Movies Filmed in New York: My 21 Favorites

Did you know New York is the most filmed city in movie history? That's why the list of movies shot in New York is endless. And if you add in the ones merely set here, I'd never finish writing!

Below I'll share a selection of movies filmed at real New York locations that will make you want to book a flight. These are iconic films that went down in movie history thanks to their directors' vision, their unforgettable characters and, of course, the city as a backdrop.

I recommend watching these movies filmed in New York before you travel. When you recognize those corners in the flesh, you'll be blown away. Hopefully as much as I was 😜.

As I tend to mention in every post, my love for New York started in movie theaters (and to a large extent it's the origin of Newyorkando). If I had to put a date on the romance, I'd say I fell head over heels watching Ghostbusters 👻.

After seeing it many times, I told myself I had to go to Manhattan to find out whether the Ghostbusters firehouse in Tribeca was real or a set built on some Hollywood lot. And it really was an actual building! I saw it on one of my first trips 😉.

So here's my pick of movies shot in New York across different eras and all over the different boroughs and neighborhoods of NYC. I hope you get to watch them all before you go!

New York City Movies to Watch Before You Travel

Keep in mind this ranking is personal and barely a sample of the hundreds of movies filmed in New York. Beyond the fact that I love them, what they have in common is the city as a main character. Without New York in the background, they'd be different stories entirely.

I've put the films in chronological order, from the most recent movies shot in New York back to the classics of the fifties:

1. In the Heights: a trip to Washington Heights (2021)

In «In the Heights» (2021), directed by Jon M. Chu and based on the musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, the real star is the Washington Heights neighborhood. It's an area home to New York's Dominican community, but also to Latinos from elsewhere, as the movie shows.

«In the Heights» lays bare the gentrification that has been reshaping this Upper Manhattan neighborhood, also known as «Little Dominican Republic«.

With Manhattanites arriving en masse in search of cheaper rents, life in the neighborhood has become unaffordable for many Latino families, who have had to move farther north.

After watching this movie, you'll want to see Latino Washington Heights before it stops being that.

You can visit several locations where In the Heights was filmed:

🌉 The George Washington Bridge, a recurring symbol in the film. Read about where to see it in the guide to New York's most important bridges.

This bridge connects New York with New Jersey and its imposing structure can be seen from many spots around the neighborhood, as you'll notice in the film.

If you head to J. Hood Wright Park, the setting for «When You're Home» performed by Benny and Nina, you can take photos of the George Washington Bridge and the Hudson River cliffs from its overlooks.

🏊‍♂️ The Highbridge Park Pool is the real setting for the «96,000» musical number. The pool isn't open to the public, but the park is still worth a visit.

There you can cross the High Bridge, the oldest bridge in New York, and get close to the old Croton Aqueduct tower, which appears in several camera shots from the pool.

📸 Another real location is the pedestrian tunnel at the 191st St Station on subway Line 1. In the movie it becomes a passage full of light and color when Abuela Claudia remembers her past in Cuba.

Honestly, it's a pretty creepy subway passageway: extremely long and very dirty.

On the plus side, it leads to the deepest subway station in the city and it's covered in graffiti, which is about as New York as it gets. The tunnel entrance is at the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and 191st Street.

Be careful if you visit this tunnel, which runs for 3 blocks. It's not as friendly a place as In the Heights makes it look, though the movie is one of the films shot in New York that shows us spots well off the usual tourist routes.

2. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

The main real locations in this Martin Scorsese film are in New York's Financial District.

The standout is the New York Stock Exchange building, the symbol that captures the essence of the movie. It's right outside its doors that Jordan Belfort, Leonardo DiCaprio's character, steps off a bus to begin his meteoric career on Wall Street.

Other buildings that appear in The Wolf of Wall Street and are worth a look:

🏢 Equitable Building (120 Broadway): a classic Manhattan skyscraper that stands in for the offices of LF Rothschild, the first brokerage where the main character works.

🍸 The lavish Top of the Sixes restaurant, on the 41st floor of the 666 skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. This is where another key scene in this New York-shot film takes place: the shameless conversation with Matthew McConaughey‘s character, fueled by martinis and coke, in which he explains to Belfort how money is really made on Wall Street.

🏙️ The Trump International Hotel & Tower New York: located at Columbus Circle, at the southern tip of the Upper West Side facing Central Park. In the movie, Belfort's apartment is in this tower (it's not the same Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, where Donald Trump has his apartment).

