New York City has been the backdrop for thousands of films, but only a select few truly make the city feel like a living character. From the Bronx and Brooklyn to Manhattan, Queens, and the city’s subway platforms, parks, diners, streets, apartment buildings, and bridges, these films captured the rhythm, danger, beauty, humor, and pressure of New York life. Our Top 15 Essential New York Movies list celebrates films that did more than shoot in New York. They used the city’s personality, neighborhoods, and history as part of the story itself.
New York City. Photo: Brian Kachejian 2017
Our Top 15 New York Movies list takes a look at fifteen films that were not just filmed in New York City but also used the city in an important role. There have been thousands of movies filmed in New York City’s five boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island. Many movies have also been filmed on Long Island and upstate New York. However, the best films that brought the city of New York alive were usually filmed in the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. It’s hard to create a list of just 15 New York movies, but that’s what makes this fun to do. Undoubtedly, we will miss some of your favorites. In honor of so many of the great films, we also added an honorary list of New York movies at the end of our article.
# 15 – The Seven-Ups
Opening up our Top 15 New York Movies list is the great Roy Scheider film The Seven-Ups. The film provided audiences with one of the greatest car chase scenes ever released. I first saw this film when it was released at the Bainbridge Movie Theater in the Bronx. While we were all watching the film, the famous car chase scene went through the same neighborhood as the theater. The crowd in the theater went absolutely nuts.
The Seven-Ups was directed by Philip D’Antoni. The acclaimed filmmaker was known for gritty detective movies featuring stunning chase scenes. His work helped define the tough, urban, street-level look of New York crime films during the 1970s.
# 14 – Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Cowboy was released on May 25, 1969. The film starred Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. The movie was directed by John Schlesinger. It was a brilliant movie that defined the dark side of New York’s streets, like so many of the films on this list.
The film won the Oscar for Best Motion Picture in 1969, making it the first X-rated film ever to win an Academy Award. The film also won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. New York’s Hotel Claridge, located at Broadway and 44th Street, served as the hotel in which Jon Voight’s character stayed throughout the movie. And who could ever forget the incredible theme song?
# 13 – The Naked City
The brilliant 1948 film The Naked City defined the look of New York in the 1940s. The cinematography of the city was jaw-dropping. The Academy thought so too, as the film won the Academy Award for cinematography in 1948. The film was directed by Jules Dassin.
The Naked City is a film that is studied in film schools worldwide. It is often referred to as film noir. Some critics argue that the film was inspired by Italian neorealism. Others argue that the movie was heavily influenced by the work of New York photographer Arthur Fellig, who was known as Weegee. In fact, Fellig was hired by the filmmakers of The Naked City as a consultant. The images in the film were inspired by the work of the famed photographer, who had published a book titled Naked City in 1945.
# 12 – Prince Of The City
Prince of the City is the second of two New York movies on this list to feature Treat Williams in the starring role. Treat Williams’ role as New York detective Daniel Ciello was a complete 360-degree turn from the role he played in the 1979 film Hair. Sidney Lumet directed this 1981 three-and-a-half-hour film about New York City police corruption.
The film featured an ensemble of some of the finest New York actors to appear on the screen. The movie starred veteran New York actor Jerry Orbach, along with Richard Foronjy, Don Billett, Kenny Marino, Lindsay Crouse, and James Tolkan, who movie fans would recognize as Hill Valley High School Principal Gerald Strickland in the Back to the Future movie series. A complete New York film in every aspect.
# 11 – Mean Streets
If there ever was a director who exhibited the personality of an old-school New Yorker, it is none other than Martin Scorsese. The man understood the streets of New York and the personalities that were born and raised in the city’s five boroughs. This one was a real work of art.
The film was released in 1973. Mean Streets starred Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. The film was based on real events that Martin Scorsese said he had witnessed regularly while growing up on the streets of New York’s Little Italy. The film featured a very young Robert De Niro in one of his first starring roles. The chemistry between Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel is spectacular. Martin Scorsese also appeared in the film in the role of Jimmy Shorts.
# 10 – A Bronx Tale
As a child who grew up in the Bronx in the 1960s, I got chills every time I watched the movie A Bronx Tale. Robert De Niro nailed the feel of a 1960s Bronx neighborhood perfectly. The lighting, the buses, the clothes, and the characters were all people, places, and things I knew so well in the 1960s. This one was as authentic as it gets.
