Fans pay tribute to Matthew Perry outside the “Friends” house on Bedford Street in Greenwich Village. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Matthew Perry’s portrayal wisecracking Chandler Bing on the classic sitcom “Friends” made him a star, and Bing one of the most memorable fictional New Yorkers on television.
On Sunday, a day after his unexpected death at his Los Angeles home at the age of 54, New Yorkers paid tribute to Perry as if he were one of their own, mourning his shocking loss at both the “Friends House” in Greenwich Village and the nearby “Friends Experience.”
Fans flocked to the “Friends House” at 90 Bedford St., the exterior of which was featured in the decade-long sitcom where Bing and the gang lived. The dreary weather matched the solemn mood of the friends who gathered outside. Some left notes and flowers for Perry at a makeshift memorial.
Uri Brankouski was visibly emotional as he laid down some flowers at the memorial. Brankouski grew up in Belarus, and because of “Friends,” he decided to live in New York City one day.
Tearing up, he said, “The sitcom ‘Friends’ changed my life, changed my opinion [about] friendship, for love, for life, and gave me love for this city. They will live forever because the sitcom ‘Friends’ will live forever with us.”
Devin Cates said he had to come to the memorial to pay his respect after he learned about the devastating news of Perry’s untimely death.
Cates grew up in Kentucky but was always a “New York nerd” as a kid. “Friends” inspired him to move to New York City, and Chandler always made him laugh.
“Friends was one of the shows that gave me the drive and the ambition to live in New York one day,” Cates said. “And “Friends” was one of those shows that just made me think, ‘Oh my gosh, what kind of life would that be?’”
Anushka Sarkar said she was a “big fan” of “Friends.”
“It was a shock,” Sharkar said when she heard of Perry’s…
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