Film & TV · 36 places in all
Classic New York films
Where King Kong, the Godfather, Harry and Sally and Tony Manero were filmed, and what is still there.
From King Kong on the Empire State Building to Buddy the Elf skating at Rockefeller Center, New York has played itself in a long run of classic films. A lot of the places are still standing and free to look at: a deli, a firehouse, a church, a block in Bed-Stuy, a bench under a bridge.
These three lists follow the films around Midtown, downtown and the Village, and out to the Upper West Side and Brooklyn. Each stop says which film used it and what happens there, and where a place has gone or was only a set, we say so.
Several stops are homes, a working firehouse or a courthouse. Look from the sidewalk, keep the doors clear and buy something at the delis and diners.
3 ways to do it
EThe editorsMidtown at the moviesKing Kong, Holly Golightly, Kevin McCallister and Buddy the Elf: twelve Midtown stops from the Flatiron to the river.12 placesA full day6 freeMidtown & FlatironMidtownCentral ParkUse this list →
EThe editorsDowntown and the Village on filmHarry and Sally, the Corleones, Travis Bickle, the Ghostbusters and Gordon Gekko, from Bleecker Street to Wall Street.12 placesA full day3 freeVillage & DowntownDowntownChinatownUse this list →
EThe editorsBrooklyn and Uptown on filmGhostbusters and You’ve Got Mail on the Upper West Side, then Spike Lee, Tony Manero and Popeye Doyle in Brooklyn.12 placesTwo or three days6 freeUptownBrooklynSouth BrooklynUse this list →Questions people ask
Where is the “I’ll have what she’s having” deli?
Katz’s Delicatessen, 205 East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. A sign hangs over the table where Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal sat. Take a ticket at the door and keep it: you need it to leave.
Can you go inside the Ghostbusters firehouse?
No. Hook & Ladder 8 at 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca is a working fire station. The interiors were filmed in Los Angeles. You can photograph the outside and the Ghostbusters sign from across the street; never block the doors.
Is the Big piano still at FAO Schwarz?
The scene was filmed at the old FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue, in the General Motors Building facing the Plaza. That store closed in 2015. FAO Schwarz reopened at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 2018.
Where is the Do the Right Thing block?
Stuyvesant Avenue between Quincy Street and Lexington Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, co-named Do The Right Thing Way in 2015. Sal’s pizzeria was a set built on a corner lot and taken down after filming. People live on the block, so keep to the sidewalk.