The film was released in 1993 and written by Chazz Palminteri. The movie also starred Lillo Brancato Jr., who would years later be arrested and charged with second-degree murder of a real-life off-duty police officer in the Bronx. In 2013, Lillo Brancato Jr. was released on parole.
Chazz Palminteri’s performance as Sonny was the role of a lifetime for the New York actor. The film would eventually be adapted into a Broadway play, opening at the Longacre Theatre in 2016.
# 9 – Hair
The impact of the Broadway play Hair on 1960s youth culture was so powerful that, when the film was released in 1979, critics jumped at the chance to tear it apart. That was unfortunate, because the film was brilliantly directed by Miloš Forman.
We have chosen this film for our Top 15 New York Movies list because of the way it portrayed the culture of Central Park in the 1960s. The division between the elite, the hippies, and all the racial tensions of the 1960s were all depicted on the grand stage of the most iconic city park in the world. It is a truly magnificent film that defines New York hippie culture of the 1960s.
The film starred Treat Williams and Beverly D’Angelo, who would later gain fame as the wife of Chevy Chase’s character in the Vacation movies. The film also starred veteran actor John Savage.
# 8 – Saturday Night Fever
The film Saturday Night Fever was the polar opposite of a cultural film when compared to a movie like Hair. However, the film defines the streets of Brooklyn in the 1970s and the cultural juggernaut that was the disco movement.
In many ways, John Travolta’s and Treat Williams’ characters were not that different from each other. Both films contained scenes in which the characters sat in their city apartments with their families and fought with their parents over what they looked like and what they were going to do with their lives. The movies are very much connected, yet symbolize two completely different musical genres and concepts while both utilize the city of New York and its culture. Saturday Night Fever represented far more than a film; it defined a cultural shift in music, dance, politics, and philosophy in the shadows of Vietnam and the Watergate crisis.
# 7 – The Warriors
The Warriors might not have been a favorite among critics, but it was an incredibly fun movie that struck a true balance between comic-book fantasy and street-life drama. The plot centered on a truce among all the city gangs gone bad. As the gang leader, Cyrus, is murdered by Rogue’s gang member, Luther, a member of the Warriors is wrongly blamed for the murder.
The gang then has to fight its way back while on the run from Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to its home base in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Most of the movie is filmed at night. However, the parks, streets, and subways of New York play a very prominent role in the film, making it one of the purest New York movies ever made. The movie starred James Remar as Ajax and the iconic David Patrick Kelly as Luther.
# 6 – The French Connection
I never exited an L train the same way after seeing the film The French Connection. Visions of Gene Hackman’s character Popeye Doyle standing at the bottom of the L train shooting down his suspect is irreversibly etched in my memory. This 1971 film won various Academy Awards. It is one of the most essential movies filmed on the streets of New York. The essence of the city plays a huge role in the film.
The film also starred veteran New York actor Roy Scheider, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 1972 Academy Awards. And speaking of the Academy Awards, the film won five in 1972. The French Connection won for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
# 5 – Taxi Driver
Just the opening scene alone, depicting Robert De Niro’s character driving through the streets of 1970s Times Square and describing what he saw, is enough to warrant Taxi Driver’s place in the top 10 of any New York movies list.
The movie starred Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle. His character was a discharged ex-Marine who was fed up with the criminal element he viewed every night as a taxi driver. Bickle falls for a young pre-teen prostitute played by a very young Jodie Foster. The movie also stars Cybill Shepherd as Betsy, another character Travis Bickle falls for early on in the film. Also appearing in the film is Martin Scorsese’s regular, Harvey Keitel. This is essential New York movie-making by the master himself, Martin Scorsese.
# 4 – Manhattan / Annie Hall
Along with Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen was the quintessential New York filmmaker who understood the city’s streets and culture better than anyone. Most of Woody Allen’s movies were filmed on the streets of New York. We could not decide between the two films, Manhattan and Annie Hall.
The film Manhattan was released in 1979. It starred Mariel Hemingway, Diane Keaton, and Meryl Streep. The movie was filmed in black and white in an extreme widescreen format. The use of black and white in the wide format produced a film of stunning images of New York City. The film Annie Hall was released a couple of years earlier in 1977. The film also featured Diane Keaton in a starring role. Both movies used New York City as the backdrop in almost every scene. These are consummate New York movies.
