movie sets to visit in new york

• new york city

18 Famous NYC Filming Locations and Movie Sets: My Ultimate Guide!

• Posted by by Elle-Rose
• November 2, 2023
• 10 minute read

Have you been searching for a guide to famous filming locations in NYC that’ll offer a serious hit of Hollywood magic?

Join me as i run through the most iconic filming locations in nyc that have appeared in films over the years.

One of the things I love most about NYC, is that so much of the city is recognizable from movies and TV shows. In fact, one of my favorite things to do when I’m in NYC, is walk around some of these famous filming locations!

In this list, I’ve put together some of the best filming locations in NYC, so you can also see the city through the eyes of a Hollywood camera!

From starring roles in Avengers flicks to Christmas favorites like Home Alone, I’ve tried to include a little bit of everything on this list!

Please note: When I refer to ‘movie sets’ I really mean ‘movie locations’. These are famous locations that have been used as movie sets in the past. They won’t currently be active movie sets.

So let’s do this!

The Plaza Hotel

• Website: https://www.theplazany.com/
• Address : 768 5th Ave, New York, NY 10019, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-759-3000
• Closest subway station: 5 Av/59 St

To kick off my list of different filming locations in NYC, it’s the iconic Plaza Hotel! This iconic hotel opened its doors in 1907 and is designed to look like a beautiful French Renaissance building that’s oh-so-luxurious.

Although you can step in and explore the lobby area, booking a room here is pretty expensive (it’s one of the most luxurious hotels in the city).

It’s luxurious reputation is one of the reasons why The Plaza is one of the most popular movie locations in NYC for filming everything from weddings to upscale meetings.

Not only has this movie set appeared in the comedy Bride Wars, but you’ll spot it in North by Northwest and The Great Gatsby!

Oh, and you’ll also spot it in the incredible Home Alone 2 (which is fitting if you’re visiting around Christmas time!).

Read more about visiting NYC: Where to find the Friends apartment, plus other Friends filming locations!

Katz’s Deli

• Website: https://katzsdelicatessen.com/
• Address : 205 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-254-2246
• Closest subway station: 2 Av

Next on my list of the best NYC filming locations , it’s the iconic Katz’s Deli . This is one of the most well-known movie locations in NYC, hands down!

You’ll know this place first and foremost from the iconic romantic comedy: When Harry Met Sally.

You know that dinner scene where Sally fakes the BIG-O, well, that was filmed right here! In fact, you can sit in that exact booth if you’re lucky!

Lots of foodie TV shows have also been filmed here for various travel and food TV shows, which makes this a really popular location for tourists and visitors.

Oh, and Disney movie Enchanted also filmed here too!

Tip: I would definitely plan to visit early in the day to avoid the worst queues and wait times.

Times Square

• Website: https://www.timessquarenyc.org/
• Address: Broadway ,  7th Avenue ,  42nd  and  47th Streets
• Closest subway stations: Times Sq–42 St

My next suggestion for movie locations in NYC, is the bright and beautiful Times Square.

This is one of the most recognizable locations in the city – and it has been featured in so many TV shows and movies.

From a short appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger to Big, Spider-Man 3, and Date Night , this location is ideal for showcasing NYC’s busy side.

Times Square is super central too, so you’d be well-placed to take in a Broadway show or grabbing some great food afterwards.

Tip: After checking out Times Square, another recommendation in the area is the Museum of Broadway – where you can see loads of fun costumes and props from Broadway shows.

Read more NYC tips: Top 20 famous streets in NYC!

The Friend’s apartment (90 Bedford St, Greenwich Village)

• Address : 90 Bedford St, New York, NY 10014, USA
• Closest subway station: Christopher St-Sheridan Sq or W 4 St-Wash Sq

Next on my list of famous filming locations in NYC, it’s 90 Bedford St, in the heart of Greenwich Village.

What makes this location super famous? Well, you’ll recognize this building from one of the most famous sitcoms in history: FRIENDS.

Yes, it’s the FRIENDS apartment building! Iconic, instantly recognizable, and one of the best TV locations in NYC, hands down.

it’s a wonderful place to visit, and it’s such a ‘New York’ atmosphere too!

Empire State Building

• Website: https://www.esbnyc.com/
• Address : 20 W 34th St., New York, NY 10001, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-736-3100
• Closest subway station: 34 St-Herald Sq

Next up on my list of the best movie locations in NYC, it’s the Empire State Building.

Who hasn’t heard of the Empire State Building? This incredible Art Deco building has been dominating NYC’s skyline since it was built back in 1930.

And can you believe that it’s appeared in approximately 250 movies over the years?

Using this as one of the filming locations in NYC began with the release of King Kong in 1933, but it’s appeared in so much more.

Not only can you catch this location in Elf, but you can also catch it in Sleepless in Seattle, Independence Day, and An Affair to Remember!

Just remember to purchase a ticket for the top level for those iconic New York City views.

Read more NYC tips: What is the best observation deck in NYC?

Grand Central Terminal

• Website: https://www.grandcentralterminal.com/
• Address : 89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-340-2583
• Closest subway station: Grand Central-42 St

Next on my list of the best movie locations in NYC that you need to visit is Grand Central Terminal!

Despite being a fully-functioning train station, Grand Central Terminal has been one of the go-to NYC filming locations for years.

It’s best known for Revolutionary Road, Men in Black, and even the iconic Gossip Girl series! Oh, and don’t forget its appearances in The Avengers and John Wick 3!

Grand Central Terminal has been a favorite backdrop for Hollywood as well, with appearances in two films starring Will Smith.

In “I Am Legend” (2007), the terminal’s exterior served as a post-apocalyptic setting, while “Men in Black” (1997) saw the discovery of otherworldly aliens in its locker room.

Although you might be visiting this place to try and spot some movie magic, the place itself is truly beautiful, so it’s worth visiting anyway!

From its famous four-faced clock to its beautiful Beaux-Arts design, this is an unmissable and iconic location in the city.

American Museum of Natural History

• Website: https://www.amnh.org/
• Address : 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, United States
• Closest subway station: 81 St-Museum of Natural History

If you’ve seen A Night at the Museum, then you’re probably familiar with the ultra-popular American Museum of Natural History.

You’ll also spot this famous building in Malcolm X, Men in Black II, and even The Devil Wears Prada!

You probably won’t be lucky enough to run into Meryl Streep here, but you’ll be able to follow in the footsteps of Miranda Priestly herself.

While you’re at the museum, you’ll want to take a look at the prehistoric exhibits, meteorites, and gemstones littered around the place!

It’s one of the movie locations in NYC that’ll take at least a few hours to explore completely.

Statue of Liberty

• Website: https://www.statueofliberty.org/statue-of-liberty/
• Address : New York, NY 10004, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-363-3200
• Closest subway station: Bowling Green station

If you’re looking for movie locations in NYC that completely encapsulate what the Big Apple is all about, head to the Statue of Liberty.

This New York icon has long been seen as a symbol of freedom for foreign travelers. And that’s because it was the first thing they saw when heading to the USA to realize their American Dream.

The Statue of Liberty has appeared in films like Cloverfield, Ghostbusters II, The Immigrant, and The Day After Tomorrow! So it’s made a fair amount of Hollywood appearances!

Although it often appears in disaster movies as its destruction seems so significant, it’s often in the background of lots of shots too.

If you want to catch the Statue of Liberty in more films, why not check out Spider-Man: No Way Home and Planet of the Apes?

Read more NYC tips: What is the best way to see the Statue of Liberty?

New York Public Library

• Website: https://www.nypl.org/
• Address : 476 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018, United States
• Phone:  +1 917-275-6975
• Closest subway station: 5 Av

Next on my list of the best movie filming locations in NYC, it’s the New York Public Library.

Now, the architecture of this place alone makes it worth visiting (seriously, just look at those stone statues and columns!) .

You’ll spot its grand staircases and hanging chandeliers in Ghostbusters, The Thomas Crown Affair, and The Day After Tomorrow!

And if you’re a Carrie Bradshaw fan, you might recognize this as the spot she chose for her doomed wedding to Mr. Big in 2008’s Sexy and the City: The Movie.

Tiffany’s & Co

• Website: https://www.tiffany.com/jewelry-stores/rockefeller-center-nyc/
• Address : 610 5th Ave, New York, NY 10020, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-331-3312

Tiffany’s is the pinnacle of the Big Apple’s glamorous reputation, which explains why it’s one of the best movie locations in NYC!

You’ll recognize this spot from the Audrey Hepburn classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

But you can also catch this set in Sweet Home Alabama where Patrick Dempsey proposes to Reese Witherspoon!

Aside from the movie magic, you can also grab breakfast at the Blue Box Café or just walk around and admire the engagement rings.

Hey, it’s a great way to push a proposal, and it’s a beautiful option to visit if you’re in Midtown.

Rockefeller Center

• Website: https://www.rockefellercenter.com/
• Address : 45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-588-8601
• Closest subway station: 47-50 Sts-Rockefeller Ctr

If you’ve been to the Big Apple, you’re probably familiar with one of the most famous filming locations in NYC – the Rockefeller Center!

Although this spot is renowned for its enormous Christmas tree and ice-skating opportunities, it has also appeared in many movies and TV shows too.

Not only was part of the 2003 flick Elf filmed here, but it’s seen in Home Alone 2, Mr. Deeds, and the 2021 film Respect!

If you’re more of a Marvel nerd, this is one of the movie sets in NYC that’s also seen in Hawkeye.

Whether you’re here to enjoy the gorgeous scenery or want to go film-spotting, this is among the filming locations in NYC that never disappoints.

Bethesda Terrace & Fountain

• Website: https://www.centralpark.com/things-to-do/attractions/bethesda-fountain/
• Address : Central Park, New York, NY 10024, United States
• Closest subway station: 72 St

Bethesda Terrace & Fountain is next on my list of famous movie locations in NYC.

Bethesda Terrace & Fountain is located inside Central Park, but because so many movies have been filmed in this specific location, it deserves it’s own special mention.

So, what has been filmed here? Let’s list some of them… Ransom, Home Alone 2, Staying Alive, Uptown Girl, 27 Dresses, When in Rome, The Avengers, and so many more!

There’s just something about this fountain that filmmakers seem to love!

Read more about Central Park: 35 unmissable things to do in Central Park

Radio City Music Hall

• Website: https://www.rockefellercenter.com/holidays/radio-city-music-hall/
• Address : 1260 6th Ave, New York, NY 10020, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-465-6000

If you’re already stopping by the Rockefeller Center, it’s worth heading to the Radio City Music Hall as well, as it’s super close by.

It was built back in the 1930s and is the place to watch the famous Rockettes doing immense high kicks in perfect unison.

But if you’re here to spot movie filming locations in NYC, you’ll want to keep an eye out for the Music Hall in The Godfather and Home Alone 2!

Oh, and 1982’s original Annie of course.

Interestingly, this is also one of the movie locations in NYC that actually screens movies (including the iconic King Kong back in 1933!).

The Loeb Boathouse

• Website: https://centralparkboathouse.com/
• Address : Park Drive North, E 72nd St, New York, NY 10021, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-517-2233
• Closest subway station: 77 St

Are you planning to visit Central Park during your adventure to New York City?

If so, you need to check out the next spot on my list of awesome movie filming locations in NYC.

The Loeb Boathouse has been used for romantic movies for years as it’s romantic, relatively secluded, and just bougie.

And hey, you just can’t beat the general magical atmosphere you find in Central Park (it’s one of our favorite places!).

If you’re wondering what was filmed here, the most prolific flicks are When Harry Met Sally and 27 Dresses.

Oh, and don’t forget that famous “How Does She Know” scene from Enchanted with Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey!

Washington Square Park

• Website: https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/washington-square-park
• Address : Washington Square, New York, NY 10012, United States
• Closest subway station: W 4 St-Wash Sq

Next on my list of the best movie filming locations in NYC to check out on your vacation, is the iconic Washington Square Park.

This place can be found in the Greenwich Village Neighborhood and is home to the Washington Square Arch.

And the park’s beautiful fountain, of course!

Although you might recognize this location from Ghostbusters II and I Am Legend, its most famous appearance was in Avengers: Infinity War.

Hook and Ladder 8 firehouse

• Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firehouse, Hook %26_Ladder_Company_8
• Address : 14 N Moore St, New York, NY 10013, United States
• Phone:  +1 718-999-2000
• Closest subway station: Franklin St

Now, you’re gonna know this place from the amazing movie… Ghostbusters! It is the iconic headquarters of the Ghostbusters, as prominently featured in both the original 1984 film (and its 2016 remake).

While the film showcased many of the firehouse’s exteriors, it’s worth noting that several interior scenes were ingeniously crafted within the confines of a Los Angeles studio.

Nonetheless, the indelible Ghostbusters logo, a symbol of paranormal heroism, proudly hangs outside the station today.

Its resurrection was made possible through a successful crowdfunding campaign that rallied fans and enthusiasts.

Beyond its spectral associations, the Hook and Ladder 8 firehouse has also made notable appearances in the 2005 film “Hitch” and episodes of beloved television series such as “Seinfeld” and “How I Met Your Mother.”

66 Perry Street

• Address : 66 Perry St, New York, NY 10014, USA
• Closest subway station: Christopher St-Sheridan Sq

Next up on my list of famous filming locations in NYC, it’s 66 Perry Street.

This is the home to Carrie’s apartment in Sex and the CIty, and it’s a spot that lives in the hearts of any SATC fan!

I love that this location has had a little resurgence recently too – with the new ‘ And Just Like That’ TV show!

It’s a great choice for famous filming locations in NYC! It has featured both the movies and TV shows too – so it’s a well-rounded choice for any Sex and the City enthusiast.

Smith & Wollensky

• Website: smithandwollenskynyc.com
• Address : 797 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022, United States
• Phone:  +1 212-753-1530
• Closest subway station: 51 St

Smith & Wollensky is next up on my list of famous NYC filming locations. This place is actually a well-known steakhouse, and one of the most iconic steakhouses in the city – however, it’s allure extends far beyond its culinary prowess.

The restaurant’s classic ambiance and prime location in Midtown Manhattan have made it a popular choice for filmmakers looking to capture the essence of New York City on camera.

As a result, Smith & Wollensky has made appearances in several notable films.

The most famous (I think) is American Psycho. In this cult classic film starring Christian Bale, Smith & Wollensky serves as the backdrop for a memorable dinner scene where the characters engage in witty, darkly humorous banter.

The Devil’s Advocate is another well-known movies that has been filmed here. This legal thriller, starring Keanu Reeves and Al Pacino, features Smith & Wollensky as a setting for one of the film’s pivotal scenes, adding to the restaurant’s cinematic legacy.

I hope this list of the best movie locations in NYC has given you lots of inspiration and ideas for where to visit!

Elle-Rose is the owner and editor of The World and Then Some! She has been a professional travel writer for over 12 years, writing for many different publications, including this one. Elle-Rose is a city break expert, and she specializes in popular locations such as NYC, London, Las Vegas and Dubai, regularly visiting to stay on top of new attractions, restaurants and hotels. Elle-Rose is super active on TikTok (@theworldandthensome), and loves filming video content in the cities she visits - so go and say hello!

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The 34 Most Iconic New York Movie Locations (2024)

Posted on Last updated: April 26, 2024

Categories Explore , Movie locations , Things to do

Do you want to visit some famous New York movie locations? Then you came to the right place! From Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, New York City’s landmarks had quite a few appearances on the big screen over the years.

You might not even realize how many movie locations New York has, and most of them are accessible to the public. Sometimes it can be easy to miss and walk right by a famous movie location. For example, I walked by the Friends Building in West Village many times without looking up at the building to realize what it was.

In this article, I’ve narrowed down a list of some of the top New York movie locations to visit. Enjoy!

1. Bethesda Terrace & Fountain in Central Park

Central Park address: 59th Street to 110th Street (Between 8th and 5th Ave), New York, NY

The beautiful Bethesda Terrace & Fountain is located in Central Park and a popular New York movie location. The lower passageway is decorated with tils and arches and often has street musicians playing music there. If you’re a fan of Gossip Girl, thus is where Blair and Chuck got married. Other movies and tv shows that took place at the Bethesda Terrace & Fountain were:

• Hair (1979)
• Staying Alive (1983)
• Home Alone 2 (1992)
• Uptown Girl (2003)
• Enchanted (2007)
• 27 Dresses (2008)
• Friends with Benefits (2011)
• When in Rome (2010)
• The Avengers (2012)
• The Letter (2012)
• John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)

2. Carrie Bradshaw’s Apartment (Sex and the City)

Address: 66 Perry St, New York, NY

If you’re a fan of the show Sex and the City, you should be very familiar with what Carrie’s apartment building looked like. A classic beautiful brownstone. The exterior of her home is located on Perry Street which is one of the most beautiful streets in West Village if you ask me.

3. The Friends Building (Friends)

Address: 90 Bedford St, New York, NY

Even though the iconic show Friends was supposed to be in New York City, it was filmed in California. Anyways, you can see throughout the show clips of the building used in the opening credits, where Rachel, Monica, Chandler, and Joey lived which actually is located in West Village in New York City.

The Friends apartment building is located on the corner of Bedford and Grove Street . You can’t enter the building since it’s a regular apartment building, but you can still enjoy the view from the outside. On the first floor of the building is a lovely café you can visit called The Little Owl.

4. Tom’s Restaurant (Seinfeld)

Address: 2880 Broadway, New York, NY 10025

If you’re a Seinfeld fan you need to visit this iconic New York movie location. Tom’s Restaurant is a popular restaurant next to Columbia University and is featured in Seinfeld a lot! When creating the show Seinfeld, rumors say that Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David stopped by often and used it as the inspiration for Monk Café where they often meet.

5. Times Square

The intersection of Seventh Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway, New York, NY 10036

Times Square is, yes… very overwhelming and feels super touristy. Most tourists have a very different view of Times Square because of movies and tv shows they have seen Times Square in. Some people think it’s a very romantic and cool place to visit. Movies don’t necessarily show how smelly, loud, and crowded it can be. Anyways, this is a very popular New York movie location. Here are some movies that were filmed here:

• Taxi Driver (1976)
• Crocodile Dundee (1986)
• Jerry McGuire (1996)
• Vanilla Sky (2001)
• The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
• Spider Man 3 (2007)
• I am Legend (2007)
• Date Night (2010)
• New Year’s Eve (2011)
• Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
• Birdman (2014)

6. The Mall in Central Park

The Mall is a beautiful place in Central Park and has been seen in many movies such as:

• Big Daddy (1999)
• Serendipity (2001)
• Stuart Little 2 (2002)
• When in Rome (2020)
• Get Him to the Geek (2020)

7. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Address: 1000 5th Ave, New York, NY 10028

The Met is a gorgeous and large museum located on the edge of Central Park on the Upper East Side. If you’re a fan of the show Gossip Girl, you might recognize the stairs where the girls often sat during their school breaks. This is also the place where the MET Gala takes place every year. This museum had its fair share of screen time and has been seen in plenty of movies and tv shows such as:

• When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• Looking for Richard (1996)
• Maid in Manhattan (2002)
• Hitch (2005)
• The Nanny Diaries (2007)
• Ocean’s 18 (2008)

8. Grand Central Terminal

Address: 89 E 42nd St, New York, NY 10017

Grand Central must be one of the most beautiful and iconic New York movie locations. Come here and pass through the same walls that so many fictional heroes, cops, and gangsters have been racing across for decades. Here are some movies that were filmed here:

• Superman: The Movie (1978)
• Carlito’s Way (1993)
• Men in Black 2 (2002)
• Just my Luck (2006)
• John Wick 3 (2019)
• Gossip Girl

9. Empire State Building

Address: 20 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001

What is more New York City than the Empire State Building? This famous building is often featured in a lot of classic movies and TV shows to help with the storytelling.  Here are some:

• King Kong (1933)
• Superman II (1980)
• Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
• Independence Day (1994)
• King Kong (2005)
• How I Met Your Mother

10. Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the most beautiful structures in New York City and is of course an iconic movie location in the city. Here are a few movies where you can see Brooklyn Bridge:

• Saturday Night Fever (1977)
• Sophie’s Choice (1982)
• Oliver and Company (1988)
• Kate & Leopold (2001)
• I Am Legend (2007)
• Sex and the City: The Movie (2008)
• Cloverfield (2008)

11. Rockefeller Center

Address: 45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10111

The Rockefeller Center is a very famous place in New York. This place is well known for the Rockefeller Christmas Tree and ice-skating rink. This is one of the most iconic New York movie locations. If you ask me, the most famous scene that took place here might be the ending of Home Alone 2 (1992) where Kevin is reunited with his mother. Here are some other movies that were filmed here:

• Midnight Cowboy (1969)
• Mr. Deeds (2002)
• Respect (2021)

12. The Plaza Hotel

Address: 768 5th Ave, New York, NY 10019

Another Home Alone 2 (1992) location. This is where Kevin in the movie spends his time in New York all by himself. Other from that, this 5-star hotel has hosted a lot of world leaders, high profile and celebrities over the years but also been featured on the big screen:

• North by Northwest (1959)
• The Way We Were (1973)
• 13 Going on 30 (2004)
• Bride Wars (2009)
• The Great Gatsby (2013)
• Sex and the City

13. New York Public Library

Address: 476 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018

The New York Public Library is an incredibly beautiful building located on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan. When it opened in 1911, it was officially the largest marble building ever built in the United States. Just like other famous buildings, this has been a popular New York movie location.  

• Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
• Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
• Spiderman (2002)
• The Day after Tomorrow (2004)
• The Pink Panther (2006)

14. Washington Square Park

Address: Washington Square, New York, NY 10012

Everyone knows Washington Square Park from the iconic fountain and large Arch. This is a lively park that’s perfect for people watching as well as spotting some movie scenes. Here are movies that were filmed there:

• Ghostbusters II (1989)
• Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)
• Hitch (2005), I Am Legend (2007)
• Two Days in New York (2012)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021)

15. The Statue of Liberty

Even though movies are rarely filmed at the actual location, it had quite a few appearances on the big screen. It’s a great way to show that the scene takes place in New York since it’s highly recognized all over the world. The Statue of Liberty is shown in many movies and tv shows like:

• Saboteur (1942)
• Planet of the Apes (1968)
• Splash (1984)
• Wolverine (2000)
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
• Spider Man: No Way Home (2021)

16. Radio City Music Hall

Address: 1260 6th Ave, New York, NY 10020

The neon lights outside the Radio City Music Hall building are very memorable and easy to spot in movies. Here are a few movies that were filmed at Radio City Music Hall:

• The Godfather (1972)
• Annie (1982)
• New York Minute (2004)

17. The American Museum of Natural History

Address: 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024

We have all seen this museum in the famous movie Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller. Even though the movie was not actually filmed on the inside, it was still supposed to be the museum. Here are a few other movies that were filmed there:

• Malcolm X (1992)
• Men in Black II (2002)
• Night at the Museum (2006)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2016)

18. McGee’s Pub (How I Met Your Mother)

Address: 240 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019

The bar featured in the show How I Met Your Mother called McLaren’s Pub is based off a bar in Midtown Manhattan. This is actually where the creators of the show stopped by for drinks while working for the Late Show with David Letterman.

19. Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8

Address: 14 N Moore St, New York, NY

This has been a popular New York movie and most famous as the Ghostbusters HQ. Here are some movies that were filmed here:

• Ghostbusters (1984)
• Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
• Ghostbusters (2019)

20. Loeb Boathouse in Central Park

If you ever go to Central Park, you can’t go wrong with a visit to the Boathouse. Spend around $20 and rent a rowing boat. This will absolutely make you feel like you’re in a movie. It’s both romantic and fun. Here are some movies that were filmed here:

• The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
• 3 Men and a Little Lady (1990)

21. Lotte New York Palace (Gossip Girl)

Address: 455 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10022

If you’re a fan of Gossip Girl, you need to stop by Lotte New York Palace. In the show, this is the hotel owned by Chuck Bass where Serena lives for a while with her family.

22. Coney Island

Address: 1208 Surf Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11224  

Coney Island in Brooklyn is a classic New York movie location thanks to its memorable seaside view, amusement park, and boardwalk. Many movies were filmed here such as:

• The Lords of Flatbush (1974)
• The Wiz (1978)
• The Warriors (1979)
• Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986)
• Requiem for a Dream (2000)
• Uptown Girls (2003)
• Men in Black 3 (2012)
• Brooklyn (2015)
• Wonder Wheel (2017)
• Spider Man: Homecoming (2017)

23. Puck Building

Address: 295 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012

This is one of those buildings I’ve walked by many times before realizing it’s one of the most iconic New York movie locations. Movies that were filmed here are:

• When Harry met Sally (1989)
• The January Man (1989)
• Cupid (2009)

24. The Unisphere

Address: Between Grand Central Pkwy and, Van Wyck Expy, 11354

The Unisphere has become a landmark as well as one of the most iconic New York movie locations. Other than movies, some music videos were filmed here like “Flava in Ya Ear” by Craig Mack and “Mo Money Mo Problems” by the Notorious B.I.G. Here are some movies that were filmed here:

• Black Rain (1989)
• Men in Black (1997)
• Iron Man 2 (2010)
• Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

25. Katz’s Delicatessen

Address: 205 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002

One of the funniest scenes in the movie When Harry Met Sally (1989) took place at this New York deli located on the Lower East Side. Here you can order specialty pastrami sandwiches, pickles and more. Here are some movies that were filmed at the Katz’s Deli:

• Donnie Brasco (1997)
• Looking for Kitty (2004)
• We Own the Night (2007)

26. The Copacabana

Address: 625 W 51st St, New York, NY 10019

The Copacabana is well known for being owned and operated by American Mafia members. The most famous scene that was filmed here was from the movie Goodfellas. Here are some movies that use this location:

• The French Connection (1971)
• Raging Bull (1980)
• Goodfellas (1990)
• Green Book (2018)

27. Columbia University

Address: 116th and Broadway, New York, NY 10027

This famous IVY league school has had quite a few appearances on the big screen. It’s not surprising considering how beautiful the campus it is. The following movies took place at Columbia University:

• The Detective (1968)
• Altered State (1980)
• Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
• Spider-Man (2002)
• The new Sex and the City show: And Just Like That

28. 7B Horseshoe Bar AKA Vazacs

Address: 108 Avenue B, New York, NY 10009

This East Village dive bar has made a few appearances in movies. You have seen Carrie Bradshaw get almost arrested for smoking pot and scenes from Godfather 2. It’s also Luke Cage’s bar in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Here are other movies that used this bar as a filming location:

• Godfather II (1974)
• Serpico (1973)
• Crocodile Dundee (1978)
• Rent (2005)
• What Happens in Vegas (2008)
• Begin Again (2013)

29. Tiffany – 5th Avenue

Address: 727 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10022

This store is most famous for being a part of the movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s starring the iconic Audrey Hepburn. It’s also been in other movies and tv shows such as:

• Sweet Home Alabama (2002)

30. The Dakota Building

Address: 1 W 72nd St, New York, NY 10023

The Dakota has for a long time been a residential building for the rich and famous such as: Billy Joel, Carly Simon, Antonio Banderas, Melanie Griffith, Cher, Madonna, Judd Apatow and Téa Leoni. In Roman Polanski’s horror film Rosemary’s Baby, The Dakota was used for exterior shots. John Lennon, a resident and former member of the Beatles, was murdered outside the building on December 8, 1980.

• Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
• Ghostbusters 1984

31. Mookie’s House – Do the Right Thing

Address: 173 Stuyvesant Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11221

If you’re a Spike Lee fan you need to head to Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. In the film Do the Right Thing , Mookie lived in a house that is still standing today. The whole movie was shot on Stuyvesant Avenue, between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue.

32. Flatiron Building

Address: 175 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

The oldest skyscraper still standing in New York, the Flatiron Building has made its way into some movies over the years but is most famous for being the HQ for Daily Bugle in the Spiderman movies.

• Superman (1978)
• As Good As It Gets (1997)
• Godzilla (1998)
• Armageddon (1998)

33. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Address: 1071 5th Ave, New York, NY 10128

Another iconic New York movie location is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, which thanks to its gorgeous and interesting design has made it into some movies:

• Cactus Flower (1969)
• Three Days of the Condor (1975)
• Manhattan (1979)
• Men In Black (1997)
• Hamlet (2000)
• The International (2009)
• Armageddon Time (2022)

34. Queensboro Bridge

Address: Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, New York, NY 10044

Queensboro Bridge is one of the best New York movie locations. You can spot the bridge in the following movies:

• Manhattan (1979)
• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

Summary of the top New York movie locations

Do you have any favorite new york movie location feel free to leave a comment below.

Travel Blog | Travel Inspiration

50 Movies Set In New York City – With Locations

New York City is one of those places that, when I visited, it felt really familiar. Like I’d been there before. And in a way, I had been there before – but not in the flesh; just in the darkness of a movie theatre. And after my first visit, I wanted to relive those NYC memories, so I rented a bunch of movies set in New York.

After Los Angeles, New York City is the second most filmed city in the world , and the IMDb lists more than 250,000 movies filmed in New York. So, here’s my list of the top, most memorable movies set in New York City.  They have all inspired me about New York in some way, or they remind me of the thrill of being there – and I hope they might inspire you to dream of New York, too.

It’s a long list (!), so I’ve tried to break it up into categories – but feel free to use the Table of Contents below to jump to the section or movies you’re most interested in.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. These are links to products or experiences I recommend and if you were to buy something after clicking on them, I might earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Any earnings go towards the upkeep of this blog, which I appreciate.

Table of Contents

About This List Of Movies Filmed In New York City

I’ve read other blogs about movies set in New York, but I was disappointed that they seem to feature the same shortlist of movies – and I didn’t feel like it represented the rich variety of movies that bring the city to life for me. So I decided to do my own list and to paint a broader picture of the way cinema exports New York City and New York living to the world.

I don’t necessarily love every single movie: some, I really like a place they feature; others, I really like the film.  However, they all showcase New York in a way that was memorable or moving to me. I’ve listed the movies with the reason I think they’re memorably about New York City. And, as this is a travel blog, I’ve also tried to pick movies that are set in a range of locations around the city, and to provide some details about how you can visit them, where possible.

Finally, I’ve tried to include a real mix of genres and periods here, but I guess this list inevitably does betray my taste in film – plus my age (you may notice a heavy prevalence of movies from the 1980s and 1990s, ha-ha – these were the decades in which I was a child and a teenager).

Ps. If you’re exploring New York and want to visit some of the landmarks featured in movies, consider a City Pass for savings at the top attractions, including the Empire State Building, American Museum of Natural History and Top of the Rock® Observation Deck.

Movies That Destroy NYC Landmarks

Movies love to destroy New York. Why is that? I am not sure, but it certainly makes for some dramatic cinema scenes.  Starting my list is a selection of movies that feature memorable scenes of landmarks being destroyed in NYC.

1. King Kong – Empire State Building

Arguably the most iconic building in New York City, the Empire State Building has been used as a movie location many times.  Perhaps most memorable are the scenes of a giant gorilla climbing the skyscraper like a tree and swatting at planes in both the 1933 and 2005 King Kong movies. 

The Empire State Building was also memorably destroyed by aliens in Independence Day (1996) when the alien ship unleashed its city-destroying weapon directly over the Empire State (which made the poster for the movie).

Fancy scaling this skyscraper yourself?  Book your tickets to visit the observation deck of the Empire State Building on the 102nd floor.

2. Godzilla – Chrysler Building

Godzilla (1998) features another memorable destruction scene. My favourite skyscraper, resplendent in its silvery art deco design, gets damaged when Godzilla is rampaging through Manhattan and the army shoots missiles at him. He dodges the missiles and they hit the pretty Chrysler Building instead.

‘That’s the goddamned Chrysler Building!’ exclaims the mayor of New York.

There’s no public access to the Chrysler building, but you can glimpse it from the streets around midtown, or from one of the observation decks, such as the Empire State Building or Top of the Rock .

3. The Day After Tomorrow – New York Public Library

Who could forget the New York Public Library in The Day After Tomorrow (2004)? In this natural disaster movie, the Library becomes a shelter for desperate survivors of an apocalyptic weather event in the northern hemisphere (first a massive tidal wave, then a sudden-onset ice age – all within a day!).

The scene of survivors roaming the grandiose Rose Reading Room, selecting which books to burn for heat, is kind-of funny.

The New York Public Library is located at 476 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan and entry is free.  It is also a stop on my self-guided FREE walking tour of midtown Manhattan .

4. Cloverfield – Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is another icon of NYC; a symbol of the freedom America strives for.  And the statue features in a couple of memorable movie scenes. One is Planet of the Apes (1968), where the discovery of the Statue of Liberty is a big revelation (I guess that’s a spoiler, but hey, it’s been several decades since the movie came out!).

But my favourite is Cloverfield (2008), an underrated found footage-style monster movie where the marauding alien swipes the head off the Statue of Liberty, sending it hurtling down a Manhattan street.

Y ou can visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on this tour.

5. I Am Legend – Brooklyn Bridge

I am Legend (2007), starring Will Smith, takes place in a time when the world has been devastated by a virus that turns people into zombies.  It features various sites around Manhattan in such disrepair that nature is taking over. In a failed attempt to contain the virus, Manhattan is cut off, and the bridges and tunnels connecting the island are destroyed. So, the Brooklyn Bridge in Lower Manhattan is blown up, leaving only one of its recognizable brick towers standing, suspension cables handing forlorn.

If you want to see this movie location in NYC, you can walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, which joins lower Manhattan near City Hall with the Dumbo area of Brooklyn. By the way, this is something I have built into my self-guided walking tour of Lower Manhattan .

6. Men In Black – World’s Fair, Queens

Another Will Smith movie sees the destruction of a rare non-Manhattan landmark: the site of the World’s Fair in Queens. This movie location sees Smith and Tommy Lee Jones battle with a giant cockroach to save the planet in the climactic scene in Men In Black (1997).  It is better than it sounds!

Men In Black takes place all over New York and also features a memorable scene in The Guggenheim Museum , another NYC landmark.  This unique circular building features at the start of the movie, where Smith’s character chases a man (psst: he’s an alien!) up the winding circular path inside the museum.

As well as a fascinating piece of architecture, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is an art gallery that features a collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and contemporary art. It’s a great place to go on rainy days in NYC . It is located at 1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street and you can get Guggenheim tickets here .

You can also see the doorway that is used as the entrance to the MIB headquarters. It is at 504 Battery Place.

Movies Set in New York City Landmarks

Thankfully, not all movies set in New York City are about destroying the city. There are many more that feature NYC landmarks intact. These movies helped make me feel like I knew New York before I’d even been there.

7. Sleepless In Seattle – Empire State Building & The Rockefeller Centre

As well as being destroyed in many movies, the Empire State Building is also a symbol of cinematic romance, featuring as the climactic meeting point of Meg Ryan and Tom Hank’s characters in Sleepless in Seattle (1993), which is influenced by a similar scene in An Affair to Remember (1957).

The Rockefeller Centre also plays a key role in the movie, because Meg Ryan’s character Annie is having dinner in the Rainbow Room and her table has a view of the Empire State Building, which prompts her to go there to meet Sam, played by Tom Hanks.

You too can get this stunning view of the Empire State Building and the rest of Manhattan yourself – get tickets for the Top of the Rock observatory here. If this place isn’t on your NYC bucket list , it should be!

8. Ghostbusters – Hook & Ladder Company 8 Fire station & 55 Central Park West

Here’s one of the most fondly remembered movies filmed in New York City. If you’ve seen the 1984 Ghostbusters movie, you’ll doubtless remember the Ghostbusters’ headquarters, which was located in an old firehouse.  This is a real fire station, Hook & Ladder Company 8 , which you can find at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca.

And the apartment building that gets haunted/possessed/summons the powers of evil?  That’s at 55 Central Park West , but it looks different to the movie because the movie changed the top of the building in post-production. You’ll recognise it from its location, though: it is opposite Central Park, next to Tavern on The Green, where Rick Morani’s character tries to escape the Hell Dog.

9. Man On Wire – World Trade Centre (Twin Towers)

There’s a really interesting documentary about Philippe Petit, a French wire walker who dreamed of walking a high wire between the two towers of the World Trade Centre . Man On Wire (2008) was made after they were destroyed and to me, it felt like a moving love letter to the Twin Towers and their legacy.

It’s also incredible to watch the footage of Petit doing the wire walk in 1974 – 1,312 feet above the ground!

10. 25 th Hour – Ground Zero

There’s a film by Spike Lee called 25 th Hour (2002), where one of the characters lives in an apartment overlooking the Ground Zero site when it was still being cleared up and reconstructed. The sense of loss and mourning in that scene was palpable.

Ground Zero of the attack on the World Trade Centre is now a moving memorial featuring the survivor tree and two memorial pools, inscribed with the names of those that died.  You can visit the 9/11 Memorial at 180 Greenwich Street, which is a stop on my self-guided walking tour of Downtown Manhattan .

11. Barefoot In The Park – Washington Square Park

Barefoot in the Park (1967) is a comedy that stars two legends of the 1960s, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, as a mismatched newly married couple living in Greenwich Village. He’s uptight; she’s a free spirit. Will they make it work? Spoiler: yes.

Washington Square Park is the park referred to in the title. It is a popular park in the heart of Greenwich Village.

12. Spider-Man trilogy – Flatiron Building

My favourite thing about the Spider-Man trilogy starring Tobey Maguire is that they feature the Flatiron Building as the location of the Daily Bugle newspaper, where Peter Parker works as a photographer.

The Flatiron building is another one of my favourite New York City buildings – its narrow front is so unique. You can see the Flatiron Building from Madison Square Park. It sits on the junction of 5 th Avenue and Broadway – and it is another stop on my walking tour of Manhattan .

13. North By Northwest – Grand Central Terminal

The action in Hitchcock’s classic North By Northwest (1959) starts in New York City, on Madison Avenue and then at the Plaza Hotel. But most of these scenes are in a studio.  However, the tense sequence when Cary Grant tries to escape his pursuers and board a train is shot in Grand Central Terminal .

The train he boards, the 20th Century Limited from New York to Chicago, was considered one of the classic sleeper train rides. It is also where the idea of ‘red carpet treatment’ first came from. As you’ll see in the movie, there was a red carpet for passengers to walk on all the way onto their carriage.

Grand Central Terminal is in midtown at 89 East 42nd Street (near the Chrysler Building). Even if you’re not getting a train, it is worth having a wander about the impressive main concourse. There’s also a nice bar up the steps near the big windows, where you can have a cocktail.

14. The Way We Were – Pulitzer Fountain

The Pulitzer Fountain outside the Plaza Hotel is the setting for a heart-breaking scene between Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were (1973).  The former lovers meet by the fountain and he’s with a new woman.  ‘Your Girl is lovely, Hubbell’, she says, finally letting him go.

The Pulitzer Fountain is opposite the Plaza Hotel in Grand Army Plaza. There’s a great cocktail bar in the Plaza – one of the fanciest things to do in New York at night .

15. Night At The Museum – American Museum of Natural History

Night at the Museum (2006) is a movie set almost entirely in The American Museum of Natural History. It tells a fun story of the exhibits coming to life after the museum closes. It’s kind of strange going into the museum after seeing the movie because they recreated the look of the museum so well!

The American Museum of Natural History , which includes dinosaur skeletons, is located at 200 Central Park West, and you can use your New York City Pass here.

16. Die Hard With A Vengeance – Central Park

Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) takes place at various locations around New York, but one of the stand-out scenes is in Central Park , where Bruce Willis and Samuel L Jackson race across the park in a taxi, following a set of instructions from a mysterious bad guy in order to stop a bomb from going off. I love high-concept action movies!

Central Park is that huge expanse of parkland in the middle of Manhattan Island is a location in literally hundreds of movies. A few other memorable scenes set in Central Park are:

• Dustin Hoffman running around the reservoir in nail-biting Marathon Man (1976)
• The emotional meetings between Dustin Hoffman’s Kramer, Meryl Streep’s Kramer and Justin Henry’s Kramer Junior in Kramer vs Kramer (1979)
• Harry & Sally stroll through the park and Sally has lunch with her friends at Loeb’s Boathouse in When Harry Met Sally (1989)
• Giselle breaks into song and dance in the park in Enchanted (2007)

There are lots of different ways to get into Central Park – and don’t worry, it isn’t all action all of the time. It’s actually very lovely and, in fact, strolling it or having a picnic there is one of the most romantic things to do in NYC .

17. The Thomas Crown Affair – The Met

The Metropolitan Museum of Art , more commonly known as the Met, is the scene of elaborate heists in both The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) and Ocean’s Eight (2018).

The Met is a major art gallery in Manhattan, located on the edge of Central Park. It is also the venue for the uber-glamorous Met Gala, where celebrities play dress up once a year.

You can get tickets for the Met here.

18. Saturday Night Fever – Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Saturday Night Fever (1977) is about a group of teenagers in Brooklyn in the 1970s dreaming of escaping their grim reality.  There’s plenty of glitzy disco dancing, but one of its most memorable scenes takes place on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge , which connects Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Now, before you go off and watch Saturday Night Fever thinking it is a fun disco movie, just remember it is quite dark and gritty (and includes date rape and suicide).

19. The Bourne Ultimatum – East River

To the east of Manhattan is the East River. This is the body of water with the most famous bridges: the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge.

The river itself features in the final sequence of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). Jason Bourne jumps off a building into the East River, someone shooting at him at the same time. A shot from below the water shoes his body still, then it twitches into life. No, this isn’t a spoiler because they made a fourth movie.

Confession: I’ve kind of shoe-horned this in because I really like the Bourne movies, ha-ha! But the East River does provide some great views of Manhattan, including from Hunter’s Point Sout Park in Queens.

Movies Set on New York City Streets

How many New York City streets and avenues do you know? I’ll bet it is more than one!  Here are some movies that are set in the streets of New York City.

20. The Seven Year Itch – steaming Manhattan streets

One of the most enduring images of Manhattan is of streets with steam billowing out of subway vents. And one of the most recognisable images of Marilyn Monroe is her holding down a silky white dress as hot air from a New York subway vent blows it up in the air. 

This scene is from The Seven Year Itch (1955). However, it is worth knowing the movie isn’t about Marilyn; it is mainly about a man who fantasises about her instead of his wife. In fact, Marilyn’s character doesn’t even have a name: she’s credited as ‘The Girl’.

