[1][2] The story is set in Greenwich Village during a pneumonia epidemic.
Through her window, she can see an old ivy creeper (growing on a nearby wall), gradually shedding its leaves, as autumn turns into winter, and she has taken the thought into her head that she will die when the last leaf falls.
At the story's end, we learn that the old artist, who always wanted to produce a masterpiece painting but had never had any success, spent considerable time painting with great realism a leaf on the wall for the whole night.
The scene of the story of "The Last Leaf" is the Greenwich artist colony in New York City.
Over the past century, it has developed from a poor literati settlement to a world-famous art center and tourist attraction.