# 3 – The Godfather
What can be written about The Godfather movies that has not already been written? The movies were driven by some of the greatest film characters to ever grace the silver screen. The film featured legendary actors and actresses Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, John Cazale, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Abe Vigoda.
The film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The story was based on the Mario Puzo novel The Godfather. The film was released by Paramount Pictures in 1972. It spawned one of the most successful movie sequels of all time with the release of The Godfather: Part II in 1974. The backdrop of the film, depicting the changing New York City landscapes, and the impact the city had on the culture that moved in and out of the shadows, made The Godfather a classic New York movie.
# 2 – Serpico
So many of our essential New York movies were released in the early 1970s. It was a time before special effects took over Hollywood, when most films centered around human drama and characters. Al Pacino’s Serpico character was one of the most complex characters to hit the silver screen. The streets of New York once again played a major role in the film.
The rundown apartment buildings of New York City played a prominent role in the conflict that Al Pacino’s character faced throughout the film. The film was released in 1973. It was directed by the acclaimed director Sidney Lumet. The movie was based on the real-life story of New York City police detective Frank Serpico.
# 1 – West Side Story
West Side Story was released in theaters in 1961. The film was adapted from the Broadway play West Side Story, which premiered in 1957. Both the play and the film were based on a modern-day retelling of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet.
The film was directed by Robert Wise with significant contributions from Jerome Robbins, who had directed the Broadway play. The movie defined the issues of race and acceptance, immigration, gangs, and family, all juxtaposed against a backdrop of New York City apartment buildings, fire escapes, schoolyards, and street corners. It is one of the most powerful films ever made. The music and choreography easily trump any other Broadway play adapted for the silver screen. It is not just the greatest New York movie ever produced, but one of the finest films of all time.
Honorary New York Movies List
There are so many more New York movies than the ones on the list below. These are just some of our favorites that came close to making our Top 15 Essential New York Movies list.
After Hours (1985)
All That Jazz (1979)
Angels With Dirty Faces (1983)
Arthur (1981)
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Big (1988)
Blackboard Jungle (1955)
Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Bright Lights, Big City (1988)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
Bullets over Broadway (1994)
Carlito’s Way (1993)
A Chorus Line (1985)
Cinderella Man (2005)
City Hall (1996)
Coming to America (1988)
The Cotton Club (1984)
Daredevil (2003)
Death Wish (1974)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Elf (2003)
Enchanted (2007)
Escape from New York (1981)
Fame (1980)
Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)
Frankie and Johnny (1991)
Funny Girl (1968)
Gangs of New York (2002)
Ghost (1990)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Gloria (1980)
Godspell (1973)
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
He Got Game (1998)
Hoffa (1992)
Independence Day (1996)
It Could Happen to You (1994)
The Jazz Singer (1980)
King Kong (1933, 1976, 2005)
The King of Comedy (1982)
King of New York (1990)
Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990)
Live and Let Die (1973)
Look Who’s Talking (1989)
The Lords of Flatbush (1974)
The Manchurian Candidate (1962, 2004)
Men in Black (1997)
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
The Money Train (1995)
Moscow on the Hudson (1984)
Network (1976)
New Jack City (1991)
Night Shift (1982)
Nighthawks (1981)
On the Waterfront (1954)
Panic Room (2002)
The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984)
Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Q & A (1990)
Quiz Show (1994)
Raging Bull (1980)
Ragtime (1981)
Ransom (1996)
Rent (2005)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rumble in the Bronx (1995)
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Sea of Love (1989)
Serendipity (2001)
Sex and the City: The Movie (2008)
Shaft (1971, 2000)
She’s the One (1996)
Spider-Man (2002, 2004, 2007)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Tootsie (1982)
Trading Places (1983)
Wall Street (2009)
Year of the Dragon (1985)
More New York Film And Culture Stories
If you enjoy stories about New York movies, actors, and city culture, take a look at our features on Top 15 Essential New York Film Actors, Top 15 Essential New York Film Actresses, Times Square, and living in the Bronx during Son of Sam.
Article updated June 28, 2026.