If you’re keen to visit the location, I read the skirt scene was originally shot on 52 nd Street & Lexington Avenue, though they had to re-shoot in a studio.

21. Wall Street – Wall Street

New York is a global financial centre. The deals and power struggles around Wall Street have inspired many storylines, including:

• Inside Man (2006) is about a bank robbery that takes place in a bank on Exchange Place, near Wall Street.
• The Big Short (2015) shows how some people profited from the global financial crisis in 2008.
• Wolf of Wall Street (2013) is about a fraud who made millions selling worthless stock.

However, the most classic must be Wall Street (1987), about the power struggle between two generations of stockbrokers, starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Darryl Hannah.  The slicked-back hair…

By the way, Wall Street features in my walking tour of Lower Manhattan .

22. Vanilla Sky – Times Square

Times Square is a dense junction of busy roads and neon signs.  I didn’t love being there in person, but it looks great in movies.  The most memorable movie role Times Square has played has to be the nightmarish scene in Vanilla Sky (2001) when Tom Cruise’s character runs through Times Square completely empty of cars and people. It’s both familiar and eerily strange!

You can visit Times Square at the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street – but don’t expect it to be empty. Coming here after dark to see the neon lights in full effect is one of the popular things to do in New York at night . However, be warned: it does get busy and noisy!

23. All About Eve – Broadway

Broadway is an emblem of the playful, joyful part of New York: the theatre district where you can find the best musical and theatrical live entertainment.  Technically speaking, Broadway productions are those held in one of the 41 venues that seat 500 or more patrons, and Off-Broadway productions are in smaller venues.

There’s a classic Hollywood movie that captures something of the competitive pressure of performing on Broadway: All About Eve (1950) stars Bette Davis as an older Broadway star threatened by the rise of a younger ingenue, Eve, played by Anne Baxter.

24. Birdman – also Broadway

A more recent Broadway movie, which did well at the Oscars, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014) gives a dizzying behind-the-scenes view of the madness involved in staging a Broadway play.

Broadway, the road, traverses the full length of Manhattan from State Street in lower Manhattan all the way to Westchester County north of New York City, but Broadway, the theatrical destination, is spread out around Broadway between 41 st and the Lincoln Centre at 65 th streets.  

Movies Set In New York City Establishments

New York City is a commercial hotspot with some legendary stores, hotels and eateries, many of which have been featured in movies over the decades.

25. Breakfast At Tiffany’s – Tiffany & Company

What’s more famous, the jewellery shop or the movie?  Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) is a movie based on a novella by Truman Capote and helped cement the vivacious but fragile star persona of Audrey Hepburn.  The film’s name comes from the main character Holly Golightly’s preference for having a takeaway breakfast and eating it whilst looking longingly at diamonds in the window of Tiffany & Co .

Much of the movie’s style and imagery has stayed in the zeitgeist, but sadly, some things reflect a less enlightened time, like the offensive portrayal of a Chinese person.

If you want to have breakfast at Tiffany’s, for a while, the flagship Tiffany & Co store opened a cafe called the Blue Box Café – but it has been closed for renovations for a while, so you’ll have to look through the window at 6 East 57th Street like Holly did.

26. Miracle on 34 th Street – Macy’s

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) is a much-loved black & white Christmas movie about a department store employee who may or may not be Santa. 

The department store is the very famous Macy’s which is on, well, 34 th Street.

27. Home Alone 2: Lost In New York – The Plaza Hotel

The Plaza is a grand old hotel on the southeast corner of Central Park.  It has featured in tonnes of films, but who could forget it as the place Macauley Culkin’s Kevin hides out in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992).

You’ll pass the Plaza on my walking tour of Manhattan – and you may well want a little refreshment by then. I can recommend a cocktail in The Champagne Bar .

28. Sex & The City – Bemelmans Bar

The Plaza is good for cocktails, but my favourite bar in New York City is Bemelmans Bar . Stepping inside feels like travelling back in time: a jazz pianist plays as patrons drink exquisite cocktails served by immaculately suited waiters. The lights are dim, but you can make out the original illustrations that decorate the bar.  These are by Ludwig Bemelmans, who created the Madeline children’s books

This atmospheric bar plays a minor background role in Sex & The City (2008).

Bemelmans is in the Carlyle Hotel at 35 East 76th Street and it is one of the best bars on the Upper East Side . Top Tip: go early to avoid the hefty cover charge for when the trio plays in the evening.

29. When Harry Met Sally – Katz’s Deli

It’s one of those movie scenes which has become legend: the ‘I’m having what she’s having’ fake orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally (1989) was filmed in this downtown diner.

If you want to check it out, go hungry: I couldn’t believe the size of the salt beef sandwiches when I went there! Katz’s Deli is at 205 East Houston Street and is the starting point of my self-guided walking tour of Lower Manhattan .

Movies Set In New York City Neighbourhoods

Some movies really bring the character of a specific neighbourhood to life or create scenes so memorable you want to go there.

30. Rear Window – Greenwich Village

R ear Window (1954) is another Hitchcock movie to make this list. This thriller is set entirely in the apartment of L.B. Jefferies, played by James Stewart, whose leg is broken and whose imagination may be running away with him.  Looking out of his rear window into the windows of his neighbours, he begins to think he’s seen a crime committed.

The movie was shot on a set but recreates the closeness of NYC apartment living, where everyone feels like they’re living on top of one another. I read that the set was based on a real location at 125 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village .

If you want some tips for places to go out in the Village at night, I have some recommendations in my post on things to do in New York at night .

31. Inside Llewyn Davis – Also Greenwich Village

Greenwich Village is one of those legendary areas that used to be one thing and is now something completely different. In the 1960s, it was the epicentre of alternative culture in NYC, where penniless artists, musicians and writers lived and loved and dreamed.  

The Coen brothers’ period movie Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) tries to capture that creative, beatnik era. It is a beautifully shot film starring Oscar Isaac.

These days, of course, Greenwich Village is a gentrified, tidy neighbourhood where millionaires live – but it still has a sense of independent character.

32. The Godfather Part 2 – Little Italy

Little Italy , in Lower Manhattan , is the setting for the classic gangster movie, The Godfather: Part II (1974), where we see the origin story of Don Vito Corleone. There’s a memorable sequence that shows the young Vito skilfully taking out the local mob boss near Mulberry Street, during the festival of San Gennaro.  

If you’re in New York City on 19 September, you could experience the festival for yourself – stroll down Mulberry Street and enjoy the food stalls and festive atmosphere. However, the core Little Italy stretch of Mulberry Street generally feels very much like a tourist trap these days – restaurants with touts outside to pull you in and tacky souvenir shops.

New York is of course the setting of other gangster movies, including Goodfellas (1990) by Martin Scorsese.

33. Desperately Seeking Susan – Battery Park & East Village

1980s-tastic Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) takes place in various New York locations including Battery Park and the East Village. Madonna’s character switches her jacket for those iconic rhinestone-studded boots at a thrift shop in the edgy East Village. 

Sadly, that Thrift Shop, Love Saves the Day, closed in 2009, but the East Village does retain a little of its edgy character and you can still drink in the 7B Horseshoe bar, also known as Vazacs, the bar which features in Angel Heart (1987) and Crocodile Dundee (1986).

34. Taxi Driver – Hell’s Kitchen

Taxi Driver (1976) is one of those iconic movies filmed in New York City. In the dark and disturbing film, Robert De Niro drives the streets of Manhattan with hate in his heart. ‘Someday a rain will come and wipe this scum off the streets’ he says in voiceover as he stares at the people he passes.  I believe a lot of the seedy, neon-lit streets he cruises through are in and around Time Square and Hell’s Kitchen .

The origin of the name Hell’s Kitchen is debated – possibly it came from the nickname for a particularly run-down tenement building in the 19th century; possibly it was a policeman’s observation after witnessing a riot there and hearing someone describe it as ‘hell: ‘Hell’s climate is mild; this is hell’s kitchen’.

35. Cocktail – Upper East Side

Cocktail (1988) is a classic 1980s movie. This movie about status, ambition and upward mobility starts in New York City when Tom Cruise’s character gets a job in a bar to pay for business school so he can learn to make millions.  The main thing he learns, it seems, is how to make a redeye and how to show off while making a cocktail.  Flair bartending got a real lift from this movie. I’m not sure poetry did.

Fun fact: the exterior of the first bar Tom works at was TGI Fridays at 1152 First Avenue at 63rd Street (though it’s a very different bar now). Whilst this address is in the Upper East Side, it’s hardly the level of poshness that we associate with that high-end area of New York.

Tom Cruise’s girlfriend, played by Elizabeth Shue, however, is Upper East Side establishment – and her parents’ apartment on Park Avenue is the scene of a domestic showdown.

36. West Side Story – Upper West Side

I’m not really a fan of musicals, but I couldn’t leave off West Side Story (1961), which tells the story of love blossoming between rival gang members in the Upper West Side during the 1950s. It’s a retelling of Shakespeare’s tragic Romeo & Juliet story.

These days, of course, the Upper West Side is pretty sedate and respectable.

37. If Beale Street Could Talk – Harlem

I loved a recent movie called If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), a film adapted from a book by James Baldwin. A lot of the story takes place in Harlem in the 1970s, where a young black couple in love are torn apart by a false allegation from a racist policeman.

The story is heartbreaking, and the film is beautifully made, with amazing performances, including the best I’ve ever seen from Regina King.

The heart of Harlem is Malcolm X Boulevard and a popular place to visit is Red Rooster , which has a speakeasy downstairs where you can get comfort food accompanied by amazing soul singing.

38. Do The Right Thing – Bed Stuy

Arguably Spike Lee’s best film, Do The Right Thing (1989) is one of my favourite movies set in New York and essential viewing, in my opinion. This movie is like a punch in the face – in a good way. It is so full of attitude and personality and emotion and confrontation that you’ll be left reeling.  The tone is set from the opening sequence showing Rosie Perez dancing angrily to Fight The Power. 

Anyway, the reason for including it in this section is that it is set in the streets of Bed Stuy in Brooklyn – and literally, most of the action is in the street, during a very hot summer day, where racial tensions boil over.

It is a visceral portrait of a particular place at a particular time in history (1989, as the song lyrics remind us), but sadly, the issues raised in the film are not consigned to history yet.

39. The Warriors – Coney Island

Coney Island is a seafront spot in the southwestern area of Brooklyn – and there are lots of unique NYC experiences to be had there, including sideshows. It’s been in several movies, like Beaches (1988) (it’s where CC and Hillary first meet as children) and Requiem For A Dream (2000) (a harrowing movie!).

For me, the movie I most associate with Coney Island, though, is The Warriors (1979), a story about the gangs of New York in the 1970s, a time when New York had a reputation for street crime and violence. The story is about some kind of ‘summit’ for all the gangs of New York in The Bronx.  After violence breaks out, The Warriors gang make their way across New York back to their turf at Coney Island, whilst being chased by rival gangs. 

I have no idea how realistic the costumes are – I suspect there’s been some creative licence – but the huge number of different gangs all have distinct coordinated outfits, which feels really camp!

Movies Set In New York City Boroughs

For some New York-set movies, the borough they are set in is so core to the story, that the movie becomes almost like an emblem for that borough.

40. 21 Bridges – Manhattan

Manhattan has featured in hundreds of movies, but the film 21 Bridges (2019) starring the late Chadwick Boseman, is one that really shows off the whole island. The story is about two men who commit a violent crime and run off into Chinatown.  To prevent them from leaving Manhattan, the police close all bridges and tunnels to and from the island, making it easier to track the criminals.   

The cinematography is amazing . There are several aerial shots of Manhattan which are really stunning. Seeing its forest of skyscrapers glisten in the sun is quite something.

If you want your own aerial tour of NYC, consider this helicopter tour .

41. Summer Of Sam – The Bronx

The Bronx is the setting for Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam (1999), about the period in 1977 when the Bronx was terrorised by a serial killer, David Berkowitz, known as the Son of Sam. 

The movie is less about the crimes and the killer, and more about the people trying to live their lives while a serial killer is picking people off around them. It’s another movie that feels like a portrait of a very specific time when disco was all the rage and punk was rearing its angry head.

42. Coming To America – Queens

The first movie I think of when I think of Queens is Coming to America (1988), starring Eddie Murphy. Akim, the young African prince, chooses Queens to live in because he is looking for his Queen – and the reality of life in the borough of Queens during winter is a rude awakening.  I love that moment when an elated Akim yells ‘Good morning, my neighbours!’ from his balcony and is answered by a grumpy neighbour, ‘Hey, f*** you!’

The movie is largely set around Elmhurst in Queens, though many outdoor scenes were actually shot in Brooklyn.  8507 Queens Boulevard is where McDowell’s restaurant was filmed, but it’s not there anymore – the real-life Wendy’s restaurant they used as a location was demolished a while ago.

43. Clockers – Brooklyn

Clockers (1995) is a hard-hitting film about drug dealers in the projects of Brooklyn .  It shocks from the off with gruesome images of real crime scenes and dead bodies and shows a brutal world that proves hard to escape from.  It has Mekhi Pfeiffer in an early role. The soundtrack is pure 1990s hip hop and RnB.

Sidebar: if you like 90s hip hop, check out the soundtrack of The Wackness (2008).

And, for a portrait of more contemporary gentrified Brooklyn, While We’re Young (2014) is about a middle-aged couple becoming enchanted by the cool insouciance of a younger couple and their hipster lifestyle.  It has Adam Driver in his element, delivering a mixture of charisma and treachery.  

44. The Godfather – Staten Island

The Godfather (1972) movie is shot all around New York, including Mott Street, where Don Corleone gets shot at while buying oranges.

But remember the wedding sequence in the beginning, the one where we hear the infamous line, ‘I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse’? This is in the Corleone estate, which was filmed at 110 Longfellow Avenue in Staten Island . 

Of course, Staten Island is reachable from Manhattan on the free Staten Island ferry , which also takes you past the Statue of Liberty – it’s a great free thing to do in New York City!

Movies Set In New York City Houses and Apartments

My understanding of New York living has come mainly from TV and movies set in apartments and buildings in New York City, and some houses and apartments are almost like characters in the movies. But sometimes the portrayal of New York homes is hard to believe!

Tracking down some of these movie locations is one of the more unique things to do in NYC .

45. The Apartment – 55 W 69th Street

The Apartment (1960) is one of those classic movies that is edgier than you expect it to be. It stars Jack Lemmon as a man who lets his bosses use his apartment to have affairs, in exchange for promotion at work. But when he starts to fall for a girl he is having an affair with, things get difficult. Shirley MacLaine shines in an early role.

The apartment exteriors were filmed at 55 West 69th Street .

46. Ghost – Loft On Prince Street In SoHo

Ghost (1990) plays on the idea of NYC as a dangerous city: the main character, played by Patrick Swayze, gets killed during a mugging (although it turns out that the mugger was paid to kill him by someone else). However, as Demi Moore’s character mopes around the massive loft, mourning the loss of her lover, I couldn’t help but wonder how she was going to keep paying for that place on her earnings as a potter. The place is palatial! 

The apartment in Ghost is one of many amazing movie apartments that its characters would never be able to afford in real life! My research tells me the location is 102 Prince Street in SoHo.

47. Single White Female – The Ansonia

Another implausible address must be the stunning apartment in Single White Female (1992), a schlocky psychological thriller about a woman obsessed with Bridget Fonda. Bridget’s character lives in a huge, sprawling apartment in the Ansonia , a grand old mansion on the Upper West Side.  Sure, it is dilapidated, but even so, she’s just starting out as self-employed with one client, so how’s the rent getting paid?

The Ansonia is at 2109 Broadway, between 73rd and 74th Streets.

48. Three Men And A Baby – The Prasada

Finally, another implausible NYC movie apartment is the full-floor penthouse in Three Men & A Baby (1987). You know, the one where they decorate their lift lobby with their own graffiti (it was the 80s, after all)? Sure, there are three guys splitting the bills, and one of them’ s an architect, but one of them’ s an unknown artist and the other is a (not famous) actor.  The penthouse overlooks Central Park, so I’m sure the rent wasn’t cheap, even in 1987!

If you want to check out this location, it’s at The Prasada , 50 Central Park West.

49. Green Card

G reen Card (1990) introduced me to the idea of co-op boards that get to dictate who lives in their buildings. Andie MacDowell desperately wants an apartment with a rooftop garden, but the building’s co-op board is so strict about having a married tenant, she is forced to go to the horrifying, desperate measure of marrying Gérard Depardieu.  I mean the apartment’s great and all, but is it worth that?

50. Panic Room – Brownstone On The Upper West Side

I’ll finish this list with a great movie. Finally, possibly the best movie by David Fincher, Panic Room (2002) is a tight thriller about a theft gone wrong.  All the action takes place in a huge brownstone, one of those multi-story mansions that are closely associated with New York.

I really love this movie – it keeps you guessing, is pacy and tense, and feels cinematic even though everything is filmed in one house. Its use of space is Hitchcockian. It stars Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Jared Leto, as well as Kristen Stewart in an early role. I think it’s the best film David Fincher has made.

The interiors were filmed in a studio, but the exterior was shot at 38 West 94th Street.

Phew!  That was a long list!   What do you think of the movies I included in this list? Are there any other movies set in New York City that you really love? 

If you’d like more ideas about what to do in New York, check out my 4-Day New York itinerary , which shows you how to get the best out of this exciting city.

If you like this article, I'd be delighted if you shared it!

About The Author

Martha knight, related posts.

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• Movie Locations

The 20 Best Movies Set in New York City, Ranked

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Is there a city in the world that's more recognizable than New York City? In the movie world, NYC is incredibly well-represented—when filmmakers need a big city to set their movies in, New York City seems to be one of the go-to spots.

We've already looked at the best movies set in Philadelphia (which, surprisingly, includes a lot more than just Rocky ). Now let's check out the Big Apple! Here are my picks for the best movies that take place in New York City, one of the greatest metropolises on Earth.

20. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Directed by Chris Columbus

Starring Macauley Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern

Adventure, Comedy, Crime (2h)

6.8 on IMDb — 35% on RT

We start with the most feel-good movie on our list. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York brings back troublemaker Kevin McCallister (played by the iconic Macaulay Culkin) for more antics.

In this one, he gets separated from his family again, except he isn't at home this time—he's lost in the Big Apple. Also back are the Wet Bandits, Marv (played by Joe Pesci) and Harry (played by Daniel Stern), who have more relentless booby traps waiting for them.

Lost in New York is a great travelogue for kids, who might imagine having fun and traveling around New York City by themselves.

19. All About Eve (1950)

Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders

Drama (2h 18m)

8.2 on IMDb — 99% on RT

All About Eve best represents the cutthroat world of showbiz during the Golden Age. It's the archetypal David-and-Goliath faceoff between newcomer Eve Harrington (played by Anne Baxter) and incumbent star Margo Channing (played by Bette Davis).

All of this, of course, leads to an ugly Broadway squabble. If you're seeking a classic celebrity feud film or an intriguing behind-the-scenes Broadway drama, All About Eve is for you. New York City never felt so much like a pressure cooker about to blow at any minute.

18. Frances Ha (2012)

Directed by Noah Baumbach

Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver

Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 26m)

7.4 on IMDb — 93% on RT

Noah Baumbach is a Brooklyn native, so his stories are often richly infused with New Yorker energy. (Not the case for Barbie , though.)

We can see that very clearly in Frances Ha , which features Greta Gerwig in one of its major lead roles as an aspiring dancer who struggles to get by and keep her friendships afloat.

New York defines the life of Frances Ha. Carefree yet resilient, she's a landmark of her own, and it makes for a poignant hipster film.

17. After Hours (1985)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Starring Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom

Comedy, Crime, Drama (1h 37m)

7.6 on IMDb — 91% on RT

Martin Scorsese is so passionate for New York that he made a Netflix travelogue series with Fran Lebowitz called Pretend It's a City , which frequently showed the shadier parts of the city. However, he first gave us a taste of these elements back in 1985's After Hours .

After Hours centers on the escapades of Paul Hackett (played by Griffin Dunne), who's basically just trying to get home from work but ends up going throught he most hectic night of his life, bouncing from one colorful character and misadventure to the next.

16. Birdman (2014)

Directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu

Starring Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton

Comedy, Drama (1h 59m)

7.7 on IMDb — 91% on RT

Back in 2014, Michael Keaton was sorely looking for his breakout comeback—and he got it in the form of the Oscar-winning Birdman with a role that so perfectly aligned with his desire to do more serious roles.

The entire film is one continuous journey via one continuous long take, following washed-up actor Riggan Thomson who's trying to claw his way back to relevance with a Broadway performance. Of course, nothing really goes right, and the whole thing is both fun and surreal.

15. The Apartment (1960)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray

Comedy, Drama, Romance (2h 5m)

8.3 on IMDb — 93% on RT

Screwball comedies often make the best of New York's scenery, and it's no different with the comedy classic The Apartment . Billy Wilder's tragicomedy goes to all kinds of places with its insane premise.

At the heart of it all is the relationship between insurance clerk Bud (played by Jack Lemmon) and elevator operator Fran (played by Shirley MacLaine). Their chemistry oozes in every frame, but MacLaine stands out with her sharp wit and persistent spirit that outwits Bud's schemes.

14. Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Directed by John Badham

Starring John Travolta, Karen Lynn Gorney, Barry Miller

Drama, Music (1h 58m)

6.8 on IMDb — 82% on RT

When listening to "Stayin' Alive" by Bee Gees, it's hard not to think of John Travolta strutting along the New York sidewalk. At the height of disco, this scene was one of the most recognizable of the era.

John Badham's Saturday Night Fever is a solid movie about hustling and thriving in New York. Who can't resist imagining dancing like Tony Manero in his white suit in the middle of a club?

13. Moonstruck (1987)

Directed by Norman Jewison

Starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis

Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 42m)

7.1 on IMDb — 92% on RT

Cher has three major areas she's most known for: her exciting music, her infamous public image, and her breakout movie Moonstruck .

In Moonstruck , Cher plays the forlorn widow Loretta who unexpectedly falls for Ronny (played by Nicolas Cage), the younger brother of her crude boyfriend Johnny (played by Danny Aiello).

The film is really a love letter to Italian-American New York, best represented by Loretta and her family. Complete with a bittersweet romance, none of us will really "snap out of it."

12. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Directed by Blake Edwards

Starring Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard, Patricia Neal

Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 55m)

7.6 on IMDb — 88% on RT

Ask anyone to say the first Audrey Hepburn movie that comes to mind and they'll likely name Breakfast at Tiffany's , with her in her iconic black socialite dress facing a store with her morning coffee and pastry in hand.

In this film that idealizes New York's posh society, Holly Golightly represents the beauty and simplicity that many in the concrete jungle yearn for. It's truly stunning movie that's a classic for good reason.

11. Manhattan (1979)

Directed by Woody Allen

Starring Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Mariel Hemingway

Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 36m)

7.8 on IMDb — 94% on RT

Manhattan is the hardest movie to discuss on our list, given the details that later surfaced about Woody Allen. It's hard to ignore this film's portrayal of an older man dating a teenage girl.

But it's equally hard to deny the passion that went into the creation of Manhattan and how it so perfectly captures the bustling energy of 1970s New York. The arts scene is prominently explored here, so Manhattan is a real treat to watch for film buffs.

We get a real taste of New York as Manhattan bounces from museum to museum, with Woody Allen showing us the very city he adores. It truly lives up to his aim to craft a "love letter to New York City." The best shot is the bench overlooking the Queensboro Bridge.

10. The French Connection (1971)

Directed by William Friedkin

Starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Fernando Rey

Action, Crime, Drama (1h 44m)

7.7 on IMDb — 96% on RT

After Bullitt in 1968, many action films tried to ride on the coattails of its success, particularly with regard to its iconic car chase. The French Connection was the first to truly pull it off, reaching the same level of grit and tension of Steve McQueen's actioner.

On its own merits, the William Friedkin-directed film is a strong neo-noir thriller where every New York City street is draped in bleakness and the tension is stretched tight. Plus, Gene Hackman's Detective Popeye Doyle is a movingly grounded character.

9. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Directed by Rob Reiner

Starring Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher

Comedy, Drama, Romance (1h 35m)

When it comes to the most definitive romantic comedies of all time, When Harry Met Sally is usually ranked pretty highly.

Its popularity was made possible by the undeniable chemistry between everyman Billy Crystal and then-future rom-com queen Meg Ryan. Their story—in which they realize that their unusual relationship actually goes beyond sex—is one for the ages.

And New York City is prominently featured here, so much so that fans can easily spot the shooting locations. (Especially the deli and the very specific table where Sally had "what she's having.")

8. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Directed by Spike Lee

Starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee

Comedy, Drama (2h)

8.0 on IMDb — 92% on RT

Do the Right Thing is one of those movies that'll make you feel all kinds of ways. It's a comedy-drama created by Spike Lee, and not only is it a fantastic film, but it's also packed to the brim with all things New York.

Add in the all-star cast featuring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, and you have a film that everyone must watch.

7. American Psycho (2000)

Directed by Mary Harron

Starring Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas

Crime, Drama, Horror (1h 42m)

7.6 on IMDb — 68% on RT

American Psycho is a film that cuts deep in more ways than one. Christian Bale takes the lead in this one, and it's the role that ultimately put him on the map as an A-list star in Hollywood.

There's also Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Guinevere Turner, and Reese Witherspoon rounding out the incredible cast.

There's plenty of New York in American Psycho , so if you want a glimpse into the high-end world of the Big Apple—and into the mind of an absolutely psychopathic killer—this is the perfect film to watch.

6. King Kong (1933)

Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot

Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi (1h 40m)

7.9 on IMDb — 97% on RT

For its time, King Kong was truly something special. Is there a scene that screams New York City more than King Kong climbing the Empire State Building and swatting planes out of the sky?

Obviously, if you've never seen it, you need to prepare yourself for the fact that this movie is pushing 100 years old. But even so, King Kong is a masterpiece of classic cinematography and one of the best monster movies ever made.

5. West Side Story (1961)

Directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise

Starring Natalie Wood, George Chakiris, Richard Beymer

Crime, Drama, Musical (2h 33m)

7.6 on IMDb — 92% on RT

Name a more iconic duo of gangs than the Jets and the Sharks. Go ahead, I'll wait! Plus, while the tale of forbidden love isn't necessarily something new, the way it's handled in West Side Story is a masterpiece.

West Side Story is a catchy musical film that's packed full of amazing songs, fantastic acting, and so much of New York City that it's practically bursting at the seams.

4. Goodfellas (1990)

Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci

Biography, Crime, Drama (2h 25m)

8.7 on IMDb — 96% on RT

Everyone has their own pick for their favorite gangster movie, but no one can deny that Goodfellas is an almost shoo-in pick for number one. It oozes violence, action, comedy, and just about everything you could ever want to see in a classic crime film.

And the cast is something to behold, with names like Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ray Liotta, Samuel L. Jackson, and Michael Imperioli. It's hard to not be impressed, especially when you add in the fact that Martin Scorsese helmed it all. It's an absolute masterpiece of a movie.

3. Ghostbusters (1984)

Directed by Ivan Reitman

Starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver

Action, Comedy, Sci-Fi (1h 45m)

7.8 on IMDb — 95% on RT

Do we really need to say much about Ghostbusters ? I could say it's an incredible film, but its lasting legacy speaks for itself. And unlike most of the movies on this list, Ghostbusters isn't a serious drama.

Instead, it's a hilarious sci-fi comedy mixed with some spooky elements and plenty of New York City. Even though the film was made in 1984, the jokes hold up just as well as ever.

2. The Godfather (1972)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan

Crime, Drama (2h 55m)

9.2 on IMDb — 97% on RT

When it comes to classic movies, few are as iconic as The Godfather . It takes you on deep dive into the criminal underworld of New York City.

I don't think I need to sell anyone on the merits of The Godfather , as it's generally regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. If you somehow haven't seen it, just watch it.

Watch it because you love New York. Watch it because you love movies. Whatever your reason, just watch The Godfather ASAP.

1. Taxi Driver (1976)

Starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd

Crime, Drama (1h 54m)

8.2 on IMDb — 96% on RT

Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver is one of the best movies I've ever seen, whether we're talking about movies set in New York City or all movies ever made. Robert De Niro puts on an absolute masterclass in this dark and gritty masterpiece.

It's violent, intense, and the type of film that needs to be seen with your own eyes to believe the hype. And as far as New York City is concerned, Taxi Driver might as well be called The Big Apple: The Movie because the film is brimming with NYC goodness.

A self-guided New York film locations walking tour (with map)

Posted on Last updated: December 20, 2022

Explore Manhattan through the locations of iconic movies and TV shows, from Ghostbusters to King Kong, on this self-guided New York film locations walking tour – map and directions included.

* This site contains affiliate links , where I get a small commission from purchases at no extra cost to you.

It was my first trip to New York and everything should’ve felt new. But I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I’d been here before. Walking past Fifth Avenue’s skyscrapers as yellow cabs rushed by, it hit me. I might not have actually been to the Big Apple before, but I’d walked these streets and seen these views in so many movies it almost felt like I had.

Times Square’s neon lights, the view from the top of the Empire State Building, steam rising from subway vents – they were all part of the films I grew up with. Although I’ve been back to New York several times since, I still haven’t shaken off that feeling of excitement I get from seeing these places translated from the screen into real life.

Whether you’re a rom-com or thriller fan, love black and white films or modern blockbusters, chances are New York will feature in your film history too. And Manhattan has such a high concentration of film locations that it makes for a great walking tour.

So grab your camera and some comfy shoes, and in just under seven miles (or five miles if you use the handy subway short cut) this self-guided New York film locations walking tour will take you in the footsteps of King Kong , Ghostbusters and many more.

A self-guided New York film locations walking tour

Start your New York film locations walking tour at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 1000 Fifth Avenue. The nearest subway station is 86th Street, which is on the route of the 4, 5 and 6 trains. From the station it’s around a 10-minute walk to the museum.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka The Met) is one of the world’s largest art museums, and its main building stretches for a quarter of a mile along Fifth Avenue. There are over two million items in the Met’s collection across 5000 years of history, with everything from ancient Greek sculptures to artworks by Monet, Van Gogh and Picasso.

On screen, the Met is where Pierce Brosnan steals a Monet painting in the 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair. Well the exterior scenes are at least – the Met didn’t want to be associated with a robbery, even a fictional one, so didn’t allow filming inside.

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan take a wander around the Temple of Dendur in the Met’s Egyptian Room in When Harry Met Sally (1989). The temple also featured in Ocean’s 8 (2018), the third Ocean’s Eleven spin-off. The production team recreated the museum’s Met Gala – an annual celebrity-filled fundraiser – as the scene for a diamond heist.

From the Met, follow Fifth Avenue south along the edge of Central Park (1.2 miles) until you reach the end of the park where you’ll see the Plaza Hotel on your right.

The Plaza Hotel

The Plaza Hotel * opened in 1907 and gets its name from the Grand Army Plaza which it’s located on. It stretches over 21 floors and was built to look like a French Renaissance château. It’s one of the city’s most luxurious – and expensive – hotels, and a stay in its lavish Royal Plaza Suite will set you back an eye-watering $40,000 a night.

Over the years the Plaza has featured in plenty of films, including Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992). Macaulay Culkin’s uses his dad’s credit card to stay there when he gets on the wrong plane and ends up in New York instead of Florida. It’s also been a location for North By Northwest , Crocodile Dundee , The Great Gatsby and Bride Wars .

Leave the Plaza and carry on walking down Fifth Avenue for a few minutes and you’ll see Tiffany & Co’s flagship store on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street.

Tiffany’s

With its polished marble exterior and sparkling window displays, Tiffany’s is one of the world’s best-known jewellery stores (who hasn’t coveted one of their turquoise boxes?). It became part of movie history in 1961 when Audrey Hepburn stepped out of a cab and stood looking through the shop’s window in the opening scenes of Breakfast at Tiffany’s .

You can have breakfast at Tiffany’s yourself at the Blue Box Café (reopening in 2023 after refurbishment). It’s decorated in their signature turquoise colour and serves smoked salmon bagels and buttermilk waffles – though book well in advance.

Tiffany’s is also where Patrick Dempsey asks Reese Witherspoon to marry him in Sweet Home Alabama (2002), which prompted a flurry of proposals in the store ever since. And if you want a turquoise box for yourself and don’t quite have a diamond-sized budget, you can get a more budget-friendly silver Tiffany chain for around $95.

Keep walking south down Fifth Avenue until you get to 51st Street, then take a right turn and walk one block to 6th Avenue (0.5 miles) and the Radio City Music Hall.

Radio City Music Hall

The Art Deco Radio City Music Hall * is part of the Rockefeller Center. It was the largest indoor theater in the world when it was built in the 1930s and has had over 300 million visitors since then. The main stage is the length of a city block and the theatre’s Rockettes dance troupe have been high-kicking their way across it for the last 90 years.

As well as being a filming location for several game shows, Radio City appears in The Godfather (1972) – Michael Corleone and his wife are watching a show when they hear Don Corleone has been shot. It was also shown in 1982’s Annie and Home Alone 2 .

Next continue south down 6th Avenue, then turn right along 45th Street and walk for one block to 7th Avenue and Times Square (0.5 miles).

Times Square

Over 330,000 people normally pass through bustling Times Square each day, making it one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations. But in the Tom Cruise film Vanilla Sky (2001), Times Square is completely deserted after the production team got special permission to empty it of people and cars for three hours early one Sunday.

Will Smith also goes hunting in an abandoned Times Square in the post-apocalyptic I Am Legend (2007). It was destroyed by a giant wave in Deep Impact (1998). And is the site of a fight between Spiderman and Electra in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014). Times Square also appeared in classic films Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Taxi Driver (1976).

Then head south down 7th Avenue. Turn left when you reach 43rd Street and follow it for three blocks to Park Avenue where you’ll find Grand Central Terminal (0.5 miles).

Grand Central Terminal

Grand Central Terminal was built in 1913 and is a US National Historic Landmark, as well as still being one of the city’s busiest transport hubs. The station exterior and Park Avenue Viaduct were the site of the Battle of New York in 2012’s The Avengers .

The main concourse was used for a flash mob scene at the end of the Justin Timberlake film Friends With Benefits (2011). Look up to see its beautifully detailed astronomical ceiling – though keen astronomers might notice the star map isn’t totally accurate.

Below the concourse is the Oyster Bar where George Clooney has lunch with his daughter in One Fine Day (1996). And Will Smith’s been to Grand Central twice – to film exterior shots for I Am Legend and discover aliens in the locker room in Men in Black (1997).

Outside the station, head west along 42nd Street for two blocks to the New York Public Library’s Schwarzman Building (0.3 miles).

New York Public Library

With its marble walls, grand staircases, chandeliers and ceiling fescoes, the New York Public Library is one of my favourite New York buildings. On screen it stood in for the foyer of The Met in The Thomas Crown Affair (1999). But it’s probably best known as the place where the Ghostbusters hunted down the ghost of librarian Eleanor Twitty (1984).

The library’s beautiful Rose Reading Room is two blocks longs long and 15 metres high, with a gilded ceiling painted with clouds. It appears in The Day After Tomorrow (2004), where survivors of the new Ice Age burn the library’s books to keep warm.

And Carrie Bradshaw chose the library as the venue for her wedding to Mr Big in Sex and the City: The Movie (2008) because it was “the classic New York landmark that housed all the great love stories” (though it didn’t quite work out for her).

Exit the library onto Fifth Avenue and walk south for seven blocks until you reach the Empire State Building (0.4 miles) at 20 West 34th Street.

Empire State Building

The 103-storey Art Deco Empire State Building * has to be one of New York’s most iconic buildings. And the first time many of us ever saw it was on screen with a giant gorilla swinging around the top of it in the original 1933 monster film King Kong .

Since then it’s been used in over 250 films and TV shows, including Superman II (1980), where Christopher Reeve’s Superman catches the tower’s antenna before it falls. And its interiors were used as Buddy’s father’s offices in the 2003 festive film Elf .

The Empire State Building was also used in romantic favourite An Affair to Remember (1957). Cary Grant asks Deborah Kay to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building, but she’s hit by a car on the way there and doesn’t make it.

An Affair to Remember is Meg Ryan’s character Annie’s favourite film in Sleepless in Seattle (1993). So the Empire State Building’s observation deck is where she finally meets up with Tom Hanks’ character Sam and his son at the end of the film.

The next hop is a bit bigger, so you can also catch the subway if you don’t want to walk (take lines B/D/F/M from 34th Street to 2nd Avenue). Otherwise head down Fifth Avenue then take Broadway south through Union Square before going left on East Houston Street to Katz’s Deli, on the southwest corner of Houston and Ludlow Streets (2.2 miles).

Katz’s Deli

Katz’s Deli on the Lower East Side was founded in 1888 and is known for its giant pastrami on rye sandwiches. It got its big screen break in When Harry Met Sally (1989), as the place where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm over lunch with Billy Crystal. You can sit in her spot under a sign saying “Where Harry met Sally… hope you have what she had!”

The deli also appears in fantasy film Enchanted (2007) and is where Johnny Depp’s character meets with an FBI contact in Donnie Brasco (1997).

Next head back along Houston Street as far as West Broadway and then follow that south until you reach 14 North Moore Street (1.4 miles).

FDNY Ladder 8

Finish your New York film locations walking tour at the New York City Fire Department’s Hook and Ladder 8 firehouse. It was built in 1903 and has been a working fire station for more than a century. But you might know it better as the base for the Ghostbusters as it featured in both the 1984 original film and the 2016 remake.

Well the outside of the building did at least – a lot of the interiors were actually shot in the studio in LA. But the Ghostbusters logo from the film hangs outside the station after a crowdfunding campaign raised money to build one. The station also appeared in the 2005 film Hitch and episodes of TV show Seinfeld and How I Met Your Mother .

From the station it’s a few minutes’ walk to Franklin Street or Canal Street subway stations. Or you’re surrounded by Tribeca’s bars and cafés if you fancy a post-tour drink.

New York film locations walking tour map

If you’d like to do this New York movie walk yourself, click on the map below to access directions through Google maps. The full route is 6.9 miles/11.1km and takes 2.5 hours to walk straight through, but allow four hours to include stops along the way.

Or the shorter route with the subway short cut between the Empire State Building and Katz’s Deli is 5 miles/8km in total with 1 hour 40 minutes of walking.

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Monday 25th of December 2023

A great find. Easy to follow enjoyable tour. Thank you

Lucy Dodsworth

Saturday 30th of December 2023

That's great – really glad you enjoyed it!

Friday 1st of September 2023

I'm going to NY soon with my youngest and was looking for a movie tour for our first day. This is perfect for us

Tuesday 5th of September 2023

Thanks Grant, hope you have a great trip!

darekandgosia.com

Thursday 4th of July 2019

Nice list Lucy! So many iconic locations :) Which one is your favorite one? :)

Monday 8th of July 2019

Ooh that's a tough one – I do love Grand Central, such a beautiful place and I'm a big train travel fan too.

Friday 1st of March 2019

What a wonderful guide, Lucy! I'm visiting New Your in a week and these locations will be perfect for one of my filming projects. Exactly what I was lookig for, thanks :)

Tuesday 5th of March 2019

Hope you have a fab time – it's such a great city!

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5 Famous TV and Movie Locations in Downtown Manhattan

Even if it's your first time visiting New York City , some sites will probably look familiar to you since many of them have been made famous as popular movie and TV filming locations .

The Huxtable House

TheGlowingClown / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 

While The Cosby Show was set in Brooklyn Heights and filmed live in film studios, the actual building used for the exterior shots of the Huxtable home is located at 10 Leroy Street in Greenwich Village . The live show was first shot at NBC's Studio One in Brooklyn and later moved to Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. The fictional address for the family was 10 Stigwood Avenue. The Leroy Street brownstone was one of 15 identical buildings built in the 19th century using a combination of Renaissance and Greek Revival styles.

• Address: 10 Leroy Street, Greenwich Village, NY
• Cross streets: Hudson Street and 7th Avenue South
• Subway: 1 to Houston Street; A/C/E and B/D/F/M to West 4th Street

Leroy Street, a Popular NYC Filming Street

Leroy Street is often used for filming because the other side of the street has no buildings to obstruct light. It's been used in Autumn in New York , Law & Order , The Job, and Wait Until Dark .

• Address: Greenwich Village

The Apartment Building From Friends

Exterior shots of the apartment building featured in Friends were taken of this building which is located on the corner of Grove and Bedford Streets in Greenwich Village. This was supposed to be the building where Monica, Rachel, Joey, and Chandler lived. The show itself was never filmed on location in New York City -- it was always filmed before a live, studio audience in Los Angeles, California.

• Location: Corner of Grove and Bedford Streets in Greenwich Village
• Subway: 1 to Christopher Street; A/C/E and B/D/F/M to West 4th Street

Friends Building Where Ugly Naked Guy and Ross live

This is a picture of the exterior used for the apartment building in Friends where Ugly Naked Guy and Ross live. It's right across the street from the building used for Monica, Rachel, Joey, and Chandler's apartment.

• Location: 12-21 Grove Street
• Cross Streets: Hudson Street and Bedford Street

Ghostbusters Firehouse

This is the firehouse used in Ghostbusters . It is the 2nd oldest firehouse in New York City and is home to Hook and Ladder Company #8. Built in 1903, the building was the first Beaux-Arts style firehouse in NYC. When originally built, the firehouse was twice the size it is today -- it had to be reduced in size when Varick Street was widened in 1913. The interiors for the firehouse scenes were shot in Los Angeles, California. There is even a Lego set for this famous building!

This firehouse was also featured in the 2005 movie Hitch and in a Seinfeld episode.

• Address: 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca
• Subway: 1 to Franklin Street; A/C/E to Canal Street
• Cross Streets: Varick and West Broadway

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49 Movies That Will Transport You to New York City

All products and listings featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you purchase something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

New York City has long served as inspiration for filmmakers, spanning every decade and genre. It's easy to see why: The city not only serves as a beautiful backdrop, but also has its own life and personality. In fact, it often serves as a film's supporting character as well as its physical setting. You can already connect New York with certain filmmakers (Martin Scorsese), performers (Barbra Streisand), and characters (King Kong), but the city's filmography goes far beyond its immediate associations. We asked our editors to pick their favorite movies set in New York City, from the obvious to the oddball. Our resulting list includes New Hollywood classics, creature features, flashy musicals, and more than one rom-com with a magazine-editor protagonist. We'll meet you at the top of the Empire State Building.

