Twenty years ago, the Internet was an unexplored, foreign land, not an addiction or a matchmaking service. And the Big Apple was still ♓filled with mom-and-pop shops — a landscape threatened by corporate giants like Fox & Sons Books.
OK, Fox books is fictional — a part of the world of “You’ve Got Mail,” rom-com queen Nora Ephron’s cinematic love letter to New York City that was released Dec. 18, 1998.
“New York was her soul andജ it was her place and he♔r people,” Randy Sokol Sweeney, the film’s location manager tells The Post.
In the movie, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan starred as Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly, two New Yorkers who fell in love online during the earliest days of dial-up Internet, but unbeknownst to Kelly, they are actually business rivals. It was filmed primarily on Ephron’s Upper West Side — centering on Ryan’s tiny bookshop, w💟hich was set up at a real store on West 69th Street.
Ephron, a former New York Post reporter, wrote and directed “Mail,” which captured the quirk and charm of th𓆏e neigh🧔borhood that she called home by filming at stalwarts such as Zabar’s, Gray’s Papaya and Cafe Lalo.
But Sweeney had a tough job. Because Ephron lived on the Upper West Side, she already knew🌞 exactly what she wanted and was more involved in the process than most directors.
“In some cases it was easier, but in a lot of times she would get her heart set on a place and they didn’t let us shoot there. That didn’t go over so well with her,” Sweeney sꦬays. “She was the only director I ever worked with who would call [a location]. She’d get on the phone and charm them. Her passion was so infectious. That’s how we got a lot of our locations.”
While today some📖 of these storefronts and shops have long closed their doors, and Fox & Sons w🃏ould now be under assault by Amazon, the New York of “You’ve Got Mail” endures.
Here are some of the more iconic locations tha♕t you can still visit.
The 91st Street Garden
91st Street at Riverside Park
The scene: Every romantic comedy needs a final scene where the star-crossed lovers finally come together and share a Holly🌸wood kiss. This is the scene of the crime.
The back story: “It was spring in Riverside Park and that was the most beautiful time of year,” says Sweeney, who reveals that Ephron specifically scheduled this shoot around the small window when the park’s blooms arrived. “It was all about th🐽e blooms. And it was so 🦩beautiful.”
Cafe Lalo
201 W. 83rd St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue
The scene: When Joe and Kathleen decide to 💛finally meet in person, she says she’ll bring a red rose with a book so he can spot her. But as soon as he does, he realizes it’s his nemesis. A tense war of words ensues.
The back story: Sweeney, the location manager, actually lived abov📖e the cafe, which sold desserts and fancy coffee drinks before Starbucks was in our lexicon. “I was a regular there, but I didn’t know the owner and he was really challenging for me,” Sweeney says. “I had to really sweet talk him and work him🌃 for a long time.”
Fox & Sons Books (Barneys)
150 W. 17th St., at Seventh Avenue
The scene: The facade of the soon-to-open bookstorꦅe is seen throughout the movie. In a poignant moment, after Kath🗹leen closes her own shop, she wanders in and overhears a customer asking about a series of children’s books. When the clueless Fox worker can’t help, she steps in and tracks them down.
The back story: The original Barneys closed in 199꧂7, and fashion’s loss became this film’s blessing. “That was our main location and it was huge,” Sweeney says. “It was already a store. We negotiated and were going to have it for about a year.” That is, until the firm behind Barneys pulled out, leaving production scrambling. The studio stepped in, sweetened the deal with more money and,🔯 ironically, saved Fox Books.
The Shop Around the Corner
106 W. 69th St., between Columbus Avenue and Broadway (now La Mode Organic Cleaner)
The scene: Kathleen’sꩵ quaint♔ children’s bookshop with the magical green facade is shown in several scenes, from storytime to gossip sessions with her employee pals.
The back story: Unlike most directors, who shoot a real exterior and then build an interior to shoot in, Ephron wanted to use Maya Schaper’🐲s Cheese and Antiques shop inside and out.
“She wanted it t𓂃o be as real as it could be,” Sweeney says. “We completely emptied it and redressed it into the bookstore. We had it for a really long time.” One scene was shot in the winter but took place in the fall, so the crew pasted autumn leaves on trees all over West 69th Street.
Zabar’s
2245 Broadway, between 80th and 81st streets
The scene: Kathleen💟’s shopping in that legendary market during t𝕴he pre-Thanksgiving rush and spots Joe on his way in. Flustered, she hops onto the cash-only line but only has a credit card. Joe spots her and charms the cashier into allowing her to use her card.
The back story: Owner Saul Zab෴ar wanted nothing to do with the filming, so Sweeney had to enlist Ephron’s help to persuade him to allow them in. “Nora would say♕, ‘Give me the number.’ She was so amazing that way.”
Zabar relented, with one caveat: “There was no way they were going t𝄹o shut down for even five minutes.” Instead, the crew filmed 🐈the scene in the dead of night, for several days.
Gray’s Papaya
2090 Broadway, at 72nd Street
The scene: Kathleen and Joe chat in the window of the iconic New York cheap hot dog joint. And Kathleen, who st🎶ill doesn’t know Joe𓆏 is her pen pal, excitedly tells him that her love interest asked to meet in Riverside Park.
The back story: When Sweeney saw the script, it already had Gray’s Papaya written into it. “It was li�▨�ke Zabar’s and Barney Greengrass. Nora wanted that location. It wasn’t just referred to as any old hot dog place.”