee beans and freshly made pastries such as tomato herb focaccia and mixed-berry plum corn muffins (each $3.25).
TV scene: In a Season 1 occurrence probably not too foreign to many young Brooklynites, Hannah confronts her now openly gay ex-boyfriend from college (Andrew Rannells) over a glass of wine at a bar to ask if he’s the one who gave her an STD.
NYC reality: The bar used in the scene was once Royal Oak, a slightly divey spot once popular for Williamsburg dance parties. It’s changed hands a few times since then, and recently reopened as Over the Eight (594 Union Ave.). The bar plans to reopen its kitchen with offerings such as a turkey-dip sandwich and beer-nut-crusted tofu. The big booths up front make it a nice spot to huddle with pals; or you can head to the back for regular comedy and music shows.
TV scene: In the Season 2 opener, guest star Donald Glover flirtatiously chases Hannah through a bookstore. The two chat and make out against a display wall of books.
NYC reality: The real store used in the shot is Williamsburg’s Spoonbill & Sugartown, Booksellers (218 Bedford Ave.; 718-387-7322), a small, quirky but popular space that has been on Bedford Avenue since the ancient (in Brooklyn time) year of 1999. It emphasizes art, design and architecture books, but also keeps a stock of used and rare tomes.
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5. Orange is the New Black
Astoria Park is the setting for Red’s flashback in “Orange Is the New Black.” Left: Taylor Schilling and Jason Biggs from “Orange.” The Netflix hit is still finding fans online even as its second season filming is under way. The based-on-a-true-story tale of a Park Slope yuppie sentenced to two years in a women’s prison contains lots of familiar NYC scenes and in-jokes.
Setting: Park Slope and Queens
Shot in: Astoria, Ditmas Park and all around New York
TV scene: In a pre-prison flashback in Episode 2, we see Red (Kate Mulgrew) trying to fit in with the club of neighborhood ladies who walk through the park. Her overtures come off a little too desperate, and the pack leaves her behind at a literal crossroads — foreshadowing a desire for inclusion that gets Red into trouble.
NYC reality: Astoria Park running paths, under the Hell Gate Bridge, are a picturesque slab of greenery on the edge of Queens.
TV scene: Another flashback shows Red and her husband operating their family business, a deli and food importer, where tables of men scheme while sucking back shots of liquor.
NYC reality: The deli may be a Russian hangout in the show, but in reality it’s Rosario’s (22-55 31st St., Astoria; 718-728-2920), a slice of Italy in Queens. Owner Rosario DiMarco opened it 12 years ago and stocks the busy spot floor-to-ceiling with cheeses, meats, pastas and more. The blog We Heart Astoria says the brick-oven pizza may be the best in Queens. “People told me you should have a part in [the show],” says DiMarco. “I said they couldn’t afford me.”
TV scene: Protagonist Piper (Taylor Schilling) walks into a bar for a job; instead she gets hit on by Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), leading to her undoing.
NYC reality: The Sparrow Tavern (24-01 29th St., Astoria; 718-606-2260) is frequented more by friendly locals than drug cartel employees. The 8-year-old Sparrow, also seen in the 2006 movie “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints,” hosts its own short-film festival.
Try the real-world version of Piper’s drink of choice here, a passion fruit basil margarita, or the house special saffron sour cocktail. Manager Nicci Carnaggio says Jodie Foster, who directed the episode, personally came in to scout it for the shoot.
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6. The Michael J. Fox Show
Michael J. Fox (center) and his TV family at the West 72nd Street subway station in his show’s opening credits. The new fall sitcom finds Fox returning to NBC for the first time since “Family Ties” aired 30 years ago. As in real life, Fox’s character is dealing with Parkinson’s disease, while returning to work (he’s a news anchor on the show).
Setting: Upper West Side
Shot in: Upper West Side and Rockefeller Center
TV scene: The show’s opening credits help set up its Upper West Side bona fides, with Fox, his wife (Betsy Brandt), their kids and friends romping around a small park in the middle of busy city roadways.
NYC reality: The family is hanging around a real city transit landmark, the 72nd Street subway entrance, at Broadway.
TV scene: Fox’s character returns to his job at the NBC news desk, located at the network’s big outpost at 30 Rockefeller Center.
NYC reality: In the grand tradition of NBC, which loves to feature its fictional characters working at real NBC studios (see also: “30 Rock”), the show films at 30 Rock.