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

King Kong (1930)

The Empire State Building is an important feature in many Hollywood films ( An Affair to Remember , Sleepless in Seattle , etc.), but none can compare to the building's appearance in King Kong . The story of the giant ape who falls—quite literally—for a beautiful blonde actress has been retold and remade many times, but the 1933 movie starring Fay Wray is what first immortalized the image of King Kong swatting away airplanes on top of the Empire State Building. It may not be quite as happy as Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan meeting on the observation deck on Valentine's Day, but it's a New York love story nonetheless. —Caitlin Morton, contributing editor

Watch now: Rent from $3, amazon.com

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

"Christmas in New York City" could practically be its own genre, thanks in large part to 1947's Miracle on 34th Street . The charming movie centers around a Macy's department store Santa who claims to be the real Kris Kringle—to the point where he goes on trial to prove his identity. It's a lovely story told in a lovely way, and it just may inspire you to have a little more childlike faith...and maybe go shopping at Macy's more often. —C.M.

Watch now: Free with Disney+ subscription, disneyplus.com ; rent from $4, amazon.com

Rear Window (1954)

Ah, New Yorkers’ favorite pastime: being nosy and watching each other through the windows. Based on a block in Manhattan that is still filled with creatives, the movie follows L.B. Jeffries (played by James Stewart), recovering from a broken leg as he peers into the lives of his neighbors, among them a dancer, a sculptor, and a composer. When his binoculars catch a potential murder, things take a turn for the suspenseful. In a time when we’re all sequestered in our homes, this movie—shot entirely from Jeffries’s fictional New York apartment—feels particularly appropriate (murder notwithstanding). Come for the Hitchcock masterpiece, stay for the Grace Kelly fashion, in her role as Jeffries’s socialite girlfriend. —Meredith Carey, associate digital editor

Watch now: Rent from $4, amazon.com

The Apartment (1960)

You see very little of New York City in this Billy Wilder classic, which takes place almost entirely inside an Upper West Side apartment, but you feel the city's complex power dynamics in every frame. The Apartment explores the plight of a mid-level organization man (played by Jack Lemmon) at a big insurance firm who, in the interest of career advancement, loans his place out to his bosses to pursue affairs—until things get complicated when he falls for an elevator operator played by Shirley MacLaine. It is a biting commentary on the terrible things men get up to when they go to work in the city (an idea that drove all seven seasons of Mad Men , set around the same time) and, like Rear Window , a terrific evocation of the claustrophobia that the close quarters of Manhattan living can result in. — Jesse Ashlock, U.S. editor

Watch now: Rent from $1, amazon.com

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

When it comes to iconic movie roles, Audrey Hepburn's turn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's always comes to mind. The 1961 adaptation of Truman Capote's novella is more traditional than the source material (take away the homosexual narrator, add in a love interest who enjoys kissing in the rain), but the devotion to New York remains true. The opening shot of Hepburn window shopping at Tiffany's in her pearl choker is pure cinematic gold, as is the scene where she wistfully sings "Moon River" on her apartment fire escape. —C.M.

West Side Story (1961)

New York as a setting lends itself perfectly to musicals—it is the land of Broadway and bright lights, after all. But West Side Story is in a class of its own. The film explores the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, and the taboo love affair between Tony and Maria (it's Romeo and Juliet, only set in the Upper West Side in the 1950s). Aside from having one of the greatest scores in all of musical history, courtesy of Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story 's extended dance scenes—which take place on fire escapes, rooftops, and parking garages—are true marvels of choreography. —C.M.

Funny Girl (1968)

Nothing says Broadway like Barbra Streisand’s film debut as Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, a reprisal of her role in the 1964 stage musical of the same name. Chronicling Brice’s rise to Broadway stardom and love life, Funny Girl is really all about showcasing Brooklyn-native Streisand—with classic songs like “ Don’t Rain on My Parade ” and “I'm The Greatest Star,” perfect comedic timing, and some truly stellar costumes. While the movie was mostly filmed on sound stages in Los Angeles, it’s New York through and through. —M.C.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Set back when Times Square was at its sleaziest, pimps and prostitutes worked its many, many corners, and gigolos charmed even Upper East Side well-to-do-ers into a deal, Midnight Cowboy focuses on one such gigolo. Apple cheeked Texan (Jon Voight) gets scammed and then befriended by a crippled Bronx conman, nicknamed Ratso (Dustin Hoffman). New York at this time feels like a party whose fun fizzled out years earlier, with rampant, desperate drug use and unclean sex. Though through it all, the two leads form an unlikely, almost endearing relationship—once you wipe all the schmutz away. —Erin Florio, travel news director

The French Connection (1971)

This 1971 movie gave us a New York City car chase to rival the San Francisco thriller in Bullitt , released a few years earlier, and established the city as a gray, dystopian hellscape—an image that has persisted in cinematic depictions of the Big Apple ever since. Based on a true story (and book published two years earlier), The French Connection concerns an international heroin trafficking scene and the efforts of two grizzled, amoral detectives (played by Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider) to stop it. The city is as central a character as any other, with the elevated subway line along Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn playing a key role in the car chase, and the various bridges looming menacingly over the characters as they rush about their business. —J.A.

Shaft (1971)

This 1971 classic follows a suave private detective (named Shaft), who is hired by a Harlem mobster to rescue his daughter. Some of its most iconic scenes were shot through Harlem, Greenwich Village, and even Times Square back in the day—and Shaft has a killer soundtrack, which won multiple Grammys (the theme song also won an Oscar). Plus, it offers a 70's-created look at the Black Power Movement and other cultural touchstones of the decade. The film itself is significant, as well, as it marked a turning point in the blaxploitation movement in Hollywood. —Megan Spurrell, associate editor

The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola 's The Godfather has been given many superlatives: best gangster movie, best ensemble cast, and one of the best Hollywood movies of all time. The first installment in the trilogy follows Don Vito Corleone (played by Marlon Brando), the head of a powerful Italian-American crime family, and Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino), Vito's youngest son who reluctantly transforms from family man to Mafia boss. Most of the plot takes place in 1940s New York City, where the Five Families gun each other down on the streets and Catholic baptisms take on a darkly ironic new meaning . —C.M.

The Godfather: Part II (1974)

In many ways, The Godfather: Part II is even more of a New York City movie than its predecessor. The plot is at once a sequel and a prequel—the main storyline follows Michael Corleone around Lake Tahoe and Cuba , which is intercut with flashbacks of a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) immigrating to America and establishing himself in New York City in the early 1900s. The intertwining storylines show the tragic differences between Vito and Michael, namely how the latter character has lost the honor and familial loyalty his father held so closely, as well as the differences between turn-of-the-century and mid-century New York. If I could sum up the greatness of Part II in one scene, it would be the breathtaking San Gennaro Feast sequence , in which the camera simultaneously follows the wicked Don Fanucci on the streets and murderous Vito on the rooftops. —C.M.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

A classic from the golden age of the gritty NYC thriller, this was one of many films that followed The French Connection in capturing the feeling of the city coming apart at the seams—a sensation that was all too real in the 1970s as the city faced crisis after crisis, from bankruptcy to crime to the Summer of Sam . In this case, it is the subway system that comes under siege, as four criminals wearing disguises and using the code names Mr. Blue, Mr. Green, Mr. Grey, and Mr. Brown—which Quentin Tarantino would pay tribute to in Reservoir Dogs —take a car full of passengers hostage for ransom, setting up a film’s worth of negotiations and maneuvers. It was remade in 2009 as a vehicle for Denzel Washington and John Travolta, but the original is far superior, in part because it feels like a New York movie, not a Hollywood movie. —J.A.

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

This tale of a bank robbery gone wrong falls firmly in the “fact is stranger than fiction” category. On a hot August day in the mid 1970s, two Brooklynites storm a Chase Bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn. What should have lasted 10 minutes spans hours, and develops into a situation that reveals wholly humanizing conditions, including tragic love, and misplaced sympathy and intentions. Antiheroes become heroes—and for a single afternoon, all of Brooklyn is rooting for the pair of antiheroes. It's wonderfully '70s, too, with Al Pacino and John Cazale teaming up for the last time before Cazale's premature death. —E.F.

Watch now: Rent from $4, itunes.com

Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Part of Alan Pakula’s “Paranoia” trilogy along with Klute (itself a great NYC flick) and All the President’s Men , this classic Robert Redford movie brings the ominous political machinations of the Watergate era to the streets of New York. It is not so much grimy and violent as it is cold, brittle, and empty, with the feeling that something dangerous could be lurking around every corner—a way of depicting the city that has since been used in movies like The Interpreter (directed, like this one, by Sydney Pollack) and the Bourne series . Redford plays a retiring CIA researcher who is thrust into a web of international intrigue when he returns to the office and finds all his colleagues dead, sending him on a desperate hunt to figure out what’s happening that takes him from back alleys and bodegas to iconic locations like the former World Trade Center and the Guggenheim . —J.A.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Of all the Martin Scorsese–Robert De Niro collabs, Taxi Driver is easily my favorite—and objectively one of the absolute best movies set in New York City. Robert De Niro takes a chilling turn as Travis Bickel, a reclusive taxi driver living in the age of post-Vietnam War cynicism. The portrayal of the city here may not be as romantic and pretty as you're used to (the first voiceover is about the rain washing the garbage off the sidewalks), but it sure is realistic—to the point of being uncomfortable, in fact. And watching a 13-year-old Jodi Foster steal scenes from De Niro is an experience you won't want to miss. —C.M.

Watch now: Free with Netflix subscription, netflix.com ; rent from $4, amazon.com

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

As an Italian-American who grew up in Staten Island in the '80s, this one hits close to home. I still think about Bobby on the bridge when I cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge—it gives me the shivers every time. But oh man: Tony Manero's moves! The white suit! The strutting! John Travolta just kills it. And I get so much joy from the fashion in this film. It's just magnificent. —Lauren DeCarlo, director, strategic projects

Ghostbusters (1984)

Destroying New York City is just more fun when Ivan Reitman does it with a rampaging marshmallow demon. Ghostbusters has everything: Bill Murray rising to the decades-long apex of his comedic powers, a chart-topping theme song , and New York's most famous landmarks overrun by ghosts made with '80s special effects. It also provided inspiration for an entire generation's halloween costumes. —Noah Kaufman, city guides editor

After Hours (1985)

After Hours feels so different from other Martin Scorsese vehicles, it's almost easy to forget who directed it. But look closer, and you'll find Marty all over this black comedy. The entire plot takes place during one single night in SoHo, with a data entry clerk named Paul Hackett (played by Griffin Dunne) just trying to make it home after a long day at work. The series of unfortunate events he encounters are simultaneously weird, morbid, and slapstick-funny—in other words, a perfect representation of New York's 1980s punk art scene. Only in SoHo would you find yourself suddenly trapped after an artist makes a plaster mold of your face. —C.M.

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Besides being Madonna’s screen debut, this screwball romp distills the zany energy that was still strong in downtown New York even as the yuppies were beginning to take over, with dire consequences for precisely the milieu that the movie celebrates. That includes the legendary, long-gone nightclub Danceteria and the indelible characters that used to wander the streets of the East Village and SoHo, including iconic downtown musicians/scenesters/weirdos Richard Hell and John Lurie, both of whom make appearances. Watch it on a double bill with Martin Scorsese’s aforementioned After Hours , which similarly captures the bygone, offbeat magic of this era of New York. —J.A.

Moonstruck (1987)

Whenever I watch this movie, I thrill that it was shot near my picturesque Italian-American neighborhood in Brooklyn. Loretta Castorini (Cher) is a bookkeeper in her late 30s who lost her husband several years prior; she's convinced the marriage was cursed because they got married at City Hall. When the sweet but obsequious Johnny Cammareri (played by Danny Aiello) proposes properly, she decides this is her chance to get things right (small problem: she doesn't love him). While Johnny is on a trip to Sicily to visit his dying mother, Loretta seeks out Johnny's estranged brother, Ronny (played by Nicolas Cage), to invite him to the wedding. The passionate, moody opposite of his brother, Ronny draws Loretta in and she falls very quickly into a romance that goes against all she thinks she stands for. Moonstruck is a story about big love and second chances—and about how some things, whether curses or miracles, are in the eye of the beholder. — Corina Quinn, city guides director  

Watch now: Free with Amazon Prime, amazon.com

Wall Street (1987)

Ah, the New York of the 1980s. Deals were closed at the 21 Club, cell phones were the size of burritos, and greed was, for lack of a better word, good. Oliver Stone's indictment of the world of finance shows the flash that parts of the city had during the decade, but also what a rough place it could. It also features what is probably Charlie Sheen's best work outside of Major League . —N.K.

Coming to America (1988)

I can’t think of any cinematic scene more pure (or truer to the spirit of New York City ) than the one in John Landis’s 1988 release, Coming to America , in which Eddie Murphy’s love-struck lead sings an ear-splitting rendition of Jackie Wilson’s “To Be Loved” on the stoop of his Queens apartment building in the dead of winter—only to be told by his neighbors to shut up. It’s this hardscrabble charm that characterizes the movie’s relationship with the New York of the late '80s: that of small barber shops owned by aging smack-talkers, graffiti-riddled subway cars, and romantic evening walks along an illuminated skyline of which the Twin Towers are still part. The movie’s plot might feel a little far-fetched—a kind-hearted African prince comes to Queens to find true love, and a queen of his own—and yet still manages to feel natural to the anything-is-possible ethos that lures people to the city decade after decade. — Betsy Blumenthal, associate editor

Working Girl (1988)

I have a theory that all NYC transplants have a movie that made us want to move here from wherever we grew up, and for me, it is Mike Nichols' '80s-era masterpiece (set against Carly Simon's beatific theme song ). The main character, Tess McGill (played by Melanie Griffith), is a big dreamer with a rock-solid work ethic and more than a little chutzpah. A whip-smart secretary, she's aching for more—attending diction classes, and commuting on the Staten Island ferry while dealing with sleazy Wall Streeters along the way. When she learns her new, female boss (Sigourney Weaver) stole a big idea McGill shared with her, she seizes an opportunity to take it back—by posing in her boss's job. I love watching her infiltrate the boys' club downtown (steps from my company's offices today), sleuthing her way into a position she greatly deserves, and falling in love with an investment broker with a heart of gold (played by Harrison Ford) as she does it. It's feel-good inspiration for anyone who's ever felt stuck in life and yearned to get past it. —C.Q.

After a wish to be “big” is granted by a fortune-telling arcade game, 12-year-old Josh Baskin finds himself in a fully grown body. Now navigating life as an adult—played by a young, affable Tom Hanks—Baskin moves from his New Jersey hometown to New York City, taking a job at a toy company with his adolescent friend Billy in tow. While you won’t be able to play "Chopsticks" on a floor piano at the now-closed F.A.O. Schwarz flagship on Fifth Avenue today, you can still embrace your inner child and settle into this delightful movie.  —M.C.

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

Nora Ephron's New York had me hooked years before I'd ever had the chance to visit—and there's perhaps no movie that romanticizes the city more perfectly than When Harry Met Sally. The script is perfect, the shots of Central Park in the fall are perfect, the pastrami sandwich at Katz's Deli is perfect. Is it an accurate depiction of life in New York City? Absolutely not. Does it remind me why I moved here in the first place? Every time. —Lale Arikoglu, senior lifestyle editor

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Spike Lee's masterful Do the Right Thing turned 30 last year, yet it remains just as relevant an examination of racism in America as it did when it was first released in 1989—exploring racial inequality and police violence during a hot summer's day in Brooklyn's Bed-Stuy neighborhood. It launched the career of not just Lee himself, but Rosie Perez as well, and turned Public Enemy's “Fight the Power” into the anthem it is today. —L.A.

Paris Is Burning (1990)

Before Madonna's "Vogue" music video and RuPaul's Drag Race , Paris Is Burning chronicled New York City's ball culture—and the trans women, drag queens, and other LGBTQ+ community members who found a home in it. This 1991 documentary features interviews with iconic performers, like Pepper LaBeija and Dorian Corey, and explores the racism, poverty, and discrimination these women faced in paving the path for today's generation. It's easily one of the best documentaries of the decade (one of the best of New York City, period) and documents a fundamentally important moment of time in the city. —M.S.

Watch now: Buy from $18, amazon.com

Goodfellas (1990)

I struggle to identify any gangster movie as superior to The Godfather , but with this film's cachet and sleazy, wise guy charms (the suits! the dialogue! the scene where the guys cook pasta sauce in their jail cell!), at times Goodfellas may just beat it, depending on my mood. The acting and cinematography are straight Oscar-worthy, all set to a backdrop of (mostly) New York in the ‘60s and ’70s, in places like dinner clubs and theaters that make vulgar mafia content feel, dare I say, stylish and sharp. —E.F.

Watch now: Free with Hulu subscription, hulu.com ; rent from $4, itunes.com

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Can anyone say Worst Parents Ever? In the second installment of Home Alone , Kevin McCallister once again finds himself estranged from his ever-negligent family, this time in the middle of the Big Apple. While his family spends Christmas in Miami , Kevin is unwittingly reunited with the same two bungling burglars he foiled in Chicago . (Cue the swinging paint cans and falling tool chests.) The fact that his victory is made possible only with the help of a crazy bird lady in Central Park solidifies this as a true New York movie. Of course, guest appearances by Rockefeller Center, The Plaza Hotel , and even the original World Trade Center don't hurt. —Lara Kramer, senior manager, audience development

Kids (1995)

There is a rawness to this low budget, documentary-style fictional film that made it more than just a twisted coming-of-age story, but rather turned it into something that resonated deeply and menacingly with viewers from all over. I was 11 when I first saw it—too young by most standards—many oceans away from New York City, and there were scenes that stayed with me so vividly that they became reference points long after that first viewing. The film's realness is in part due to smart casting—all the titular teens were selected from the streets of New York by casting directors who had been observing city kids with the hopes of finding real-life versions of the characters they were creating. Some have gone on to make it big, like Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson , but what makes Kids so compelling is New York itself—or rather, the relationship between it and the characters. Its vastness provides an anonymity and boundless sense of adventure, thrill, and excitement, but proves the city can also be dangerous, scary, and lonely. The power it instills can be swiftly replaced with insignificance. And the kids learn that lesson the hardest of all. —E.F.

Watch now: Buy from $24, amazon.com

Men in Black (1997)

Is it possible that a large number of New Yorkers are actually aliens in disguise? Seems possible to me. But the most important thing about the Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones sci-fi quipfest is that it finally answers the question: What the hell is in that building above the entrance to the Hugh Carey Tunnel? —N.K.

You've Got Mail (1998)

How could I not choose two Nora Ephron movies for this list? Similar to When Harry Met Sally , You've Got Mail has more great shots of New York City in the fall, more witty banter, and more Meg Ryan, this time playing an Upper West Side bookstore owner—with the added bonus of Tom Hanks, too. In a time where we're all clambering to experience meaningful human connection through our screens, You've Got Mail 's story of a meet-cute over email feels oddly relevant right now, even if it is soundtracked by the sound of AOL dial up. Plus, it's a good reminder to support New York's independent bookstores if you can—the last thing we want when this is over is for the city to be dominated by the likes of Fox Books. —L.A.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Don't watch this one with mom and dad. The last film by Stanley Kubrick before his death, Eyes Wide Shut is an erotic psychological drama staring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, centering around the mystery of a masked, hyper-sexual secret New York society. The shots are gorgeous, and the music a perfect mix of eerie and seductive. Though set in New York City, the film was actually shot in the United Kingdom, where Kubrick painstakingly recreated exterior shots of Greenwich Village , even going so far as to precisely replicate the street widths of Manhattan and the true distance between newspaper stands. Final fun fact: Eyes Wide Shut holds the Guinness World Record for the longest constant movie shoot clocking in at 400 total days. —L.K.

Center Stage (2000)

While the main setting in this beloved dance movie is clearly the stage, Center Stage also does a fantastic job of showing off New York City's dance world, from the ballet companies and Lincoln Center to the modern dance classes and salsa clubs all over the city. The movie juxtaposes fun, touristy New York (boat tours, Times Square) with dance community hotspots in a way that shows off the energy of the city, as well as the ambitious creative types that flock there. The movie instilled in me both a love for dancing and a love for New York City, which are still going strong after two decades. —Stephanie Wu, articles director

American Psycho (2000)

Set in NYC in the late '80s (a real vibe for the city), American Psycho is equal parts horror and comedy, as it follows a hyper-polished Financial District investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer. The whole thing is dripping in satire, and it takes a few swings at the city's relationship with money, work, and material status symbols that any New Yorker can appreciate. —M.S.

Sure, you've probably seen Elf more times than you can count—we all have—but if it isn't one of the most iconic New York City movies, I don't know what is. You've got holiday crowds, the glowing Rockefeller Center, grumpy New Yorkers trudging through sidewalk slush, and of course, Will Ferrell barreling through the streets dressed as an elf. Though I moan about watching it for the 500th time each winter, the moment it comes on I find myself suddenly smiling—and infatuated with New York during the holidays all over again. —M.S.

13 Going on 30 (2004)

I was much closer to 13 than 30 the first time I watched this Jennifer Garner classic, but immediately related to the nerdy girl dreaming of working in magazines—one who had a knack for creating collages and mood boards. The movie features some of the most well-known New York City destinations, including Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge , but for me it was all about the childlike wonder of being in the city, and how, no matter your age, visiting for the first time can be overwhelming and thrilling all at once. —S.W.

Rent (2005)

Long before I lived in New York, I watched Rent approximately a dozen times in one year, and I’ve continued to watch it once a year since. Despite being set during a particularly dark time in the city’s history—the AIDS crisis was near its peak, crime rates were climbing—the movie still manages to capture the beauty of the city and the inherent struggles in living there (paying exorbitant rent feels like throwing money down the drain, no matter how well-off you are). From Collins singing about sunny Santa Fe on the F train and the sweet “I’ll Cover You” performance by him and Angel as they walk alongside Tompkins Square Park to the iconic “ La Vie Boheme ,” sung inside the since-closed Life Café, the movie (and stage musical it's based on) could only have been set in New York City. The film ends with a glimmer of hope, proving its characters are as tough and resilient as the city itself. — Madison Flager, commerce editor

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

This is my will-watch-anytime movie, whether it pops up on cable or is available on a plane. Meryl Streep's performance is iconic, and some of the best lines have earned a permanent place in pop culture. ("Florals? For spring? Groundbreaking.") It also felt like a somewhat-accurate depiction of New York City, from the tiny apartments and crowded bars to the fact that the main character, played by Anne Hathaway, actually takes the subway to work. —S.W.

Night at the Museum (2006)

I cannot walk by the capuchin monkeys or the T. rexes in the American Museum of Natural History without thinking of Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson as a miniature cowboy, and the late Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt galavanting around after hours when the museum comes to life. (Because it definitely comes to life.) This movie, set entirely in the museum and Central Park, follows Stiller as a new security guard who watches over the museum's artifacts after everyone has gone home—except (plot twist!) all of those artifacts, from the Easter Island moai to the wax figures, come to life each night thanks to a mysterious Egyptian tablet. Hijinks ensue, in a movie that’s a treat for all ages. (After you watch, plan a trip to the AMNH, which has a dedicated Night at the Museum tour. ) —M.C.

Man on Wire (2008)

There are countless action movies and superhero franchises that take place in New York City, but they honestly can't compare to the tension felt throughout the 2008 documentary, Man on Wire . The award-winning movie focuses on Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist who walked between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, documenting his preparations as well as his one-hour stunt. The film builds its suspense as if it were a heist movie—and since the film came out several years after 9/11, it reads as a sort of love letter to New York, without a hint of cliché or heavy-handedness. —C.M.

Watch now: Free, youtube.com

Cloverfield (2008)

Released in 2008,  Cloverfield  is an American monster film that follows five New Yorkers as they attempt to flee the city from an apocalyptic invasion. Presented in a found-footage style, the movie is "shot" from one of the character's personal camcorders that is ultimately recovered by the United States Department of Defense in the area "formerly known as Central Park." The city is a larger-than-life character, offering at times both safety and vulnerability for the characters, and makes for the ultimate run-for-your-life background. And you're in luck!  Cloverfield  was followed by  10 Cloverfield Lane  in 2016 and  The Cloverfield Paradox  in 2018, so you can make a whole weekend out of it. —L.K.

Black Swan (2010)

If you've ever seen a Darren Aronofsky film, you know that you're in for a psychological mind game, typically infused with elements of horror and surrealism (and that's putting it gently). And Black Swan is most certainly an Aronofsky film. The film centers around the production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet and follows Nina (played by Natalie Portman) and Odile (played by Mila Kunis) as they rehearse and prepare for the opening show. After Portman and Kunis, the most important star of this film is arguably the New York City ballet company itself—the perfect vehicle to showcase the underbelly of the city's artistic drive and competition. Watch this film with an open mind and free up your entire evening, as you'll need plenty of time to make sense of it all when you're done. —L.K.

Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Wall Street in the 1980s is a thing of legend, a celebration of excess and indulgence. Martin Scorsese manages to capture this essence perfectly, and, in doing so, set the world record for most swear words in a motion picture. The result is an exhilarating performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, who channels his inner Gordon Gekko as he swaggers through Manhattan as though it were his own personal playground. This film manages to showcase a side of New York that is rarely seen by most—an opulent theme park for the one-percenters who, like Leo, embrace the greed-is-good ethos. —L.K.

Frances Ha (2012)

Before Greta Gerwig made Little Women and Lady Bird , she starred in (and co-wrote) Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha , a black and white comedy about a New York dancer drifting around the city. It's a gentle, familiar story line about a twenty-something trying to reinvent herself that never seems to get old (it also stars a then lesser-known Adam Driver), and the shots of Gerwig dancing her way through Washington Square Park make me yearn desperately for the privilege of walking through the city this summer. —L.A.

Birdman (2014)

Aside from relaunching Michael Keaton's career, Birdman is a stellar example of filmmaking that uses New York City—specifically Broadway—as a supporting character. The plot centers around an aging actor best-known for playing the superhero Birdman in the 1990s (yes, the Batman/Michael Keaton parallel is intentional), desperately trying to gain some industry respect by starring in a Broadway play. The continuous shots weaving through the backstage corridors and dressing rooms, as well as Keaton's portrayal of a man slipping into madness, are as thrilling as seeing a live performance in NYC's most famous theaters. —C.M.

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

Based on James Baldwin's novel of the same name, If Beale Street Could Talk comes from Barry Jenkins, the director behind the Oscar award-winning Moonlight . Beale Street , set in 1970's Harlem, is just as stirring, following a young and in-love couple that is torn apart when one of them is accused of a crime he didn't commit. It shines a light on enduring racial inequality and injustices, and captures the beauty and love that exists amid it all. —M.S.

Watch now: Free with Hulu subscription, hulu.com ; rent from $4, amazon.com

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Sure, you could put any Spider-Man movie ( Tobey Maguire in the Sam Raimi trilogy, Andrew Garfield in the Marc Webb films, or Tom Holland in the Marvel Universe movies) on this list, but the breathtakingly animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse takes the cake for me in showcasing New York City. Led by Miles Morales, an African American and Puerto Rican teen living in Brooklyn who takes up the Spider-Man mantle after, you guessed it, he’s bitten by a radioactive spider, the movie brings together different Spider-Men (and women… and pigs ) from different dimensions to fight evil. (It is a superhero movie after all, albeit a very modern one.) It is one of the most remarkable animated films I have ever seen, and showcases New York’s skyline, subways, personality, and quirks in some epically illustrated scenes. Even if comic book characters or superheroes are not in your usual movie night picks, this movie is worth a watch. —M.C.

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Top 25 Greatest Movies Set in New York City of All Time

1. Taxi Driver

2. Manhattan

3. Annie Hall

4. 25th Hour

5. Do the Right Thing

6. Ghostbusters

7. Wall Street

8. Breakfast at Tiffany's

9. The Godfather

10. Rosemary's Baby

11. Once Upon a Time in America

12. Midnight Cowboy

13. Saturday Night Fever

14. Serpico

16. Spider-Man

17. Donnie Brasco

18. Dog Day Afternoon

19. Kramer vs. Kramer

20. American Psycho

21. Carlito's Way

22. Goodfellas

23. When Harry Met Sally...

24. On the Town

25. Coming to America

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The 101 Best New York City Movies, Ranked

Some movies reflect the perilous reality of living here, others the urbane fantasy. the greatest do both..

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What makes a great New York City movie? Not just a movie set in New York — there are plenty of those. We’re talking about a great New York City movie that transcends establishing shots and dodgy accents to immortalize something distinct about this place. The anxious pace of a weekday commute, the philharmonic overlapping of sidewalk talk, the sweaty jockeying for position on any square foot. Great New York City movies find beauty in the rot of Times Square and ugliness in the penthouses of Central Park West. Many reflect the perilous reality of living in Brooklyn today and the Bronx yesterday; others, the urbane fantasy. The best do both. In assembling this list of the greatest New York movies, we laid down a few ground rules: in the interest of fairness, a director could only be represented twice on the list; any selection had to take place mostly in New York City (even if it wasn’t shot in New York City); and, most important, it had to feel deliberately set in one of the five boroughs. Not just in any big city, but here .

101. West Side Story (Jerome Robbins, Robert Wise; 1961)

A commercial smash that swept that year’s Oscars, Robert Wise’s film adaptation of the racial-tolerance fable West Side Story feels dated in some ways (the earnest yet stereotypical portrayal of Puerto Rican characters with brownface) and bracingly modern in others, poised between Hollywood backlot fantasy and shot-on-location immediacy. The opening aerial views of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, for example, memorialize the time before a large part of the area, then known as San Juan Hill, was bulldozed in the name of urban renewal. But Wise goes for Technicolor expressionism and deliberately theatrical sets whenever he’s focusing on the Romeo and Juliet –style love story between Polish American ex–gang member Tony (Richard Beymer) and his Puerto Rico–born true love, Maria (Natalie Wood). Leonard Bernstein’s music and Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics are the air that the story breathes and that the dancers walk on. This film is a dream of New York, so beautiful that even tragedy can’t break the spell. — Matt Zoller Seitz

100. Ghostbusters II (Ivan Reitman, 1989)

No, no, you read that right. The mostly forgotten, supposedly lesser Ghostbusters sequel just happens to be a great New York movie. It may not be as zippy or as inventive as the original, but Ivan Reitman’s 1989 follow-up has one of the most perfect and versatile cinematic fantasy conceits of all time: All the negative energy of New York City is seeping into the sewers and creating a river of paranormal ooze that now threatens to consume the inhabitants. Park benches are coming to life. Fur coats are attacking their owners. The ghost of Fiorello La Guardia is haunting the current mayor. And in order to generate enough good will to defeat the ooze, the Ghostbusters have to bring the Statue of Liberty to life on New Year’s Eve and march it into battle while playing “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher.” It’s all so conceptually deranged that Ghostbusters II might as well be an underground movie. (Honestly, all the terrible special effects probably just add to that effect.) — Bilge Ebiri

99. Dick Johnson Is Dead (Kirsten Johnson, 2020)

Kirsten Johnson’s remarkable picture is one of the most unlikely works about grief you’ll ever see. Concerned about her elderly father’s growing dementia, the director creates a variety of fictional “deaths” for him, staging them with him as the star. The film is hilarious in its particulars but devastating in its overall impact. It’s also a powerful portrait of a 21st-century New York family: Johnson brings her father from his West Coast home to move into a small apartment with her and her two children (whom she co-parents with their two gay fathers, who live next door). Unlike so many New York films, which are ultimately fantasies about life in the city, this is one of the most electrifyingly honest about how people actually live today — while also being a fantasy (indeed, many fantasies) about dying in the city. — BE

98. The Naked City (Jules Dassin, 1948)

With the coming of talkies in the late 1920s, the well-established business of filming on New York City streets — see Speedy , at No. 72 on this list — nearly vanished. The microphones were too awkward and the ambient noise too great. In 1947, however, the producer Mark Hellinger and director Jules Dassin demanded that their highly explanatory police procedural, at first intended to be titled Homicide, be shot on location. The Naked City is profoundly realist in both conception and execution: Hellinger had been a well-loved New York newspaper columnist and man-about-town before going to Hollywood, and the film’s title and look are drawn from the news photographs of Arthur Fellig, a.k.a. Weegee. The immigrant accents are all ours, too, from the transplanted brogue of the wry police detective (Barry Fitzgerald) to the Yiddish syntax of the soda-fountain proprietor (Molly Picon). One little subplot — young cop gently arguing with his wife about whether spanking their kid is barbaric — feels unexpectedly modern. It all climaxes in an elaborate chase sequence on foot, atop the roadway and into the towers of the Williamsburg Bridge. Poignantly, it was the last thing Hellinger did in his short career: He died at 44, of heart disease, a few days after he saw the final cut. The closing words of his narration linger in pop culture: “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. This has been one of them.” — Christopher Bonanos

97. Jacob’s Ladder ( Adrian Lyne , 1990)

Many films have presented New York City as pure nightmare fuel, but few have done it with as much gusto as Jacob’s Ladder , a period piece about a Vietnam veteran (Tim Robbins) who starts having visions of demons and wonders if he’s the victim of an Agent Orange–like chemical, if he’s suffering from garden-variety mental illness, or if the gates of Hell have actually opened up. Written by Bruce Joel Rubin, who did sort of a “light magic” take on this material in the 1990 smash Ghost , the movie keeps audiences constantly guessing as to what, exactly, is actually happening, while serving up one disturbing supernaturally tinged hallucination/vision after another, including a demon tail emerging from a dancer’s body at a party and smeary Francis Bacon–esque beast faces yowling at Robbins’s character from a passing subway car. The emphasis on mostly squat and nondescript borough architecture keeps the story close to the ground, where it can have easier access to Hell. New York becomes the labyrinth of the hero’s tortured psyche. — MZS

Read about how Adrian Lyne perfected the life-affirming affair film trope ➼

96. The Odd Couple (Gene Saks, 1968)

Neil Simon — probably the most commercially successful playwright ever to walk the Earth — has fallen way out of style, written off as the quintessential mid-century middlebrow. But his better comedies from the ’60s and ’70s, written for the stage and then adapted for the screen — Barefoot in the Park, Prisoner of Second Avenue, Plaza Suite, and especially The Sunshine Boys — are much more craftsmanlike than you may remember, setups that swing with the precision of a Benrus balance wheel and play with language in lively ways. King among them remains The Odd Couple. Is it the most bulletproof premise ever? Neat neurotic, newly separated, moves in with slobby sports-writer friend, also divorced; hilarity and thrown plates result. The jokes (“I can’t stand little notes on my pillow. ‘We’re all out of cornflakes. F.U.’ Took me three hours to figure out F.U. was Felix Ungar”) always, always land. And when it was put onscreen in 1965, starring Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau (at his exasperated best) as Oscar, it teed up the sitcom by which it’s best remembered. It is, when you get down to it, a movie about the inability to find a decent apartment in a hurry — which, right there, cements its spot on any list of New York movies. — CB

95. Wall Street (Oliver Stone, 1987)

The most important thing that Oliver Stone’s Wall Street did was give birth to Gordon Gekko, the Michael Douglas money manipulator who swore, during a speech, that “greed is good.” In a decade of excess, Wall Street should have served as a cautionary tale, and that Gekko monologue should have been an ironic example of how not to view capitalism. Instead, this portrait of a stockbroker (Charlie Sheen) who delves into insider trading, making himself and Gekko rich, created an image of working in the Financial District that became something to aspire to instead of avoid. Greed is good, and it apparently does not understand irony. As a result, this film has, for many, defined what it looks like to toil among the besuited in lower Manhattan ever since its late-’80s release. — Jen Chaney

94. Hester Street (Joan Micklin Silver, 1975)

Joan Micklin Silver’s first feature is an epic shot on a shoestring – an ultralow-budget, black-and-white period piece about turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants to New York – and at times it’s as expansive and powerful as The Godfather Part II . Carol Kane (a surprise Oscar nominee that year) is a revelation as the very traditional wife who moves from the old country with her child to be with her husband. But he has come to America ahead of them and already taken on a mistress. The film nails both his eagerness to assimilate — his fascination with the newness and bracing independence of life in America — and her sadness, confusion, and terror at finding herself seemingly alone in this strange new world. Silver’s direction combines a melodramatic, silent-movie sensibility with an indie-film austerity that makes it hard to pinpoint the period to which the picture belongs. As a result, it’s almost literally timeless. — BE

( Jump to Joan Micklin Silver’s second film on this list. )

93. Weiner (Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg; 2016)

Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman’s embedded doc of laughingstock politician Anthony Weiner is like a snort of fine grade New York Post headlines straight to the amygdala. Few movies, narrative or otherwise, have captured the frenzied absurdity of Big Apple politics quite like this. At the start of his career, Weiner used righteous anger like Rembrandt used oils, turning his accusatory howls in the well of the House of Representatives into art. The momentum of the Democratic Party was with him, as was the will of the city. And then came the tweet. After an apology and initial retreat, Weiner, with wife Huma Abedin advising him, decided to run for mayor. That’s where this film picks up (and the story gets juicier). What’s most compelling is how close to great Weiner is. He was born to campaign. You’ll never see a wider smile than Weiner’s as he grabs a Pride flag and parades down Christopher Street. Watching the Brooklyn-born putz piss it all away with more clumsy sexts eventually moves from farce into a kind of cosmic tragedy. Carlos Danger, New York will never forget you. — Jordan Hoffman

92. Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008)

This found-footage horror film directed by Matt Reeves, written by Lost alum Drew Goddard and produced by Lost co-creator and longtime friend of Reeves, J.J. Abrams, is both old-fashioned, of its moment, and forward thinking. Arriving in theaters a little more than six years after 9/11, its depictions of sudden chaos on this island — people running in the streets, bystanders covered in ash, blackouts and nonstop news coverage — evoke a kind of trauma many were still processing. Then you look at Cloverfield now and it’s remarkable how much it resembles clips on YouTube, Twitter, or TikTok that often surface in national news coverage when a disaster or protest is being covered. What critics found dizzying, disorienting, and perhaps even distasteful more than a decade ago, before the iPhone had video capabilities and social media occupied the cultural space it now owns, looks like something we see all the time. Cloverfield was a throwback and a warning and a portrait of Manhattan panic that, unfortunately, is all too easy to imagine breaking out at any moment. — JC

91. Uncut Gems (Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie; 2019)

New York is made up of a million miniature universes with their own regulars, rules, and rhythms, and no movie makes that as clear as the Safdie brothers’ hopped-up thriller hinging on a black opal and a six-way parlay. Gemstone dealer Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) isn’t just a gambling-addicted avatar of chaos careering toward wealth or disaster — he serves as a guide through the warrens of the Diamond District in all its self-contained, single-block glory, a means of understanding its daily thrum. Howard, with his multiple schemes always threatening to collapse on themselves at any one time, is a quintessential hustler, but he’s also a means of understanding an underappreciated truth of the city, which is that the luxurious and the seedy don’t just coexist but more often than not overlap, neither negating the other. — AW

90. The Blank Generation (Ivan Král, Amos Poe; 1976)

Miracle of miracles: a movie about punk that itself lives up to the punk aesthetic! Amos Poe and Ivan Kral’s 1976 portrait of the downtown music scene — shot at places like CBGB, the Bottom Line, and Max’s Kansas City — presents some of the signature acts of the era, like the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and Television, in raw, freewheeling black-and-white 16-mm. footage, accompanied by scratchy recordings that in no way match what’s being sung. The result is a concert documentary like no other — disorienting yet electrifying— and a film that embodies the aching, agitated grandeur of both the chaotic metropolis from which it emerged and the Richard Hell song after which it’s named. — BE

89. Sidewalk Stories (Charles Lane, 1989)

Charles Lane’s 1989 movie isn’t set in the past, but it’s styled to evoke it, taking the format of a 1920s silent with no diegetic sound at all until the very end. More specifically, it follows the format of Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid, with which it’s in constant conversation. Like the Tramp in that 1921 film, Lane, the star and writer and director, plays a character who doesn’t have a name so much as he has a designation: the Artist. And like the Tramp, the Artist finds himself caring for an abandoned child (played by Lane’s own daughter, Nicole Alysia), though in his case, he becomes a surrogate father only after the toddler’s biological one gets shot in a downtown alley. That’s the daring charm of Lane’s film — it uses its nostalgic mode to give a fablesque charm to a story about the poverty and violence the city was grappling with at the time. It also places its Black hero in a film tradition that included almost no Black faces, then demands the audience consider that, in a real-world context, he’s one of many street artists and buskers who’d be passed by unseen. — AW

88. Wild Style (Charlie Ahearn, 1983)

Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style was the first hip-hop movie, but just barely — bigger productions like Breakin’ and Beat Street were already under way when this no-budget indie effort came out in 1983, released and marketed via grass-roots methods. But its authenticity and warmth have allowed Wild Style to endure. It’s the story of a supremely talented graffiti artist, Ray (played by real-life graffiti legend Lee Quinones), who is hired to do a huge mural for a big upcoming rap show by a local underground hotshot (played by Fab 5 Freddie, who co-produced and co-wrote the film) while also pining for his ex-girlfriend and contemplating a move into “respectable” painting. The movie is filled with scenes involving real-life rappers, artists, and breakdancing crews. It is, in effect, a musical, but it wouldn’t take much editing to turn it into a documentary. And it’s a movie about the art world, but not that art world: Our heroes write on the subway trains in the yards by night; in the morning, they watch those trains roll out into the city, roving canvases of their work going out to every corner of New York. But what distinguishes Wild Style is that even though it depicts the rough, working-class world of the Bronx with honesty, it doesn’t try to sell us a narrative of transcendence, nor does it try to fetishize violence or poverty or spiritual despair. Its characters want to make their neglected neighborhoods beautiful by filling them with color and music and movement, but they don’t want to escape this place. It’s home. — BE

87. The Women (George Cukor, 1939)

Famously, no men appear onscreen in George Cukor’s biting comedy, though they are constantly talked about and fretted over and competed for by the characters we do see, less for their qualities as husbands than as sources of income, stability, and class elevation. As a portrait of wealthy Manhattan society spouses (and a few upstart contenders to their thrones) duking it out in ladies’ lounges, salons, and couturiers’ fitting rooms, The Women could be regarded as a classy, deliciously done predecessor of the Real Housewives of New York . But it’s also an endlessly compelling look at the echelons of the Upper East Side as a kind of plush prison yard from which the characters can’t seem to escape. This homosocial daytime society they move through feels so terribly claustrophobic that when the brokenhearted Mary Haines, played by Norma Shearer, heads off to Reno to get a speedy divorce, she runs into multiple women she knows. — AW

86. On the Bowery (Lionel Rogosin, 1956)

Many New Yorkers pine for the adventure of the “old” Times Square but few share that sentiment about the Bowery. The downtown avenue, a Lenape footpath prior to European settlement, later connected various farmlands and got its name from an old Dutch word for farm. Its notoriety for drunkards and flophouses began during the Civil War, then the erection of the Third Avenue elevated train made it literally shadier. Lionel Rogosin’s mid-’50s docufiction works in the spirit of Robert Flaherty, shooting real subjects in real scenarios, though not quite what we’d call documentary today. Ray is a Southerner in his mid-30s looking for work and trying to stay away from the bottle, and Gorman is the old souse who feels guilty for taking advantage of him when he’s too blitzed to notice. The days are long and the nights are longer as these desperate men drink muscatel and Rhinegold at 15 cents a glass. The plot, such as it is, hardly exists, as with any barroom drunk’s rambling story. It’s a mesmerizing document and fascinating window into another gentrified neighborhood’s past. — JH

85. The Warriors (Walter Hill, 1979)

Controversial both for the stylized warfare it depicted onscreen and the clashes that broke out between hyped-up young moviegoers in the audience, The Warriors finds ace action director Walter Hill ( 48 Hrs. ) envisioning a gang’s nighttime journey home to Coney Island as a Homeric journey interspersed with outbursts of balletic violence. The story begins with a summit in Van Cortlandt Park during which a truce is explored, with the aim of allowing the gangs, who outnumber cops three-to-one, to rule the city (a perfect reflection of ’70s paranoia about street gangs and the breakdown of law and order in big cities). But the leader who proposes the power-sharing arrangement is promptly assassinated and his death blamed on the Warriors, who spend the rest of the night trying to make it home in one piece. A relic from a time when the city wasn’t covered wall-to-wall by video surveillance, Hill’s movie transforms New York’s concrete canyons into the urban equivalent of a haunted forest in a fairy tale: a place where Jungian manifestations of the characters’ anxieties lunge from the darkness, fangs bared. — MZS

84. The Hottest August (Brett Story, 2019)

Brett Story’s haunting documentary snapshot of the city during the month of August 2017 could very well turn out to be a time capsule of a tipping point, a moment of leveling off right before things start to seriously go downhill. It’s not just a film about climate change, though climate change casts a shadow over many of the expectation-defying interviews Story does with New Yorkers across all boroughs, lounging on beaches and working in call centers and going about their lives of work and leisure. No, what The Hottest August so deftly manages to evoke is that grander, vaguer sense of impending doom that can feel like it’s pressing down on all of our lives these days, a karmic feeling of bills coming due that has always been part of life in the city — while also noting that not everyone has the luxury or the mental space to constantly contemplate imminent dystopia. — AW

83. Funny Girl (William Wyler, 1968)

“She has the best timing since Mae West, and is more fun to watch than anybody since the young Katharine Hepburn.” That’s what film critic Roger Ebert wrote about Barbra Streisand in 1968, when she made her film debut in Funny Girl (which she’d starred in on Broadway) as the young Fanny Brice following years of success as a stage performer and recording artist. Directed by Hollywood veteran William Wyler in one of his final assignments, and unfortunately indicative of a period when musicals were becoming bloated, visually dull, and glacially paced, the movie is most notable as a record of the moment when Streisand became an international superstar, beloved and acclaimed enough to tie the great Hepburn herself (then starring in The Lion in Winter ) for Best Actress at the Oscars. (“Hello, gorgeous,” she said, beaming at the statuette.) Streisand is herself a New York legend, and her three films as a director ( Yentl , The Prince of Tides , The Mirror Has Two Faces) are all rooted in the physical, cultural, and emotional experience of New York City that she channeled as an actress and singer. As Brice, her mix of brittleness, vulnerability, pluck, and intense feeling turn her into something akin to the spirit of the city itself: a Jewish, Lower East Side, working-class force of nature, negating previous standards for beauty and glamour and replacing them with her own innate fabulousness. — MZS

(Jump to William Wyler’s second film on this list.)