🍝 If you love good food (and have dollars to spare 🤣), visit Rao's Restaurant in East Harlem (455 E 114th St). It's the tiny Italian trattoria where Belfort meets with a private investigator. You have to book, though, since it only has 10 tables!

3. Sex and the City (2008)

This big-screen adaptation of the HBO series follows the lives of the four New York friends a few years after the show left off.

The Sex and the City movie (2008) is a love letter to New York. It'll help you build a pretty complete picture of the city and plan the places you want to see.

In Manhattan, for instance, you'll see streets on the Upper West Side, where Carrie Bradshaw's apartment is, and in SoHo, the neighborhood where Samantha's store is.

You'll also tour, alongside the main characters, plenty of other exclusive spots in the Meatpacking District, West Village and Chelsea.

If you're a fan of Sex and the City, you'll love this tour of the Sex and the City filming locations, which you can take when you visit the city.

4. The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

In this satire of the fashion world you get to see the glamorous side of New York (one of the city's many sides). With Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway leading the cast, you're in for a good time.

Did you know that Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue, is the inspiration behind Streep's icy character?

Wintour runs Vogue from the Condé Nast building (now called the 4 Times Square Building), so when you walk past this New York skyscraper, take a peek at the entrance just in case.

5. Elf (2003)

Along with Home Alone, Elf is another Christmas comedy we rewatch year after year. If you're traveling to New York in December, you have to watch it beforehand!

Starring Will Ferrell and directed by Jon Favreau, the movie follows the adventures of Buddy, a human raised by elves at the North Pole.

The New York adventures kick off when he sets out to find his real father (played by James Caan), whom he meets at his office in the iconic Empire State.

You can probably imagine how many classic Christmas spots in New York show up in the film. Among them Central Park, the setting for one of the movie's most memorable scenes: when Buddy helps Santa Claus fix his sleigh.

Or that stroll through Rockefeller Center, when Buddy skates with Jovie (played by Zooey Deschanel) on the ice rink in front of the majestic Christmas tree.

Elf is a celebration of New York City and the Christmas spirit. Visiting these places after seeing the movie is a spectacular experience.

6. Spider-Man (2002)

The first movie in the Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire plays out in several iconic New York locations.

One of the most thrilling scenes is when Spider-Man rescues Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and a group of kids trapped on the Roosevelt Island Tram, next to the Queensboro Bridge.

That bridge connects the east side of Manhattan with Long Island City in Queens, and passes over Roosevelt Island, the Manhattan neighborhood in the middle of the East River.

If you're a fan of the Spider-Man saga, you'll remember that in «Spider-Man: No Way Home» (2021), starring Tom Holland, the Queensboro Bridge is once again a key setting in the plot.

But back to other New York locations in the 2002 Spider-Man. In the movie, the Flatiron Building is the home of the «Daily Bugle,» the newspaper where Peter Parker works.

This beautiful building is one of New York's oldest skyscrapers and an architectural gem you should see.

Times Square is another crucial setting in Spider-Man. This famous intersection is where the battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) unfolds.

7. You've Got Mail (1998)

«You've Got Mail,» now 25 years old, is for many critics the last great romantic comedy filmed in New York.

This movie directed by Nora Ephron and starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan has plenty to say about love, books, money, the gentrification of New York and the internet, but we're here to look at the iconic New York locations it shows us.

In it, Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) and Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) are always moving around the Upper West Side (one of the best neighborhoods to stay in New York!). The whole story takes place between 72nd Street and Broadway and 111th Street and Riverside Drive.

I won't give away too much so you can watch it, it's worth it! What I will tell you is that the movie was shot entirely in New York and that both Kathleen Kelly's (Meg Ryan) little bookstore and Cafe Lalo, where the couple meets for the first time, were real (the cafe closed during the pandemic 🥲).

8. Home Alone 2 (1992)

In this sequel to Home Alone, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) boards the wrong plane and ends up in New York.

There he decides to spend Christmas in style, since he happens to have his dad's credit card. His adventures take us on a wonderful tour of New York at Christmastime.

One of the most remembered scenes from any movie filmed in New York is when Kevin McCallister meets the Pigeon Lady on the famous Gapstow Bridge in Central Park.

Getting to Gapstow Bridge is easy, since it's at the southwest entrance to Central Park, right next to The Pond, a lovely little lake that reflects the skyscrapers of Manhattan's Upper West Side.

