There’s nothing like seeing New York City on the big screen to remind us of the glamor, grit and grandeur of this crazy place we call home. If you’re ever feeling down and out, and a basic rom-com simply will not do, check out this list of classic films and their movie locations in NYC.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The female-forward “Ocean’s 8″ centers on a jewelry heist during one of fashion’s biggest nights: Anna Wintour’s Met Gala. In the film, the star-studded cast—Rihanna, Cate Blanchett, and Sandra Bullock, to name a few—recreate the celebration with the help of Kim Kardashian and Gigi Hadid. There’s a fantastic scene of the squad dressed in designer threads and dancing around the Temple of Dendur.
If you’ve just got to have your rom-com fix (no judgement), check out “When Harry Met Sally.” The museum’s iconic temple also acts as the backdrop for a quintessential New York date.
Lincoln Center
In the psychological thriller “Black Swan,” Natalie Portman plays a ballerina striving for perfection in a New York City Ballet production at Lincoln Center. While “Black Swan” primarily highlights the dark interiors of the theater, more upbeat films including “The Producers,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Sweet Home Alabama” feature the iconic Revson Fountains and sunny plaza outside.
The Plaza Hotel
With a castle-like exterior and labyrinth of hallways, the Plaza Hotel is like playground for all ages — if you have the right budget. From sassy, little Eloise to the snarky, pre-teen Macaulay Culkin playing Kevin in the “Home Alone” sequel, the renowned New York City hotel has been fictionalized in books and movies countless times. We will not hold it against you if you missed the cinematic remake of the “The Great Gatsby” or “Bride Wars,” but the 1959 Carey Grant classic “North By Northwest” is a must-see.
The Dakota
At a first glance, the Upper West Side’s Dakota may look similar to the Plaza Hotel—and that’s because both were designed near the end of the nineteenth century by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh’s architectural firm. Home to iconic celebs like Judy Garland, Gilda Radner, and John Lennon, the apartment building was also used for exterior shots in Roman Polanski’s horror film “Rosemary’s Baby,” starring Mia Farrow.
The New York Public Library
For over a century, Midtown’s New York Public Library has served millions of guests — which has given it plenty of time to harbor such ghosts as librarian Eleanor Twitty, who was hunted down in “Ghostbusters.” The famous library has also been featured in “Spider-Man” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Plus, it was the location planned for Carrie Bradshaw’s nuptials to Big in “Sex and the City: The Movie.” Don’t get any ideas, brides-to-be, because renting out the library for your big day starts at $60,000.
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Grand Central Terminal
Will Smith has made multiple movie appearances at Grand Central over his career. In “Men In Black,“ Smith’s character Agent J encounters his first alien here. Later, the facade of the beaux-arts landmark made a cameo in “I Am Legend.”
If your patience for Will Smith is limited to “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” there are plenty of other opportunities to catch Grand Central on the big screen. The building’s Main Concourse is the stage for the flash mob at the end of the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis flick “Friends With Benefits,” while the Oyster Bar is where George Clooney has lunch with his daughter in the 1990s rom-com “One Fine Day.”
Source: Timothy Fadek, Corbis Collection via Getty Images
World’s Fair Grounds
“Why else hold it in Queens?” quips Tommy Lee Jones playing Agent K in “Men in Black” when explaining how the U.S. Government built an alien landing site and disguised it as the 1964 World’s Fair grounds. Touché, Tommy, touché. There have been several interesting proposals for repurposing the site in the 53 years since the World’s Fair, but nothing tops Agent K’s hypothesis.
Renwick Smallpox Hospital
During the climax of “Spider-Man,” Tobey Maguire, playing Spidey, dukes it out with the Green Goblin (played by Willem Defoe) in front of the eerie ruins of Roosevelt Island’s Smallpox Hospital, which are visible from the FDR Drive. Designed in 1856 by James Renwick, Jr., the hospital was abandoned in 1956 and is now preserved as a national historic site. The Roosevelt Island tram also plays a pivotal part in the action.
88-39 69th Road, Queens
“Spider-Man” also features the residential streets of Forest Hills, Queens. After Peter Parker’s parents are killed in a plane crash, he’s taken in by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May, who live in a humble, vinyl-sided home in the neighborhood. Peter grows up pretty much as a normal kid until he gets bitten by a radioactive insect. And then things get weird.