82. Saturday Night Fever (John Badham, 1977)

Is Saturday Night Fever , based on the New York Magazine story “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night,” important because of the contents of the actual movie, or because of what the movie came to represent? As with Wall Street , it’s hard to disentangle the two. The story of Tony Manero (John Travolta in the performance that made him a movie star), a Brooklyn guy who works at a hardware store during the day and hits the discos at night, establishes the fantasy that hitting the light-up dance floors in Manhattan is the ultimate nightlife experience. This film shoved the disco movement fully into the mainstream, yielded a soundtrack that practically became the national soundtrack during the end of the 1970s, and made pounding the pavement in Brooklyn, as Travolta does in the movie’s famous opening sequence, into an iconic sexy strut. Tony, like many in the outer-boroughs, may have been barely surviving, but Saturday Night Fever made it look enticing to be staying alive. — JC

81. Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969)

Forever notable as the first and only X-rated feature to win an Oscar as Best Picture, this adaptation of James Leo Herlihy’s novel earns its reputation as a classic not through its sexual encounters, which are tame and arty even by 1960s porno standards, but its depiction of the friendship between Joe Buck (Jon Voight), a wannabe gigolo from Texas, and Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a grubby street hustler in frail health. Shot on location in New York City, often without permits and with regular citizens unknowingly serving as extras (the “I’m walking here!” moment where Ratso and Buck nearly get run over by a cab was an improv), director John Schlesinger embraces New Hollywood’s then-recent obsession with documentary immediacy and cranks it up. The end product is a rare portrait of what it feels like to survive in New York when you’re freezing your ass off and don’t have two nickels to rub together. One of the most powerful scenes is a throwaway moment: Joe, momentarily estranged from Ratso, spots him through the glass at a coffee shop, and they’re both so lonely and brutalized by the city that they smile at each other in relief, forgetting what they were mad about for all of two seconds. — MZS

Read Brenda Vaccaro on Schlesinger’s documentary-style filmmaking ➼

Read about how to cast a New York City movie ➼

80. If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins, 2018)

If Beale Street Could Talk proves the pleasures of turning our gaze toward the interior lives of Black folks in 1970s Harlem are endless. Jenkins and his collaborators (composer Nicholas Britell, cinematographer James Laxton, the bruising actor Stephan James and a powerful Regina King) casts the grit, beauty, and textures of James Baldwin’s novel in an amber glow, tipping into a melancholy romanticism that reflects the pull of the city itself. — Angelica Jade Bastien

79. The Clock (Vincente Minnelli, 1945)

Before Before Sunrise chimed The Clock . Robert Walker stars as a yokel soldier with 48 hours to kill in NYC before shipping off to the European theater. (The movie was released two weeks after V-E Day, but who can predict these things?) Flummoxed by the city’s skyscrapers, he cowers in Penn Station, meeting cute with Judy Garland after he inadvertently trips her. A mad dash to fix her heel before a cobbler leaves work sets the recurrent theme: The clock is always ticking. The pair schmooze on a Fifth Avenue double-decker bus, in Central Park, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (All of this re-created, at great expense, by Vincente Minnelli on the MGM lot.) A date to meet “under the clock” of the Astor Hotel — where today one finds a ’70s-style slab-of-concrete home to the Minskoff Theatre and MTV’s window-facing studios where Total Request Live snarled traffic for a decade — leads to an all-night romp with a loquacious milkman and Keenan Wynn. If this doesn’t inspire a last-minute race for a marriage certificate, what will? Also: If you’d like to see a similar movie, but with three servicemen and even more Leonard Bernstein songs, keep reading. — JH

78. Park Row (Samuel Fuller, 1952)

Former newsman and pioneering indie director Samuel Fuller put his heart and soul into this fevered period noir — named after the downtown street where New York’s journalism business used to be based — about an irascible reporter who starts an alternate, muckraking paper after getting fired from the city’s big daily. Among the many campaigns the new paper devotes itself to: raising money for a pedestal for the brand-new Statue of Liberty! Filled with nods to icons of journalism history, including Benjamin Franklin, John Philip Zenger, and Horace Greeley, the film is a love letter to newspapers (it opens with a roll call of the nation’s papers) as well as a terrifically heated drama about morality, ambition, and collective action. The conflicts in the film between access and integrity, between provocation and honesty, are ones we’re still dealing with to this day. — BE

77. New Jack City (Mario Van Peebles, 1991)

The most mainstream of 1991’s first wave of so-called hood films, Mario Van Peebles’s New Jack City ’s influence on pop culture can’t be understated. It didn’t just give us the Wesley Snipes crying meme; it gave us Ice-T as the cop-who-cares and popularized the Kangol hat with the wider culture. Set at the dawn of the ’80s crack era, Snipes and his Cash Money Brothers create a drug-dealing fortress in Harlem’s Graham Court (past residents have included Zora Neale Hurston and Hugh Masekela; current average rental price is $3,094 ). Ice-T, Van Peebles, and Judd Nelson join forces to take down the community-killing kingpin. They enlist Chris Rock as a struggling ex-abuser in a clinch role that proved the nascent SNL star had tremendous range. The soundtrack was a sensation, with “New Jack Hustler” from Ice-T, plus the “For the Love of Money/Living for the City” medley from Queen Latifah, Troop, and LeVert as highlights. A major shootout at Grant’s Tomb (following a Keith Sweat performance) is one of many terrific uptown-location moments, and the opening scene ranks with Manhattan and Spider-Man for best appearance by the Queensboro Bridge. — JH

76. The Heiress (William Wyler, 1949)

What lands Wyler’s perceptive drama, starring Olivia de Havilland and Montgomery Clift in some of the most memorable turns of their dynamic careers, on this list is its emotionally fraught portrait of the wealthy, exploring how ideas of power, gender, and personal need run (and ruin) the upper echelons of New York City in the 1850s (and today, for that matter). The Heiress ’s best scene is undoubtedly its triumphant ending, but every preceding moment the kindly spinsterish figure Catherine Sloper (de Havilland) has to spend contending with her rich father (Ralph Richardson) who denigrates her and a potential lover who has sights on her money (Clift) is tantalizing. Crafting your own destiny, even with money in a city concentrated with it, is damn near impossible until you wrest control from the patriarchal maw. — AJB

(Jump to William Wyler’s first film on this list.)

75. Prince of the City (Sidney Lumet, 1981)

With the cap at two-movies-per-director, we know which Sidney Lumet title ranks higher on the list , but that leaves many different choices for No. 2. Prince of the City may not be as famous as Serpico , The Pawnbroker , The Wiz , or Network, but it’s a movie that deserves a second look. (It is to Serpico as Casino is to GoodFellas .) Treat Williams stars as a DEA agent on a crooked squad, roiled by guilt. He agrees to an internal-affairs investigation, but on one condition: He will not rat out his partners. The bulk of this 167-minute picture is the slow-motion realization that he’s going to have to do just that. The film is based on former NYPD deputy commissioner Robert Daley’s nonfiction best seller, and hardcore time-capsule images of economically busted New York are bursting from every frame. The courtrooms are brown, the streets are blue, and everyone looks miserable. Pre– Law & Order Jerry Orbach as Detective Gus Levy ought to be enough of a draw, but elsewhere in the cast you’ll find Bob Balaban, James Tolkan, and Cynthia Nixon. — JH

(Jump to Sidney Lumet’s second film on this list.)

74. The Fisher King (Terry Gilliam, 1991)

Terry Gilliam’s delirious rom-com-fantasy-adventure-satire-drama (yes, it is all of those things, and more) starts off at the top of New York City — in the hermetically sealed world of rich jerk shock-jock Jeff Bridges — makes its way down, then goes even lower: He falls from grace, becomes an alcoholic video-store manager, and then, in a moment of suicidal weakness at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, is saved by homeless, loopy knight-gallant Robin Williams, who introduces him to the city’s truly downtrodden. Besides being an emotionally ruinous look at the city’s brutal, downright feudal class system, and the invisible social barriers between the powerful and the dispossessed, it’s got several of the greatest New York movie set pieces ever, including the spectacle of Grand Central suddenly transforming into a ballroom — a brief, fleeting (and, of course, imaginary) moment when a station full of hurried strangers somehow manages to stop and connect. — BE

73. Marty (Delbert Mann, 1955)

An influence on subsequent East Coast prole dramas ranging from Joe and All in the Family through The Sopranos , Marty is the first of many film adaptations of 1950s live TV dramas that went on to become more acclaimed and iconic than its source. Both versions were written by Paddy Chayefsky ( Network ) and directed by Delbert Mann ( Lover Come Back, That Touch of Mink ); it tells of a shy Bronx butcher named Marty (Ernest Borgnine, replacing Rod Steiger, star of the TV version) who lives a modest and repetitious existence with his mother, then finds meaning and purpose through his love for a high-school science teacher named Clara (Betsy Blair, replacing Nancy Marchand, who originated the role; this was Blair’s industry comeback after having been blacklisted). Exteriors were shot on location in the Bronx and showcase mid-century elevated-train lines. This was also a major success for its production company, Hecht-Hil-Lancaster, which was co-founded by former East Harlem resident Burt Lancaster; the company would go on to produce many classic shot–in–New York dramas, including The Sweet Smell of Success . — MZS

72. Speedy (Ted Wilde, 1928)

Until the 1920s, when it gradually slipped away to California, the film business was centered in New York City, and Harold Lloyd — the third of the great troika of silent comedians, along with Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton — made his final silent feature mostly on our streets. His character, Harold “Speedy” Swift, holds several jobs over the course of the film (and some of the humor comes from his attempts to hang onto them), but in the central sequences, he’s first a New York cabbie, then a streetcar driver facing down a nefarious tycoon who wants to seize control of the transit line. This being a slapstick silent comedy, those setups occasion a whole bunch of car chases, and even now it’s still a little thrill to see these rickety early automobiles slinging their way through traffic on, among other places, East 34th Street. (Some scenes look to have been assembled using back-projection techniques, but quite a few were obviously, unnervingly filmed in real time on real streets in real traffic. In one, the streetcar crashes into an el-train pillar, an unscripted collision that was turned into a plot point.) In the most famous of the chases, Speedy picks up none other than Babe Ruth, who was truly the biggest celebrity in America at the time. He drives the Babe to Yankee Stadium at death-defying speed, excitedly chatting up his famous passenger over his shoulder throughout, nearly crashing at every turn. You could perhaps come up with a more New York–y set of circumstances than reckless cabbies, nefarious business practices, and sports megastardom, but I doubt it. — CB

Read about Speedy ’s great chase scene ➼

71. Desperately Seeking Susan (Susan Seidelman, 1985)

Back in 1986, Susan Seidelman’s film was much hyped as the big feature-acting debut of one Madonna, and it makes for both a great star vehicle and a fascinating look at several New York–area subcultures. Rosanna Arquette is the very picture of submerged fabulousness as a bored Jersey housewife who becomes fascinated by a woman named Susan who is a regular in the personals pages of a local paper. Madonna is Susan, a scrappy downtown hustler who has gotten herself embroiled in a vague scandal involving the Atlantic City mob (a subplot treated with such indifference that the film practically becomes a polemic about narrative priorities). One sudden case of amnesia later, Arquette is journeying through a post-punk Lower East Side wonderland and romancing hunky Bleecker Street projectionist Aidan Quinn, while Madonna relaxes in a foofy cocoon of bourgeois suburban splendor. Despite being very much of its time, the film seems to have been made with an eye toward later nostalgia: Watching it, you can lose yourself in its energetic, colorful, unpredictable milieu, even though the world being presented is a highly idealized variation on itself — the way it’d like to be remembered, instead of the way it most likely was. —BE

(Jump to Susan Seidelman’s second film on this list.)

70. Summer of Soul (Ahmir Khalib Thompson, 2021)

Woodstock has long been considered the musical event of the summer of 1969. But this vibrant documentary argues that maybe history didn’t have all the facts. Using footage from the Harlem Cultural Festival that had been tucked away for decades, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, making his directorial film debut , shows us the many Black artists who brought the Harlem community to what was then called Mt. Morris Park — Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Mahalia Jackson, and more. If Questlove had decided to piece together highlights from their performances, this still would have been an extraordinary film. But he goes further, not only documenting the moment and what it meant for a marginalized New York neighborhood, but recontextualizing key national events. That includes the moon landing, which is often hailed as a galvanizing, optimistic moment for the whole country. But some folks at the Harlem Cultural Festival saw it differently. “Never mind the moon,” one attendee told a CBS News reporter. “Let’s get some of that cash in Harlem.” It also tempers the singular reverence for Woodstock, the famous hippiefest held 100 miles outside the city that has long been deemed the defining moment of not only the summer of ’69 but a generation. The thing is generations are not monoliths. Around 300,000 people showed up in Harlem to see some of the greats from rock, gospel, R&B, the blues, and Afro-Latino genres do their thing. Summer of Soul makes sure we remember that, and get to hear what they heard on some hot, special days well worth preserving. —JC

Read Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson on Mo’ Better Blues ➼

69. God Told Me To (Larry Cohen, 1976)

A repository of 1970s fears of urban decay, random violence, mass murder, UFOs, goverment conspiracies, and cult machinations, this thriller from schlock maestro Larry Cohen ( It’s Alive!, Q ) starts with a sniper killing 15 random pedestrians with a rifle from his perch in Times Square and gets weirder from there. Tony Lo Bianco stars as Detective Peter Nicholas, who fails to talk the sniper down (“God told me to,” the man says before leaping to his death). He suspects a connection between that tragedy and the random mass murders that follow (including two more mass shootings and a mass stabbing) and eventually uncovers a mystery that feels like an unholy fusion of Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Rosemary’s Baby , The Fury , and half the conspiracy thrillers released during the ’70s. New York is presented as a mecca for madness, a nexus of every chaotic and sinister impulse obsessing Americans at that time. — MZS

68. Across 110th Street (Barry Shear, 1972)

It’s mostly remembered for the great Bobby Womack title song. (You can hear his later rerecording of it over the credits of Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. ) But if you want a hard — and I mean hard — look at 1970s New York City , this makes The French Connection look like Bambi . Three men make off with a huge amount of cash from a Harlem bookmaking operation, killing five gangsters (two of whom are Mafiosi) and two cops. The rest of the film is a pair of manhunts: The police are trying to find the thieves before the gangsters exact revenge. The Black gangsters and the Italian ones are in league but also in conflict, and the same goes for the Black and Italian cops at the movie’s center, all of it mirroring a demographic shift that New York as a whole was undergoing. Police captain Mattelli (Anthony Quinn) is a veteran operator, on the take from the local power brokers and out of step with the times, and he’s challenged by the young Black lieutenant (Yaphet Kotto), who is trying to do things right, refusing bribes and yanking Mattelli back when he tries to beat a confession out of a young junkie. The white authority figures, both police and crime bosses, are openly racist. (If you find it hard to handle heavy use of the N-word, this may not be the film for you.) Apart from Kotto’s character, virtually everyone with any power at all is pretty bad news. All of this complex back-and-forth plays out in maybe the grubbiest set of city location shots you will ever see: beat-down and sweaty tenements, garbage-filled vacant lots, a filthy old precinct house, most of it shot dark and close-up. The only thing that occasionally leavens the visual grimness is the exuberant lapels and hats, straight out of the Flagg Bros. catalogue. — CB

67. Saving Face (Alice Wu, 2004)

The main character of Alice Wu ’s undersung Chinese American landmark, a surgeon played by Michelle Krusiec, is closeted when she goes home to Flushing and tentatively, if not comfortably, out in the life she’s made for herself in Brooklyn. Then her mother (Joan Chen) turns up at her doorstep pregnant and disgraced, and that careful compartmentalization starts to collapse as the two women start sharing a small space with all their respective secrets. Wu’s film is a salty-sweet romantic comedy, but it’s also an enduringly sharp exploration of a generational immigrant divide that’s enabled by everything that both sides leave unsaid. Its heroine may still live in the city in which she grew up, but bridging the distance between who she is now and the expectations of the community she came from is a lot more complicated than just taking the 7 train. — AW

66. The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)

One of the first cop thrillers to connect with mass audiences by lamenting the minimal civil-rights protections guaranteed by the Supreme Court case Miranda vs. Arizona , this brutal William Friedkin riff on a real case swept the Oscars and became a smash. It also made folk heroes of the real-life inspiration for its buddy-cop heroes, narcotics detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, who led a late-’60s operation that brought down a French heroin ring. Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider star as the detectives’ fictional avatars, volatile bully Popeye Doyle and his comparatively level-headed partner Sonny Grosso. Friedkin shot much of the film (including the high-speed chase scene under Brooklyn’s D elevated-train platform) without permits, with a heedless verve that might’ve gotten people killed had one or two things gone wrong. The plot is so dense that Mad titled their parody What’s the Connection? , but it doesn’t matter: Shaft writer Ernest Tidyman’s script, Friedkin’s direction, and Gene Hackman’s rabid bulldog performance whisk the viewer along like a terrified suspect handcuffed in the back of Popeye’s babyshit-brown Pontiac LeMans. The nihilistic and thoroughly deflating ending is not just characteristic of ’70s thrillers but feels like a premonition of present-day ACAB sloganeering. Nearly every officer in this film is an entitled, macho brute who treats NYC as a playground where adult men go to smash cars and heads. — MZS

65. Working Girl (Mike Nichols, 1988)

Mike Nichols’s riff on princess fantasies centers on working-class Tess McGill of Staten Island (Melanie Griffith), who gets her bachelor’s degree in business via night classes and is about to quit her existing job over sexism when she gets hired as an assistant to Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver), a glass-ceiling-shattering trader who goes on to betray Tess by stealing one of Tess’s best ideas. What follows is a combination revenge/comeuppance comedy and a screwball love story between Tess and investment broker Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford), with Tess relentlessly pursuing the acknowledgment and recompense that she believes she’s earned despite having her class and gender held against her. Catfight melodrama is undercut by a lovely closing scene showing that Tess is going to be a very different girlboss pioneer than Katherine, mentoring the next generation of executive women and treating them as natural allies rather than potential thieves of patriarchal largesse. There’s luscious helicopter photography of 1980s New York (including a hero shot of the Twin Towers); a soaring, anthemic Carly Simon theme song (“Let the River Flow”); and a scene where Harrison Ford changes shirts in a glassed-in office, prompting applause from the secretarial pool. Like Saturday Night Fever, Working Girl presents Manhattan as an Emerald City on the Hudson that outer-borough dreamers think of as a million miles away, even though anyone with a token could get there by subway. — MZS

64. I Like It Like That (Darnell Martin, 1994)

Darnell Martin’s first feature is an exuberant, colorful explosion of life, love, and New York noise. Lauren Velez and Jon Seda live on the loudest block in the Bronx, where neighbors either cheer as you make love or bang on the ceiling with a broom. Their three kids are tornadoes of chaos, capturing how children can be funny and frustrating at the same time. A dumb decision during a blackout lands Seda’s Chino in jail for a hot minute, so Velez’s Lisette needs quick cash to bail him out. One far-fetched series of events later she ends up as the new assistant (and Latinx interlocutor) for a record exec played by Griffin Dunne. Discovery of past marital infidelity then turns the already antic household further upside-down with Martin’s frames bursting with energy and bright ’90s colors. (The title song is performed by a supergroup featuring Ray Barretto, Sheila E., Tito Nieves, Tito Puente, Dave Valentin, Paquito D’Rivera, and Grover Washington Jr.) Notable is Jesse Borago’s turn as Lisette’s trans sister, Alexis. Though a cisgender man would be inappropriate for the role today, in 1994 the character was treated with depth and care, and Borago’s performance is warm and wise. — JH

63. The Squid and the Whale (Noah Baumbach, 2005)

The Royal Tenenbaums ’ sleazier, sadder real-world cousin, this Wes Anderson–produced, 1980s-set drama by writer-director Noah Baumbach centers a white Park Slope family of creative-academic types, led by married writers whose union is doomed and whose sons 16-year-old Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) and 12-year-old Frank (Owen Kline) are depressed and alienated and have started to act out. The father, Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels), is still coasting on the fumes of his early success; his disaffected wife Joan (Laura Linney) is on an upward creative slope and has started sleeping with Walt’s tennis instructor (William Baldwin). Baumbach drew on his own experience as the son of two New York film critics–academics, Jonathan Baumbach and Georgia Brown. His eye for pretension, arrogance, and self-deception is filet-knife sharp and the Reagan-era details are impeccable, from the reuse of a bit of Tangerine Dream’s score from 1983’s Risky Business to the quotation of a 1970s Saturday-morning Schoolhouse Rock! segment (“Number Eight”) that the brothers would’ve watched as kids. — MZS

62. In The Cut (Jane Campion, 2003)

The East Village is a landscape lush with carnal possibility and lethal danger in this unfairly maligned 2003 movie, which once upon a time had people pearl-clutching because it dared show Meg Ryan having sex — and with an absurdly hot, maybe murderous Mark Ruffalo, even. Casting America’s sweetheart was absolutely by design for Jane Campion, whose sultry, seedy vision of New York gets served up as a direct contrast to fairy-tale notions of romance, the city awash in a sensual awareness that constantly threatens to take a turn toward the dark. It’s a startlingly female-gaze-y take on the idea of the erotic thriller, as well as one of the great tail-end cinematic cases for then-contemporary New York as a menacing place. — AW

61. Born in Flames (Lizzie Borden, 1983)

The Lower East Side of the early 1980s was such a free-for-all, a combination of urban hellscape and artists’ commune, that it didn’t take much work for an enterprising low-budget filmmaker to reimagine it as science fiction. And that’s exactly what visual artist turned filmmaker Lizzie Borden did when she crafted this dynamite stick of no-budget “No Wave” filmmaking, a documentary-style account of a post-revolutionary future and the women who fight for space in it. The politically minded filmmaker was synthesizing ideas and arguments specific to the picture’s time and place, but what’s most striking today is its timelessness and prescience — its conversations about intersectionality, sex work, social justice, and police brutality have only grown more urgent, and its World Trade Center–set closing images are even more disturbing today. —Jason Bailey

60. Baby Face (Alfred E. Green, 1933)

“You must use men! Not let them use you,” the cobbler Adolf (Alphonse Ethier) tells Lilly Powers (Barbara Stanwyck, a slinking powerhouse in the role), before instructing her in the work of existentialist Fredrich Nietzsche. The bold statement charges Lilly and the pre-Code-Hollywood-era film around her, leading the character from the small Pennsylvania town she calls home to New York City. And what better place for a woman and her best friend (Theresa Harris) to chase men and power? Lilly’s ascends in the glittering metropolis thanks to her sexual wiles and the men interested in a taste of them. After each of her successful seductions, Green’s camera pans up the exterior of the bank where she works, moving from floor to floor, making obvious her rise and what big city dreaming requires of a person. —AJB

59. Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982)

New York can make a struggling actor do surprising things. For Michael Dorsey, played by Dustin Hoffman, his surprising thing is pretending to be a woman named Dorothy Michaels so he can get cast on a soap opera. A lot of the gender politics in Tootsie are outdated, and too much of the comedy is mined from the idea that a guy doing feminine things is inherently hilarious. But the movie remains an incredibly entertaining touchstone because of the extent to which Michael, and Hoffman, commit. Quickly, Dorothy ceases to become a masquerade and morphs into her own take-no-b.s. human being, one who will hit a handsy co-worker over the head with a clipboard if she has to. The imagery shaped by director Sydney Pollack is indelibly New York: Dorothy’s red bouffant wig emerging from the crowd on a Manhattan sidewalk; Michael, casually shoving a mime in the middle of Central Park; Michael, as Dorothy, blindsiding his agent George (played by Pollak) at the Russian Tea Room, where he reveals he’s been hired to play a female nurse on Southwest General. But both Michael’s and Dorothy’s attitudes — stubborn, creative, insistent on standing up for themselves — may be what makes Tootsie a true New Yorker’s story. —JC

58. Dead Presidents (Albert and Allen Hughes, 1995)

Allen and Albert Hughes followed up their explosive 1993 debut feature Menace II Society with this ambitious drama, which arrived with a lot of hype but was met with both mixed reviews and tepid box office. Since then, it’s rightly been reclaimed as a masterpiece. It’s the story of a young Bronx man (Larenz Tate) who goes off to fight in Vietnam (alongside his best friend played by a young Chris Tucker in a rare dramatic role), experiences untold horrors, then comes back to a world that is almost as broken and traumatized as he is. The film goes from coming-of-age drama, to war movie, to heist thriller, but with each step of the journey, it grows bleaker, more violent, more grotesque, more nihilistic, more New York. There are few genre pleasures to be had here: It’s a movie about people who increasingly feel they have no future and find themselves in a world whose devastation reflects their own hopelessness. — BE

57. Little Fugitive (Ruth Orkin, Ray Ashley, Morris Engel; 1953)

Morris Engel shot this landmark 1953 indie on the sly using a camera that was strapped to his body so that passersby would be less inclined to notice what he was doing. The result is that Little Fugitive is both a fiction film about two Brooklyn brothers and a snapshot of Coney Island in the ’50s, thrumming with New Yorkers of all stripes and incomes trying to snatch a bit of accessible beach vacation to themselves, even if it’s only for a day. It’s enchanting as an act of sideways documentary, but it’s also a terrific film about the interior lives of children. Joey Norton (Richie Andrusco, in his first and only movie role) believes he killed his brother in what was actually a gag, but can’t help but get pulled in by the offerings of the neighborhood he runs away to. Who could resist the world of pony rides and arcades, a paradise just a subway ride away? — AW

56. The Landlord (Hal Ashby, 1970)

A person could argue The Last Detail should be Hal Ashby’s entry on this list, but remember that only a few scenes with those drunken, vulgar sailors are set here in town. The Landlord , the editor turned director’s first film, plays in a similar sandbox to John G. Avildson’s Joe and Miloš Forman’s Taking Off , which all take a jaundiced look at privileged white youth whose plunges into social consciousness don’t go as expected. Beau Bridges stars as a Long Island rich kid who acquires a building in “the slums” (Park Slope, don’t laugh) and moves in with plans to clear everyone out, including Pearl Bailey and a young Louis Gossett Jr. Naturally he falls in love (with Diana Sands) and begins the process of opening his eyes. Lee Grant was nominated for an Oscar as the country club mom, Robert Klein has a quick scene in blackface, and the music by one of the era’s quintessential appropriative white artists, Al Kooper, could not be more perfect. The screenplay by Bill Gunn, adapted from a novel by Kristin Hunter, who were both Black, makes for a richer authenticity than was common in widely released movies at the time. — JH

55. Putney Swope (Robert Downey Sr., 1969)

A do-it-yourself satirist and cinematic prankster, Robert Downey Sr. was a mainstay of the New York underground in 1969 with his freewheeling, experimental patchwork films. But with this incredibly cutting, shot-on-a-dime Madison Avenue satire — which, since it bothered to tell a story, was downright conventional compared to his earlier work — he became something of an institution. The movie follows Putney, the only Black board member of a big advertising firm who winds up unexpectedly in charge after the chairman suddenly drops dead. He immediately transforms it into an all-Black company that tries to do business with integrity, with chaotic results. Along the way, the film comments on everything from the hypermilitarization of society, to the commodification of the counterculture, to the splintering of the civil-rights movement, to both the relentless selling of sex and America’s inherent puritanism. Back in 1969, it felt genuinely timely; today, it feels stupefyingly prophetic. — BE

54. Flaming Creatures (Jack Smith, 1963)

A handheld kaleidoscope of shrieking faces, rolling boobs, and limply spinning dongs, Jack Smith’s 1963 underground cause célèbre actually landed some of its exhibitors in jail; filmmaker and avant-garde entrepreneur Jonas Mekas was arrested in 1964 for attempting to show it at the Lower East Side’s New Bowery Theater, in a now-infamous case that pit obscenity laws against freedom of expression. The film itself is spellbinding, impenetrable, and disturbing: Filled with heavily made-up figures who look like nightmare mockeries of Hollywood starlets, it starts off as a cheapozoid satire of commodification before devolving into a raucous earthquake-orgy of fucking and shrieking. You’ve never seen anything like it — and you never will, which is sort of the point. Shot on decaying film stock, intended for constant revision, and screened in underground venues, the movie feels as ephemeral as the often-transient community from which it emerged. —BE

53. When Harry Met Sally (Rob Reiner, 1989)

The idea that “men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way,” may be incorrect, but When Harry Met Sally is still one of the greatest rom-coms ever made because of the way it mixes genuine warmth with an acerbic New York City sensibility — brought to you courtesy of two consummate New Yorkers, writer Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner. A lot of love stories use New York backdrops to add a cosmopolitan allure to a film. When Harry Met Sally make the city’s landmarks feel forever intertwined with this movie: the Washington Square Park archway where a young Sally drops off Harry after their disastrous road trip from Chicago to New York; the stroll along Central Park West where the two reconnect and Harry advocates for combining the obituaries and the real-estate section; the visit to the Temple of Dendur at the Met where Harry notes, “You know, I have a theory that hieroglyphics are really a comic strip about an ancient character named Sphinxy”; the meal at Katz’s Deli where Sally fakes an orgasm and, in a cameo, Reiner’s mother famously says, “I’ll have what she’s having.” And of course, that New Year’s Eve party, filmed inside the Puck Building, where Harry professes his love for Sally. It may take Harry and Sally a while to realize they want to spend the rest of their lives with each other, yet they’d long known they wanted to spend the time with New York. —JC

Read about how any meet-cute can happen in a NYC rom-com ➼

52. Shaft (Gordon Parks, 1971)

A drum-tight collaboration between co-screenwriter Ernest Tidyman (adapting his own novel) and magazine photographer turned director Gordon Parks, Shaft remains the epitome of New York badassery. The opening credits sequence certified the movie’s rock-solid confidence in its ability to entertain: consisting of nothing more than inventively composed shots of star Richard Roundtree sauntering through Times Square while Isaac Hayes’s soon-to-be-Oscar-winning theme hypes “the Black private dick who’s a sex machine to all the chicks,” it immerses you in the world and mind-set of John Shaft, who — like Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe — has a moral code but is beholden to no man, group, institution, or ideology. Somehow this brazenly of-its-time movie has aged as elegantly as Shaft’s leather jacket. A lot of it comes back to the imaginative empathy of Tidyman, who told The New York Times that he wanted to write Shaft as “a Black hero who thinks of himself as a human being, but who uses his Black rage as one of his resources, along with intelligence and courage.” —MZS

51. How to Survive a Plague (David France, 2012)

“It’s like living in a war,” Peter Staley explains, early in David France’s documentary. “All around me, friends are dropping dead.” That feeling of hopelessness, fear, and dread was inescapable as the AIDS crisis tore through New York’s LGTBQ+ community in the 1980s and 1990s. So the city’s activists turned that angst into rage, forming ACT-UP and mounting protests at City Hall, city hospitals, churches, and other public spaces. France draws upon a wealth of contemporaneous (and thrilling) video documentation of those actions — it’s like we’re participants, listening in on the strategy sessions, out there on the front lines of a literal life-and-death battle, jeering villains both local (Ed Koch and Cardinal O’Connor) and national (Ronald Reagan and Jesse Helms). Ultimately, Plague reminds us of what the early days of COVID reinforced: that even when we’re the epicenter of an epidemic, New Yorkers will not surrender quietly. — JB

50. On The Town (Stanley Donen, Gene Kelly; 1949)

You can’t see a sailor on the street during Fleet Week without thinking of it. Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s 1949 film of the Comden and Green Broadway extravaganza, with a score for the ages by Leonard Bernstein, is ebullient in that inimitable MGM Technicolor way, and it’s a musical even musical-haters can tolerate. The pace just roars along as the three sailors (Kelly along with Frank Sinatra and Jules Munchin) make their way through 24 hours of World War II shore leave, meeting girls and seeing the sights. There are New York gags about tourists with wildly outdated guidebooks, about intrusive roommates who show up when you’re trying to get busy, about the hopeless act of conversation amid the subway’s roar, about fancy nightclubs with absurd cocktail recipes on the menu. (Also there’s a shot of the Washington Square Arch where your first reaction will likely be My God, it’s so dirty. ) The horny comic-relief dialogue from Betty Garrett as the taxi driver, Hildy, is ageless. Only a couple of the stagebound dance sequences fall short — one of them, involving a version of traditional African costume, is absolutely cringey, as are a few other moments — but they pass in a hurry, and you can focus on the travelogue at the movie’s center. And then, as the shore leave ends, the buoyancy breaks down, just for a second: The guys are shipping back out to war, and they might not come back. In even the most exuberant New York story, there lies a hint of tragedy. The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down. —CB

49. Girlfriends (Claudia Weill, 1978)

Claudia Weill’s 88-minute jewel, pieced together on grant money over three years, has few contemporaries in early independent cinema. Melanie Mayron’s Upper West Side photographer Suzie Weinblatt isn’t a Woody Allen–ish neurotic and she isn’t a “hear me roar” militant. She’s just a young woman who likes her space, knows her self-worth, and keeps on hustling. Though the film touches on romance (and in very unpredictable ways, like with Eli Wallach as a married rabbi over twice her age), dreaming about Prince Charming is just a fleeting thought. That’s remarkable in a film about a single woman today, let alone the mid-’70s. Suzie’s best friend, Anne, has married and moved upstate, and while the film is too nuanced to present it as a death sentence, it is shown as a kind of warning. There’s some great footage of Soho galleries here, and some extraordinary costuming choices. Also: Bob Balaban practicing his Italian with a box of Manischewitz matzos behind him. You can’t fake that kind of authenticity. —JH

48. All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979)

One top of being one of the all-time great 1970s New York movies, Bob Fosse’s semi-autobiographical musical fantasia is a rare film that’s about New York filmmaking in the ’70s. Its main character, hard-drinking, pill-popping, womanizing choreographer Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider), is simultaneously directing a Broadway musical comedy that he loathes and trying to rescue his biopic about a self-destructive comedian (modeled on Fosse’s Lenny Bruce biopic Lenny, which, like All that Jazz , is told in a fragmented, nonlinear style) during late-night reediting sessions at the Brill Building. The cutting, by Alan Heim, is some of the most innovative ever seen in the medium. The photography — by Guiseppe Rotunno, regular director of photography for Fosse’s longtime idol Federico Fellini — alternates quasi-documentary grit for the real-world scenes and creamy voluptuousness for the moments when Gideon recounts and justifies his life to the Angel of Death (Jessica Lange) and fantasizes directing his final exit in the manner of a Fosse stage spectacular. The peerless supporting cast includes Ben Vereen, Leland Palmer, Anne Reinking, Erzebet Foldi, Sandahl Bergman, Cliff Gorman, CCH Pounder, John Lithgow, and — in one of the great one-line cameos — Wallace Shawn as an accountant who figures out that if Joe dies, his latest show could become the first Broadway musical to make a profit without even opening. —MZS

47. I Shot Andy Warhol (Mary Harron, 1996)

As the feminist writer, hustler, and Warhol Factory gadfly Valerie Solanas, who shot and nearly killed Andy (played beautifully by Jared Harris) in June of 1968, Lili Taylor hunches her shoulders, holds up her head, and charges headlong into a performance that is equal parts inspiring, touching, and terrifying. Her Solanas is a driven, brilliant, deluded woman who seeks to create, and who is bursting with ideas (not all of them good), but finds her street savvy ways are no match for the impenetrable cool of the downtown art-world cognoscenti. Mary Harron’s debut feature offers both a fascinating character study and a lovely recreation of the New York City Warhol scene in all its beauty and shallowness. Crucially, the film also doesn’t judge any of the participants involved: In Harron’s conception, both Warhol and Solanas are tragic-comic figures. —BE

(Jump to Mary Harron’s second film on this list.)