I'm sure you'll want to read about other famous movies filmed in Central Park.

9. When Harry Met Sally (1989)

This romantic comedy directed by Rob Reiner and starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan shows us several iconic New York spots that you can still visit today.

For example Katz's Delicatessen on the Lower East Side. This is where they shot the hilarious scene in which Sally fakes an orgasm, leaving every other diner speechless.

You'll see photos and nods to the movie when you go try the famous pastrami sandwiches served at this classic Manhattan deli.

Washington Square Park also appears in several scenes. The park sits in the famous Greenwich Village neighborhood, a classic corner of Manhattan I recommend you get to know.

10. Working Girl (1988)

Working Girl is an iconic late-80s movie, and some say it's essential viewing for understanding and documenting that decade. Naturally you'll get perms, plenty of hairspray, giant shoulder pads, mansplaining and Reebok sneakers.

In it, Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith), tired of being underestimated, discovers that her unpleasant boss (Sigourney Weaver) planned to steal her ideas. So she decides to act and refuses to be walked over.

It's a kind of corporate «Cinderella,» in which «Prince Charming» is Harrison Ford. It's also a story of female empowerment well ahead of its time.

It's fun to spot several big-name actors in supporting roles. For example, an extremely thin Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey playing a predatory executive!, Oliver Platt and David Duchovny.

Between social commentary and comedy, the movie follows Tess through emblematic New York settings, among them Manhattan's Financial District, with the One Chase Manhattan Plaza building standing out, and the South Street Seaport pier as it looked in the 80s.

In Working Girl you'll also recognize some angles of the World Trade Center before the Twin Towers attack. For example, the lobby and elevator of the long-gone 7 World Trade Center, the building where Tess's first office would have been.

Another of the movie's most iconic scenes is Tess on the deck of the Staten Island Ferry, thinking back on her climb to success. The Statue of Liberty appears in the background while Carly Simon's «Let the River Run» plays.

After watching Working Girl you'll understand why the Staten Island Ferry is the way to see the Statue of Liberty for free.

11. Big (1988)

Big is a wonderful movie. It's one of those films made in New York that define the eighties. A 13-year-old boy, fed up with being treated like a kid, makes a wish to Zoltar, a carnival machine: «I wish I were big.»

The next morning he wakes up in the body of a 30-year-old Tom Hanks. Guaranteed fun with New York as the backdrop. At Coney Island you can find machines like the Zoltar from Big.

12. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Another classic 80s film shot in New York, starring none other than Madonna alongside Rosanna Arquette.

The movie follows the adventures of Roberta, a New Jersey housewife (read how to travel to New Jersey from New York so you can see it for yourself).

Arquette's character is obsessed with a mysterious woman she discovers through the newspaper classifieds. She decides to track her down, and that is how she first sees her at Battery Park.

Much of the search for Susan takes place in the Lower East Side, the bohemian neighborhood in southern Manhattan. In the film you can see that back then it was already starting to turn into an icon of NYC nightlife.

13. Ghostbusters (1984)

I love this cult 80s movie so much that I wrote you a post so you can do the Ghostbusters locations tour on your own.

In this film, every second takes place in New York. Read it so you can follow in the footsteps of parapsychologists Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Raymond Stantz and Dr. Egon Spengler around the city.

14. Manhattan (1979)

A film classic you absolutely have to see. If you truly love New York, you will connect with this Woody Allen poem to his hometown.

In the movie, Woody Allen eases us into the story to the rhythm of George Gershwin's «Rhapsody in Blue.» What could be more New York than that?

And if you are like me, always hunting down those TV and movie locations all over New York, visit Riverview Terrace (58th Street in Midtown East, right by the East River).

It is the lookout with views of the Queensboro Bridge from the famous Manhattan scene where Woody Allen sits next to Diane Keaton. The very image on the movie poster.

15. Superman (1978)

I recently watched the documentary Super/Man (2024) and although I knew the tragic story of Christopher Reeve, it is moving to see it and hear the testimonies of his family and friends.

It is a huge paradox that the actor who became famous for playing the Man of Steel spent the last years of his life quadriplegic.

The good thing about watching the documentary is that it reminded me I had not told you about the iconic Superman locations in Manhattan.

Although most of the 1978 Superman film was shot at Pinewood Studios in the UK, many scenes of Metropolis, Superman's fictional city, were filmed in New York.