The Empire State Building
Only two years after completion, the Empire State Building was featured in the 1933 version of “King Kong.“ Sixty years later, the skyscraper plays an equally pivotal, if more romantic, role in “Sleepless in Seattle.” The observation deck serves as the location for the first meeting between Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks’ characters, a moment inspired by the 1957 film, “An Affair to Remember.”
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History offered the 2006 film “Night at the Museum” a lot to work with. From larger-than-life fossils and giant whales suspended mid-air to cavemen coming to life, the film starring Ben Stiller is more or less whatever a kid or adult might imagine would happen if you spent the night within the Museum’s halls. And now, kids actually can spend the night there thanks to the Museum’s new sleepover program.
Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. became a household name after the release of the 1961 film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s“ — thanks to Audrey Hepburn glamorously eating a danish while longingly peering into the swanky store’s windows. Not until 2001, with “Sweet Home Alabama” was the location featured in another movie — when Patrick Dempsey’s character got down on one knee proposing to Reese Witherspoon. And today, eating breakfast inside Tiffany has become a reality, with the 2017 opening of The Blue Box Café, located on the fourth floor of the iconic Fifth Ave store.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
339 Convent Ave.
Even before Wes Anderson had finished the script for “The Royal Tenenbaums,” he had selected 339 Convent Ave. as the titular family’s home. Anderson actually took up residence at the stunning Hamilton Heights mansion on the corner of West 144th Street, and is said to have finished the script there. No surprise that the dramatic-looking home plays an outsize role in the film’s plot. While the house is now a private residence, if you hop on the A, B, C or D trains, you’ll be dropped off just around the corner and can snag a quick pic out front.
The Langham
Written and directed by Woody Allen, “Hannah and Her Sisters“ is a comedy-drama that follows the lives of an extended family for two years. It begins and ends with a Thanksgiving meal thrown by Hannah (played by Mia Farrow) in The Langham on Central Park West and West 73rd Street — the same building where Farrow lived in real life.
129 E. 73rd St.
In “The Devil Wears Prada,” Anne Hathaway’s character Andy Sachs is tasked to do a plethora of demanding errands—from ordering exclusive copies of the latest “Harry Potter” book for Miranda Priestly’s twins to keeping track of an insane Starbucks order. Arguably, the most complicated chore, however, takes place when Sachs has to place “the book” (a confidential draft of the magazine’s upcoming issue) on a specific counter in Priestly’s townhouse, an 8,000-square-foot maze on the Upper East Side.
A view from atop the St. James Tower in Sutton Place, where financier Bud Fox resided in the 1980s version of “Wall Street.”
St. James Tower, 415 E. 54th St.
In the 1987 version of “Wall Street,” the archetypal profligate stockbroker Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen, buys a penthouse apartment at St. James Tower in Manhattan’s exclusive Sutton Place neighborhood. Although you might not recognize the building today, in the 1980s, it was a big deal — named one of the city’s first super-luxury condominiums.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
14 N. Moore St. Fire Station
If “Wall Street” offers a perfect distillation of NYC’s “one percent” in the 1980s, then “Ghostbusters” does the same for the “99 percent.” No movie better captures everyday NYC life at this time than “Ghostbusters,” if everyday life involved goblins living in the sewer. The movie features iconic spots throughout the city that include Columbus Circle, Washington Square Park, Columbia’s Lowe Library, and the New York Public Library on 42nd Street. While today’s New York City may feature a little less graffiti and grit, the Tribeca fire station used as the Ghostbusters’ club house still stands on the corner of North Moore and Varick Streets.
Source: Medium
36 E. 68th St.
No list of Manhattan-made movies would be complete without of a mention of one of the best distillations of New Yorkers and all their neuroses — “Annie Hall.” The film won four Academy Awards and, despite the misgivings some may have about its director, it remains a favorite among locals and movie buffs alike. Full of nostalgia-inducing panoramas of 1970s New York, the movie follows the blossoming romance between a recent transplant from the Midwest, Annie, and an oddball Brooklynite, Alvy. It’s hard to pick a favorite vignette, but the scene that transpires between Annie and Alvy over drinks on her Lenox Hill terrace is classic.
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