Read about the making of Ciao! Manhattan , set out to capture Warhol’s New York underground ➼

46. Mother of George (Andrew Dosunmu, 2013)

In his three narrative features to date, Nigerian American director and photographer Andrew Dosunmu has become one of the most exciting chroniclers of New York. Restless City looked at an ambitious, romantic Senegalese immigrant hustling on the margins, while Where Is Kyra? followed a poor, aging Queens woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) impersonating her recently deceased mother in order to keep getting her pension checks. But Dosunmu’s masterpiece is arguably Mother of George , a hypnotic domestic drama set in Brooklyn’s Yoruba community, following a newlywed (Danai Gurira) facing various family and cultural pressures to conceive. Dosunmu and cinematographer Bradford Young place the tense, discomfiting narrative against explosively vibrant colors and settings, channeling the mythic elegance of Luchino Visconti and the pulsating hysteria of Douglas Sirk into something altogether new. — BE

45. Applause (Rouben Mamoulian, 1929)

“New York’s so big, dirty, and noisy! And your theater: with all those men, and the girls with no clothes on!” So sobs April, newly returned from a Wisconsin convent, to her mother, Kitty Darling, the eternally struggling burlesque dancer determined to keep her daughter away from the allure of the footlights. Broadway director Rouben Mamoulian’s first film — shot on still-used soundstages in Astoria, Queens — is heralded as one of the great early talking pictures. While many of the era planted their actors firmly on an X to ensure clunky equipment could correctly record the dialogue, Applause skitters about through dressing rooms, alleyways, and even, for a moment, the old Penn Station. (A romantic interlude practically dangling off the side of the Brooklyn Bridge is not, however, true location photography.) Though some of the drama may come off as simplistic today, the film’s understanding of the psychological push-pull that performers feel even when “shakin’ for a bunch of Bronx gorillas” will forever remain relevant. —JH

44. The Producers ( Mel Brooks , 1967)

Oddly enough, Mel Brooks, one of the greatest exporters of New York Jewish humor to the world, set most of his movies elsewhere: the Old West , Transylvania , outer space . His first feature, however, is drenched in New York texture and mannerisms. The Broadway producer Max Bialystock is a vulpine, shameless, exuberantly crooked David Merrick type, down on his luck and bilking widows out of their money to finance his deliberately terrible musical Springtime for Hitler . Zero Mostel , who surely knew those kinds of theater-world hangers-on, plays Max so far over the top we can barely see the ground. There is a Times Square brazenness to both the story itself and the telling of it; you can’t really imagine any other comedy culture bold enough to birth the so-bad-it’s-impeccable taste of a hippie Hitler or a swastika-shaped Busby Berkeley top shot. It’s no coincidence that this movie gave us all the expression “When ya got it, flaunt it!” —CB

Read Matthew Broderick on The Producers ➼

43. Light Sleeper (Paul Schrader, 1992)

One of Paul Schrader’s greatest and most underrated films — a story the director claims came to him in a dream, when a drug dealer asked him to make a movie about him — this moody, stylish thriller features Willem Dafoe as a high-end drug dealer (he sells mainly to yuppies throughout the city, though his apartment is in a pre-hypergentrified Chelsea) working for a ruthless boss (Susan Sarandon!) who’s thinking of switching to the cosmetics business. Schrader calls this his “midlife crisis” movie, and that intimate, melancholy feeling of something being irretrievably lost is reflected and expanded by the changing city around the changing characters: The film captures that moment in the early 1990s when the chaotic, rundown New York of the 1970s and ’80s started to become sanitized, sterile, and ossified. —BE

42. Make Way for Tomorrow (Leo McCarey, 1937)

Before being split up to spend the rest of their lives apart, the elderly couple played by Beulah Bondi and Victor Moore in Make Way for Tomorrow get one magical day in New York that serves as a bittersweet counterbalance to everything that’s come before. Leo McCarey’s Depression-era drama, a predecessor to the housing panic horror underlying Love Is Strange (a title that appears later on this list), is for the most part a slow-motion tragedy about an elderly couple who lose their home and are forced to separate to seek shelter with their grown children, who live in the city or outside it, and who aren’t cruel so much as they are monstrously and relatably inconvenienced by having to rearrange own limited resources. But, as though to make up for the terrible callousness of the modern life it embodies, the city blossoms in front of the couple when they reunite for one last afternoon together, showering them with small kindnesses as they retrace a trip they took half a century earlier on their honeymoon. The grace of strangers makes up for the failures of family, however temporarily, a touch of movie magic that’s also a truth New York is capable of. —AW

41. Personal Problems (Bill Gunn, 1980)

Writer-director-actor Bill Gunn’s status as a New York City filmmaking institution extends well beyond the Black characters Hollywood expected of him; in screenplay adaptations, he brought to life rich, privileged Wasps ( The Landlord ) and a poor Jewish couple who wished to work and die with dignity ( The Angel Levine ). But he did help shatter a kind of two-dimensional Blackness common in movies by specifically creating Black characters who are messy, intelligent, neurotic, jubilant, petty, and, above all, recognizably human. Though Ganja and Hess is the more well known of his films, Personal Problems, a two-part collaboration with the writer Ishmael Reed , feels like Gunn’s dissertation, the culmination of all his ideas about people and New York. It asks “What aspects of Black life have not been given full treatment onscreen?” and then answers the question with a mix of improvisational realism and melodrama (it started as a radio parody of a soap opera). Like much of Gunn’s work, the film keeps viewers from being certain about where the film is leading them, or if the destination will bring closure, but the journey remains one worth taking. Those of us who were around the city at the time of its original release (it was restored and rereleased in 2018) will find amusement in mentions of the now-defunct Korvettes and the tax-free beauty of buying clothes in New Jersey. —Odie Henderson

40. Shadows (John Cassavetes, 1959)

Though jazz was born in New Orleans, ask your average jazz fan and they’ll agree the form reached its apogee in New York City in 1959. As Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue , Dave Brubeck’s Time Out , and Art Blakey’s Moanin’ were recorded and released, hip moviegoers saw the “jazz films” like the Robert Frank–Alfred Leslie–Jack Kerouac collaboration Pull My Daisy , as well as Shadows , John Cassavetes’s lodestar for American independent moviemaking. Cassavetes, who co-led an acting school and was beginning to gain notoriety as a film and television actor, went on Jean Shepherd’s “Night People” radio show and ended up crowdfunding an idea for a low-budget feature about a Black woman (a would-be writer who dated white men) and her two musician brothers. The first attempt to make Shadows relied heavily on improvisation, but Cassavetes started over after an intense rehearsal period. (He even ditched most of an original score by Charles Mingus.) He ended up shooting on the streets of New York City without permits, and a poignant scene at the MoMA’s sculpture garden — predating Jean-Luc Godard’s trip to the Louvre in Bande à Part — is a highlight. —JH

39. Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977)

It is impossible to overstate Woody Allen’s influence on a certain kind of New York film — that is, the one whose director sees the city as a fundamentally romantic if charmingly infuriating place. But it is undeniable that his films in the past couple of decades have grown increasingly oblivious to their time and place and that the charges that he is a monstrous person grow sturdier in the mind every time Dylan Farrow speaks in public. While most people accept that you cannot judge the work by the person, it’s just about impossible to watch, say, Manhattan — in which the 40ish Allen character dates a high-school student, as he indeed did offscreen — without having those real-life facts curdle your perception. The nebbishy-aggressive-smartass Allen persona that (to a lot of people) once seemed evolved, launching a thousand New York Review of Books personal ads, now comes off less sweetly beta and more just as a jerk. One could make a pretty good case that his darker films, like Crimes and Misdemeanors or Husbands and Wives, are better than Annie Hall . But if what you’re looking for is the modern rom-com aesthetic — one where urbanites wryly joke about bad plumbing and bugs, go for therapy five days a week, take their dates to Central Park, weekend on the East End, and can barely drive a car, let alone parallel park it — it really starts with Annie and Alvy. Also, there is no question, absolutely none, that the scene in the movie-theater line with Marshall McLuhan is a classic. Boy, if life were only like this. —CB

38. Klute (Alan J. Pakula, 1971)

Few characters in New York cinema are as indelible as Bree Daniels, the hard-edged, tough-talking sex worker at the center of Alan J. Pakula’s unbeatable 1971 thriller. Played with fiery verve by an Oscar-winning Jane Fonda, she puts up the veneer of cold unapproachability required not only by her career but living alone, in the city, in the early 1970s. The screenplay is fairly standard crime pulp — Donald Sutherland’s small-town detective journeys to the big bad city, looking for a client of Bree’s who has gone missing — but that’s not what gives the picture its kick. Director Pakula and cinematographer Gordon Willis fill its sidewalks and high-rises with a sense of dark foreboding and feverish paranoia, an electrifying sense that something menacing lurks around every corner in every dark shadow. — JB

37. Love Is Strange (Ira Sachs, 2014)

Alfred Molina and John Lithgow are so warmly welcoming as a longtime couple that it takes a while to understand that the film they’re at the center of is actually an unconventional horror story about that most precarious of New York resources: housing. When they lose their beloved Manhattan apartment thanks to a policy of lingering bigotry that embarrasses even those apologetically tasked with implementing it, the two split up to stay with family and friends, pitting affection against the exhaustion of sharing what are already cramped spaces. Ira Sachs’s film is in some ways an homage to Make Way for Tomorrow , but with a distinctively queer outlook at the displacement its main characters face. They’re desperately trying to find a new perch in a city that was provided sanctuary for them and their relationship in most hostile times, but that’s become so economically inhospitable that staying starts to feel impossible. —AW

36. Man Push Cart (Ramin Bahrani, 2005)

Ramin Bahrani’s mesmerizing debut feature follows the day-to-day toil of a Pakistani push-cart vendor as he attempts to make enough money to set up a life for himself and his estranged young son. Throughout, we see snippets of his past — he was briefly a pop star in his home country, but then married and came to the U.S., only to lose his wife — and we start to understand the inner world of this dogged but broken husk of a man. Bahrani shot on the streets of New York, with his star Ahmad Razvi actually pulling and setting up that cart, sometimes even serving doughnuts and coffee to unsuspecting customers. (With this film and its equally stunning follow-up, Chop Shop, the director established himself as one of his generation’s foremost realists.) The city presented in Man Push Cart is instantly familiar but also cruelly anonymous. It’s been stripped of landmarks, of any sense of community. We sense the bone-chilling cold; the gray, dying light; the bustle of the breakfast crowd; and the dry, uninviting solidity of the pastries on offer. And, although 9/11 is never mentioned, we feel the constant tension in the air. Bahrani reminds us that, for all the magic and mystery of New York, it is one of the most forbidding, faceless, unforgiving places on Earth. — BE

35. Smithereens (Susan Seidelman, 1982)

The film that put Desperately Seeking Susan ’s Susan Seidelman on the map, this comedy-drama starring Susan Berman, Brad Rijn (billed as “Brad Rinn”), and punk rocker Richard Hell is an affectionate but clear-eyed look at the remnants of the New York nexus of working-class and middle-class artists and musicians that flourished in the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s. Berman stars as Wren, a young woman from New Jersey who moves into the city to become part of the fading punk-rock scene, represented by Hell’s character, who was in a hot band ten years earlier. Spurred by his fantasies of reinvention, Wren is drawn by (and directed toward) Los Angeles — California standing in for “a new beginning,” as was often the case in this era of American cinema — and is so desperate to start over that she’s willing to compromise, degrade herself, and even commit a crime to raise moving money. Scored by the Feelies and written by Ron Nyswaner, who would be Oscar-nominated in 1994 for his Philadelphia script, this is a great movie about artistic and personal struggle and the toll life extracts on young dreamers. — MZS

(Jump to Susan Seidelman’s first film on this list.)

34. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Rodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti; 2018)

Batman and Superman might have those vague urban stand-ins Gotham and Metropolis, but Spider-Man is the New York superhero, his adventures — particularly his cinematic ones — corresponding to whatever our idea of the city happens to be at that point. (Just look at how Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films handled our post-9/11 emotional landscape, turning what was once a crime-ridden, one-dimensional comic-book setting into an expression of urban solidarity and resilience.) In telling the story of an Afro-Latin teen from Brooklyn named Miles Morales who takes up the mantle of Spidey with a little help from his interdimensional friends, directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman give us a deliriously inventive saga that updates the Spider-mythos for our times, delivering a diverse array of web-slingers who fly in the face of the typically Übermensch -ian hysteria of superhero narratives. Here’s a movie whose eclectic, beautifully patchwork animation style reflects the explosive aesthetic diversity of the city in which it takes place — the rare animated film that feels like its look and style were inspired by New York itself. —BE

33. The Crowd (King Vidor, 1928)

“When John was 21, he became one of the 7 million that believe New York depends on them.” King Vidor’s shattering 1928 silent about an ambitious young man’s sad life in New York — the big dreams, the desk job, the poverty, the responsibilities, the family tragedy, the indifference of the mob — is a grand scale human drama that, oddly enough, plays out largely among a small group of people, often indoors. But outside their world thrums the big city, with its teeming streets and imperious architecture, much of it shot with hidden cameras (in an experimental gambit thought quite extravagant at the time). Vidor mixes documentary immediacy with a heady dose of expressionist style, all made startlingly compelling by an excellent cast of unknown actors, who actually look like they could have just wandered in off the street. A revolutionary work when it came to portrayals of New York onscreen; one of those movies for which you can say without any embarrassment that the city becomes its own character. —BE

32. In Jackson Heights (Frederick Wiseman, 2015)

Jackson Heights, Queens, is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in both New York and the country, and Frederick Wiseman’s wondrously rich documentary gives it its cinematic due by sinking into the workings and the tensions of some of its various institutions — like an immigrant-focused activist organization, or a City Council office, or a Muslim school. If the city has always been a place that’s seen waves of immigration from different parts of the world create communities that shift with the decades, In Jackson Heights serves as a canny testament to the push and pull innate to that history, of assimilation, gentrification, and the idea that creating a community is an ongoing process. —AW

31. American Psycho ( Mary Harron , 2000)

Wall Street is a cautionary tale about insider trading that some finance bros twisted into a celebration of the very greed it was criticizing, but there is no twisting American Psycho . This adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel — co-written by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner and directed by Harron — arrives in fully twisted form. A mix of satire and horror with an extraordinary performance by Christian Bale that is simultaneously silly and chilling — his famous “Hip to Be Square” shimmy deserved its own Oscar — this film is technically about an investment banker who is secretly a serial killer. But really it’s an extreme metaphor for what it feels like to lead a hollow, invisible existence in New York City. Bale’s Patrick Bateman has a great deal: money, a rad ’80s apartment, dope business cards, a pretty fiancée (Reese Witherspoon), a semi-decent CD collection. But as he notes early in the film: “I simply am not there.” Later, when he finally shows remorse and confesses to his many crimes, his lawyer not only dismisses them but confuses Patrick with someone else. At the beginning of the new millennium, American Psycho confirmed a truth that would only seem truer in the ensuing years: that even when a wealthy New York businessman does the absolute worst, he still won’t be held accountable. —JC

(Jump to Mary Harron’s first film on this list.)

30. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

Unlike Noah Baumbach’s New York story of divorce, The Squid and the Whale , which is rooted in reality, Wes Anderson’s New York and the fractured Tenenbaums who inhabit it blend the relatable with the fantastical. In Anderson’s city, people don’t emerge from buses looking disheveled and tired; they float off them, like Gwyneth Paltrow’s Margot does, to the sound of Nico’s “These Days.” Patriarch Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) doesn’t take daughter Margot for ice cream at any old place — they go to an ice-cream parlor that looks like it belongs in a palace. When Royal and his grandsons Ari (Grant Rosenmeyer) and Uzi (Jonah Meyerson) spend a day on the town, instead of visiting museums or Central Park, they run into oncoming traffic, drive go-karts on a construction site, and shoplift a carton of milk from a local bodega. As heightened and meticulously designed as The Royal Tenenbaums is, it is Anderson’s most emotionally resonant work, a fact you can feel full-blast when Ben Stiller’s angry, grieving Chaz Tenenbaum finally tells Royal, his voice cracking: “We’ve had a rough year, Dad.” —JC

29. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)

For years, Sergio Leone made spaghetti westerns in which rural Spain stood in for the American West. For his 1984 gangster epic about a group of friends from the Lower East Side who wind up getting involved with the Jewish mob, however — a movie designed to outdo even the Godfather films in scope, ambition, and grandeur — he got to shoot in New York. But his movie still has the spirit of those westerns: The world it presents feels very much mythical. Its spaces, both interior and exterior, are vast in ways that may elicit chuckles from any New York resident, and practically every moment is underlined by an Ennio Morricone score that becomes more immortal with each new orchestral swell. This vision of the city belongs as much to its creator’s Europulp imagination as it does to history. Butchered (and mostly ignored) in initial release, it has since been restored to full length and is acknowledged as a major classic from one of the world’s great filmmakers. —BE

28. After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985)

There’s never been a better onscreen encapsulation of the disorienting sensation of staying out until morning and then going right into work than the ending of Martin Scorsese’s 1985 all-nighter, which dumps Griffin Dunne back where he started after a darkly funny odyssey. After Hours is a tribute to when Soho was scary and bohemian and a whole universe away from the sedate reaches of the Upper East Side in which the film begins. After traveling downtown in pursuit of a woman with whom he had a meet-cute (Rosanna Arquette), the film’s office-drone protagonist spends hours just trying to get home, navigating obstacles that are increasingly outrageous but that somehow get at an essential truth of New York living — which is that the city has a way of sometimes turning the most straightforward-seeming tasks into absurd, epic ordeals. — AW

(Jump to Martin Scorsese’s second film on this list.)

Read Griffin Dunne on After Hours ➼

27. Black Caesar (Larry Cohen, 1973)

Lean, shot for a nickel, but surprisingly expansive, Larry Cohen’s classic Blaxploitation riff on Little Caesar features the unspeakably charismatic Fred Williamson as a mobster who rises up from the Harlem streets, supplants the corrupt white Establishment, and loses his soul in the process. It’s one of the more ambitious entries in that genre but also one of the bleakest, the protagonist’s grim trajectory seemingly reflected by the city around him, alternately vibrant and decaying. Originally written for Sammy Davis Jr. (about as different a persona as you can imagine from the hunky ex-defensive back Williamson), this crime drama blends the tragic spirit of The Godfather with the immediacy of Mean Streets , but there’s something more here as well: Like all great B-movie directors (and serving as a precursor to subsequent auteurs like Abel Ferrara and the Hughes brothers), Cohen is able to meld the symbolic with the visceral — as evidenced in a climax in which Williamson’s character paints blackface on his racist, corrupt cop nemesis and makes him sing “Mammy” while he beats him to death. The film was a huge hit — so big that they changed the downer ending and immediately released an improvised (and inferior) sequel. —BE

Read Fred Williamson on Black Caesar ➼

26. Metropolitan (Whit Stillman, 1990)

Early in Whit Stillman’s first film, a bunch of Upper East Side rich kids wind up their evening with a new acquaintance, a Princeton student who moves in their circle but is less well-off than they are. As he departs, he hops on the crosstown bus, and a member of the group says, archly, “A West Sider is amongst us.” There you have in microcosm the world of Metropolitan, in which we hear a thousand social dog whistles among this group of frenemies: Within their tiny Brooks Brothers–and–J.G. Melon world, the even tinier distinctions are immense. In 1990, Stillman was creating an ode to the society he had inhabited as a student half a generation earlier (“Not long ago,” say the intertitles), knowing that it was already shrinking into irrelevance; 30 years later, what’s a little surprising is that a little of it still persists. It’s as antique, and thus as bewitching, as the Horn & Hardart Automat where a couple of the guys pause for lunch. “We can’t just keep getting together with the same people every night for the rest of our lives,” one character irritatedly tells a friend, very late at night, after he’s turned up at her apartment. The response: “I don’t see why not.” —CB

25. Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008)

One of the best scenes in James Gray’s movie takes place not in the beautifully textured version of Brighton Beach where Leonard Kraditor (Joaquin Phoenix) lives in the loving, smothering care of his worried parents, but in a bustling nightclub that feels miles away — maybe even in the spiritually distant land of Manhattan. Leonard, who begins the film flirting with suicidal ideation, has become caught up in a more literal romantic quandary, caught between the sweet Sandra Cohen (Vinessa Shaw), who’s from the Russian Jewish community he grew up in and who his family would like him to marry, and the glamorous and chaotic Michelle Rausch (Gwyneth Paltrow), the mistress of a married lawyer who’s been tucked away in Leonard’s Brooklyn building by her lover. That Leonard is better suited to Sandra seems obvious until Michelle takes him out for the night, and this shlumpy, melancholic man dives onto the dance floor to show off some dorky but ambitious moves. Suddenly, we see him, and the neighborhood he lives in, in an entirely different light — as though the moody version of the city we’ve been seeing has been a subjective landscape this whole time. —AW

24. Carlito’s Way (Brian De Palma, 1993)

The second collaboration between director Brian De Palma and star Al Pacino, this 1990s blockbuster apes 1970s New York urban potboilers while infusing the story with a melancholy gentleness that’s uncharacteristic of the filmmaker and positioning it as a life-affirming answer to their other team-up, 1983’s Scarface . Pacino plays the title character, a Puerto Rican gangster who gets out of prison and tries to reconnect with his young girlfriend (Penelope Ann Miller) and go straight but inevitably gets drawn back into the criminal life via his coked-up, mob-connected lawyer (Sean Penn). The plot mechanics owe a lot to westerns where an old gunfighter wants to settle down but can’t walk ten feet without some punk dragging him into a duel. The final action sequence, which sees Carlito fleeing Italian Mafia goons on foot through the subway system en route to Grand Central station, is the greatest use of the city’s underground transit system ever captured on film, geographically accurate down to the tiniest details of platforms, transfer points, and local-versus-express routes: MTA-map-nerd heaven. Keep an eye out for a voluptuous cameo by the World Trade Center subway platform and elevator system, which would cease to exist eight years after this film’s release. —MZS

23. Miracle on 34th Street (George Seaton, 1947)

Christmastime in New York, like any time in New York, is a constant toggle between moments of pure magic and brutal reality. This holiday classic about a man named Kris Kringle (a truly jolly Edmund Gwenn) who swears he’s the actual Santa Claus understands that contrast. Writer-director George Seaton opens the film with a sequence that displays the majesty of the Macy’s Day Parade, while also highlighting the absolute chaos that organizer Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara) contends with behind the scenes. Once Kris becomes Santa Claus at the flagship Macy’s location, we see the joyful wonder of a young Dutch girl elated to know he speaks her language, but we also get many full glimpses of the (initial) bone-deep Saint Nick skepticism that emanates from Doris’s daughter, Susie (the great Natalie Wood), such a true New Yorker that, even at age 8, she is certain she can smell bullshit from multiple blocks away. The happy bustle of holiday shoppers is present and accounted for, but so are the competitive Macy’s execs who use Kris’s kindness as a marketing ploy. Miracle on 34th Street is ultimately a sweet, hopeful movie. But its sweet hopefulness resonates all the more because it contains heavy doses of New York doubt and disbelief. —JC

22. Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954)

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 thriller taps into a universal element of New York apartment living: spying on your neighbors. Sometimes one catches a flash of flesh or a moment of unguarded, poignant solitude; sometimes, in that moment of blurry voyeurism, you can think you’re seeing something far worse. Adapting “It Had to Be Murder,” a Cornell Woolrich short story of a brutal killing glimpsed through a window (a premise the author also explored in the short story “The Boy Cried Murder,” itself adapted into the crackerjack New York noir The Window in 1949), Hitchcock gave James Stewart a pair of binoculars and a front-row seat to the goings-on of a Greenwich Village apartment building. But in addition to the possible homicide, he observes a wide variety of New York lives, including a frustrated composer, a vivacious dancer, energetic newlyweds, and a lonely single woman — all on display, in big rectangular windows, an array of scenes from little movies of their own making. —JB

21. Do The Right Thing (Spike Lee, 1989)

One of the greatest films ever made in the United States — and unfortunately timeless in its presentation of personal as well as systemic bigotry — this Spike Lee joint owes a lot to the final Sidney Lumet drama on this list (see the No. 2 entry ), which is similarly set entirely on and near a single city block on a sweltering summer day. Lee’s direction, Ernest Dickerson’s photography, and Wynn Thomas’s production design split the difference between cinematic blocking, cutting, and motion and an unabashedly theatrical sensibility that treats both interior and exterior spaces (shot on location on a real block in pre-gentrified Bedford-Stuyvesant) as if they were sets built for a gritty urban answer to Thornton Wilder’s Our Town . There’s a variation of Wilder’s Stage Manager narrator, courtesy of Samuel L. Jackson’s local DJ Mister Senor Love Daddy, who narrates action he observes through the radio station’s picture window, and in one of the film’s most famous montages, several major characters break the fourth wall as they spew racist invective. Lee is still pissed by the alarmist takes published by New York Magazine city columnist Joe Klein and film critic David Denby that anticipated riots being provoked by the film’s release, and he’s right to be. With hindsight, it seems safe to paraphrase the late Robin Harris’s character Sweet Dick Willie and concede that intellectually, those motherfuckers were 50 cents away from having a quarter. —MZS

(Jump to Spike Lee’s second film on this list.)

20. The Cool World (Shirley Clarke, 1963)

A key inspiration for many a future filmmaker (including Martin Scorsese), Shirley Clarke’s enormously influential independent drama takes what could have been a standard-issue youth-in-crisis tale — it’s about a 15-year-old who aspires to own a gun so he can take charge of his Harlem gang and feel like a big shot — and turns it into a work of staggering poetic realism. Using nonprofessionals and shooting documentary style, Clarke vividly captures the vibrancy, beauty, and violence of a world that had, until then, been portrayed in largely one-dimensional terms. But her picture also takes on the formal qualities of an essay: Much of the dialogue has been dubbed, not all that convincingly, and the protagonist gives us a running, stream-of-consciousness narration that makes everything feel like it’s taking place partly in his mind. That makes The Cool World a perfect New York film — at once immersed in the crowd and absorbed in its own thoughts. The Dizzy Gillespie score helps, too. —BE

19. Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)

Rosemary’s Baby is a phantasmagoric pregnancy nightmare, a slow-creep Satanic freakout, and a maddeningly astute depiction of a woman’s gaslighting made by a man facing multiple real-life allegations of sexual assault. But it’s also a prime New York apartment story about moving into a space whose history you can only guess at, dealing with people you feel obligated to be nice to because you’re all sharing such tight quarters. So many horror stories dwell on the terror of isolation, but Rosemary’s Baby is all about the dread of intrusion. The Castevets diabolically leverage expectations of neighborly accommodation to make forays into Mia Farrow’s home, her marriage, and, eventually, her own bodily autonomy. In one way, it’s a potent representation of fragmentation in a city in which it can feel impossible to truly carve out a space for oneself. —AW

Read about the distinct subgenre of New York Apartment Horror ➼

18. Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (William Greaves, 1971)

A man and a woman wander through Central Park arguing bitterly about his manhood and her lack of passion. A camera crew follows them around. Another camera crew follows that camera crew around. And another camera crew follows that camera crew around. The actors (who sometimes change) are frustrated with the director. The crew (who also sometimes change) is frustrated with the director and has private meetings to complain about him. Director William Greaves manufactures his own reality but also lets the world constantly intrude and shape his film. At one point, a homeless Polish poet living in the park seems to take the entire movie hostage. Greaves makes it seem like he himself doesn’t know what he’s doing as a director, effectively making sure the crew will revolt … and then he puts footage of their mutiny into the film. Somehow, watching this relentless cinematic hall-of-mirrors, you start to question the nature of social hierarchies, of truth, of the very mind of God. And, perhaps most important, it’s all so incredibly entertaining. For all its experimentation, Symbiopsychotaxiplasm is one of the most watchable films ever made. Greaves’s hilarious meta-meta-meta nonfiction masterpiece continues to show today’s eat-your-spinach doc-hybrid wannabes how it’s done. —BE

17. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 2013)

Llewyn Davis, the broke, downtrodden, winter-coatless folk singer at the center of this melancholy Coen brothers gem, is fatigue in human form . As played by Oscar Isaac in a breakout performance, exhaustion emanates from Llewyn’s tired eyes, his slouchy posture, and his bowlegged shuffle from apartment to apartment, as he couch-hops in lieu of being able to afford a home. He believes in his talent, knows that if the right person hears him sing he’ll finally be able to make a real living from his art. But he is hit in the face with indignity after indignity: a subway ride spent chasing a cat, unexpected expenses, a gig recording an embarrassing novelty song, arguments about the same damn cat’s whereabouts. If you’ve lived in this city without feeling worn down, dispirited, and unsure if you’ll ever make it while also fucking freezing to death, then you haven’t lived in this city. In Inside Llewyn Davis , a film whose color palette is best described as bleak with a chance of more bleakness, Isaac’s Davis leaves no doubt that he has lived in New York and died a little here too. —JC

16. Taking of Pelham 123 (Joseph Sargent, 1974)

Joseph Sargent, a TV-movie director of only modest distinction, hit the bull’s-eye just this once, but holy moly does it still work. And in fact The Taking of Pelham One Two Three feels a little like an extended, elevated cop show of the 1970s, the platonic ideal of an Ironside or The Rockford Files episode. Four pseudonymous men hijack a southbound No. 6 train, plowing it to a stop just below the 28th Street station, holding a full carload of passengers for a cash ransom. They say they’ll start killing hostages soon, providing the movie’s gradual insistent acceleration, a metaphorical train ride that mirrors the literal one. The Transit Authority police and dispatchers attempting to work it out and get the ransom to the train — Walter Matthau, Jerry Stiller, Tom Pedi as the preternaturally hostile Caz Dolowicz — are wry, wisecracking New York archetypes, every one of them slightly overdelivering on the script. Yeah, there’s some goofy whaddaya-gonna-do New York shtick in here, but it’s a thrilling ride all the way. David Shire’s heavy-on-the-horn-section score, all funky dissonances and slightly off-kilter rhythms, is a hall-of-famer. —CB

15. An Unmarried Woman (Paul Mazursky, 1978)

Has 1970s Manhattan ever shined with as much possibility as it does in Paul Mazursky’s masterwork An Unmarried Woman ? The ’70s in American cinema is often cast as a masculine enterprise, but Mazursky and his collaborators — including Jill Clayburgh, turning in a tender, emotionally realized lead performance — take the framework of a coming-of-age-in-the-big-city story to explore a woman’s growth from scorned housewife to self-made dame. Erica Benton’s (Clayburgh) story plays out in intimate conversations, with her close female friends in bars or in the art studio of a burgeoning love interest (Alan Bates), that feel as emotionally expansive and vibrant as the city itself. As it moves through enclaves and parties in Manhattan, the film also acts as a cunning window into the lives of artists and those in their orbit. —AJB

14. Parting Glances (Bill Sherwood, 1986)

The first American feature to deal directly with the impact of the AIDS crisis, Parting Glances is a gentle-souled comedy-drama about obsession and mortality, backed by Bronski Beat songs, and starring Richard Ganoung and John Bolger as a gay couple, Michael and Robert, who confront weaknesses and conflicts in their relationship in a 24-hour period. (A then-unknown actor named Steve Buscemi co-stars as Michael’s chaotic yet irresistible boyfriend Nick, whom Michael still dotes on.) Among the film’s virtues is its portrait of the spaces where middle-class straight and gay liberal intellectuals intersected in the ’80s, with members of the first group striving but failing to really understand the extinction-level threat posed to the second. Parting Glances ’s honesty and accuracy was, unfortunately, as autobiographical as could be: This was the first and only feature by indie filmmaker Bill Sherwood, who died of complications from HIV four years after its release. —MZS

13. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

It’s obvious why The Godfather is on this list: it’s the most influential mafia movie ever made and it’s largely set in New York, where much of it was filmed. But that’s surface stuff. There is so much more in the DNA of The Godfather that aligns with the idea of New York in the public imagination. This is an immigrant story about an Italian family that built its wealth and influence after arriving here, like so many other New York City families did, presumably without as much killing. The Corleones do not take no for an answer, and neither do New Yorkers. “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” could be the city motto. (Either that or “Don’t ever take sides with anyone against the family.”) Director Francis Ford Coppola and cinematographer Gordon Willis constantly play with contrasts that emphasize how corruption invades the everyday. Christmas lights twinkle outside the hospital where Michael is assaulted by an NYPD cop aligned with another mob family. A quiet, neighborhood Italian restaurant in the Bronx suddenly becomes the scene of a double murder. While Michael attends the baptism of his nephew and renounces Satan, we see multiple executions, all ordered by Michael, being mercilessly conducted at the same time. Peace and calm co-exist with darkness and violence, a dichotomy that aligns with the fictional notion of New York as a vibrant, but potentially dangerous place. Where there once was a cannoli, there might also be a freshly fired gun. —JC

12. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011)

Playwright-filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan has become an acknowledged master of novelistic dramas about characters struggling to understand their place in the world and how much control they actually have over their fate. Margaret , about a young woman named Lisa (Anna Paquin) navigating life in the aftermath of a bus accident she’s partly responsible for causing, is the summation of everything he’s about. Although the original two-and-a-half-hour cut is excellent, the best version of the film is Lonergan’s three-hours-and-eight-minutes cut, because it lets every scene breathe more and lets the form mirror the psychological complexities (messiness) of his characters, who are constantly questioning, undermining, and misunderstanding each other (sometimes on purpose, it seems). This is also one of the great films about the feeling of New York, thanks to the way it piles dialogue atop dialogue, as if to acknowledge the buzzing hive of city consciousness, and the moments when the direction takes a voyeuristic approach, at one point peering into people’s windows and listening to them talk, like a Peeping Tom with superhuman powers. —MZS

11. Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. (Leslie Harris, 1993)

Like An Unmarried Woman , Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. demonstrates why New York City, where unlicensed kids can walk or take the subway to wherever they need to go, is such a potent setting for the coming-of-age narrative. Writer-director Leslie Harris uses Brooklyn in all its multivalent Blackness as a backdrop for the story of Chantal (Ariyan A. Johnson), a high-school junior whose strength of characterization is rooted in her normalcy. Smart, a fast talker still trying to figure out the shape of her life, she is simply mired in the ebb and flow of teenagedom — school work, family, a job, young love leading to a pregnancy she hides, the prospect of college and the future. Harris, who based her story on in-depth research from The Brooklyn Teen Pregnancy Center, lets Chantal move gently through the city, brushing up against the textures of her neighborhood and school, turning the most mundane of details into profound aspects of a young Black woman’s life. —AJB

10. The Muppets Take Manhattan (Frank Oz, 1984)

Within its first 20 minutes, most of the Muppets do what every New Yorker considers doing at some point: They leave New York. Spoiler alert: They all eventually come back, and the two (arguably) most revered Muppets, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, never leave. “I’m still here and I’m staying,” Kermit shouts from the top of the Empire State Building early in the film, after the Muppets’ production of Manhattan Melodies is rejected by multiple Broadway producers. “You hear that, New York?” This is Kermit’s “mad as hell” moment, a cathartic expression of determination that every frustrated New York artist in cinema, from Tootsie ’s Michael Dorsey to Inside Llewyn Davis ’s titular folk singer, has yelled metaphorically into the wind. As much as The Muppets Take Manhattan is about the fight to conquer the Great White Way, it’s also a celebration of the inspiration that can be found in these streets. Its visits to Manhattan landmarks (Sardi’s! Central Park!) and with revered New Yorkers who are no longer with us, including Joan Rivers, then-Mayor Ed Koch, and Gregory Hines, add a layer of NYC poignancy on top of the movie’s many joys. This is a reminder of the hope and grit of the city as it looked in the 1980s and a tribute to its spirit, which is timeless. —JC

9. News from Home (Chantal Akerman, 1977)

New York is a place that belongs to its transitory population — its migrants and temporary residents and visitors — as much as it does the people who’ve lived in it for generations. Chantal Akerman’s sublime 1977 film encapsulates the feeling of being young and far from everything you know, both entranced and estranged from the city, like no other. Akerman had already returned to Belgium and made Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles when she shot News From Home , but the professional and temporal distance from the 21-year-old self-proclaimed vagabond she was when she moved to New York makes the film even more effective. Photographed in collaboration with cinematographer Babette Mangolte, News From Home evokes the avant-garde work the younger Akerman was encountering at the Anthology Film Archives, but it also creates a sense of emotional space that’s stunningly personal. As long shots of subways, and empty sidewalks, and streets during a drive uptown play out onscreen, Akerman reads her own letters home to her mother back across the Atlantic. It’s a film awash with wonder, defiance, and loneliness, all at once, the city as a site of individual’s unfurling. —AW

8. Moonstruck (Norman Jewison, 1987)

The Brooklyn Heights neighborhood in which this Norman Jewison delight takes place is as inviting and cozy as it is occasionally claustrophobic. Honestly, who could blame Cher’s Loretta Castorini for retreating to her childhood home after the death of her first husband when her childhood home is on one of the most desirable blocks in the borough? Moonstruck creates a sense of the closeness of the Italian American community in which it takes place with enormous charm, and at the same time provides reminders that it’s borderline quaint setting exists in the center of a bustling metropolis, even if its heroine has stopped picking her head up long enough to notice. Loretta’s romance with tempestuous baker Ronny (Nicolas Cage) may open her world back up to passion, but it opens the city back up to her too. After Ronny brings Loretta up to Lincoln Center for her first brush with the opera, then coaxes her to bed with one of the great romantic comedy speeches of all time, she takes a blissful walk home along the waterfront in the morning after, the Manhattan skyline behind her as she turns to the corner to her family home. Turns out it was there the whole time — she only had to look. —AW

7. Crossing Delancey (Joan Micklin Silver, 1988)

If one of the qualifications of films on this list is that they would be utterly lessened by relocation to another city — well, there’s hardly a line or a scene in this movie that could survive the transplant. Joan Micklin Silver’s romantic comedy is steeped in Lower East Side Yiddishkeit. of a A young, pretty, semi-secular bookseller has a bubbe who wants her happily married; two men (one dashing and caddish, the other unglamorous and haimish) might become her husband; it goes just about the way you expect it to. The apartments all look like New York apartments, and the accents, weak and strong, are just as recognizable. That goes triple for the grandmother; her apartment is unmistakably in one of those postwar Mitchell-Lama towers, and it’s definitely not a set; the actress herself is Reizl Bozyk, who came up in the long-vanished Yiddish theaters on Second Avenue. And just to round out the New York Movie bingo card: Her grandmother’s yenta friend is played — inevitably, impeccably — by Sylvia Miles. —CB

( Jump to Joan Micklin Silver’s first film on this list . )

6. The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960)

New York’s reputation for callousness has never been more realized with more acidic humor than in Billy Wilder’s romantic comedy about two low-level employees in danger of getting ground up in the gears of the gargantuan insurance corporation for which they both work. Jack Lemmon is the nebbishy clerk who’s been pressured into letting his apartment get used as a fuckpad by various philandering higher-ups with houses and families in the suburbs. Shirley MacLaine is the winsome elevator operator that one of those executives is toying with. Wilder’s deceptively light touch provides a hell of a contrast to a love story about two sometimes suicidal people who realize that survival is more important than proving that if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. —AW

5. Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1991)

Jennie Livingston’s enormously influential, eye-opening (and, at the time, controversial) 1991 look at the city’s underground drag ball culture isn’t just one of the great New York films — it’s one of the greatest documentaries of all time. On one level, it’s a boisterous celebration of the dazzling variety of this world, taking in the breadth of performances, poses, dances, and identities on display. On another level, it’s a poignant, humanistic study of the individuals involved in this subculture, many of whom, living on the margins, have achieved belonging amid the different “houses” of this world. For so much of the 20th century (and, indeed, earlier), the West was seen as where you went to start anew, to forge a new identity and find a new family. Paris Is Burning suggests that in these seemingly invisible corners of New York, new lives, families, and communities are being built every day. Besides being able to film the performances with you-are-there vitality, Livingston also has an eye for the telling moment or detail that allows us to get a true sense of these people as people — which means that the film also turns out to be heartbreaking. —BE

4. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)

From the opening images of its title character’s Checker cab emerging from Stygian steam clouds and the anxious yet oddly blank face of his eyes in a rearview mirror, Taxi Driver captures what might be the seediest point in the city’s history , while also giving mainstream audiences an early glimpse of the place where gun fetishism overlaps with incel culture. Shot in 1975, the year of the New York Daily News ’ notorious cover headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” this collaboration of director Martin Scorsese, screenwriter Paul Schrader, and star Robert De Niro is more up front about the right-wing paranoia that drove early-’70s New York potboilers like Joe , Death Wish, and The French Connection . Its white ethnic protagonist, Vietnam vet Travis Bickle, is a pill-popping loner who keeps a diary modeled on would-be presidential assassin Arthur Bremer’s. He stalks a crush object, a senatorial campaign worker (Cybill Shepherd), after she rejects him, then becomes fixated on rescuing a 12-year streetwalker (Jodie Foster) from her pimp (Harvey Keitel). The climactic explosion of gun violence is tinged with irony: If Travis had done the exact same things to a different group of people, he’d have been thought of as a monster rather than an avenging angel. Like so many Scorsese films about driven anti-heroes, this one immerses audiences in the mind-set of its main character, giving them more than enough information to understand how disturbed and frightening Travis is, yet also impelling identification with him in a way that makes simplistic value judgments impossible. New York cab rides were never the same after this movie. —MZS

(Jump to Martin Scorsese’s first film on this list.)

3. Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick, 1957)

It’s a grimy, bombastic love letter to a place. It’s a sterling noir exploring what hustling in a city of hustlers does to the human soul. It’s a testament to the spirit of on-location filming, in which Manhattan becomes a glittering landscape of smoke-filled nightclubs, offices both grand and ramshackle, and streets where the possibilities for violence seem endless. There are many classic films on this list, but Sweet Smell of Success — with its dynamite directing from Alexander Mackendrick, a blistering screenplay by Clifford Odets and Ernest Lehman, and towering performances by Tony Curtis as the slippery press agent Sidney Falco and Burt Lancaster as the towering newspaper columnist J.J. Hunsecker — stands head and shoulders above the rest. James Wong Howe’s black-and-white cinematography renders New York City with both a luster and a venom, where loyalty and ambition and spite amount to planted stories and blackmail and beatings, that hasn’t been matched since.  —AJB

2. Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)

It’s the most improbably great of cops-and-robbers movies: For an hour in the middle, barely anything happens. In the opening scenes, Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) botch a robbery at a neighborhood branch bank, and they and their hostages are trapped inside as negotiators and a big Brooklyn crowd gather outside. It’s August, everyone’s sweaty and a little grimy, and the bank gets hotter and hotter once the air-conditioning is cut off. There are visits and frantic calls from Sonny’s family, both genetic and chosen; there are gambits to get the hostages and captors out of the building. In the famous “Attica! Attica!” scene, Sonny whips the crowd up against the cops, sensing that he has a little power for the only time in his oppressed, repressed life. Sidney Lumet, who directed the film, has said that it’s a movie forcing us to reconsider the people we think of as freaks — and really, New York City in 1975 is where those edge characters tended to wash up, hang on, and sometimes cause mayhem. The whole thing just coils tighter and tighter for two hours, with just enough humor (“Wyoming is not a country”) along the way to leaven the grimness. By the time the inevitable sad release comes, under harsh lights in the final scene, your sympathies lie with everyone involved and also with no one. —CB

(Jump to Sidney Lumet’s first film on this list.)

