“Friends” fans who are looking to celebrate the sitcom’s 25th anniversary in style by lounging on a sofa in front of Monica, Rachel, Chandler and Joey’s West Village apartment, don’t buy your airplane tickets to New York City just yet.
According to a New York Post report Saturday, Warner Bros. is seeking a permit to put a replica of the orange sofa seen in the show’s Central Perk coffee shop in front of the six-story brick building on the corner of Bedford and Grove Streets that was used as the exterior of the “Friends” apartment.
The idea: give fans a great photo op by posing on the sofa with the building as its backdrop starting on Sept. 21, 25 years after the NBC sitcom’s premiere. But a publicity stunt like that would require a sidewalk closure, which has caused West Village residents to push back at the plan, with several local residents expressing their concerns at a Community Board 2 meeting.
“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 St. resident Rezar Skoda told The Post. “To close off the street or a section of the sidewalk would make it crazy.”
A spokesman for Warner Bros. Television told The Post, “We were not aware of the Community Board meeting where our application was being discussed, or we would have absolutely been there to discuss the proposed event. We are hopeful we can still move forward with the permit and create a unique experience for fans of the series.”
The application for a full sidewalk closure of Bedford between Barrow and Grove Streets has yet to be approved… or denied… by the city’s Street Activity Permit office.
A rep for Warner Bros. didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.