A TV show about JFK Jr. is turning Manhattan into a tourist destination

Fans flood real spots from the show

The FX limited series “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” premiered on Feb. 12, 2026, and fans are already turning lower Manhattan into an unofficial walking tour.

The show follows the couple’s romance from courtship through their deaths in a 1999 plane crash, and filming took place at real spots JFK Jr. and Bessette frequented in Tribeca and SoHo.

Now those locations are drawing crowds, part of a growing travel trend the industry calls “set-jetting.”

The series shattered FX streaming records

The numbers tell the story.

“Love Story” logged more than 25 million viewing hours across its first five episodes on Hulu and Disney+, making it FX’s most-watched limited series ever on streaming.

Online searches for the couple surged more than 9,100% in the month after the premiere. The hashtag #lovestory racked up more than 21 million posts worldwide.

The show clearly struck a nerve, and it sent people looking for more than just episodes.

The couple captivated America in the 1990s

John F. Kennedy Jr. was the son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He became a lawyer and started the political magazine George.

Carolyn Bessette worked as a publicist at Calvin Klein and became known for her minimalist style. They married in September 1996 in a private ceremony off the coast of Georgia.

On July 16, 1999, a small plane JFK Jr. piloted crashed into the Atlantic off Massachusetts, killing both of them and Carolyn’s sister Lauren Bessette.

Their Tribeca loft tops the fan tour

The couple’s former home at 20 North Moore St. in Tribeca is the No. 1 stop for fans retracing the show.

Kennedy bought the loft in 1994 for about $700,000, and Bessette moved in around 1995, about a year before their wedding.

Back then, paparazzi camped outside the building hoping for a shot of the couple. Today the neighborhood is one of the priciest in New York City.

One restaurant built a 1,500-person wait list

Panna II Garden Indian Restaurant in the East Village, famous for its ceiling covered in colorful lights, got a huge boost from the series.

The show depicts it as the couple’s first date spot, though owner Bashir Khan has said they were actually regulars who visited during off-hours to dodge paparazzi.

Khan told Fox News Digital the restaurant built up a waiting list of more than 1,500 people within three weeks of the premiere.

Business jumped 20% to 70% after the show debuted. JFK Jr.’s go-to order? Chicken tikka masala.

Bubby’s served as their neighborhood hangout

Just around the corner from the couple’s apartment, at the corner of Hudson and North Moore streets, sits Bubby’s.

The restaurant opened on Thanksgiving Day 1990 as a small pie-baking operation and grew into a neighborhood staple.

JFK Jr. and Bessette were known regulars. The owner has described it as a gathering place where the couple came together and separately with friends.

Bubby’s is still known for traditional American breakfast food and homemade pies.

Other NYC landmarks are drawing fans too

Washington Square Park connects to one of the most talked-about moments in the couple’s public life, a 1996 argument caught by paparazzi that became tabloid news.

Several 1990s restaurants used as filming locations are also seeing renewed interest, including The Odeon and Indochine.

Both were popular with media and fashion circles the couple moved in.

For visitors wanting broader Kennedy family context, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston offers that deeper look.

A Kennedy family member spoke out against the show

Not everyone welcomes the attention. Jack Schlossberg, JFK Jr.’s nephew, publicly criticized the series in June 2025 before it aired.

He accused the production of not consulting the Kennedy family and of profiting off his uncle’s life. Schlossberg urged the show’s creators to donate part of the proceeds to the John F. Kennedy Library.

Creator Ryan Murphy later said he intended to make a donation. The pushback shows the renewed spotlight on the couple cuts both ways.

Set-jetting could become an $8 billion industry

Set-jetting is the travel industry’s term for visiting places you saw on screen.

Expedia first flagged it as a trend in 2022, and the company’s Unpack ’26 report projects it could become an $8 billion industry in the U.S. alone.

About 53% of global travelers say their interest in screen-inspired travel has grown in the past year. Among Gen Z and Millennials, 81% now plan trips based on what they have watched.

The trend is only picking up speed.

Yellowstone brought Montana a tourism boom

The Paramount series “Yellowstone” showed just how powerful set-jetting can be.

A University of Montana study found the show generated an estimated 2.1 million visitors and about $730 million in spending for Montana in 2021.

It also supported more than 10,000 jobs across a range of industries. Montana saw a 15% jump in tourism between 2018 and 2023, with much of it tied to the series.

Tour operators reported 40% of clients mentioned the show when booking trips.

Other hit shows are reshaping travel patterns

“Yellowstone” is far from the only example.

The Netflix series “Outer Banks” drew attention to North Carolina’s barrier islands as a vacation spot, even though the show mostly films in Charleston, S.C.

A Barclays 2025 travel report found more than two-thirds of travelers have visited or want to visit a destination because of a TV show or movie.

A French film study found “Emily in Paris” sparked a 200% spike in travel interest in Paris. Younger travelers, especially Gen Z and Millennials, drive much of this trend.

The tourism wave may outlast the show

Streaming platforms have made screen-inspired travel accessible to global audiences in a way that was not possible before.

The “Love Story” boom in New York City also shows the trend is not limited to scenic rural destinations. It works in cities too.

For local businesses, the effects can hit fast, as Panna II’s experience proves.

The nine-episode series wraps up on March 26, 2026, but the tourism interest it sparked in Tribeca and the East Village may keep going well beyond that.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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