1. 25th Hour ( Spike Lee , 2002)

Spike Lee’s masterpiece is already the greatest 9/11 movie, but it also happens to be the greatest New York movie. At the time of its release, the film came under fire from some who felt that its topicality was tacked on — that 9/11 and its aftermath had little to do with screenwriter David Benioff’s 2000 novel about a drug dealer’s last day of freedom before heading to prison. Oh, how wrong they were. By featuring images of the broken city, the film draws a direct parallel with the doomed fate of its protagonist, Monty Brogan (Edward Norton). And it captures the agonizing shriek of a society that’s reached its breaking point during an unforgettable monologue, delivered to a bathroom mirror, in which Monty shouts expletives at the city’s ethnic and social enclaves, finishing up by blasting his friends, family, and himself. The whole film is about self-loathing, but at junctures like these, Lee makes the self-loathing civilizational. However, he finds grace and cohesion, which is what makes this the great New York movie, too. (Monty’s blistering monologue even recalls the extended direct-to-camera tirades of Lee’s other masterpiece on this list.) For all the intimate rawness of their hatred, such scenes actually create an overall sense of community, reminding us that New Yorkers are connected and unified by their rage and frustration. (Watching these scenes in a midtown theater in 2002 was a downright levitational experience.) As if to underline this very point, Lee brings back images of the people Monty raged against at the very end, smiling warmly at his bloodied face — and directly into the camera, at us — as he drives past them on his way to prison. It is a deeply moving moment of solidarity that, on one level, goes beyond mere victimhood to acknowledge that maybe what 9/11 did was remind us that we were each broken in our own way. On another level, it establishes that Monty’s tale is just one of many stories in the naked city, just another life lived among the eternal crowd.

(Jump to Spike Lee’s first film on this list.)

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Iconic movie sets to visit in nyc, today we will share with you some of the iconic movie sets to visit in nyc if you love nyc or if you’re a cinephile…come take a look.

New York City is easily one of the most common tourist spots in the United States, with the city seeing 66.6 million visitors which generated $47.4 billion in spending in 2019 alone, as the Office of State Comptroller reported.

It’s also a hot spot for movie filming – it’s believed a whopping 300 movies were filmed in NYC in both 2015 and 2016, for example.

That comes as no surprise, as the city is the perfect backdrop for nearly every genre out there.

While we’re not about to list hundreds of movies, let’s take a look at some of the most iconic movie sets you should visit if you find yourself in The Big Apple.

Ghostbusters (1984) and the New York Library

After getting a call and their first job from the library administrator, the Ghostbusters arrived at the New York Library to take care of a ghost that apparently had an affinity for books during her life.

The library also shows up in Ghostbusters: The Video Game and brings the characters back between the shelves to battle Book Bats and a Book Golem.

In the game, the library had at least 12 bodies beneath the structure and a sub-basement along with a few secret rooms. While these rooms (and the bodies underneath!) don’t actually exist, you can visit the library itself.

CNN mentions that you might even be able to get a free book!

King Kong (2005) and Gapstow Bridge in Central Park

Few films did for NYC what the original King Kong did, and the subsequent exposure in pop culture cements the locations.

It even spawned the 2005 game Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, released on Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PS2, and PC, which shows plenty of the iconic places in NYC.

The giant ape also features in some of the Ladbrokes online slot games , including Kong the 8th Wonder of the World and Kong’s Temple.

Both have his image featured heavily, with the first title also seeing him sit atop the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building also shows up in other games, including SimCity. So, of course, it’s quite a well-known location thanks to movies and games.

The Gapstow Bridge is another location that quite a few filmmakers have used.

In King Kong, the bridge is used as a backdrop for a heartwarming scene between Kong and Ann as they skate over the frozen lake before tragedy strikes.

If you want to see the bridge for yourself (frozen lake or not), head over to the southeast corner of Central Park.

Night at the Museum (2006) and the American Museum of Natural History

Of course, the movie Night at the Museum was not filmed in the museum itself but was based on the museum and its exhibits.

The external shots, however, were of the museum itself with permission.

If you go, you can see the very same exhibits including the T-Rex (although it probably won’t want to play fetch with a giant bone. Sorry!).

Of course, there are some new exhibits as well, including the Sharks Exhibition where you can learn about these marine terrors and even buy some souvenir fossils to take home.

New York City has plenty to offer – from great food to museums dedicated to nearly everything! It’s hard to be bored here.

If you’re a movie buff who wants to see some of the most iconic movie sets from your favorite movies, come on down!

You can check out 25 Most Iconic And Instagrammable Movie Locations In NYC , have fun at a super cool NYC TV & Movie Tour  or even enjoy 45 Films Set In New York City from the comfort of your home!

Photo Credit: David Mark /Pixabay

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The 101 best New York movies of all time

We explored all 5 boroughs – and as high as King Kong’s spire and as low as a hijacked subway – to give you the best New York movies

There are a lot of movies set in New York. Like, a lot . Seemingly every other movie that comes out. And hey, why not? No other city on the planet seems to exert the same pull on the cultural imagination. What’s rarer, though, are great movies about New York. A great New York movie doesn’t just take place there. It has to say something about it, about its people, about the experience of being in it. It has to illustrate, in some way, why it continues to draw so many into its cradle – and, conversely, spit many of them back out.

The following 101 films do just that. They capture both the thrilling grandiosity and isolating hugeness of the Big Apple, the exciting opportunities and overwhelming challenges. Of course, they also have to nail the details – the chaotic hum of the streets, the borough-specific dialects, the juxtaposition of shiny and new and old and grimy. In other words, the city has to be a character unto itself – in fact, it should probably get top billing.

Written by Melissa Anderson, David Fear, Stephen Garrett, Joshua Rothkopf, Andy Kryza, Keith Uhlich, Alison Willmore and Matthew Singer

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🔥 The 100 best movies of all-time 🌭 The 27 best Chicago movies ⭐ The best Los Angeles movies of all-time 🇫🇷 The 54 best movies set in Paris

Been there, done that? Think again, my friend.

Best New York movies

1.  taxi driver (1976).

And so we arrive at the big daddy—the movie you quote into the mirror when you’re feeling fed up (“You talking to me?”), the film that always leaps to mind when a cab pulls through the late-night steam of a manhole cover to take you on a ride to hell. The project almost went to Hitchcock-obsessed Brian De Palma, deemed unsuitable. Instead, with great serendipity, the intense, young director of Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese, and his soft-spoken star, Robert De Niro, were attached. Nothing less than magic was captured during that difficult summer shoot, plagued by beastly heat and a Manhattan garbage strike. Travis Bickle, our cracked hero, cruises through unruly Greenwich Village and the unpredictable streets of Hell’s Kitchen. The story may be all in his head: a deranged man’s dream of vanilla romance with Cybill Shepherd, unchecked fury at political impotence and the compulsive urge to right every wrong, no matter how slight. Because Taxi Driver is so pungent and real, it tops our NYC list. Because it speaks to the lonely devil in all of us, it tops any list.

2.  Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Broadway has never seemed as seductively menacing as it does in Alexander Mackendrick's bitter farce about a venomous gossip columnist (Burt Lancaster), his soulless lackey (Tony Curtis) and the wreckage left in their wake. Times Square becomes a monochromatic monstrosity full of harsh lights, sad-sack lunch counters and nonstop noise; the luxe interiors of 21 and the Elysian Room double nicely for Dante's ninth circle of Hell.

3.  Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Park Slope is burning in Sidney Lumet's scorching heister, based on the true story of a colossally botched bank robbery. Al Pacino (who first worked with Lumet in the terrific NYC cop film  Serpico ) has the noblest of intentions for orchestrating the holdup: to pay for his boyfriend's sex-change operation. The following year, Lumet would direct another NYC classic about delusions of grandeur:  Network .

4.  Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Released at a time when horror mostly meant Vincent Price in a goofy cape, Roman Polanski’s realistic supernatural drama was a transfusion of thick, urbane blood. Much of the movie’s revolutionary impact should be credited to the city itself: The Dakota looms menacingly, every bit the Gothic pile as any Transylvanian vampire’s mansion. A young couple, played by Mia Farrow (in a fashion-forward NYC pixie cut) and John Cassavetes, moves in—they’re recognizable enough. But in another one of the film’s clever subversions, the perennial lovable but nosy neighbor (Ruth Gordon) hides an evil intent. Weird obstetricians, mysterious night noises and even Farrow’s improvised stroll into actual oncoming traffic add up to a bustling nightmare that’s spawned many a Black Swan since.

5.  Manhattan (1979)

It's a cliché to refer to the Woodster's dramedy as a valentine to his hometown, but c'mon: How else could you describe this gorgeous tribute to the skylines, the Queensboro Bridge and the city dwellers of New York? "Chapter One: He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. He adored Manhattan. He idolized it all out of proportion." Take that, Brooklyn!

6.  Do the Right Thing (1989)

Spike Lee and cinematographer Ernest Dickerson transform an actual block of Bedford-Stuyvesant into an outer-borough version of Gauguin's Tahiti: Every block, bodega and trash-talking B-boy suddenly becomes part of a colorful, expressionistic landscape that somehow feels hyperreal. Made as a direct response to the Howard Beach incident, Spike's story about New York's racial melting pot coming to a boil encompasses Brooklyn in full: the mix of ethnicity and class, stoop culture and gentrification, pride and anger. All this, and Rosie Perez dancing to Public Enemy's "Fight the Power." How many movies can claim that fact, Jack?

7.  King Kong (1933)

Any list of New York films has to include one of the most famous images of the city ever committed to celluloid: the giant stop-motion ape beating his chest atop the  Empire State Building  and swiping at the biplanes that have come to take him down. King Kong’s tragic end at the top of the tower holds up remarkably well almost eight decades later, not just because of the practical special effects (which impart a dreamlike reality of their own), but because he’s far from the only visitor to have met his downfall in the city that never sleeps. It is, of course, a jungle out there.

8.  Shadows (1959)

Where else would the watershed movie of American independent cinema be shot but NYC? John Cassavetes's landmark debut ambles along with neurotic Beats through MoMA, drifts in and out of smoky nightclubs and their denizens' heads, and watches as cityfolk fall in love with (and betray) each other.

9.  Escape from New York (1981)

In the not-too-distant future (of 1997), the isle of Manhattan has become a maximum-security prison, home to mohawked killers, slick con artists, gun-toting femmes fatales and other assorted crazies. John Carpenter’s gorgeously grimy thriller posits a memorably dystopian Big Apple: The spectacular opening shot—a slow rise up and over the prison wall—is like a WELCOME TO NY! postcard from an alternate universe (a young fella named James Cameron was one of the background-matte painters). Our eye-patch-sporting antihero, Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell, the epitome of sneering manliness), uses the Twin Towers as a landing platform for his glider—an unintentionally loaded image. The  New York Public Library  and  Grand Central Terminal  are villains’ trash-strewn headquarters. And all the bridges are mined! Scene by scene, Carpenter satirizes the de rigueur fears of a crime-plagued NYC—which is funny considering the film was mostly shot in St. Louis.

10.  On the Town (1949)

There are few more exuberant evocations of a visit to NYC than Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s adaptation of Leonard Bernstein’s musical, in which a trio of sailors (Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Jules Munshin) spend their shore leave out and about, romancing three different women. They sing, dance, flirt and even fit in a visit to the  Empire State Building , with the stakes no higher than having a great time before they head back to sea. The film’s sheer, frantic joy finds time for the still-useful directional advice that “the Bronx is up, but the Battery’s down.”

11.  The French Connection (1971)

The car chase in which Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle follows the D train through Bensonhurst is one of the all-time best for a reason: William Friedkin brilliantly captures the clammy-palmed madness of a high-speed pursuit through bustling, crowded neighborhoods that yield for no one.

12.  Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Is there a better opening scene in all of cinema than John Travolta strutting through Bay Ridge, paint can in one hand, double-stacked pizza slice in the other, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ chugging on the soundtrack? It tells you everything you need to know about this guy, this place and this point in time. Maybe there’s something out there ‘better’, but we’re certain nothing is cooler – in a few years, the same mooks hanging around Travolta’s blue-collar boogie king would be claiming disco sucks, but in ’77, the greatest escape from the drudgery of the outer boroughs was on the dancefloor.

13.  After Hours (1985)

Martin Scorsese's "minor" downtown-after-dark comedy offered up some nice lessons for '80s New York newbies: Stay out of Soho (or at least away from Spring Street's boho lofts) once the sun goes down; hold on to your money whenever you take a taxi south of 14th Street; and never trust the city's punk clubgoers or ice-cream-truck drivers. This Scorsese picture exemplifies Gotham as a nightmarish wonderland almost as essentially as  Taxi Driver .

14.  Ghostbusters (1984)

Manhattan’s got an otherworldly pest problem in Ivan Reitman’s blockbuster supernatural comedy. They’re among the stacks in the  New York Public Library ; they’re in and around  Central Park ; they’re even hiding in a scared-stiff street vendor’s hot-dog cart. Do we have to ask who you’re gonna call?

15.  Chelsea Girls (1966)

Conceived at Max’s Kansas City and inspired by the  Hotel Chelsea  (where it was mostly shot), Andy Warhol’s three-and-a-half-hour underground opus was also an unlikely commercial hit, a split-screen endurance test of nonnarrative vignettes featuring the Pop artist’s menagerie of eccentric New York personalities—the cultural progenitors of histrionic reality TV.

16.  On the Waterfront (1954)

The greater NYC skyline lingers in the backdrop like an unreachable dream in Elia Kazan’s bruising corruption drama, based on Malcolm Johnson’s articles for the late New York Sun. The Hoboken docks are so tough that, as one character says, they almost “ain’t part of America,” but are their own seemingly unchangeable kingdom.

17.  Annie Hall (1977)

Woody Allen’s Alvy Singer may be the movies’ most New York character, so much so that he grew up underneath a  Coney Island  roller coaster. Perceptively, his New Yorkness seems the reason for the demise of his relationship: As Annie tells him, “You’re like this island unto yourself.”

18.  Wall Street (1987)

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good,” goes the classic line (paraphrased from an actual Ivan Boesky speech), but the richness of Oliver Stone’s morality tale comes through with every scene. Here are dizzying office views and the watering holes (the  ‘21’ Club ,  Tavern on the Green ) of the ultrarich. Who can blame Charlie Sheen for buying an automatic sushi maker and selling out?

19.  The Warriors (1979)

New York’s real and fictional gangs have garnered their share of screen time over the years, but no one has depicted the city’s “armies of the night” as colorfully as Walter Hill. Fleeing from the Bronx to their  Coney Island  home turf, the Warriors encounter cabals of hoods ranging from the terrifying (Gramercy Riffs) to the campy (Baseball Furies). It’s street warfare as costume party, where fashionable psychos come out and plaaa-aaay.

20.  The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

Suffer from claustrophobia or L-train freak-outs? Then Joseph Sargent's original thriller about the hijacking of a 6 subway is just the sort of shock therapy you need. If it's too much for your nervous system, just revel in the fantastic cast of cranks and crazies, led by Walter Matthau's grumpy transit cop and Robert Shaw's suave psycho ringleader.

21.  Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Very likely Woody's best balance of nebbishment and nourishment, this romantic comedy immortalizes a trove of NYC experiences that are, heartbreakingly, no more: Bobby Short cooing at the Carlyle Club; punk bands squalling at CBGB; intellectuals flirting at the old Pageant Books.

22.  Serpico (1973)

Can a hero survive NYC’s mean streets? Just barely, as Sidney Lumet’s crime classic—based on the tragic real story of uncorrupted cop Frank Serpico—depicts. Fulsome in his righteous rage, Al Pacino uncorked a signature performance, torn between do-gooder zeal and go-it-alone anxiety. Shooting in every borough except Staten Island, the film is a near-complete portrait of the city at its grimiest.

23.  42nd Street (1933)

“You’re going out a youngster—but you’ve got to come back a star!” Has any line captured the zero-to-famous allure of the Great White Way better? This peerless backstage musical also gave us the title song (“where the underworld can meet the elite”) and a delirious Busby Berkeley–choreographed tribute to Broadway’s own boulevard of broken dreams.

24.  Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

A literary gigolo (George Peppard) and a high-class prostitute (Audrey Hepburn) are rudderless lovers in a town where lost souls are as common as Cracker Jack rings. Blake Edwards’s adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella (mostly shot on the Paramount lot but with key exteriors in NYC, including the famous  Fifth Avenue jewelry store ) uses its New York state of mind to infuse a staggeringly depressing story with irresistible charm.

25.  Goodfellas (1990)

An Irish-American kid (Ray Liotta) gets his hands bloody with Brooklyn’s Italian-American wiseguys, shaking down everything from small-fry operations to JFK cargo freight. Martin Scorsese’s exhilarating biopic is a harrowing tribute to those who’d rather snake through the kitchen of the  Copacabana  and pistol-whip neighbors than endure law-abiding life like a schnook.

26.  American Psycho (2000)

Director Mary Harron flattered Bret Easton Ellis’s notorious novel by investing it with a deeper conception of yuppie evil (brilliantly conveyed by Christian Bale), and by filling the margins with humorous ’80s details: a chic parade of designer Tribeca restaurants and neon-laden nightclubs. A slick critique of coked-up consumption, Harron’s vision is one of the more recent NYC films worth a damn.

27.  Little Fugitive (1953)

A seven-year-old boy runs away to Coney Island in this black-and-white slice of life codirected by Ray Ashley, Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin, which may be the best cinematic record of the hazy boardwalk in existence. There's little dialogue to speak of; just the sights, sounds and smells of summer. If you've grooved on any number of French New Wave or child's-eye Iranian films, give praise to the big daddy.

28.  All That Jazz (1979)

Ping-ponging from a West 58th Street pussy-hound duplex to troubled Broadway show rehearsals and endless editing on his latest motion picture, Dexedrine-fueled director Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) makes extreme exhaustion look positively electric. Bob Fosse’s self-destructive film à clef proves it: Only in New York can workaholism be considered hedonistic.

29.  The Clock (1945)

A WWII soldier (Robert Walker) falls for city girl Judy Garland while on two-day leave, and he romances her in cathedral-size, extras-populated re-creations of Gotham landmarks such as Penn Station,  Central Park  and the  Metropolitan Museum of Art . Directed by Vincente Minnelli (and an uncredited Fred Zinnemann), this spellbinding romance is golden-age Hollywood at its finest.

30.  25th Hour (2002)

Bombastic, wrenching and heartsick, Spike Lee’s drama remains the great post-9/11 love letter to New York City—filled with American flags and displaced rage—as seen by a drug dealer (Edward Norton) about to head to jail for seven years. He bids goodbye to the messy, wounded, wonderful chaos of the city with one last night out, surrounded by everyone close to him.

31.  The Naked City (1948)

Jules Dassin's realistic crime drama wasn't the first to use actual NYC locations as backdrops, but his docu-noir certainly popularized the notion that corners like 57th and Lexington look much more authentic than studio back lots. You can also thank this story (one of 8 million, according to the opening voiceover) for every New York–based TV cop show of the past 40 years.

32.  Mean Streets (1973)

The film that launched a thousand irritating knockoffs has lost none of its startling power over the years. Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese, the Ronettes—what else do you want? How about a time capsule of the old Little Italy before it became a red-sauce tourist trap, a place of intimate power deals and dead-end desperation.

33.  Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Sergio Leone’s epic mob drama recently received an upgrade, closer to its original 269-minute running time. Can it even be improved upon? The standout section remains Leone’s heartbreaking evocation of 1920s Jewish tenement life on the LES, starring a cast of kids. Wanna-be toughs roam cart-strewn streets, chow down on deli food and flirt with a preteen Jennifer Connelly.

34.  West Side Story (1961)

The majority of this musical tour de force—a modern-day take on Romeo and Juliet—was shot on a soundstage. Yet it still has a fierce City That Never Sleeps flavor, helped in no small part by the stunning on-location opening sequence in which two rival gangs tussle their way from West 68th Street to 110th Street.

35.  Midnight Cowboy (1969)

John Schlesinger’s Oscar-winning drama not only offers a glimpse of the forty-deuce at its sleazy height; it captures the desperation of the hustlers and con men trying to survive in a city where everybody talks at you and nobody hears a word you say. Also, you might want to get outta Dustin Hoffman’s way—he’s walkin’ here!

36.  Shame (2011)

Never mind Michael Fassbender’s bollocks; the real nakedness in Steve McQueen’s portrait of a sex addict comes when our city’s pleasuredome facade is stripped away. It’s as much a portrait of post-9/11 NYC as it is of a broken man, encapsulated in a rendition of “New York, New York” that melds personal trauma and public anguish.

37.  Wild Style (1983)

Ladies and gentlemen, the South Bronx is…breaking! And popping, locking, tagging and rhyming. Grandmaster Flash, Lee Quinones, Fab Five Freddy, the Rocksteady Crew and Double Trouble (best lyric: "We love to make love to the jolly females") star as themselves in Charlie Ahearn's seminal hip-hop movie.

38.  Shaft (1971)

From Harlem to midtown to Greenwich Village, no one seems to have a finger on the pulse of the city like Richard Roundtree’s impossibly badass private eye in Gordon Parks’s blaxploitation classic. He’s a man whose loyalty shifts from faction to faction but always seems to belong, quietly, to New York.

39.  Metropolitan (1990)

Every Christmas vacation, the university-age scions of Upper East Side aristocracy return home for a few ritualized weeks of debutante balls and “after-parties,” in Whit Stillman’s semiautobiographical debut. Part  Great Gatsby  riff and part scalpel-sharp satire of entitlement, Whit Stillman’s comedy about the “urban haute bourgeoisie” is one auspicious debut. See it with friends, then spend the evening talking shit about them behind their backs.

40.  King of New York (1990)

Long before he became the go-to imitation for comedians everywhere, Christopher Walken turned what could have been a stock mob boss role into a tour de force. Watch how he dances with his old lackeys at the Plaza Hotel, or the way he climbs into that cab at the film’s end to meet his maker in Times Square; it’s like watching a master class in screen acting.

41.  The Godfather (1972)

Francis Ford Coppola’s film is the great myth of a shadow New York: an immigrant tale of assimilation pitted against the impulse to honor one’s dark roots. Its vision of the city is fittingly grounded in real locations, from Manhattan’s  New York State Supreme Court  steps to the Calvary Cemetery in Queens.

42.  The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Jim Henson and co’s first order of business when transporting the wide-eyed felt heroes to the Big Apple was creating an army of rats to staff the local diner. It is perhaps the most realistic thing the Muppets have ever done.

43.  My Dinner with Andre (1981)

Hard to believe that a movie about two guys swapping anecdotes and ideologies over a meal could be this riveting, but it’s one of the best talking-heads film ever made. Andre Gregory’s New Age blatherings are a bit much, granted, but once Wallace Shawn fires up the back-and-forth, the patience starts paying off. Fact is, we New Yorkers have these kind of dinner conversations every night.

44.  Six Degrees of Separation (1993)

You play the game with Kevin Bacon; why not watch the film? Donald Sutherland and Stockard Channing make ideal NYC art snobs in Fred Schepisi's excellent adaptation of the John Guare play, filled with pitch-perfect details: swank UES apartments, a visit to the Strand Bookstore, a stolen kiss in a Central Park buggy.

45.  Kids (1995)

Audiences were shocked by photographer-provocateur Larry Clark’s portrait of New York skate rats behaving badly (teenagers drinking and having sex? Who’d have thunk?), though anyone familiar with his early exhibits knew Clark had a knack for nailing youth culture’s nihilistic side. The filmmaker would descend into barely legal ogling in subsequent works, but his debut still packs a punch.

46.  Network (1976)

More jeremiad than satire, Sidney Lumet’s well-oiled production of Paddy Chayefsky’s prophetic masterpiece follows an amoral TV conglomerate that exploits a mentally ill news anchor by turning his low-rated national news show into whorehouse entertainment. This still-prescient vivisection of modern culture’s vapidity crackles with the nervous energy of midtown’s hothouse broadcasters.

47.  Flaming Creatures (1963)

A panoply of pornographic vignettes or a postmodern work of hormonal, hyperventilating art? Jack Smith’s masterful featurette still prompts hot-and-heavy debates, and its imagery still has the power to shock and thrill. It’s required viewing for anyone interested in the history of censorship, underground film and camp culture.

48.  Marty (1955)

Romance blooms on the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue, as a coupla dogs—lonely butcher Marty (Ernest Borgnine) and plain schoolteacher Clara (Betsy Blair)—meet at the Stardust Ballroom and find love against the odds. Borough native-son Paddy Chayefsky nabbed a screenplay Oscar for this Best Picture winner, a beautiful homily to homeliness.

49.  Man on Wire (2008)

The Twin Towers loom in the clouds, as if dreamt up by French daredevil Philippe Petit, who, in 1974, illegally danced between them on a tightrope. Filled with jaw-dropping footage of NYC and paced like a ’70s-era heist film, James Marsh’s documentary tells the real-life tale, subtly reclaiming a lost landmark of imagination. Thrilling and profound, the movie reaches great heights.

50.  Superman (1978)

Accept no remakes. Here's the gold-standard origin film, which unwittingly captures a pungent Koch-era New York in all its glory. We dare you not to get a lump in your throat when Christopher Reeve soars past Battery Park and the old skyline. That image alone merits the movie's placement on any reputable NYC list; the rest of the film offers at least a dozen more.

51.  Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Soon enough, Madonna’s grungy downtownness would be buffed to a mainstream sheen. But here it is, captured for all eternity. The rom-com’s mystery meeting point is  Battery Park , yet its more lovable locations include the bygone East Village thrift store Love Saves the Day (where the fought-over jacket is purchased) and Danceteria, a perfect place to get into the groove.

52.  The Crowd (1928)

One of the last silent masterpieces, King Vidor’s melodrama, despite its cast-of-thousands title, focuses almost exclusively on the life of a married couple. The pair meets cute on Coney Island, falls in love, gets hitched but comes to reckon with tenement life and crushed dreams.

53.  Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Truthfully, the city where it takes place is unspecified, but it’s impossible for us not to include Jim Jarmusch’s hip-hop fantasia, scored to the sinuous beats of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. Forest Whitaker cruises late-night streets in a stolen car, motivated by a solemn code of honor and capable of violent deeds.

54.  When Harry Met Sally… (1989)

After a casual run-in at Shakespeare & Co., an orgasmic conversation at  Katz’s Deli  and long walks through  Central Park , a Jersey-born Jew (Billy Crystal) realizes the high-maintenance shiksa (Meg Ryan) he resented since college is actually his soulmate. Director Rob Reiner and screenwriter Nora Ephron capture Manhattan romance with splendiferous anxiety.

55.  Fame (1980)

Alan Parker’s body-electrifying tale of  High School of Performing Arts  students trying to hit it big makes prime use of Gotham venues, from a thrillingly turbulent  Times Square  to the now-defunct 8th Street Playhouse’s midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

56.  Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)

Robert Benton’s tale of a brutal custody battle is set during a specific, privileged era on the Upper East Side, the place to where upwardly mobile professionals aspired. It becomes Manhattan’s answer to the idyllic suburbs of other movies, beneath the surface of which lie all kinds of trouble.

57.  Klute (1971)

Is it possible for a high-class call girl living in the West 40s to be a symbol of second-wave feminism in its heyday? Absolutely, when that woman is played by Jane Fonda in Alan J. Pakula's thriller. Although her shag could have walked away with the Oscar, Fonda took the statue (her first) for her indelible, volatile mix of impenetrable steeliness and near-pathological vulnerability—the ultimate New Yorker.

58.  Margaret (2011)

Kenneth Lonergan’s ragged masterpiece, haunted by personal and municipal trauma, showcases better than any film the flux of 8 million individual stories going at once. It also captures the way that a life-shaking, permanently altering experience for one teenager (the riveting Anna Paquin) can be just another glittering point in the kaleidoscope of the city.

59.  The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Noah Baumbach’s razor-edged semiautobiographical dramedy is set in a 1980s Brooklyn intellectual community that’s since devoured half the borough. For its cathartic image (see title), the movie revisits a childhood memory likely shared by any impressionable museumgoer of a certain age.

60.  Carnal Knowledge (1971)

Romantic dissatisfaction and a very Gothamite certainty that there’s always someone better out there shape Mike Nichols’s damning portrait of former college roommates (Art Garfunkel and Jack Nicholson). They navigate 25 years of shifting urban sexual mores but never find what they’re looking for.

61.  Tootsie (1982)

This movie's reputation has soared since its release. Dustin Hoffman plays a down-on-his-luck NYC actor who lands a soap-opera role by posing as a prim Midwestern woman. Local landmarks include the National Video Center (now home to luxury apartments and the Signature Theatre) and the Russian Tea Room (where Hoffman reveals his ploy to his agent); even Andy Warhol makes an appearance.

62.  Regeneration (1915)

Raoul Walsh’s silent tale of a poor kid who grows up into a criminal bigwig not only gave birth to the gangster movie, it was one of the few films to use actual New York City locations (specifically, the rough-and-tumble tenements of the Bowery) to add authenticity to its gritty rise-and-fall parable. It’s the first genuine NYC movie.

63.  On the Bowery (1956)

Best known for directing docs set in African jungles, Lionel Rogosin decided to turn his candid cameras on a concrete one: New York’s old Skid Row. His resulting documentary-narrative hybrid is an unflinching look at an urban no-man’s-land, along with some of its most destitute residents (one of whom died only weeks after the premiere).

64.  Super Fly (1972)

Gordon Parks Jr.’s thriller is not only one of the pimped-out pinnacles of blaxploitation cinema but the genre's  baaaadest  soundtrack, courtesy of Curtis Mayfield. (Here's where his brilliant "Pusherman" debuts.) We will always love and mourn Ron O'Neal, who expresses the hustler's code succinctly: "You don't own me, pig, and no motherfucker tells me when I can split."

65.  Speedy (1928)

Silent icon Harold Lloyd epitomizes Gotham’s scrappy go-getters as Harold “Speedy” Swift, who fights to save the city’s last horsecar from merger-happy street rail men. Lloyd’s laffer also boasts thrilling on-location tours of a bygone New York—particularly when the multihyphenate takes Babe Ruth on a high-octane taxi ride to the Bronx’s  Yankee Stadium .

66.  Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

Don’t worry—you’ll be seeing plenty more Woody on this list. This comedy, starring a transformed Mia Farrow as an Italian mob widow, deserves promotion from minor to major. Bookended by coffee klatches in the landmark  Carnegie Deli , the b&w lark also touches down on the  Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade  (Underdog float!).

67.  Paris Is Burning (1990)

“Looking head to toe, would you know?” Drag queens in Harlem and the Bronx form gay street gangs (and surrogate families) on the ball circuit, where outsize personalities like Venus Xtravaganza compete based on the “realness” of their mock-straight sartorial splendor. Jennie Livingston’s essential gender-reinvention documentary brilliantly extols the city’s outcast resilience.

68.  West Side Story

The songs are still great, Bernstein’s brassy score is the sound of New York in flux , and the story remains sturdy and deceptively simple. But the way Steven Spielberg reinvents this old classic with freshness and urgency is something very few filmmakers could match. Alongside all its startling craft and immaculate staging,  West Side Story weaves into its central love story a painful vision of how toxically Manhattan’s gentrification impacts immigrant communities. 

69.  Death Wish (1974)

A brutal NYC classic (one its star, Charles Bronson, had an uneasy time defending), this vigilante thriller crystallized the dangerous Beame-era Manhattan in the minds of millions. The pivotal scene goes down on a grungy subway car, where a furious Upper West Sider takes nickel-plated, .32-caliber vengeance on a pair of hapless muggers. Life would imitate art.

70.  Downtown 81 (1981)

That early-’80s Soho vibe of big money invading bohemia is unintentionally preserved in this plotless tale of a poor but spunky young artist who wanders the streets of Manhattan (and the famous Mudd Club) looking for love, inspiration and his big break. Sounds like any other indie, except that the film’s hero is played by Jean-Michel Basquiat, the Warhol disciple who died in 1988 of an overdose.

71.  Black Swan (2010)

Technically dazzling but emotionally brittle NYC dancer Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) becomes Swan Lake’s prima ballerina, but repressed passions sabotage her sanity—until they become a font of inspiration. Darren Aronofsky turns  Lincoln Center’s  rarefied campus into a Grand Guignol of power, lust and ambition, all in the name of artistic perfection.

72.  The Landlord (1970)

A spoiled Manhattan WASP (Beau Bridges) buys a Brooklyn tenement and learns some hard (but hilarious) life lessons from his primarily black tenants. Director Hal Ashby, making his feature debut, vividly captures the rough-and-tumble neighborhood that was Park Slope, long before it became stroller-mom central.

73.  Bad Lieutenant (1992)

Junkie officer Harvey Keitel shakes down punks for stolen cash, sexually harasses teen drivers and just can’t understand why that raped nun forgives her attackers. Abel Ferrara’s incendiary look at a corrupt cop’s Catholic guilt is consummate art-house grindhouse, typifying New York’s wide appetite for cathartic highbrow cinema and Times Square raunch alike.

74.  Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Darren Aronofsky’s unsparing adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.’s rough-edged tale of drug addiction finds seedy poetry in its Brooklyn locales: Brighton Beach has seldom seemed so hellishly sunbaked,  Coney Island  so unbearably decrepit and the Atlantic Ocean—an alluring nirvana—so entirely out of reach.

75.  Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)

The Jazz Age comes to thrilling life in Alan Rudolph’s ensemble drama about caustic wit Dorothy Parker. Among the many triumphs of this lovingly detailed period piece are the sequences set at the  Algonquin Hotel , where the gabsters gossip around the most famous table since King Arthur and his knights.

76.  The Cool World (1964)

Taking her camera into Harlem’s streets, independent filmmaker Shirley Clarke (The Connection) turned a story about a tough kid looking to move up a local gang’s hierarchy into a vérité-like view of the neighborhood itself. Few films have captured the area (circa the mid-’60s) with such a keen journalistic eye.

77.  Two Lovers (2008)

Disparities of class and temperament are keenly observed in James Gray’s underseen NYC drama, starring a pre-freakout Joaquin Phoenix (never better) as a suicidal Brighton Beach bachelor living with his worried parents. With the arrival of an alluring neighbor with expensive tastes (Gwyneth Paltrow), the movie sets off for swanky midtown locations—and a cautionary shiska romance.

78.  Cruising (1980)

Once protested by the gay community, William Friedkin’s thriller serves as an unintended snapshot of a narrow slice of the pre-AIDS Village scene, with sequences filmed at the legendary leather club Hellfire. Al Pacino serves as the audience’s enigmatic window onto S&M culture, playing an undercover cop who may be repelled by (or drawn to) everything he’s seeing.

79.  Good Time (2017)

Josh and Benny Safdie, NYC’s most reliable filmmaking duo (also of 2014’s Heaven Knows What ), upped their game with this instant crime classic, starring a totally transformed Robert Pattinson as an outer-borough schnook trying to spring his brother out of Rikers. Decision after decision, his Pacino-like character chooses the worst possible strategy and you cringe at his half-smart desperation.

80.  All About Eve (1950)

Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s peerless backstage Broadway drama uses the bright lights of the Theater District to illuminate a Darwinian world of competition, insecurity and backstabbing—one in which the fan waiting in the alleyway for a chance to meet the star would just as eagerly devour her and take her place as the lead. Not much has changed.

81.  Big (1988)

When Big plays the New York hits – skyscrapers, pizza, toy stores galore! – the awestruck reactions of Tom Hanks’s literal manchild are utterly priceless. But while the FAO Schwarz keyboard scene is iconic, perhaps the most NY thing that happens in Big comes early: Josh Baskin, alone in his shitty apartment, cries himself to sleep as the sounds of the city lead him to believe any second could be his last. If there’s a more universal New York feeling on film, we have yet to see it. 

82.  Dressed to Kill (1980)

New York City becomes a bored housewife’s erotic playground in Brian De Palma’s funny, suspenseful chiller. A luscious Angie Dickinson wanders through the  Metropolitan Museum  in pursuit of a flirty stranger (a quickie in a cab follows). Later, inquisitive hooker Nancy Allen shares a too revealing lunch with übernerd Keith Gordon at WTC’s Windows on the World.

83.  Frances Ha (2012)

A pre- Lady Bird Greta Gerwig (who cowrote the screenplay with director Noah Baumbach) stars as an Ivy League grad who dreams of becoming a dancer, despite having two left feet in more ways than one. Like a lot of Baumbach characters, she’s stuck in the past and a little developmentally arrested—but charmingly so. The movie has come to feel like a generational stamp, as did Annie Hall .

84.  Rear Window (1954)

The iconic Greenwich Village courtyard over which a convalescing Jimmy Stewart looks out and spots something he wasn’t meant to see perfectly encapsulates the subjective blindness that allows New Yorkers to lead parallel lives in such close quarters. Hitchcock’s thriller also captures what it takes to bring those imaginary boundaries crashing down.

85.  Smithereens (1982)

The poverty chic of the early-’80s Lower East Side is romanticized these days, but Susan Seidelman’s drama drops its art-world-wanna-be heroine into an LES full of self-centered dilettantes, obnoxious opportunists and predatory perverts. It’s a snapshot of an era that doubles as its own epitaph, one that smashes hipster nostalgia into shards.

86.  The Hunger (1983)

This sexy vampire tale takes place mostly in a ridiculous realm of spacious townhouses filled with smoke and coffins. But we include it for its opening scene alone: Bloodsuckers David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve prowl a sweaty, downtown nightclub for sweet young things, while Bauhaus pounds through its classic “Bela Lugosi’s Dead.” It’s a goth NYC we remember with a tear.

87.  Summer of Sam (1999)

The Bronx represents in Spike Lee’s ominous reconstruction of the 1977 David Berkowitz serial-killer panic, taking root in a city plagued by blackouts, racial tensions and—vividly rendered—a sweltering, inescapable heat. Lee imparts a hometown boy’s feel for pizzerias, hair salons and punk clubs (including the departed CBGB).

88.  King Kong (1976)

Dino De Laurentiis’s lascivious production infuses the animal magnetism of the 1933 original with a pervy sensibility (the overgrown primate literally fingers a visibly aroused Jessica Lange). And with a double phallus like the World Trade Center as a final setting, there’s no better city for a big ape to be a swinger.

89.  Hester Street (1975)

Joan Micklin Silver’s tribute to Jewish-diaspora life in the 1890s makes you feel as if you’ve stepped through a time portal. Her black-and-white re-creations of the avenues where an insulated community tried to assimilate to its new home bridges the gap between New York’s history and its present—an immigrant song straight from our city’s heart.

90.  While We’re Young (2014)

Josh and Cornelia (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts, both terrific) are Gen Xers in a marriage cooled by stalling ambitions and a failure to join their friends’ baby parade. It’s sexless nights on the iPad until the unexpected affections of a much younger Bushwick couple energize their lives. One day, Noah Baumbach’s comedy will be considered a classic, for Adam Driver’s definitive portrayal of a millennial alone.

91.  The Last Days of Disco (1998)

Set in the “very early 1980s,” Whit Stillman’s evocation of a dying Manhattan nightlife brings back the coke-laced dance palaces—including a club similar to  Studio 54 —and the desperation that would have the party go on forever. Another old-NYC gesture: Our young heroines, Chloë Sevigny and Kate Beckinsale, are up-and-coming editors at a publishing house. Today they’d be bloggers.

92.  Three Days of the Condor (1975)

Filmed at the peak of Hollywood’s political paranoia, this CIA thriller captures a tense, spy-saturated NYC that would reappear in The Bourne Ultimatum. Choice local touches include Robert Redford’s clandestine office on 77th Street at Madison, a quiet Brooklyn Heights getaway (occupied by sultry Faye Dunaway) and a WTC window overlooking the intrigue.

93.  Hamlet (2000)

Michael Almereyda transposes William Shakespeare’s seminal tragedy to the world of high finance as Ethan Hawke’s brooding prince goes up against his slick CEO stepfather. The modern-day setting—moving from grungy streets to antiseptic boardrooms and even that cylindrical mousetrap the  Guggenheim —adds thematic heft to the greatest of all plays.

94.  Man Push Cart (2005)

Indie filmmaker Ramin Bahrani provides an eloquent, empathetic backstory to a pushcart vendor so street-corner standard, he’s all but invisible to passersby. Bahrani explores the fictional man’s past as a Pakistani rock star and his lonely, lowly present in a New York that’s both beautiful and coolly indifferent to his Sisyphean struggle.

95.  Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Every Spider-Man movie is set in New York, but only Into the Spider-Verse truly feels like a New York movie – which maybe seems counterintuitive, considering it’s animated. But the film is illustrated with so much loving detail, it might as well have been shot on location in Brooklyn. In truth, it’s as much a tribute to the vibrancy of the city’s Black and Latinx communities as the Spidey mythos: Biggie blares from apartment windows; kids greet each other on the street with personalised handshakes; young protagonist Miles Morales even tags up an abandoned train tunnel with his uncle. And when he finally embraces his new superhero identity, swinging between skyscrapers and across rooftops and through traffic? Put it in a tourist brochure – it sells the grandeur and adventure of NYC as much as anything live-action.

96.  Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Stanley Kubrick’s polarizing swan song takes place in a Manhattan of the mind, specifically the sexually frustrated brain stem of Tom Cruise’s upper-crust physician. The film’s fantasy  Greenwich Village , populated by taunting fratboys, a hard-sell hooker and a Lolita-like teen is especially weird—and disquieting.

97.  God Told Me To (1976)

Larry Cohen’s sci-fi chiller about a detective investigating murderers who claim to be carrying out God’s will is the surreal B-side to Taxi Driver: a nightmare vision of the city’s repressed rage that starts with cameoing Andy Kaufman gunning down the St. Patrick’s Day parade and ends with our hero becoming what he was trying to stop.

98.  Hi, Mom! (1970)

Before he hooked up with Martin Scorsese, a little-known Robert De Niro made a couple of goofy, subversive little flicks with equally obscure director Brian De Palma. This no-budget black comedy captures porn-theater-era New York at its seediest. It also has jabs at downtown experimental theater: The “Be Black, Baby” sequence alone is worth the price of admission.

99.  Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

The specific New York City of 1991—somehow harsher and more wintry, and still, a place of cozy antiquarian bookstores and down-on-their-luck dreamers in overcoats—comes to life in this real-life tale of literary misadventure. No number of scenes shot in Julius’s warm bar, the whiskey flowing, can shake that restless mood. It’s atmosphere brewed to an expert degree of exactitude.

100.  Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That! (2006)

For their October 2004 Madison Square Garden concerts, the legendary Beastie Boys circulated 50 Minicams among the bumptious crowd, resulting in a kinetic, undeniably sloppy testament to fan-idol collaboration. This was crowdsourcing way ahead of the curve. We mourn you, Adam Yauch.

