‘Sex and the City’: Charlotte York’s First Apartment Hinted at Her Privileged Upbringing
Charlotte York might not be the richest character in And Just Like That…, but she’s certainly considered extremely wealthy. The richest character, after Mr. Big’s death and several lucrative book deals, is Carrie Bradshaw. Still, the show’s main character came from much humbler beginnings, as did her pals, Samantha Jones, and Miranda Hobbes. In the show’s earlier seasons, Charlotte definitely had the most money out of her pals, and her early seasons’ apartment proves that she was never far from her upper-class upbringing.
Charlotte York scored a great Park Avenue apartment following her divorce from Trey MacDougal
Sex and the City fans likely remember Charlotte’s apartment from season 4 onward. She fought hard to get the apartment in her divorce settlement from Trey MacDougal. She succeeded, eventually taking ownership of the apartment that was in the MacDougal family for years.
There was a reason she wanted the home so badly. The apartment, located at 930 Park Avenue, wasn’t just stunning; the address carried a lot of clout in high society. Charlotte eventually married Harry Goldenblatt, and the couple made their life together in that apartment, too. While her Park Avenue address was everything she ever dreamed of, her single-life apartment wasn’t bad, either.
Her bachelorette pad was far from shabby
Before meeting and marrying Trey MacDougal, Charlotte lived alone in an apartment on the Upper West Side. Her building, located at 275 Central Park West, offers residents unobstructed views of Central Park, easy entrance to the famed green space, and doorman services. The apartments’ interiors aren’t too bad, either, with high ceilings, large windows, and plenty of natural light.
None of that comes cheap, though. The rental building has at least one available unit at the moment. Its next tenant will need to shell out nearly $10,000 a month to call it home, according to Street Easy. Charlotte wasn’t paying that much back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but she more than likely laid out more than $3,000 per month for the unit.
Charlotte York couldn’t have afforded the apartment on an art curator’s salary, though
Charlotte’s Park Avenue address was certainly more monied than the apartment she lived in as a single woman. Still, she wouldn’t have been able to afford that apartment, before Trey, without some serious family involvement.
When Sex and the City started, Charlotte was a curator at an art gallery. While the jobs in the art world are highly coveted, most curators don’t start off making a ton of money. She may have received a commission for sales on any artwork she sold, but her base pay would have barely surpassed $20,000 a year in 1998. Even with a commission, Charlotte would have been unlikely to clear more than $100,000 each year, which would have made it impossible for her to pay her rent, dress in designer threads, and eat out multiple times a week.
Charlotte never complained about money while likely making about the same amount as Carrie. Her apartment would have cost substantially more than Carrie’s, too. It’s pretty clear that, while the show never mentioned it, Charlotte’s family money helped keep her afloat. It really is the only explanation.
Charlotte’s original apartment hints at her background from the very first episode. As time progressed, it became pretty obvious that Charlotte wasn’t just like her friends. She was from a lot more money than them.
Charlotte dropped more hints about her super-rich family than you might remember. The apartment just happened to be the most obvious one. As a teen, Charlotte enjoyed modeling and riding the horse she owned. She went to Smith College but grew up in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. The small hamlet is home to many wealthy families; apparently, the Yorks were one of them. Her father, a doctor, was only seen once on Sex and the City, and her mother, a socialite, was never actually seen. Still, Charlotte’s family wasn’t just rich; they were really rich.