The one I recommend visiting is the lobby of The Daily News Building (42nd Street at Second Avenue). It is the Midtown East Manhattan skyscraper that appears as the headquarters of the Daily Planet in the film, the newspaper where Clark Kent and Lois Lane work.

If you are a fan of the movie, you will recognize the lobby right away. When I visited there was a photo exhibition of the Superman shoot in its offices. I am not sure whether it is a permanent display.

16. Saturday Night Fever (1977)

The iconic Tony Manero, the character that catapulted John Travolta and the Bee Gees' disco music to stardom, is the king of the clubs in Bay Ridge, in southwest Brooklyn.

The famous 2001 Odyssey club with its light-up dance floor no longer exists. But you can stop by other real locations from this movie filmed in Brooklyn:

• The house where Tony Manero lived is at 221 79th Street
• At 7305 Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge is the paint store where he worked.
• You can grab a slice of pizza at Lenny‘s, on 86th Street in Bensonhurst, another Brooklyn neighborhood.

17. Taxi Driver (1976)

This 1976 Martin Scorsese film is a cinema classic that catapulted Robert De Niro to stardom. It is one of the classic movies filmed in New York, the kind you should not miss.

It is set in New York City during the 1970s. We follow the life of Travis Bickle, a lonely night-shift cabdriver who gets caught up in several acts of violence in his attempt to «clean up» the streets of New York.

This Scorsese film shows neighborhoods like Times Square and Hell's Kitchen as sordid, lonely corners at night. Remember it is a 70s movie, so do not be alarmed, and it reflects the decaying atmosphere Bickle's character perceived in the city.

18. The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974)

The emblematic film «The Godfather», directed by Francis Ford Coppola, unfolds across several real New York locations. Given the importance of the saga and its ties to the city, I will go into detail on several of them:

The Corleone Family House in Staten Island

How about starting your tour of The Godfather's New York in front of Don Vito Corleone's residence in Staten Island? It is the imposing 1930 stone house where Connie Corleone's wedding was held.

The property is in Todt Hill (110 Longfellow Avenue), a quiet residential neighborhood in Staten Island. It is the perfect excuse to visit one of the least visited boroughs in NYC.

Genco Olive Oil Company in Little Italy

Manhattan's Little Italy was the backdrop for many scenes in «The Godfather.» Walking its streets, you will relive the essence of 1940s and 1950s New York.

For example, at 128 Mott Street you will find the building of the fictional Genco Olive Oil Company, the front business for the Corleone family's operations.

St. Anthony of Padua Church in SoHo

A few steps from Little Italy, in the heart of SoHo, you can visit the historic Church of St. Anthony of Padua (154 Sullivan Street).

In The Godfather Part II, it is in this church, founded in 1886, that a young Vito Corleone, played by Robert De Niro, plots against the mobster Don Fanucci during the Feast of San Gennaro in New York.

It is the oldest Italian parish in the United States. Visiting it, beyond connecting with the world of «The Godfather,» you will see the deep bond between the Italian community and New York.

Old St. Patrick's Cathedral

At the Basilica of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in NoLIta (263 Mulberry Street), they filmed the scenes of the baptism of Michael Corleone's nephew.

The church offers guided tours where you can explore its catacombs and learn more about the history of New York's Catholic community. Do not confuse it with the current St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue.

Calvary Cemetery

Calvary Cemetery in Queens (49-02 Laurel Hill Blvd, Woodside) is where Don Vito Corleone's burial was filmed. This 1848 burial ground is one of the largest and oldest in New York. It has stunning views of the Manhattan skyline.

Ellis Island

In The Godfather Part II you will see the boy Vito Andolini, arriving from Corleone, become Vito Corleone at the Ellis Island immigration hall. It is at the Ellis Island Hospital that he stays in quarantine before being able to land in the Lower East Side as hundreds of immigrants did.

19. Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Directed by John Schlesinger and a winner of 3 Academy Awards, it follows an innocent Jon Voight trying to survive New York with the help of Ratso Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman), a sickly but decent homeless man.

It is the saddest of the movies filmed in New York on this list, but it is worth watching because it gives you a different perspective on a city we often idealize.

The film takes place in Manhattan, with an iconic scene where Voight and Hoffman walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

20. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

To this day this Roman Polanski film still captivates with its dark plot of diabolical conspiracy.