101.  C.H.U.D. (1984)

Recently name-checked in Jordan Peele’s Us , this schlock-horror Z flick articulates a primal NYC fear harbored by anyone who’s ever peered down a sewer grate: Who (or what) is living below? Not the homeless, not alligators, but cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers. As the poster of a shimmering Manhattan skyline warned, “They’re not staying down there, anymore!”

Looking for more of the best films?

Check out the 100 best thrillers of all time.

Dirty cops, femme fatales, grinning killers and bone-deep paranoia: Welcome to our ranked list of classic thrillers

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20 Extraordinary Movies Set In New York That Will Inspire You To Visit!

Posted on Last updated: October 13, 2023

Categories Travel Via Cinema , USA

Sofia De Vera combines a heartfelt passion for cinema with over 15 years of critiquing for esteemed film publications, wielding academic credentials from the University of Southern California and New York University, to serve as your personal guide through the enchanting worlds of film and television.  Her full guest bio can be found here.

There are certain special cities across the United States that have managed to cultivate their own enigmatic atmosphere and culture. New York City is one of those cities, and movies set in New York City typically manage to translate the unique atmosphere within the city to the big screen in a way that few places can ever match. 

Sometimes that atmosphere is one of historical importance, sometimes it is this blending of different cultures, and other times it is the feeling of unhingedness and wall-to-wall excitement that infiltrates the city’s air. The only thing you can ever say for certain after watching these films is that New York City is never boring.

After all, New York City is not only a major economic and cultural center, with an important hub of air traffic, but it also has diverse streetscapes, heritage homes, a rich history, and an illustrious creative arts scene.

Although it interrupts traffic and annoys neighbors, it is clear that in New York, the filming of movies and series on its streets has a positive impact on tourism and the economy. Movies shot in New York provide well-paying jobs for New Yorkers, support local businesses, and promote the city as a tourist destination.

Until the sixties, filming in the city required going through up to fifty official permits. Even Alfred Hitchcock had to shoot the exteriors of the UN in 1959 for ‘Death at His Heels’ hidden in a carpet cleaning van. But in 1966, the then-mayor of the city, John V. Lindsay, seeing the benefits that the film industry generated in California, included in his electoral program the promise to turn New York into a “movie city” through the Department of Cinema, Theater, and Retransmissions, which still works today.

New York has a lot to offer for both national and international filmmakers, as it has both modern cityscapes as well as historical architecture. It is widely regarded as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, so it will come as no surprise that there are so many wonderful movies set in New York.

The most famous city in the world is bound to have tons of things to offer. Even those farthest away from New York know about it: this big metropolis where dreams come true and the fate of entire cultural industries is decided.

Yet there are still many things left unsaid about the city, and films are a perfect way to express that which can’t be said. All genres of stories have been told in the city. But it still hasn’t lost its charm: modern filmmakers manage to show new things that nobody had noticed before in this place.

New York is a place with many voices that want to be heard. With each of these movies, you’ll get closer to the city and its people. By the end, you are going to know this unique city as well as the most typical New Yorker

These New York films have narratives that rely on their settings as much as their main protagonists, and as a result, spectators get a glimpse of this iconic country through the director’s eyes. To honor the concept of cinematic travel, we have also assembled lists of our favorite films shot in some of our all-time favorite travel destinations: Romania , Italy , Mexico , Ireland , Australia , Japan , Alaska , and Israel .

Wondering where to watch? It depends on where you live in the world and which streaming services you have. We link to the streaming service we watch on in each case - be it Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, or elsewhere.

You can get one month free of Amazon Prime (or a 6-month trial for students ) of Amazon Prime and also get immediate access to FREE Two Day shipping, Amazon Video, and Music. While you won't be charged for your free trial, you'll be upgraded to a paid membership plan automatically at the end of the trial period - though if you have already binged all these, you could just cancel before the trial ends.

Apple TV+ also has a one-week trial, and Hulu has a one-month trial (which can be bundled with Disney!). Another option might be using a VPN to access Netflix titles locked to other regions . Netflix is now available in more than 190 countries worldwide and each country has a different library and availability. US Netflix is (understandably) one of the best. 

While we wish everything could just be in one place - for now, it seems these are the best streaming platforms to watch on.

Page Contents

The Godfather (1972)

Goodfellas (1990), rear window (1954), ghostbusters (1984), spider-man (2002), moonstruck (1987), when harry met sally… (1989), west side story (1961), uptown girls (2003), frances ha (2012), do the right thing (1989), birdman (2015), the devil wears prada (2006), autumn in new york (2000), the age of innocence (1993), annie hall (1977), midnight cowboy (1969), taxi driver (1976), kramer vs kramer (1979), gangs of new york (2002).

The overarching and profound influence that The Godfather has had on cinema from all over the world can’t be understated. This film, together with its two sequels (one in 1974 and another in 1990), is a landmark in the crime genre, and the filmmaking techniques used in its making have been applied in all kinds of films.

The Godfather tells the story of the Corleone crime family, who are not the most powerful but do have a lot of push in the local mafia politics. Its most notable members are Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando), the don and head of the family, and his son Michael (Al Pacino).

Filmed almost exclusively in New York, the film treats the city like a character, depicting every inch of its streets, of its people, with just the right historical buildings as a backdrop for the crime drama.

When the real-life building wasn’t appropriate, the production department built one, taking into account that it would have to fit seamlessly in the New Yorker Landscape. The film wouldn’t be the same if it were set in another city. There isn’t a better way to experience New York in 1945 than through The Godfather .

If The Godfather was the foundational film for the crime and gangster genre, this film takes this style to its greatest expression. Another classic New Yorker film directed by Martin Scorsese, this time the story of crime and darkness goes beyond fiction. Goodfellas is based on the book Wiseguy, which chronicles the life of infamous mob associate, and later FBI informant Henry Hill.

It´s a story that belongs in 1950s Brooklyn, when a young Hill (Ray Liotta) began working for a local Italian-American mobster and met those who would become his allies in the times to come: Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci). The three of them rise to the top of the New York crime food chain, but that’s when things get harder than ever: they become targets, both of the other mobsters and of the FBI.

Goodfellas doesn’t paint the prettiest picture of New York, but one can’t deny that it’s a love letter to its most hidden side. The entire film takes place in the city, with a great part being set in many different locations where crimes can be hidden away.

Yet the film’s most iconic shot is not in one of these locations: the long shot that takes Henry and his date from the car in the street to their table at the Copa Long nightclub, going all the way through the kitchens without cutting away. The shot was filmed in the famous New York cabaret known as Copacabana, with has been a staple of the city’s nightlife ever since the 1940s.

One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most famous films, Rear Window takes place in one of the many apartment buildings found in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Beyond all its significance in popular culture and the cinematic proficiency with which it was made, the film is actually very entertaining.

More than fifty years later, the stories that Hitchcock told still manage to move us. With a filmography as good as Hitchcock’s, it’s no little thing to say that Rear Window is regarded as one of his best.

The film tells the story of L. B. Jefferies (James Stewart), a photographer who was in an accident and has been bound to a wheelchair for a time. Alone in his apartment in New York, he has taken to watching his neighbors through the window.

This voyeuristic hobby turns sour when, after hearing a woman scream, he sees one of his neighbors coming and going sneakily through the courtyard.

Worried for his neighbor’s wife, Jefferies enlists his friend Lisa (Grace Kelly) in his attempt to discover the mystery of the scream. Rear Window tells a tense story that will keep you on the edge of your seat while never leaving that iconic apartment in New York.

The original Ghostbusters is regarded as one of the funniest films ever made. Though lots of people remember it to be a wacky comedy about trapping supernatural entities, it’s actually a very smartly written film, with many jokes that surely went over the heads of the kids and teenagers that watched it when it was released.

Starring the film follows a group of parapsychology professors that finally stumble upon a supernatural phenomenon, which gets them fired from Columbia. While Egon (Harold Ramis) and Ray (Dan Aykroyd) want to continue to investigate, Peter (Bill Murray) thinks that this is their perfect opportunity to get rich.

They establish the Ghostbusters, ghost exterminators that will end up saving the whole city from annihilation.

A popular tourist spot in New York, the fire station where the Ghostbusters set up their headquarters can be found in the neighborhood of Tribeca: fans constantly visit 14 North Moore Street in order to take a picture with the iconic station, which is still working today.

The ghostbusting phenomenon is so big that the station now bears a Ghostbuster badge on its front. Any fan of action comedies will surely enjoy this comedic masterpiece.

This iconic superhero movie paved the way for the more modern takes on the genre that can be seen in the last decade and a half. Spider-Man sees director Sam Raimi, who before had only worked on horror and thriller films, tackling one of the most famous comic book characters ever: the nerdy boy from Queens who’s bitten by a genetically-modified spider and thus becomes a superhero.

This story, that resonated so much with comic book readers, hadn’t found much success beyond the pages. It wasn’t until 2002 Spider-Man that the whole landscape of action-adventure blockbusters changed.

Set in New York City, Spider-Man follows Peter Parker (Tobey McGuire) as he tries to find his way in high school and, after being bitten by a “super-spider”, then tries to find his way as a superhero with powers like no other.

Like Spider-Man himself, the film is New Yorker through and through. The home where Peter lives with his uncle and aunt it’s a real house from Queens, his hometown. Of course, Peter and his classmates visit Columbia University, a staple of the city’s educational and intellectual activities, being one of the best schools in the world. One of the city’s most famous buildings is featured in the film: the wedge-shaped Flatiron Building, where the offices of the Daily Bugle are located.

This wonderful romantic comedy sees Cher falling in love with a young Nicholas Cage in a story about romance, family, and tradition. If you’re not so sure about Cher’s acting chops, you should totally see this movie.

Her performance as Loretta Castorini earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress (the film also won Best Original Screenplay). Moonstruck was directed by the talented Norman Jewison, who was also behind several other celebrated films, like In the Heat of the Night and Fiddler on the Roof .

The film tells the story of Loretta (Cher), a widow in her thirties who gets proposed to by her boyfriend who’s about to leave for Sicily. She accepts, only with the condition that they follow Italian tradition strictly.

And so, Loretta finds herself personally inviting her boyfriend’s estranged brother to the wedding. Yet, as she gets to know Ronny (Nicolas Cage), she finds that maybe this is the brother she should be with.

Moonstruck is a film deeply embedded in the culture of Italian descendants living in New York. There are many scenes that stand out as truly representative of the city, but Loretta and Ronny’s opera date at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is definitely at the top of the list.

Directed by Rob Reiner and written by Nora Ephron, experienced creatives in the art of romance stories, When Harry Met Sally… is one of the best romantic comedies ever to be made.

This film famously poses the question of whether men and women can be friends and, by the end, doesn’t quite give an answer to that. Still, the journey that we take through this film makes the latter parts become much more touching and moving. It’s a film that, by the end, it’s sure to put a smile on your face.

Set in 1997, the film follows Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), two graduates of the University of Chicago who are on a ride to New York. This is the first time they met, and it doesn’t end well. Yet fate would have it so that they would meet again and again, leading them to develop a friendship, and then something more…

One of the most iconic spots in New York film tourism is Katz’s of New York City, a delicatessen where Harry and Sally have lunch and she, famously fakes an orgasm. The famous line by Estelle Reiner, “I’ll have what she’s having”, can be found in a sign hanging over the very table where the scene was filmed.

A tragic tale retold; West Side Story is a romantic drama musical that brought a whole new level of entertainment to the genre. First conceived as a Broadway musical in 1957, it was created by Jerome Robbins, a famed dancer, and choreographer, who took inspiration from Romeo and Juliet to craft this captivating story.

For the making of the movie, Robbins collaborated with the outstanding Robert Wise. The result was an outstanding film that won ten Academy Awards, the most wins ever for a musical.

Set in the 1950s, the film tells the story of two rival gangs in West Side New York. While the Jets dare the Sharks to fight after an upcoming dance, Jets co-founder and ex-member Tony finds himself falling in love with Maria, who is sister to the leaders of the Sharks.

You’ll have to find out whether these star-crossed lovers meet a fate as tragic as Romeo and Juliet, or not. West Side Story is truly a New Yorker film. The film’s essence is embedded in this city. In fact, the standout scene in the movie is the love declaration, which happens in an iconic New York fire escape next to Maria’s window.

This comedy movie from the 2000s had a very bad reception by critics and audiences alike, yet now stands as one of the best of the decade.

The story of Uptown Girls , directed by Boaz Yakin, follows Molly Gunn (Brittany Murphy), the daughter of a dead rock legend and inheritor of his huge wealth, who suddenly finds herself penniless and completely lost due to an embezzling committed by her accountant.

This is how Molly becomes a nanny for “Ray” (Dakota Fanning), an eight-year-old who’s a little neurotic, as well as a little bit of a hypochondriac. At first, Ray is completely closed off from everything not orderly. Yet Molly is dedicated to showing Ray how to have fun.

The title of Uptown Girls refers, of course, to the uptown of Manhattan, where one can find the most elegant and rich places in New York. While there are plenty of Uptown sights in the film, the most interesting place shown is the Bow Bridge, which crosses the beautiful lake at Central Park.

Built entirely out of cast iron, the bridge is one of the most stunning sights that can be found in the whole park. In the film, it’s seen in the scene where a desperate Molly visits and ends up jumping into the lake.

Frances Ha is a comedy-drama film that tells a fascinating story of a struggling dancer that carries some good punches. The film didn’t have the most uproarious of welcomes, but it was indeed praised by critics and liked by audiences. It wasn’t until several years later that the film would garner the cult following that it has today.

This is, in part, due to the career that its director and actress had after it. It’s true that Noah Baumbach had a long career before Frances Ha , but it wouldn’t be until Marriage Story that he would become renowned. The same goes for his partner (both in life and in writing), Great Gerwig, who wouldn’t see huge success until the release of Lady Bird and Little Women .

Set in NYC, the film follows the life of Frances Halladay (played by Gerwig), a struggling dancer about to turn thirty who learns that her roommate and best friend, Sophie (Mickey Sumner), is moving with her boyfriend.

This means that Frances would be living alone in her Brooklyn apartment, but she doesn’t have enough money to pay the rent on her own. Angry with Sophie, the film sees Frances relocating to Chinatown and trying to get her life together once and for all.

Do the Right Thing is a comedy-drama film entirely created by the extraordinaire filmmaker Spike Lee. He not only wrote, produced, and directed the film, but he also acted in it.

The film follows Lee’s character, Mookie, as he delivers pizzas in a racially tense Brooklyn neighborhood. As the film goes by, we get to meet the picturesque residents of this place and get a sense of what binds them together as a community. By the end of this film, this community will be shaken by several tragedies.

The movie is set on Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn with a very high percentage of African-American population. The place where Jay-Z was born, Bedford-Stuyvesant had never been portrayed in a film before: it’s not only the neighborhood, of course.

Do the Right Thing is a provocative film that founded a whole new way for African-American creatives to express their own life experience. And it did so at a time when racial tensions were still high. Spike Lee managed to tell an enchanting story while, at the same time, painting a vivid picture of what black New Yorkers go through in their day-to-day lives.

Does the latest film by Alejandro González Iñárritu have a plot? Yes, of course, it does. And it’s very simple; it’s not even particularly original: a former movie star wants to redeem himself from his Hollywood past by editing, directing, and starring in a serious play.

The preparations for the play will serve so that, in a series of catharsis, the protagonist understands himself and the life that surrounds him. What? Forty-five words. It’s been forty-six, and that’s not a plot; it’s not even a synopsis.

The protagonist is Riggan Thomson, a former Hollywood actor who, in his sixties, wants to prove to the world that he is not only the star of a series of superhero movies from twenty years ago – the eponymous Birdman – but that he is an actor of truth. A theater actor. From Broadway. And the work that he adapts is neither more nor less than What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver. Intimate, deep, serious.

Without artifice or concessions, a galaxy away from the blockbusters that Thomson has played. So true that critics have never been able to find a misinterpretation of it. The lead actress in the play is a Hollywood actress in her prime, but she is as excited as she is terrified to perform on the Broadway stage. The second actress is Thomson’s new partner, whom the protagonist treats like an annoying mosquito.

Something similar can be said of Thomson’s daughter, a recently recovered addict who acts as her personal assistant, or even the theatrical producer, practically the only friend of the protagonist and who will do everything possible to make the play come to fruition.

The protagonist in Birdman is Michael Keaton, a sixty-three-year-old Hollywood actor who plays a Hollywood actor who wants to be a stage actor, whom almost everyone knows for having been Batman two decades ago. The second actor is Edward Norton, one of the best-regarded performers by world critics. Of the few of his generation that he is a real actor, and that he plays a real actor; but that, on the other hand, he was The Incredible Hulk.

The first actress is Naomi Watts, with the wrinkles of fullness. Her daughter is Emma Stone, cynical and unbelieving. She is too self-aware for her age, too hurt to believe in parents, much less in superheroes. Are you talking about Stone or her character? From her character, Stone has been Spiderman’s girlfriend for nothing. And the producer is Zach Galifianakis, so often stupid and hungover, but here he is the only sensible and focused character in the film.

It has been 15 years since The Devil Wears Prada was released, an important film in Anne Hathaway’s career that was part of her transition from teen comedies to dramas and other somewhat deeper genres. The film came shortly after Brokeback Mountain , in which her character Anne had her first dramatic steps that managed to grab the attention of many.

Just a couple of weeks ago, on the occasion of her anniversary celebration, some details behind the production were revealed, such as the fact that Hathaway was not the favorite for the role, but with her insistence and the support of Meryl Streep, she managed to get it. The film covers the theme of fulfilling your job dream, showing that it is not an easy path; Broadly speaking, it seeks to point out that it is not worth losing everything in order to get your ideal job.

But despite this, it is still present that after everything she lived in that fashion editorial, the protagonist achieved maturity and returned to the right path, implying that this is how things should be. Without a doubt, the film, as commercial as it may seem, has many things to reflect on, such as the fact that Andy’s boyfriend is not empathetic and only thinks of himself, or that his friends criticize her for giving him priority to their duties, but still receive their gifts with excitement.

Autumn in New York is a 2000 American film directed by Joan Chen and starring Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, and Anthony LaPaglia. The film, along the lines of Love Story, tells of the mature Will Keane (Richard Gere), who falls in love, perhaps for the first time, with the young and sensitive Charlotte (Winona Ryder), a woman who is the daughter of his old flame, who discovers that she is seriously ill with neuroblastoma of the heart.

Will Keane, a forty-eight-year-old restaurant owner, can’t seriously bond with a woman, so when he meets Charlotte Fielding, a carefree girl half his age, he imagines another easy story. But nothing about their relationship will be pointless and venial. When the time comes for Will to decide to end the relationship, Charlotte confides in him that her story, in any case, could not have lasted since she is dying of cardiac neuroblastoma.

Although Charlotte’s grandmother is not thrilled about her romance, she asks Will not to abandon her granddaughter at such a tragic time. In fact, the grandmother does not want her granddaughter to stay as she did to her daughter with the same man: Will is in trouble, caught between his own fears and some kind of moral duty. The only person who doesn’t seem concerned about such a situation is Charlotte herself, who has taken her illness philosophically and has no intention of fighting it, limiting herself to living to the fullest the time that remains of her. Now Will realizes that he has really fallen in love with a woman for the first time and begins an exhausting search to try to save his beloved.

In the end, also thanks to the help of his daughter, with whom he has a somewhat troubled past, Will finds a surgeon willing to operate on Charlotte, but only as a last resort. After a few collapses, Charlotte suffers the decisive blow; she is hospitalized and operated on, but the conditions are too severe, and therefore, in the end, she dies. For the first time, Will is left alone, but to his rescue comes the newfound daughter, who also makes him a grandfather.

Often, the veneration for a certain director provokes certain prejudices in his admirers. Prejudices that prevent the evaluation of some submissions, far from the usual in appearance, and automatically considering them ridiculously inappropriate for the personality of the artist in question.

When Scorsese announced that he would be adapting Edith Warthon’s novel ‘The Age of Innocence’ (for which he would win the Pulitzer Prize in 1921), many were quick to express their displeasure, as if the Italian-American filmmaker was only capable of brilliantly filming bloody and dizzying gangster dramas, and as if this decision responded more to a need to seek prestige and less to a personal and creative impulse.

But if Scorsese is the great filmmaker that so many revere, it is also because his personal universe is not restricted by genres, themes, or labels, but rather is influenced, amplified, and enriched by an insatiable cultural and intellectual curiosity that constantly presses on his ideas and artistic limits, then expands them.

The truth is that it had been a long time Scorsese had wanted to dive into a story of these characteristics, and Wharton’s novel was ideal for him for many reasons. Born into an aristocratic New York family, Wharton was groomed from an early age to become a distinguished lady of high society. But her exciting life completely cuts her off from that destiny.

The Age of Innocence is an accurate and implacable portrait of a universe closed in on itself, whose laws prevent the natural expression of feelings and whose creeping participants find pleasure in all kinds of rumors and gossip, judging others, getting into their lives and in their personal relationships. Its credit titles, created for the third time by Elaine and Saul Bass for Scorsese, exemplarily contextualize the theme of the film, with a succession of flowers of different colors, which we see through a filter with Victorian calligraphy or lace.

The successive blooming of the flowers reveals that lace, that filter that seems to capture them. The obvious metaphor of the fight against the repression that Madame Olenska and Newland Archer, with their secret relationship, carry out. But all the scenery, the meticulous detail, are aimed at representing a sublimation of the superficially luxurious against the urgency and anguish of unstoppable passion.

Of all the collaborations between Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, which began in 1972 with ‘Sueños de seductor,’ perhaps the most intimate is Annie Hall , a work that draws on the lives of both when they had a fruitful emotional and artistic relationship.

The boundary between fiction and reality is as blurred here as in a fictionalized and metatextual autobiography by Vladimir Nabokov. Not in vain, the leading couple meet during a tennis match, one of the great hobbies of the author of Look at the Harlequins, and the central theme of ‘Match Point,’ the latest film by the American director. Woody Allen conceived the character of Annie Hall as a copy of his sentimental partner.

Suffice it to note that Diane Keaton’s original last name is Hall, and that Annie is a pet name that her closest friends know her by. Also, before being an actress, Diane Keaton worked in nightclubs as a singer, as in the film. In a parody game, the character played by Allen is called Alvy Singer, as if he were emulating one of those clever anagrams so characteristic of Nabokov.

‘Annie Hall’ was so successful at the time of its release that it became a mass phenomenon. Diane Keaton brought her own clothing to her character, creating fashion. In this way, the vest, the tie, the baggy pants, and the fedora hat began to be exhibited in the windows of the chicest stores on Fifth Avenue. In these fineries, he seemed the reincarnation of George Sand, a temperamental and independent character who astonished Parisian society with his manly demeanor.

Two scenes that take place outside of New York allow us to define what that city is for a young Texan who is going to try his luck in the great metropolis. Despite being British, John Schlesinger made, in 1969, Midnight Cowboy , which, together with Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), is one of the most New York films in living memory.

Some consider it a product of the twilight western, like Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969), but in reality, it could not be more urban or more significant than a place like the Big Apple. Both close the 1960s, a controversial decade, if any, where innumerable historical events took place that had international repercussions: the fight against racial segregation, the Vietnam War, the rise of the hippie culture, the artistic counterculture, the imposition of rock music… In short, years full of meaning and abrupt changes for a society that until then lived in a bubble of naive prudery.

The opening sequence sees us as Joe Buck, a young Texan preparing to leave his country life for the big city. Dressed as a cowboy, he grooms himself, shines his boots, and leaves with a leather suitcase, where he carries his few belongings. Joe looks in the mirror, proud of his appearance. They are the best lights of him to shine in the capital.

Near the end of the film, during his transfer to Miami, Joe changes his dirty and ruined clothes. The cowboy outfit is left in a dumpster, where the leather boots that he polished with such dedication refuse to enter.

In Midnight Cowboy, New York unfolds through the windows of a multi-story hotel where Joe has arrived from his homeland; in the subway, where Joe meets Rizzo once he has been ripped off; in the filthy streets that he walks, while transvestites, prostitutes, and pederasts offer his services; in the dark movie theaters where he gets clients who require paid love, in the mansion ready to collapse in the middle of Times Square, where Rizzo welcomes him in his shelter; at the hotels on Fifth Avenue, where Joe gets kicked out, while Rizzo waits for him outside on a cold winter night, or even at the Warhol Factory party, where they both turn up for a random invitation and go out alienated…

The alienation leaves them with a desire, an escape from that harsh life that doesn’t offer them even a glimmer of opportunity. Miami is the new Promised Land, where they will go renewed in hope, but with a future as tragic as their life in New York has been.

The sequence has been honored hundreds of times, frames that make clear the influence of Taxi Driver since its premiere on February 8, 1976. Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) looks at himself in the mirror, a shoulder holster keeps a pair of weapons on his naked torso, draws and asks his reflection: Are you talking to me?

The image quickly became an icon of the American counterculture of the late 1970s; since then, it has been recreated in other fiction, television series, t-shirts, notebooks, graffiti, and more, making Bickle one of the most popular characters in the world. His popularity is such that some have made him a hero, such as John Warnock Hinckley Jr., who, inspired by the actions of the protagonist of Taxi Driver , tried to assassinate then-President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981.

For the film critic Alonso Díaz de la Vega, this demonstrates the way in which the validity of the film directed by Martin Scorsese has been maintained since 1976 and how the themes behind its images have been misunderstood by a part of the public, which wishes to emulate to Travis and ignores the portrait of toxic masculinity created by Scorsese and Paul Schrader, screenwriter of the film.

It is a very contemporary film, more than in its time. So it was seen as a counter-narrative; what it did was contradict the attempt to cover up the disappointment with Nixon, Vietnam, the end of the summer of love. It is a film that, if seen today, is going to be read in a way that is closely linked to the American extreme right. It is. In the end, Travis Bickle is a representation of that kind of man.

The main characters, the wife and the husband, arouse the identification of men and women from any country in the 1970s and 40 years later, as they represent two universally valid archetypes: the woman who musters up the courage to break up with a marriage unsatisfactory, and the man who assumes, at a good time and full time, his paternity beyond his traditional role as a provider of material sustenance.

In addition to the couple and their conflicts, and the divorce, and the custody trial, Kramer vs. Kramer is one of the films whose narrative is aimed, above all, at showing the daily life of the father and his son, that is to say, that the greatest part of the scenes focuses on human warmth, the affective and filial world, the common people who are forced to grow above their customs, mental schemes and ordinary desires.

By the way, none of Robert Benton’s subsequent films had the success, the awards, the excellent reviews, or the eternal applause of the spectators as Kramer against Kramer did, which, in addition to the perceptive and emotional story about a couple in crisis and a child in the middle of the conflict, presents the histrionic competition, brilliantly exhibitionist, between a Dustin Hoffman who has become one of the most brilliant actors of his generation and an almost debutant Meryl Streep, but willing to steal from the brilliant “anti-divo,” at least, the last third of the film.

To convince you that Gangs of New York is a great movie, suffice it to say that it was directed by Martin Scorsese and starred Leonardo Di Caprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, and Liam Neeson.

Steven Zaillian was also the screenwriter for great movies like Schindler’s List, Hannibal, American Gangster. Next to him was Kenneth Lonergan, screenwriter for Manchester by the Sea, Analyze That. The duo captured the idea that the director had already had in mind since the 70s.

Is that, after reading the book “The Gangs of New York” by Herbert Asbury (1928), Martin did not stop imagining how to bring the story of Irish immigrants to the big screen. The book awakened in Scorsese the dream of narrating in a mega film the struggle for survival, in the midst of the American civil war and the crisis, between natives and newcomers. Scorsese revealed that one of the reasons why he took so many years to make this film was the fact that he could not decide what part of the story to tell, in addition to the world he should create.

Michael Ballhaus was director of photography. Michael is responsible for the art of films such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula.

Lighting plays a very important role in the setting and in conveying the feeling of oppression. At Scorsese’s request, Rembrandt’s use of light was imitated.

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The 21 Best Films Set in New York City

Probably beginning with Herald Square (1896), thousands of movies have been set in New York City . These 21 New York film locations can justifiably be called the best.

1. the apartment (1960).

Billy Wilder’s sardonic romantic drama , a 1960’s Best Picture Oscar-winner, lacerates the sleazy corporate politics of an era when male workers treated their workplace as a pick-up joint. Insurance clerk C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) has found that lending his Upper West Side brownstone apartment to his bosses so they can sleep with their female colleagues is the surest means of getting a quick promotion. Baxter begins to rue his decision when he discovers that the elevator operator (Shirley MacLaine) he loves has been having a ruinous affair with his adulterous boss (Fred MacMurray). Look for the scenes when Baxter catches a cold in Central Park (as Lemmon really did), meets a Brooklyn barfly (Hope Holiday) on Christmas Eve, and is upbraided by the doctor neighbor (Jack Kruschen) who thinks he’s a Casanova. The Apartment had a marked influence on Mad Men .

2. All About Eve (1950)

Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, the 1950 Best Picture Oscar-winner skewered egoism and ambition among New York theater types at a time when there was intense rivalry between Broadway and Hollywood. Bette Davis stars as the ageing diva who hires a supposedly smitten fan (Anne Baxter) as her assistant, only to find the girl is intent on replacing her as Broadway’s ruling actress. Locations include the theater at 242 West 45th Street (then the Royale, now the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater), “21” Club, West 52nd Street, and Fifth Avenue. All About Eve is the only movie for which four actresses have been Oscar-nominated, but stars Davis and Baxter and supporting actresses Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter all went home empty-handed.

3. 25th Hour (2002)

Spike Lee’s rueful drama mostly unfolds on the night before convicted drug dealer Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) starts a seven-year sentence in an upstate prison. It meshes together Monty’s ruminations, recollections, and a concluding fantasy of escape; he also indulges an explosive bathroom rant against New York City stereotypes. Though 25th Hour isn’t “about” 9/11, New York City’s collective PTSD is implicit in the movie’s pervasive anxiety, as evidenced by the shots of Monty and his friends (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Barry Pepper) looking down on Ground Zero before they go clubbing. Rosario Dawson, Anna Paquin, and Brian Cox co-star.

4. In the Cut (20o3)

American flags flap bravely in the Manhattan breeze in Jane Campion’s neo-noir, another film exuding the post-9/11 mood of fear and vulnerability. Based on Susanna Moore’s feminist thriller, In the Cut gave Meg Ryan her best role – and elicited her best performance – as writing professor Frannie Avery, who begins a sexually intense affair with a police detective (Mark Ruffalo) investigating a prostitute’s murder in Frannie’s neighborhood. Jennifer Jason Leigh excels as Frannie’s lovelorn sister. Campion makes memorably atmospheric use of 7th Street, the Lower East Side, and especially the Little Red Lighthouse beside George Washington Bridge.

5. The Age of Innocence (1993)

Martin Scorsese’s sumptuous adaptation of Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer-winning 1920 novel was mostly filmed in Troy, New York, but it is a period-perfect evocation of the late 19th-century Gilded Age in New York City. In the 1870s. well-to-do lawyer Newland Archer (Daniel Day-Lewis), who is betrothed to May Welland (Winona Ryder), falls for May’s socially disgraced cousin Countess Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer). Social mores and his own sense of duty thwart Newland’s generation-long passion for Ellen. Scorsese filmed scenes on 8th Avenue between Carroll and President streets in Brooklyn’s Park Slope and at Prospect Park’s Boathouse.

6. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Alexander Mackendrick’s sour masterpiece nails the inherent viciousness of power-broking in New York journalism. Desperate to get his clients mentioned in the syndicated column written by the monstrous J.J. Hunsecker (Burt Lancaster), press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) agrees to break up the relationship between J.J.’s sister Susie (Susie Harrison) – on whom the columnist unhealthily dotes – and her jazz guitarist boyfriend (Martin Milner). Where does Sidney draw the line? Some of the best scenes take place in the Brill Building and at “21” Club , where J.J. ruthlessly holds court.

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7. Do the Right Thing (1989)

Simmering racial tensions in the summer heat lead to a white cop choking an African-American man to death, which causes a street riot and the burning down of a Bedford-Stuyvesant pizzeria. One of Spike Lee’s most important films – and still one of his best – Do the Right Thing was partially inspired by the racially prompted killing of Michael Griffith, a Trinidadian immigrant, in Howards Beach, Queens, in December 1986.

8. Rear Window (1954)

A celebrated Alfred Hitchcock thriller, Rear Window stars James Stewart as L.B. “Jeff” Jefferies, a voyeuristic wheelchair-bound photographer who realizes that one of his neighbors (Raymond Burr) has murdered his wife. Grace Kelly co-stars as Jeffries’ beautiful socialite girlfriend whose fussing around him intensifies his sense of impotence. The Greenwich Village apartment building Jeffries gazes on at “125 West Ninth Street” was modeled on the one at 125 Christopher Street, which still exists. Though Rear Window was filmed on Hollywood sets, it captures the unease engendered by compressed living in Manhattan.

9. West Side Story (1961)

New York is, historically, a city of immigrants from different countries. Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins’ Romeo and Juliet reboot West Side Story – based on the 1957 musical – showed the depth of the cultural divides via the rumbles between the Sharks and Jets, respectively Puerto Rican and white street gangs. The setting was the Upper West Side’s old Lincoln Square tenement area, which was demolished to make way for the Lincoln Center complex in the early 1960s. Some of the filming took place where the West Side meets the East Side on 110th Street.

10. Taxi Driver (1976)

Martin Scorsese’s excoriating thriller captured the Times Square–42nd Street area when it was a miasma of XXX theaters, sex shops, and peep shows. Surveying the purveyors and customers from his yellow cab, Robert De Niro’s Vietnam vet turned vigilante hopes the rain will come and “wash all this scum off the streets.” His wishes came true: this decrepit part of midtown Manhattan was redeveloped under the watch of New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani in the 1990s, though the planning had begun under Mayor Ed Koch in the 1980s.

11. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Susan Seidelman’s romantic fairytale is about a shy, frustrated New Jersey housewife (Rosanna Arquette) who takes on the identity of a free-spirited boho drifter (Madonna) after losing her memory. Funny and freewheeling, the movie offers a warm-hearted snapshot of mid-1980s Manhattan. The locations include the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Battery Park, St. Mark’s Place in the East Village, SoHo , West 19th Street, Washington Heights, and the long-gone Danceteria nightclub at 30th West 21st Street.

12. Ghostbusters (1984)

In this eternally hip comedy, Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, and Harold Ramis play the parapsychologists who save New York City from a ghost infestation and a 100-foot marshmallow man. Among the New York institutions captured in Ghostbusters were Columbia University, the New York Public Library, Columbus Circle, and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis co-star.

13. Chelsea Girls (1966)

Partially shot at the Chelsea Hotel, Andy Warhol’s split-screen avant garde film allowed such Factory “Superstars” as Nico, Ondine, Brigid Berlin, International Velvet, and Mary Woronov to express themselves freely as they talk, rant, shoot up speed, or conduct other day-to-activities. Featuring a high dose of sadism and masochism, it’s both a genuinely experimental underground documentary and a provocative put-on.

14. Crossing Delancey (1988)

Delancey Street is a main thoroughfare in the traditionally Jewish Lower East Side. In director Joan Micklin Silver’s beloved rom com, based on a play by Susan Sandler, Izzy Grossman (Amy Irving) must decide whether to gravitate toward the world of non-Jewish intellectuals (symbolized by Jeroen Krabbé’s handsome author) or give a chance to the Jewish “pickle man” (Peter Riegert) found for her by a matchmaker. Dating for thirtysomethings in New York City is scarcely a bed of roses – whatever one’s ethnicity.

15. American Psycho (2000)

Mary Harron’s bloody satire, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, targets the arrogance, hedonism, bland taste, and conspicuous consumerism of Wall Street yuppies, as personified by serial-killing investment banker Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale). There’s no better guide to the era’s trendiest restaurants and nightclubs – some of which have closed, some of which survive, and some of which never existed at all.

16. Saturday Night Fever (1977)

Often invoked as cinema’s greatest ode to the disco era, Saturday Night Fever is rooted in the desperation felt by a Brooklyn kid – John Travolta’s Tony Manero – who wants away from his dead-end job, his miserable family life, even his hapless friends. Bensonhurst, Bay Ridge, and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge provide backdrops for Tony’s struggle to avoid a soulless existence. Stayin’ alive is the name of the game.

17. Manhattan (1979)

There’s no greater homage to Manhattan than the opening montage of Woody Allen’s bittersweet comedy. Scored to George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” its shots of uptown, midtown, and downtown inspire writer Isaac Davis (Allen) to wax virilely about his love for the city in his voiceover narration. The story that follows is a saga of romantic catastrophe – Isaac unwisely forsaking the 17-year-old (Mariel Hemingway) who loves him for a pretentious, neurotic intellectual (Diane Keaton) who’s still in love with Isaac’s married friend.

18. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

“Ah, I just love New York,” sighs Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn), the consummately stylish – and oddly virginal – call girl in Breakfast at Tiffany’s , director Blake Edwards’ loose adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella. If, at 5am, you see a young woman looking longingly at the jewellery in the window of the Tiffany’s Fifth Avenue store with a Danish and a cup of coffee in hand, you’ll know which movie’s she’s been watching.

Get the scoop on this classic flick and other movies set in New York on our curated film and TV tour – combining things to do and a hotel with film buffs in mind.

19. Birdman (2014)

Michael Keaton plays Riggan Thomson, a fading Hollywood star trying his luck as a writer-director-leading man hubristically mounting a theatrical adaptation of a Raymond Carver story on the Great White Way. Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s acid Oscar-winning comedy does for Broadway and Broadway types what All About Eve did for them in 1950. The movie gives the impression it was shot in a single take, the funniest bit of which follows Riggan, dressed only in his shorts, as he goes on an enforced walk around a teeming Times Square.

20. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

The Greenwich Village folk scene in 1961 is the setting for Joel and Ethan Coen’s wintry comedy about talented singer-songwriter Llewyn (Oscar Isaac), who is hampered by his stubbornness and a self-destructive streak. The Coens nailed the ambience of the Village clubs, streets and tenements of the time. There’s also a vivid foray uptown and another to Washington Square Park where a married fellow folkie (Carey Mulligan) lambasts Llewyn for making her pregnant.

21. Pickup on South Street (1953)

As bodies jostle on a New York City subway train, the grifter Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) picks the handbag – an alarmingly graphic metaphor for sexual revulsion – of fellow passenger Candy (Jean Peters); the wallet he lifts from her contains microfilm of top secret US government information she is unwittingly carrying for her Communist spy ex-boyfriend. Samuel Fuller’s gripping Cold War film noir was mostly filmed in Hollywood, but it offers a genuine tang of Manhattan in the early 1950s thanks to artful use of back projection and second unit locations. These include the New York Public Library, Kent Avenue at North 6th Street in Williamsburg (standing in for the South Street area known to Fuller when he was a crime reporter), the Williamsburg waterfront, and the corner of Broome and Center streets in Little Italy.

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Lights, camera, adventure! Get ready to embark on the ultimate NYC TV & Movie Tour with On Location Tours, one of the best things to see and do in New York! Join us for a whirlwind journey through the city’s most iconic filming locations, where over 60 spots from your favorite TV shows and movies come to life before your eyes.

Feel the magic of the Big Apple as we dive into the heart of Manhattan, uncovering the secrets of the film industry while soaking in the city’s electric atmosphere. From Greenwich Village to trendy SoHo, explore the neighborhoods that have set the scene for countless Hollywood hits!

Settle in for a cinematic experience like no other aboard our comfy, climate-controlled hop on, hop off bus – complete with AC in the summer and cozy warmth in the winter. With our expert local actor tour guides leading the way, you’ll feel like a star as you follow in the footsteps of your favorite characters, hopping off to explore different NYC locations along the route.

Don’t just watch the movies – live them! Book your tickets now and get ready for an adventure-packed tour through the most filmed city in the world, packed with hidden gems and tons of behind-the-scenes filming secrets. Lights, camera, action – let’s go!

Step into the world of your favorite TV shows and movies with our exciting NYC TV & Movie Tour!

What Will You See On This Tour?

• Visit the iconic apartment building from Friends and feel like you’re part of the gang.
• Snap selfies at the famous arch in Washington Square Park, featured in Girls, The Mindy Project, Glee, Someone Great, and When Harry Met Sally .
• Check into the luxurious hotels as seen in American Hustle, Ocean’s 8 , and Home Alone 2 , and experience the glitz and glamor firsthand.
• Strike a pose with your ghostbusting crew at the iconic headquarters firehouse from the Ghostbusters franchise.
• Uncover the secrets of the ‘Original Soupman’ and other locations featured in Seinfeld .
• Cruise past new spots from the latest seasons of Succession , including The Pierre Hotel and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and experience the high-stakes world of the elite.
• See iconic spots from Law & Order.

Don’t miss your chance to explore the city through the lens of your favorite shows and movies. Book your tour now and get ready for a day filled with laughter, drama, and unforgettable memories!

Meeting Location

• Near Broadway and 51st Street  (exact location given upon purchase)

If you would like to book this tour more than 24 hours in advance with a pass to secure your spot, an additional $10 fee is required (please note that space is often limited, and this fee is non-refundable).

Private Tours

Our private tours have a more intimate vibe, where you can ask our tour guide more questions about their experiences while being on a set. The guide can personalize the tour by paying extra attention to your group and helping you get the best photos!

We have various size vehicles to accommodate your private tour. Depending on the size of your group, your tour might be in a Sedan, an SUV, a sprinter or a limo.

TOUR STOPS & DETAILS

• Chevron down Times Square

Step into the vibrant heartbeat of New York City as our journey begins amidst the dazzling lights of Times Square. This iconic hub, known for its legendary New Year’s Eve Ball Drop, also boasts locations immortalized in The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Glee, and Friends with Benefits . Next, glide past the elegant ambiance of The Rum House, a swanky piano bar made famous by its appearance in Birdman. Join us as we unravel the cinematic tapestry of the city that never sleeps, where every corner tells a story waiting to be discovered.

