New York movies: The 100 best films set in New York City

From King Kong's spire down to the scummiest subway tunnel, TONY ranks the definitive list of the 100 best New York movies: crime dramas, romantic comedies, documentaries and more.

By David Fear, Stephen Garrett, Joshua Rothkopf, Keith Uhlich and Alison Willmore Tue Jul 3 2012

New York movies: 25th Hour (2002)
New York movies: The Clock (1945)
New York movies: All That Jazz (1979)
New York movies: Little Fugitive (1953)
New York movies: American Psycho (2000)
New York movies: Goodfellas (1990)
New York movies: Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
New York movies: 42nd Street (1933)
New York movies: Serpico (1973)
New York movies: Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

New York movies: 25th Hour (2002)

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.—Alison Willmore

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

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.—Keith Uhlich

Watch now on iTunes Buy on Amazon

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.—Stephen Garrett

Buy on Amazon

Little Fugitive (1953)

Convinced he has killed his older brother with his toy rifle, a seven-year-old Brooklyn boy hightails it to Coney Island, where he wanders around with gaping wonder. This pioneering child’s-eye production captures its summery setting with a casual realism that François Truffaut credited as a major influence on The Four Hundred Blows.—Keith Uhlich

Buy on Amazon

American Psycho (2000)

Flattering Bret Easton Ellis’s stone-cold satire with a devilish Christian Bale performance and scalpel-sharp period detail, Mary Harron’s thriller is close to peerless as a picture of ’80s-era vapidity and entitlement. This is the Manhattan of chichi painted plates (and securing the impossible restaurant reservation), Phantom of the Opera visual jokes and pounding dance clubs.—Joshua Rothkopf

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

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.—Stephen Garrett

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

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.—Stephen Garrett

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

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.—David Fear

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

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.—Joshua Rothkopf

Watch now on iTunes Watch now at Amazon Instant Video

Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)

Sibling rivalry doesn’t begin to describe the subtly complex dynamics within a sororal trio as each one seeks happiness among an array of (sometimes overlapping) men. Woody Allen’s vivid dissection of an Upper West Side family—stopping at sites including the Café Carlyle, Pageant Book Shop and CBGB—uses the city’s grandiose neuroses and urbane patois to convey a singular kinship.—Stephen Garrett

Buy on Amazon

Share your thoughts

Your rating
Name *
Email *
Comment *
* mandatory fields

Comments & ratings

(31 ratings)

The wanderers is better than 90% of this list.

Matt About 3 days ago
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Great list but where is "Ghost"? That surely has to be included here!

Louis Lilakos About 6 days ago
Rated as: 4/5
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
"We will gather data from El Paso neighborhoods in spring 2014 using trained student-researchers from UTEP and begin analyzing the results that summer," Curry said. The Gucci replica products are always the best in the sphere and that is the reason they always come up with some unique and extraordinary work.. Thoughtful. The french are indeed the most designer savvy among us, and often choose to purchase higher end clothing, but the rationale is for fit, and durability, as opposed to the Americanized appeal of sporting outward brand labels on every piece of clothing/accessory we have. Echaud茅s par les d茅convenues ant茅rieures, les leaders du MNLA ont proclam茅 solennellement le 6 avril l'ind茅pendance pleine et enti猫re de l'Azawad.

XRwogannimeieTest About 11 days ago
Rated as: 2/5
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Ghost Dog was filmed in Jersey City. This is a well known fact so why is it in this list? And yes, I'm from Jersey City.

John O'Hara Thu Apr 25
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Where is Scent of a Woman?

casey Mon Mar 25
Rated as: 2/5
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
What about "LIMITLESS" and "How to Lose A Guy In 10 Days" ????????????

AM Wed Mar 20
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
coming to america Home alone 2 Big Daddy the list here is shi*

Dean Tue Mar 19
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
What about Breakfast at Tiffanys? Coming to America? Sister Act? The list goes on. I will say that you guys did a good job of putting "Do The Right Thing" in the Top 10.

Jordan Sun Mar 17
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
How could you not include "An Affair to Remember" and even "Working Girl"? aacch!!

liz Sat Mar 9
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *
Whaaaat? No Die Hard with a Vengeance?!

Creon Thu Mar 7
Report
1. Name *
2. Email *
3. Reason *