Poor Mia Farrow (Rosemary) is stalked by a satanic cult and… better not say more so you can enjoy it 😉

A good part of the plot takes place at The Dakota, an old, stately apartment building, the same one where years later John Lennon would live and be murdered (if you want to pay tribute, visit Strawberry Fields in Central Park).

21. The Seven Year Itch (1955)

I am not sure that «The Seven Year Itch«, one of Marilyn Monroe's most famous movies, was actually shot on the streets of New York.

I include it because one of the most iconic scenes in film history happens in this Billy Wilder movie, on a corner of Midtown East in Manhattan: Marilyn's white dress billowing up from a subway grate.

The subway ventilation grate was said to be on Lexington Avenue and 52nd Street.

You can see the scene recreated at Madame Tussauds, with a smiling wax Marilyn Monroe.

Movies filmed in New York on Netflix

This famous streaming platform shuffles its catalog based on licensing deals in each region and country. That makes it hard to know which of the movies shot in New York are on Netflix at any given moment.

Of the following movies filmed in NYC, I am sure you will find these on Netflix:

1. The Godfather Part I and Part II
2. Ghostbusters .

Movies shot in New York on Disney+

You will find these other movies filmed in New York on the Disney+ streaming platform:

1. Home Alone 2
2. Working Girl
3. The Devil Wears Prada

New York movies on Max

From the list of recommended movies filmed in New York, here are the ones available on Max, formerly HBO:

1. Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street
2. In the Heights
3. Scorsese's Taxi Driver
4. Elf
5. Sex and the City
6. Spider-Man

You will have to hunt down the rest. It helps to look them up on Apple TV, which usually tells you where they are streaming or whether you can buy or rent them.

Oscar-winning movies filmed in New York

Did you know that as of 2025, 15 movies filmed in New York have won the Oscar for Best Picture? Here they are:

1. Anora (2025): it took 11 years for the Best Picture Oscar to come back to New York! It is not my favorite film, but there is no denying its merits, and it takes you on a wild ride through real New York locations. You will see corners of Brighton Beach, also known as Little Odessa, and Coney Island in Brooklyn. You also get a look at places you could never access, like a mansion built by Russian oligarchs in Mill Basin, a millionaires' enclave in southern Brooklyn.
2. Birdman (2014): 30 years went by before another New York production won Best Picture. Maybe the cost of filming in New York got too high, or maybe the Academy wanted to spread the love 🏆. This dark comedy directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu follows a washed-up Hollywood actor trying to reinvent himself on Broadway. Many scenes were shot in Times Square, including Michael Keaton running through the streets in his underwear after getting locked out of his dressing room at Broadway's St. James Theatre.
3. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979): the 1970s were a very fruitful decade for our beloved New York. Four films won the Best Picture Oscar. Kramer vs. Kramer was the last of the decade. This drama directed by Robert Benton won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In the film, a very young Dustin Hoffman takes care of his son after his wife (Meryl Streep) walks out on them. The twist: Streep comes back to demand custody of the boy. It unfolds in landmark New York spots like Central Park, the Chrysler Building and the Financial District.
4. Annie Hall (1977): as you can see, the seventies were the decade for movies set in New York. This Woody Allen film is one of those small but neurotic stories that come so naturally to a filmmaker raised in Brooklyn but born in a Bronx hospital. Among the dozens of New York locations you will see in this movie, one standout is Alvy and Annie's trip to Astroland Park in Coney Island (a shame that park is gone, but there is still plenty of old-school fun at Luna Park).
5. The Godfather Part II (1974)
6. The Godfather (1972)
7. Midnight Cowboy (1969)
8. West Side Story (1961): this musical about two young lovers from rival New York gangs won 10 Academy Awards.
9. The Apartment (1960)
10. Marty (1955)
11. On the Waterfront (1954)
12. All About Eve (1950)
13. Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
14. The Lost Weekend (1945): the first Billy Wilder film to win Best Picture. It is the story of a writer sinking deeper and deeper into alcoholism. It takes place on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
15. The Broadway Melody (1929): recognized as the first great musical in history, and the winner of the second Academy Awards ceremony. Quite an honor for New York.

If I missed any other Best Picture winner filmed in New York, let me know! 😀

More movies filmed in New York

This selection of movies filmed in New York does not just tell fascinating stories, it invites you to explore different corners of one of the most filmed cities on earth.

When you travel to New York, make a point of visiting these places and reliving your favorite scenes.

Want to discover even more movies filmed in New York? Check out these movies shot in Central Park.