• Chevron down Columbus Circle & Central Park South

As you venture into Columbus Circle you’ll see famous buildings like The Time Warner Center and Trump International, home to some of the most expensive real estate in the country. Appearing in movies like Tower Heist, Enchanted and Ghostbusters, Columbus Circle is a New York staple that cannot be missed.

As you venture down Central Park South, get a glimpse of the locations that have set the stage in a number of the industry’s latest and greatest. See the most filmed building in the world, The Plaza Hotel, which was seen in films such as American Hustle, The Great Gatsby, Bride Wars, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, and Crocodile Dundee.

The Plaza’s Oak Room Bar set the stage for Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and was featured in the last season of Mad Men. Out front is the beautiful Pulitzer Fountain that was replicated in the opening credits of Friends and also seen in Gossip Girl.

• Chevron down Upper East Side & Fabulous Fifth Avenue

Step into the world of New York City’s most beloved sitcoms on our exclusive Upper East Side tour. Explore iconic landmarks such as Barney’s, the epitome of luxury shopping, and the prestigious Pierre Hotel, nestled elegantly across from Central Park.

Continue your adventure along Fifth Avenue, where cinematic magic comes to life. Pass by FAO Schwarz, famous for its role in the beloved movie BIG, and marvel at Tiffany & Co., immortalized in classics like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Glee, and New Year’s Eve.

As you cruise down Fifth Avenue, you’ll spot another familiar landmark: Trump Tower, known as Wayne Enterprises in The Dark Knight. Then, gaze upon the grandeur of the St. Regis Hotel, a setting for cinematic gems like The Devil Wears Prada, Taxi Driver , and Miss Congeniality.

No tour of New York City would be complete without a visit to Rockefeller Center, home to iconic TV shows like The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live, and The Today Show. And don’t miss the New York Public Library, featured in Ghostbusters, Spider-Man, and 13 Going On 30 . Catch a glimpse of the majestic Empire State Building, a timeless backdrop in cinematic classics such as King Kong, Sleepless in Seattle, and An Affair to Remember.

Join us on this unforgettable journey through the heart of Manhattan’s TV and movie magic, where every corner reveals a piece of Hollywood history.

• Chevron down Flatiron District and Washington Square Park

As our journey continues, you’ll find yourself in the shadow of the iconic Flatiron Building, a cinematic staple seen in Spider-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the unforgettable scene from The Other Guys.

Across the street lies Madison Square Park, a historic public square that has graced the silver screen in Anchorman, I Am Legend, The Adjustment Bureau, and Something Borrowed. It’s also a popular filming location for TV shows like Glee, The Mindy Project, Don Jon, Blue Bloods , and many more.

Around the corner, you’ll spot the renowned Comedy Cellar, where top comedians take the stage, famously featured in Louie. And don’t miss the nearby McDonald’s, immortalized in Big Daddy. Join us as we uncover the hidden gems of New York City’s cinematic landscape, where every corner holds a piece of Hollywood history.

• Chevron down Tribeca

Immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere of Tribeca, renowned for its annual film festival and rich cinematic history. Join our tour guide as they lead you to the iconic FDNY Hook & Ladder 8, affectionately known as the Ghostbusters’ Firehouse. This legendary landmark has graced the silver screen in classics like Ghostbusters, Hitch, and even made a cameo in Seinfeld. Don’t miss this exclusive photo opportunity to capture a piece of cinematic magic in the heart of Tribeca.

• Chevron down Greenwich Village, the Meatpacking District

Discover the hidden gems of Greenwich Village with our guided tour. Your knowledgeable guide will lead you through the maze of one-hundred-year-old townhouses and cobblestone streets, unveiling the secrets of this historic neighborhood. Don’t miss the iconic photo opportunity outside the Friends apartment building.

In the vibrant Meatpacking District, marvel at the Standard Hotel with its stunning views of lower Manhattan, the High Line, and the Hudson River. Explore the hotel’s famed Boom Boom Room, as seen in Gossip Girl, and stroll along the High Line, featured in Hitch, GIRLS, and The Mysteries of Laura.

Above it all, The Highline Hotel in West Chelsea awaits, its grounds often transformed into the fictional “Hudson University” in Law and Order SVU.

• Chevron down Chelsea

As we journey through Chelsea, prepare to encounter iconic landmarks from your favorite films and TV shows. Keep your eyes peeled for the Empire Diner, featured in memorable scenes from Men In Black II and Home Alone 2, adding a touch of Hollywood magic to the bustling streets.

Next, glide past the Star on 18 Diner, where Abby and Ilana unwind after a wild night on the town in the hit series Broad City, and see locations from the hit series Law & Order. Experience the thrill of stepping into the world of cinema as we explore these famous filming locations, making memories that will last a lifetime. Join us for an adventure through Chelsea’s cinematic history and immerse yourself in the stories behind the scenes.

• Chevron down Midtown

Making your way through Midtown you’ll find the famous Macy’s in Herald Square, the flagship department store, used in holiday favorites Miracle on 34th Street and Elf . You’ll also see the Time-Life Building, a 48-story skyscraper on Sixth Avenue, featured in Mad Men.

Catch a glimpse of The Original Soupman, the popular soup restaurant featured in Seinfeld, and the Bank of America Tower, a 55-story skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan which plays the role of “Atlantis World Media” in The Newsroom.

Even enter the world of Daredevil on Eighth Avenue at the 50th street subway stop!

Note: This tour is not affiliated with NBC Studios or the NBC Studios Tour.

Adults & corporate private limo tours available

Click here to learn more

Learn More »

• Chevron down Is there an age limit for this tour?

This tour is for all ages.

• Chevron down Are there stops on the tour?

Yes, the vehicle will stop a few times throughout the tour to let guests off and walk around, as well as visit some of the locations.

• Chevron down Will we be on a double decker bus?

No, our buses do not have two decks. Depending on the size of your group, your tour might be in a coach bus, mini bus, Sedan, SUV, or sprinter.

• Chevron down Is the tour wheelchair accessible?

Please email [email protected] at least 72 hours in advance of the tour to request a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

Have a New York Pass?

Click the card above to book!

Have A Go City New York or New York Explorer Pass?

This is a must do for everyone who is crazy about films and tv shows that have been filmed in NY. The tour covers so many locations and the tour guide adds a lot of interesting facts along the way too. Dina who was our tour guide was lovely, so knowledgeable, and patient. You will get out of the coach for the Ghostbusters fire station, Friends house, and Washington Square where e.g. Marvelous Mrs Maisel was filmed. Can't recommend it enough.

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20 Most Iconic Movie Locations In NYC Right Under Our Nose

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12 Top Travel Destinations In The US For 2024

10 least stressed states in the us, ranked by stress score, 10 underrated small beach towns in florida to kick the winter blues.

While many movies are filmed in Los Angeles, some of the most iconic films of all time take place in New York City. There is just something about NYC's skyscrapers, gritty vibe, and an interesting array of citizens that give it a unique charm. Whether you are a fan of action movies, chick flicks, Christmas movies, or comedies, chances are one of your favorite films was shot in New York. Many of the locations, like Times Square and Grand Central Terminal on this list are such amazing filming locations that they hosted a number of movie sets. Others will hearken a very particular movie scene in your mind. If you have the time to make a trip to the Big Apple, try to check off all of these iconic spots while you are there. It will feel like you are a part of the movie magic! Plus with locations all over the city on this list, finding them all is a great way to see a lot of New York.

Did your favorite New York movie location make the cut? Read on to learn about the top 20 most iconic movie locations you can visit right now in New York City!

20 20. Tiffany & Co. ( Breakfast at Tiffany's )

If you are a film buff, it's almost a given that you have seen Breakfast at Tiffany's at least once. The beautiful Audrey Hepburn stars in this classic romantic comedy, making it beloved by generations. In the movie, the main character Holly Golightly dresses up and eats pastries while admiring the jewelry in Tiffany's window before returning to her hum-drum life. So many of us feel the same way . . . wishing for a taste of the high life! You too can have "Breakfast at Tiffany's" by visiting the iconic Tiffany & Co. flagship store at 727 Fifth Avenue.

19 19. The Plaza Hotel ( Home Alone 2: Lost in New York )

One of NYC's most well-known landmarks is the Plaza Hotel, located at 768 Fifth Avenue. With a stunning view of Central Park and 5-star quality rooms, it is the place to stay for the rich and famous. The hotel's amazing interiors have made it a prime shooting spot for movies. One of the most beloved of these is Home Alone 2: Lost in New York . If you're a fan of the Christmas classic, you know that the main character Kevin checks in to the Plaza after hopping on a separate flight from his family. While not everyone can afford a room, you can check out the gorgeous lobby where many of the movie's scenes were shot.

18 18. New York Public Library ( Sex and the City: The Movie )

Another well-known building in New York is the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, located at 476 Fifth Avenue. With its iconic lion statues outside, a cavernous lobby, and an amazing reading room, this place has been one of the most-used filming locations in NYC. Rom-com lovers will recognize it from Carrie Bradshaw's failed wedding to Big in Sex and the City: The Movie . It was also featured in the spooky opening scene of Ghostbusters . Other movies filmed here include Breakfast at Tiffany's , The Thomas Crown Affair , and Spider-Man . Visit here to reminisce about your favorite movies, but stay for the amazingly beautiful architecture.

17 17. Katz's Delicatessen ( When Harry Met Sally )

One of the most loved romantic comedies of all time, When Harry Met Sally , takes viewers on a tour of not only the main characters' romance but also of NYC. This movie was filmed in a lot of gorgeous New York locations, but its most famous scene was filmed in Katz's Delicatessen, found at 205 East Houston Street. Known for its huge portions of matzo ball soup and pastrami on rye sandwiches, the deli has become a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. While you are trying one of their delicious lunches, you can sit in the same space where Meg Ryan performed the "I'll have what she's having" scene.

16 16. Coney Island ( Brooklyn )

Coney Island's beaches and boardwalk provide an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. This makes it not only a fun place to visit in NYC but also an interesting filming location. Many movies have filmed here over the years, including the 2015 romantic drama Brooklyn , where the film's two young lovebirds go on a date. This is also where the boardwalk scenes at the beginning of Beaches were filmed, as well as where Woody Allen's character's flashbacks to childhood take place in Annie Hall . Visit Coney Island to enjoy a hot dog and some thrill rides just like some of your favorite stars.

15 15. Serendipity 3 ( Serendipity )

Craving dessert? Head to Serendipity 3, located at 225 East 60th Street. This café is best known for its sweet concoction known as Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate. If you are a fan of the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity , you will surely want to make a pilgrimage here. The restaurant's decadent desserts have also popped up in other movies and TV shows, including Gossip Girl , One Fine Day , and Trust the Man . Even if you don't know these films, Serendipity 3 is still worth the visit to try their amazing ice cream sundaes (including the $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae) and other treats!

14 14. FDNY's Hook and Ladder 8 ( Ghostbusters )

Ghostbusters introduced many of us to a wide array of NYC locales. The one most prominently featured in the film is the Ghostbusters headquarters, which they set up in a run-down firehouse. You can still visit FDNY's Hook and Ladder 8 at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca. When the city started closing fire companies to save money, this location almost got shut down but was saved by a public campaign. The firehouse also makes a few appearances in the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters , including a potential headquarters location which the team rejects for being too expensive to rent. This is a must-see for the films' fans!

13 13. Sutton Place Park ( Manhattan )

If you are a fan of Woody Allen's films, you will love this list. Almost all of his movies take place in NYC, so there are a lot of beautiful locations to visit that you will recognize. One of the most iconic of these is Sutton Square, located along the East River between 56th and 57th Streets. It is here that Woody Allen and Diane Keaton snuggle on a bench with an amazing view of the Queensboro Bridge. Even if you aren't familiar with the movie, this park will give you breathtaking views and is the perfect place for a romantic stroll.

12 12. The American Museum of Natural History ( Night at the Museum )

Here is a filming location that the whole family can appreciate. The American Museum of Natural History, found at Central Park West and 79th Street, is known for its world-class exhibits on everything from dinosaurs to gemstones. While it is definitely worth a visit on its own, fans of the movie Night at the Museum will especially love this place. It was here that Ben Stiller's character got more than he bargained as a night security guard for when the museum exhibits came to life! While you probably won't get chased around by historical people or T. Rex fossils, it's fun to see the different artifacts from the film in person.

11 11. Central Park ( Enchanted )

Because of its immense size and the wide array of amenities, Central Park has appeared in almost every NYC-based movie ever made. The beautiful walking paths, the huge lake, sports fields, and grassy lawns make it the ideal outdoor filming location in New York. One movie that showcases everything Central Park has to offer is the family-friendly flick Enchanted . In the film, a princess played by Amy Adams performs a song while exploring the park. You have also probably seen this iconic location in Maid in Manhattan , Wall Street, When Harry Met Sally and more. No matter the season, it's gorgeous! No New York trip would be complete without stopping here.

10 10. Verrazano Narrows Bridge ( Saturday Night Fever )

If you are a disco fan, chances are you have seen the classic dance film Saturday Night Fever . In it, John Travolta's character Tony longs to move away from his family and friends in Brooklyn to a better life in Manhattan. The Verrazano Narrow Bridge, which connects the two boroughs, not only serves as the location for two key scenes in the film, but also as a symbol of Tony's journey into adulthood. Rewatch the scene where Tony tells Stephanie the entire history of the bridge as they admire it from a bench, then visit there yourself to really get the full effect.

9 9. Cafe Lalo ( You've Got Mail )

Fans of romantic comedies are spoiled for choice with this list, but perhaps the most well-known location is Café Lalo. Located at 201 West 83rd Street, the pastry shop was made famous by the movie You've Got Mail . It was here that Meg Ryan's and Tom Hanks' characters meet in person for the first time after chatting online. Not only will this café remind you of that romantic moment, but its delicious desserts and picturesque Upper West Side location are well worth the trip on their own. You will feel like you have been transported into the movie and to France all at once!

8 8. Times Square ( Captain America: The First Avenger )

There is no more recognizable and famous place in New York City than Times Square. With its huge flashing billboards, giant stores, and pedestrian-friendly streets, it is a must-see for tourists. The area's iconic status is one reason why it is featured in a ton of New York movies. Setting a scene here is the best way to remind viewers of where the movie is set! One scene you will probably recognize it from is when Captain America wakes up after 70 years. Times Square has also appeared in a number of other superhero movies, plus others like Big , Vanilla Sky , and Jerry Maguire .

7 7. Macy's (Miracle on 34th Street)

No trip to New York City would be complete without seeing the Macy's flagship store. Macy's Herald Square (found at 151 West 34th Street) is one of the world's largest department stores, so you can easily lose a few hours here. If you want to experience its magic in full, though, you must visit during the Christmas season. The beautiful shop window displays and festive decorations both indoors and out will put you in the spirit. You'll especially love visiting here if you are a fan of the holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street , where the Macy's Santa tries to convince a little girl that he is the real Santa Claus.

6 6. The Empire State Building (Sleepless in Seattle)

The Empire State Building is one of New York City's most recognizable landmarks. Its towering height, one-of-a-kind views, and art deco architecture have drawn crowds for nearly a century. Because of this, it has been featured in a large number of New York-based films. In fact, it has made an appearance in over 250 films! King Kong made the building an icon way back in the 1930s, but the romance movie Sleepless in Seattle has romantics of all ages flocking here with their sweeties. The Empire State Building has also featured prominently in An Affair to Remember, Elf, and Oblivion .

5 5. Grand Central Terminal (North By Northwest)

There is a reason that busy places are referred to as "Grand Central Station." This iconic and bustling train terminal, located at 89 East 42nd Street, sees thousands of people coming and going each day. Even more amazing is that the station was built in 1871, which explains its breathtaking architecture and decorating style. The giant space and gorgeous interiors make Grand Central Terminal a popular filming destination for films. You might recognize it from the Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest or the crime drama Carlito's Way . Your jaw will drop when you step inside the terminal, so visit for the movie connections or just for its beauty!

4 4. 52nd St. and Lexington Ave. (The Seven Year Itch)

Fans of Marilyn Monroe are definitely familiar with The Seven Year Itch . In this movie, Marilyn moves in above a man whose wife is away for the summer and he becomes infatuated with her. Even if you don't know the story, everyone surely knows this movie because of its iconic grate scene. You know the one, where Monroe steps onto a subway grate and her white dress blows up? It's one of the best-known images in the world! Well, you can visit that very grate today on Lexington Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Street. Though I wouldn't suggest trying the trick . . . no one can look as glamorous as Marilyn!

3 3. The Calvary Cemetary (The Godfather)

While a cemetery is not exactly the first place you want to visit on vacation, if you are a fan of The Godfather , this location should be on your to-see list. The Calvary Cemetery in Queens is one of the largest and oldest graveyards in the USA. Strolling the grounds and admiring the headstones would be interesting to any history buff. But fans of The Godfather flock here because it was the filming site for Don Vito Corleone. You may also recognize this place as the location where the title character is told he is programmed to be an assassin in Zoolander .

2 2. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Ocean's 8)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is just one of New York's amazing cultural institutions. Its huge collection of sculpture, fashion, paintings, and more awe crowds of thousands each day. The museum building itself is just as beautiful as the art housed inside, with stunning architecture, fountains, chandeliers, and more. Its annual gala has made the museum even more famous, so much so that it was featured as the victim of the main heist in the film Ocean's 8 . You can also see the Met in movies like The Thomas Crown Affair , Hitch , The Nanny Diaries , and When Harry Met Sally .

1 1. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park (Men in Black)

While a large number of locations on this list have been in Manhattan, fans of the sci-fi film Men in Black need to head to Queens. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, the site of the 1964 World's Fair, is also where one of the movie's most iconic scenes was filmed. When Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are searching for Edgar the Bug, he comes upon two giant spaceships towering above the earth. These are actually observation towers left over from the World's Fair, which are sadly no longer open to the public. You can also still see the giant globe featured in the movie here.

References: ontheluce.com , untappedcities.com , complex.com

• Destinations

30 Best New York Movies Of All Time!

Looking for the best New York movies from the best movies set in New York to movies about New York, this guide has you covered!

Whether you’re looking for inspiration before a trip, missing the city, or just a fan of the Big Apple and stories made here, this list has a range of genres from period pieces, romance, thrillers, and just good old cult classics movies in New York City.

Speaking of trip inspiration check out our guides for how to spend 3 days in NYC and how to spend a weekend in Brooklyn for curated itineraries to help make planning a breeze!

So grab your popcorn and get streaming. All of these movies are available on Amazon Prime, if you don’t already have Amazon Prime you can get a free 30-day trial by following this link .

If you love movies set in Brooklyn, you might also love famous filming locations in Brooklyn including locations for some of these awesome movies about Brooklyn featured in this guide! 

About the Author

Eric Garner is a Brooklyn-based writer who was raised down south who loves talking about film, TV, hip-hop, and fashion.

Best Movies in New York City

Ghostbusters (1984).

Do I even need to explain this one? This 1984 supernatural comedy is about three parapsychologists who start their own business as ghost exterminators in New York City.

This iconic film was shot all throughout New York, but most notably filmed in the New York Public Library (At 476 5th Ave near Bryant Park).

This film is the epitome of an 80s romp and a great showcase for Bill Murray’s chops as a comedic actor. Pop this one in and prepare for a fun and crazy ride! Watch Ghostbusters Here

Gangs of New York (2002)

This historic drama by New Yorker, Martin Scorsese himself, tells the epic tale of Leonardo DiCaprio as a young Irish immigrant searching the Five Points for his father’s killer—Played spectacularly by Daniel Day Lewis.

Set in 1860s New York, in its Five-Point district. Although a lot of the film was shot in Rome, the real-life Five Points district can be found in Lower Manhattan.

With its mesmerizing set design and an all-star cast, this critically-acclaimed drama is as brilliant as is it is brutal! Don’t forget to add this film to your best movies in New York list. Watch Gangs of New York Here

If the gangs of New York interest you, check out this 2 hour Gangs of New York tour and stop by the Dead Rabbit Irish Bar in the Financial District that’s won the best bar in the world several years in a row!

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Yet another DiCaprio and Scorsese collaboration—we have The Wolf of Wall Street. This 2013 biographical epic centers on a Wall Street stockbroker and takes us through his rise and inevitable fall.

Starting with the protagonist’s first job in the late 1980s as a broker, the early period of the story was shot at the Equitable Building (at 120 Broadway). Like many New York movies, this one tackles wealth, power, and corruption—but does so in an energetic and at times comedic fashion. A must-watch for any film enthusiast! Watch The Wolf of Wallstreet Here

When Harry Met Sally (1989)

This 1989 film poses a question that still gets asked to this day: can men and women be platonic friends without sex getting in the way?

One of the most intelligent rom-coms to come out, this story follows Harry and Sally as they continuously cross paths (in the span of a twelve-year period) in New York City and the evolution of their friendship.

One of the movie’s most memorable scenes takes place at Katz’s Delicatessen (located at 205 E. Houston Street in Lower East Side Manhattan). As cynical as it is beautifully romantic When Harry Met Sally is easily one of the best romantic comedies of all time and one of the most engaging movies about New York City! Watch When Harry Met Sally Here

Annie Hall (1977)

Another quintessential rom-com that should be added to your list of must watch New York movies is Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. This 1977 film stars Woody Allen playing a fictionalized version of himself, reflecting over the events that led to his break up with the titular character.

One particular scene where the two leads are sitting at a park bench, making comments about passing park goers was shot at Central Park.

Not only is this film of the most honest portrayals of human relationships, but it is also endlessly funny. One of the most immersive movies about New York City, this is arguably Woody’s best film to date and a certified classic. Watch Annie Hall Here

Goodfellas (1990)

The rise and fall tale that set the standard for all rise and fall tales—Goodfellas. This 1990 biographical crime film depicts the life and story of Henry Hill, an American mobster.

This movie takes us from his childhood in the 1950s up through his adulthood in the 1980s. One of the best movies set in New York; many of the film’s iconic scenes were filmed in Brooklyn .

There’s one scene specifically, where a major character is murdered, and it was filmed at 80th Street and Shore Road ( Bay Ridge ). Imitated, but never replicated; this confident energetic film is an American classic that must be seen by every movie buff. Watch Good Fellas here

Brooklyn (2015)

This romantic period drama is about Eilis, a young Irish girl immigrating to Brooklyn to pursue a new life and one of our favorite movies about Brooklyn . We watch as the heroine struggles to choose between her hometown and Brooklyn identities.

Taking place in 1950s Brooklyn, a good majority of the film was shot in New York along with locations around Montreal pretending to be New York, imagine that! They definitely pulled it off.

In one scene, Ellis is on a date with her Brooklyn love interest (Tony) at Coney Island, and the scene was in fact shot in—Coney Island! A simple tale told with beautiful execution, this is one of the most quintessential movies about New York City! Watch Brooklyn here

See more movies plus TV shows filmed in Coney Island too!

The Apartment (1960)

A poignant and hard-hitting rom-com about an insurance clerk trying to climb the corporate ladder by lending out his apartment to co-workers where they can commit adultery?

This film was not what many viewers were expecting at the time of its 1960 release and was met with much controversy. However, the film has since been recognized by movie fans as one of the greatest films of all time as well as being one of best movies about New York City (Including myself).

One particularly poignant scene, where the male lead (Baxter) gets stood up by the female lead (Miss Kubelik), was shot in front of the Majestic Theater (Located at 245 West 44th Street).

One of the most perfect blends of witty comedy and tragic drama ever put to the screen; this Billy Wilder classic is hands down one of the best movies about New York. Watch The Apartment Here

All About Eve (1950)

            View this post on Instagram                         A post shared by James and Karla Murray (@jamesandkarla)

This 1950 cinema classic centers on an aging Broadway actress and a manipulative fan that slowly works her way into the star’s professional and personal lives.

This is one of those rare New York movies where the dialogue and themes have aged like fine wine and are just as resonate now as they were initially.  

A good percentage of the film takes place in New York. The famed 21 Club (Located at 21 West 52nd Street) was used during a scene where the titular character bumps into the lead’s close friend, Karen. A treasure from cinema’s golden age, this film should be near the top of any film buff’s list.

Do the Right Thing (1989)

One of the most urgent and provocative works to come out of 1980s cinema—Do the Right Thing is an American comedy drama about rising racial tension among one Brooklyn neighborhood’s residents on a hot summer’s day.

Originally from Bed Stuy himself, Spike Lee tells this commanding story as only he can. Lee shot the entire movie on Stuyvesant Avenue (Between Lexington Ave and Quincy Street). 

None of the New York movies before or after have tackled racial tension in America in such bold and honest fashion. One of the most passionate and confronting films in the medium’s history; I couldn’t recommend it any more highly! Watch Do the Right Thing here

Extra facts: two of our favorite Brooklyn hidden gem s include Barack Obama’s former residence in a Park Slope brownstone as well as Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Spike Lee’s Fort Greene film studio.

Rear Window (1954)

Are you in the mood for suspense? Look no further than the master of suspense himself—Alfred Hitchcock and his 1954 thriller, Rear Window.

Rear Window tells the story of a photographer who, while restricted to his New York apartment due to a broken leg, witnesses what he believes to be his neighbor murdering his wife. While the premise may sound simple, the famed director manages to squeeze a lot of tension out of this situation for the entirety of its nearly two-hour runtime.

Unlike some movies about New York, most of the Rear Window was shot in Hollywood, the film is set in and modeled to look like a Greenwich Village and captures the cramped nature of city living quite wonderfully. This Hitchcock masterpiece is an experience and should be watched by everyone at least once! Watch Rear Window Here

Taxi Driver (1976)

Scorsese intended this 1976 psychological drama to feel like a fever dream, to which it mostly certainly succeeds. Taxi Driver follows Travis Bickle, a late-night New York taxi driver and Vietnam War vet, and his slow descent into madness.

Set in the heart of New York City, the film’s iconic opening was shot in the middle of Time Square (between West 42nd and 47th Street). Taxi Driver is not for the faint of heart and the story leads to a very violent (and graphic) third act.

That being said, this film is one of the greatest character studies ever put to screen and definitely one of the most fascinating movies about New York life. Watch Taxi Driver Here

American Psycho (2000)

Speaking of violent films, this next movie is a satirical horror featuring one of Christian Bale’s most incredible performances to date.

American Psycho follows a New York City investment banker who lives as a wealthy yuppie by day and a violent serial killer by night. This film is set in 1980s New York, but it is mostly shot in Toronto, Canada.

However, the famous scene where the male lead is seen withdrawing cash from the ATM was filmed right beside the Arader Gallery (1016 Madison Ave) in Upper Eastside Manhattan.

What distinguishes this film from other movies in New York City is how it uses unique brand of black satirical comedy to tackle themes of hedonism, materialism, and capitalism.  While unquestionably disturbing, this slick and intelligent film has a lot to say and is definitely worth seeing for yourself. Watch American Psycho Here

Saturday Night Fever (1977)

In one of his most iconic roles, Saturday Night fever stars John Travolta as a paint store clerk who spends his spare-time dancing at a local discotheque. Set in 1977 Brooklyn, most of its iconic scenes were filmed in Bay Ridge.

Lenny’s Pizza (On 86th Street), which was used for the opening sequence, still remains there to this day.

Saturday Night Fever delivers one of the best movie soundtracks of all time and showed audiences what Travolta was really capable of as an actor. Its 70s filmmaking at its best and a classic that everyone should see! Watch Saturday Night Fever here

Birdman (2014)

This 2014 comedy-drama has gained critical acclaim and it’s not hard to see why. Birdman tells the story of a fading actor who produces a Broadway play in an attempt to shed himself of the reputation of his past role as a superhero.

Filmed in New York City, in what appears to be one long take, most of the film was shot in St. James Theatre (Located at 246 W 44th St) in Midtown Manhattan.

This technical marvel of a film was one of the best movies of 2014 and still stands as one of the best movies set in New York! Watch Birdman Here

Whiplash (2014)

Yet another 2014 movie about the arts is none other than the psychological music drama Whiplash! This story follows a young ambitious New York drummer who begins studying under a ruthless and cut-throat instructor (Played brilliantly by J.K. Simmons) and the psychological battle that occurs between the two.

Anyone pursuing a career in the arts will find this story frighteningly relatable. It asks a lot of interesting questions about what it takes be an artist and whether the payoff is worth the cost.

This movie is intense and offers one of the most riveting and satisfying endings I’ve ever seen. The film’s climax was actually shot at Carnegie Hall (881 7th Avenue and West 56th Street) in Manhattan. Give this movie a watch and prepare to be energized. Watch Whiplash Here

The French Connection (1971)

In the mood for one of the greatest crime thrillers of all time? William Friedkin’s 1971 film The French Connection gives us the fast-paced story of two cops chasing a French heroin smuggler and does so in awe-inspiring fashion.

This classic cop and robbers tale is set in New York City and the movie’s most iconic scene (during the film’s climax) was shot at 62nd Street Station near Borough Park.

Boasting some of the best chase sequences ever put to film, French Connection can be easily considered one of the best movies about New York. Watch The French Connection Here

West Side Story (1961)

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The playground used for the movie’s opening sequence can be seen today in East Harlem (On 110th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue).

Even though the film does dish out some great performances from actresses like Rita Moreno, it’s really the music here that steals the show.

One of the best executed musical films ever made; West Side Story is a required viewing for anyone who loves movies in New York City. Watch West Side Story Here

After Hours (1985)

One of Martin Scorsese’s most underrated films, After Hours tells the story of a word processor who, in an attempt to pursue a woman he met earlier that day in a café, finds himself in a series of increasingly strange events.

Set in New York’s Soho district, many venues from this 1985 American black comedy are no longer around, unfortunately—including the Terminal Bar (used to be located at 308 Spring Street) where the main character was seen drinking beer.

That being said, this cult classic is an underrated gem and one of the best films set in New York. Watch After Hours Here

Moonstruck (1987)

Another 80s classic, Moonstruck follows a widowed bookkeeper that falls in love with her fiancés younger brother. Set in the 1980s Carroll Gardens and Brooklyn Heights , a great deal of this 1987 romantic comedy was filmed in the two New York neighborhoods.

The scene where two leads initially meet takes place at The Camareri Bros. Bakery, which can be found at 1559 62nd St. Exploring the sometimes less than ideal timing of love and attraction, this movie delivers us two great performances from Cher and Nicholas Cage.

Being one of the best rom-coms ever and as well as one of the most fun movies about New York, it’s hard to not recommend it! Watch Moonstruck here

Carlito’s Way (1993)

Carlito’s Way is a 1993 crime drama about a former criminal who, after being released from prison, is determined to leave his criminal life behind—a task that proves very difficult.

Set in New York City, one notable location used in the film was the Grand Central Terminal (At 42nd Street and Park Ave). With Al Pacino’s grounded performance and Brian De Palma’s stylish direction, Carilto’s Way proves to be a top-tier crime drama and a necessary viewing for any fans of movies in New York City. Watch Carlito’s Way Here

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Another gritty and somber take on city life, Midnight Cowboy tells the story of a Texas dishwasher moving to the Big Apple to start a new life. This 1969 buddy drama pulls no punches and New York transplants will find plenty to relate to here.

This film was shot all throughout Manhattan. The apartment that the two leads are seen living in is located at 64-66 Suffolk Street, near Lower East Side. While the realism may be a bit disturbing for some, patient viewers will be rewarded with two great performances from Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. Watch Midnight Cowboy Here

Juice (1992)

Continuing the theme of gritty realism, we have 1992’s crime drama Juice. This story follows four Harlem teenagers as they deal with the daily struggles of urban life.

Shot mainly in Harlem, one of the movie’s memorable confrontations was shot at Convent Avenue & West 129th. Street. While there were many similar films to come out during this era, Juice distinguishes itself with its fascination of moral ambiguity for its characters. If you’re looking for movies about New York, this gripping drama is an interesting one to see! Watch Juice Here

Wall Street (1987)

Set in 1980s New York, Wall Street follows a young ambitious stockbroker as he attempts to climb the corporate ladder by any means necessary.

This American drama was shot all over Manhattan and the 21 Club (Located at 21 West 52nd Street), a club that has been used in many films, is also utilized in Wall Street. Out of all the New York movies, this one may be sensational.

In this 1987 film, Oliver Stone delivers a well-acted and entertaining look at power, greed and corruption. If you haven’t already, check this one out! Watch Wall Street Here

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Starring Tom Hanks in one of his first efforts as a leading man, Big is a 1988 fantasy comedy about a 12-year-old boy turned grown man living in New York City.

The apartment used for the lead is located right in Soho at 85 Grand Street. Full of poignant moments, this comedy balances humor and touching storytelling surprisingly well. Also, the famous big piano key scene in the movie was at the FAO Schwarz toy store!

A quintessential flick from the 80s, Big is one of the most effectively entertaining movies about New York City and a must watch. Watch Big Here

25th Hour (2003)

Like most of Lee’s works, this one is set in New York. Unlike some movies in New York City, this film covers a lot of ground. It was shot in Greenwich Village, Bensonhurst , Central Park, Dumbo, The Battery, and even the World Trade Center.

Another thing that separates this one from Spike Lee’s previous movies about New York is just how contemplative and subtle its storytelling is. Lovers of melancholic New York movies should definitely give this one a watch! Watch 25th Hour Here

Marty (1955)

Penned by the late great Paddy Chayefsky, Marty is a romantic drama that centers on a lonely 34-year-old butcher who lives with his mother. He’s all but given up on love until one night he meets a school teacher at a dance and the two hit it off.

Set in the 1950s Bronx, the movie’s opening sequence was shot in Bronx’s Little Italy (at 2344 Arthur Avenue).

Direction, dialogue, characters—this movie succeeds at it all. With Marty, director Delbert Mann delivers one of the most authentic and character-driven romantic dramas ever and as well as one of the best movies set in New York! Watch Marty Here

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

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Rosemary’s Baby tells the haunting story of a young New York couple looking to have a baby, but things take a turn as it appears their neighbors may have something more sinister in mind for them.

The apartment the couple is living is called Dakota Hotel (Located at 1 W 72nd St) and it can be seen in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

This 1968 psychological horror is one of the most revered movies about New York City. Using its sophisticatedly eerie direction, Rosemary’s Baby lures the audience in and leads them to one of the most disturbing movie conclusions of all time. If that sounds like something up your alley, give it a watch. Watch Rosemary’s Baby Here

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

Based on actual events that occurred in 1972, this 1975 drama-comedy tells the story of three amateur criminals who try to commit a bank robbery that goes horribly wrong.

Set in 1970s Windsor Terrace , the vast majority of the movie was filmed at Prospect Park West between 17th and 18th Street. A flawless balance between suspense and comedy, this Al Pacino flick is one of the best films of the 1970s as well and one of the most essential movies about New York City! Watch Dog Day Afternoon Here

The Godfather (1972)

What can be said about this 1972 masterpiece that hasn’t been said already? The Godfather is the legendary American crime film that focuses on Michael Corleone, a marine who reluctantly takes over as the head of an organized crime family after his father is nearly killed.

Set in 1940s New York, the film’s long but unforgettable opening section was shot in Staten Island (At 110 Longfellow Avenue).  

This epic mob film not only set the gold standard for crime films, but cinema period! If nothing else on this list, you have to watch The Godfather! It’s an absolute must! Watch Godfather Here

Is your favorite New York movie not mentioned? Let us know in the comments below! 

Eric Garner is a Brooklyn-based writer who was raised down south who loves talking about film, TV, hip-hop, fashion and sharing some great recommendations around Brooklyn.

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Two other great movies that should be on your list: (1) “Hester Street,” (1975) set in the Jewish immigrant community on the Lower East Side of the 1890s, and (2) “Sweet Smell of Success,” a 1957 noir film about a sleazy newspaper columnist, modeled on Walter Mitchell, and the power he wields.

Working Girl has great vistas and a wonderful Carly Simon song which is a hymn to the city

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The best movies set in New York

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The 20 best TV shows set in New York City

Television shows don’t have to be set in New York City to be good, but it certainly helps. Here are the best of the best set in the iconic town. 

'Sex and the City'

We all know that the fifth main character in Sex and the City is New York. When brainstorming a TV series set in New York City, this one is almost always top of mind. 

'Succession'

The Roy family probably wouldn’t be able to hack it in any place but New York City. The show wouldn’t be quite the same with a different location as its backdrop. The city just adds to the family’s elitism. 

'Gossip Girl'

If you’ve never been to New York City before and want to see all the famous landmarks, the Gossip Girl tour is a good place to start. The very first episode gave us a glimpse of the city when Serena returned via Grand Central Station, and it never stopped serving iconic views afterward.

'Broad City'

Quirky, zany, goofy — Broad City was all of the above. Sure, it gave a much less glamorous look of New York City than Succession or Gossip Girl , but for most people, that’s what the city is actually like. If you want to live there, consider that it will probably be more like Abbi and Ilana’s experience than Blair and Serena’s.

'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'

Most television shows in New York City take place in Manhattan, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine took us to an outer borough, and we still got just as satisfying views of the Big Apple as we do in any of our other favorite shows set there. One Police Plaza is about the only Manhattan landmark mentioned in the series. 

Who among us hasn’t watched  Friends and wanted to move to New York City with a group of our besties? Although lots of our favorite settings from the show weren’t part of the city's actual fabric, we are happy to suspend our disbelief for half an hour at a time and tell ourselves that there is a Central Perk coffee shop in Central Park.

30 Rockefeller Center is one of the most legendary spots in New York City, especially for television enthusiasts. 30 Rock also does a fantastic job of ingratiating the entire city into the show, especially thanks to Liz‘s propensity for walking around on a mission to find food.

Often tagged as the Sex and the City of this generation, Girls , like Broad City and Brooklyn Nine-Nine , does a good job of showing real life in New York City in more than just Manhattan. It’s another great litmus of life when you aren’t a millionaire. 

When you think of corporate lawyers, you just might think of the attorneys on Suits , and their backdrop being New York City makes the show that much more exciting to watch. There’s something much more appealing about the conversations of a fraudulent lawyer and his accomplice when the setting is the New York City skyline at night.

'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'

There are dozens of reasons to love The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel , but one is that it’s set in New York City. What’s more, it’s set in New York City in the 1950s, making it a totally different experience than anything you will watch today. With modern camera technology and the reimagined sets of yesteryear, the show is dazzling and incredibly aesthetically pleasing.

'The Nanny'

If you like a show that shows what life is like for some people while maintaining a healthy dose of escapism, The Nanny is it. As it says in the show’s theme song, Fran Fine went over from Flushing to the Sheffields' door in Manhattan, and she got a job as a nanny. She still goes back to Queens on occasion to visit her family, but most of what we see is Nanny Fine in her stunning and unattainable New York City home.

'I Love Lucy'

I Love Lucy is the blueprint for sitcoms set in New York City. Lucy was the ultimate Manhattan wife and mom, and even though she lived in one of the most expensive neighborhoods on the planet, she was still incredibly relatable. 

Another great show for a tour of the town — you'll see lots of New York City landmarks when watching Seinfeld . It’s an iconic sitcom set in an iconic city. 

'Sesame Street'

Although Sesame Street is not a real street, and the characters in the show are not real, New York City very much is, and the street somehow feels real when you’re watching it. It’s a comfort show that almost everyone in the United States has seen.

'Ugly Betty'

Ugly Betty also takes us to all different parts of New York City. The titular character lives with her family in Queens and commutes to her glamorous job every day in Manhattan. Anyone who loves fashion, comedy, and New York City will love Ugly Betty .

'The King of Queens'

Brooklyn Nine-Nine isn’t the first sitcom to take us to an outer borough. The King of Queens did so decades before when it was set in, as the title suggests, Queens. The Kevin James and Leah Remini comedy is one of the all-time greats. 

'How I Met Your Mother'

It’s not a prerequisite for sitcoms to be set in New York City, but it does seem to be the location of choice for many. How I Met Your Mother has a similar feel to Friends in that many of its scenes take place in locations that are actually just manufactured sets in Los Angeles, but we do get glimpses of the city.

'Russian Doll'

Russian Doll only has two seasons, and the second one takes place in many places outside of New York City. And because of the plot of the show’s first season, we mostly see the same views of the city over and over again. But if you’re comfortable with that and don’t mind mostly seeing nighttime scenes of the city, it’s definitely worth watching.

'Only Murders in the Building'

It seems as though television shows set in New York City aren’t airing as frequently as they used to be. Only Murders in the Building solves that for television lovers by taking us all around the Concrete Jungle during the cold-weather months, allowing us to see the glamorous wardrobes of the people of New York in the fall and winter.

New York City in the 1960s? Say no more. Mad Men is glamorous, dramatic, and totally intoxicating. The fashion, architecture, and decor all play into why this show is still a fan favorite. 

Acacia Deadrick is a South Dakota-based writer who has written for sites such as Nicki Swift, The List, and Glam. She loves music and all things pop culture, and she can be found watching TV, completing a crossword puzzle, or reading in her spare time. 

More must-reads:

• 20 television series that forever changed the medium
• 'NFL RedZone' host apologizes for 'unfair and inconsiderate' comment about Tom Brady
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Jonathan Majors arrested for alleged assault in New York

Actor Jonathan Majors was arrested on Saturday in New York City on domestic violence allegations after a woman alleged she was assaulted.

In a statement, the New York Police Department described the incident as a domestic dispute and said Majors, 33, was taken into custody that morning based on allegations of strangulation, assault, and harassment.

A spokesperson for the actor denied the allegations in a statement to TODAY.com.

“He has done nothing wrong. We look forward to clearing his name and clearing this up.”

Police said they received a 911 call around 11:14 a.m. Saturday and arrived at a location in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan where a woman, identified only as a 30-year-old, said she had been assaulted by Majors.

After a preliminary investigation, police determined that the woman was involved in a domestic dispute and had “sustained minor injuries to her head and neck and was removed to an area hospital in stable condition.”

Majors, a critically acclaimed actor, has starred in several recent studio films. He played opposite Michael B. Jordan in “Creed III” and took on the role of Marvel villain Kang the Conquerer in “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.”

Other roles include his 2019 independent film “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” and his latest picture, “Magazine Dreams,” which originally premiered at Sundance and is set to hit theaters on Dec. 8.

Candice Williams is a Senior Editor at TODAY Digital, focusing on pop culture, trending news and diverse storytelling.

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