Virginia K. Smith

When a movie or TV show is set in New York City—and if the people making it are savvy—real estate becomes part of the story itself. In Reel Estate, we look at some of the more memorable domiciles to grace the screen. We've spent a lot of time this past week plowing through episodes of The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and while the character doesn't always make a ton of sense—like why would the victim of a traumatic kidnapping stick around to make cutesy chit-chat with a catcalling construction worker?—we can definitely co-sign her apartment choice.

We seem to be in the midst of a busy era for state-sponsored real estate fire sales: last month, Newark staged its headline-grabbing Valentine's Day sale of $1,000 plots of land, and now, New York state is preparing to auction off 150 Sandy-damaged Long Island lots and homes at a steep discount, according to the New York Times. In both cases, the deeds come with serious strings attached.