If you were asking people what they thought was the most iconic and recognisable city in the world, there’s a good chance that New York would be no.1 for a lot of them. I’m sure London, Paris, Rome and Hong Kong and other cities would be strong contenders too, but New York does seem to hold a certain iconic aura, that is very strong in popular culture. There have been songs written about it, it’s so good they named it twice, it’s one of the few cities that have a nickname, there are iconic landmarks known the world through, the city has iconic memorabilia such as the I Love NY t-shirts, their yellow taxis are recognisable the world round and there are even entertainment and gaming sites that use the New York brand such as NY Spins. The NY brand is literally everywhere. One thing for sure is that there have been loads of movies set in New York, and the next time I visit the Big Apple I’m going to try to visit as many of these as I can. So sit back and enjoy a tour round some of the movie landmarks of New York, New York.

King Kong
This classic movie (I’m thinking of way back to the black and white 1933 version) contains an iconic New York landmark, the Empire State Building. That image of King Kong atop the Empire State Building has been used and reworked in so many ways. I’m sure the building has starred in many other movies, and another one where it had a pivotal role was in Sleepless in Seattle.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
The clue’s in the title of this one. A classic film and a very recognisable shop, located on the corner of 57th and 5th. I’m sure the Audrey Hepburn film helped their sales somewhat. Certainly worth a visit when in New York although I’m not sure how much I would be spending inside!

Miracle on 34th Street
Another shop here. This time Macy’s. The Macy’s Christmas parade is a very well known thing across the world, particularly after it was well represented in the original Miracle on 34th Street film. I would definitely want to pay it a visit.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
I’m not sure if the Plaza Hotel was a massively well known hotel before this Home Alone sequel, but it’s certainly quite a cool film location to check out when in New York. It was of course home to that scene with future president and renowned actor/wrestler Donald Trump.

Men in Black
There’s a very memorable scene in Men in Black when they’re in the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park and the World Fair towers are revealed to be alien spacecraft and the Unisphere is a pretty integral part of a main shot when the alien mother ship crashes through it! Would definitely be worth a visit.

When Harry Met Sally
This film is one of my favourite films of all time. It’s so well made. New York really is one of the characters of the movie too. There are loads of places in this film that you could visit when in New York. Here are three of them.

  • The Arch at Washington Square Park where Harry gets dropped off
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art – this is where Harry tells Sally about Sphinxy (the museum also starred in The Thomas Crown Affair with Pierce Brosnan)
  • Katz’s delicatessen – Of course, we can’t mention When Harry Met Sally without mentioning THAT diner scene. It was probably the best thing to happen to that diner, as I think they get a tonne of tourist traffic coming through each day since the movie. I’m sure everyone orders “what she’s having”

Ghostbusters
But the king of New York films might just be Ghostbusters. So many landmarks were used in this film. Let’s try listing a few of the main ones.

  • New York Public Library – both the interior and exterior were used here at the start of the movie
  • 55 Central Park West – Also known as ’Spook Central’, it’s the main building used in the film, and has a very unique architecture. Would be great to see in the flesh
  • Columbia University – I’m pretty sure this is where Ray and Peter talk about what to do next after they’re kicked out of the university
  • Fire house Hook and Ladder 8 – And finally the one landmark in New York that would be an absolutely must to visit for me personally is the fire house from Ghostbuster. Such a cool building that was even made into a toy for the Real Ghostbusters line

I’m certainly going to be busy on my next trip to NY!