How Well Do You Know NYC Landmarks in Movies? (Part II - The Sequel)
Try your hand at our sequel quiz about New York City landmarks featured in movies!
Try your hand at our sequel quiz about New York City landmarks featured in movies!
Love the movie Ghost (1990)? Ditto.
From the loft apartment on Prince Street where banker Sam Wheat and artist Molly Jensen (Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore) live, to the corner restaurant on Spring Street where Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) proves her prowess as a medium to a skeptical Molly, to the Crosby Street storefronts that frame the fatal interaction between Willie Lopez (Rick Aviles) and Sam, Ghost highlights streetscapes, structures, and spaces within which Manhattan historic district?
Hint: This district’s warehouses and lofts, with their open floor plans and high ceilings, were a major draw to artists like the fictional Molly Jensen from the 1960s onward.
Film still via On the Set of New York
SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
Greenwich Village Historic District
Ladies' Mile Historic District
South Street Seaport Historic District
The SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District contains the largest extant concentration of full and partial cast-iron facades in the world—as well as several prominent set locations from Ghost, including Sam and Molly’s apartment at 104 Prince Street, the restaurant site at 195 Spring Street, and Crosby Street between Prince and Spring streets. The district consists of 26 city blocks and contains about 500 buildings, and most of its full cast-iron facades date to the 1870s.
Fun Fact: Outside of the district, Oda Mae donates the $4 million Sam helps her retrieve to “a bunch of nuns” in front of the Federal Hall National Memorial (a.k.a. United States Custom House), a designated New York City individual and interior andmark.
The SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District contains the largest extant concentration of full and partial cast-iron facades in the world—as well as several prominent set locations from Ghost, including Sam and Molly’s apartment at 104 Prince Street, the restaurant site at 195 Spring Street, and Crosby Street between Prince and Spring streets. The district consists of 26 city blocks and contains about 500 buildings, and most of its full cast-iron facades date to the 1870s.
Fun Fact: Outside of the district, Oda Mae donates the $4 million Sam helps her retrieve to “a bunch of nuns” in front of the Federal Hall National Memorial (a.k.a. United States Custom House), a designated New York City individual and interior andmark.
In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, directed by Chris Columbus and starring Macaulay Culkin and Joe Pesci, the young Kevin McCallister is separated from his family and checks himself into what New York City landmark?
Hint: The grand hotel sits on the southern edge of Central Park and is also a designated interior landmark.
Hotel Lexington
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
The Plaza Hotel
Hotel Martinique
The Plaza Hotel, built in 1905-1907, is a French Renaissance Revival building designed by Henry Hardenbergh with later alterations by Warren and Wetmore. The Hotel has seen numerous guests through its years, including Eleanor Roosevelt, the Beatles, and even Frank Lloyd Wright. Today it stands at the southern edge of Central Park and remains a timeless icon of New York City.
Image of Plaza Hotel via LPC
The Plaza Hotel, built in 1905-1907, is a French Renaissance Revival building designed by Henry Hardenbergh with later alterations by Warren and Wetmore. The Hotel has seen numerous guests through its years, including Eleanor Roosevelt, the Beatles, and even Frank Lloyd Wright. Today it stands at the southern edge of Central Park and remains a timeless icon of New York City.
Image of Plaza Hotel via LPC
The poetic, vibrant, and stunningly beautiful 2018 film adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel If Beale Street Could Talk includes a scene filmed in the former El Quijote Restaurant in Manhattan, which was located in what famous (and sometimes infamous) New York City landmark?
The Algonquin Hotel
Hotel Chelsea
Gotham Hotel
Hotel Gerard
If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Barry Jenkins, is a heart-wrenching story of love and injustice filmed throughout Manhattan, including at El Quijote restaurant located in the former Hotel Chelsea, designated an New York City landmark in 1966. The Victorian Gothic-style apartment house was designed by Hubert, Pirsson & Co in 1883 and is famous for its tiers of iron balconies as well as its notable writer, musician, and artist residents.
The film also captures scenes in other New York City landmarks, including Mount Morris Park Historic District, Stuyvesant Square Historic District, South Village Historic District, and the Bergdorf Goodman building on Fifth Avenue.
Did you know that LPC designated the James Baldwin Residence at 137 West 71st Street in 2019? The location is the most significant surviving building in the United States associated with the celebrated novelist, essayist, poet, and civil rights advocate.
Image of Hotel Chelsea via Wikimedia Commons user Velvet
If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Barry Jenkins, is a heart-wrenching story of love and injustice filmed throughout Manhattan, including at El Quijote restaurant located in the former Hotel Chelsea, designated an New York City landmark in 1966. The Victorian Gothic-style apartment house was designed by Hubert, Pirsson & Co in 1883 and is famous for its tiers of iron balconies as well as its notable writer, musician, and artist residents.
The film also captures scenes in other New York City landmarks, including Mount Morris Park Historic District, Stuyvesant Square Historic District, South Village Historic District, and the Bergdorf Goodman building on Fifth Avenue.
Did you know that LPC designated the James Baldwin Residence at 137 West 71st Street in 2019? The location is the most significant surviving building in the United States associated with the celebrated novelist, essayist, poet, and civil rights advocate.
Image of Hotel Chelsea via Wikimedia Commons user Velvet
This film, directed by Wes Anderson and shot in several NYC boroughs, tells the story of a talented, quirky, and decadent family in a fictional version of New York City. The three children – all prodigies – grow up in a grand house in the Hamilton Heights Historic District and spend their summers at an NYC landmark located on City Island. What is the name of the movie?
Image of 339 Convent Avenue, Hamilton Heights via LPC
The Addams Family
The Royal Tenenbaums
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Grey Gardens
Anderson’s film opens with, “Royal Tenenbaum bought the house on Archer Avenue in the winter of his thirty-fifth year,” narrated as the camera pans down a picturesque corner tower with each of the three children occupying one floor. The elegant family home is located at 339 Convent Avenue within the Hamilton Heights Historic District in Harlem. Constructed between 1887 and 1890, the Romanesque Revival-style mansion was identified in the 1974 designation report as “without doubt one of the finest examples of this style in the City.”
The family’s summer house, described in the film as located on Eagle’s Island and purchased by Royal’s financially precocious son Chas, is in fact located at 21 Tier Street on City Island in the Bronx. The 1896 Shingle-style house, which also features a corner tower that faces the Eastchester Bay, was designed by Samuel H. Booth and was designated an individual landmark in 2000.
Anderson’s film opens with, “Royal Tenenbaum bought the house on Archer Avenue in the winter of his thirty-fifth year,” narrated as the camera pans down a picturesque corner tower with each of the three children occupying one floor. The elegant family home is located at 339 Convent Avenue within the Hamilton Heights Historic District in Harlem. Constructed between 1887 and 1890, the Romanesque Revival-style mansion was identified in the 1974 designation report as “without doubt one of the finest examples of this style in the City.”
The family’s summer house, described in the film as located on Eagle’s Island and purchased by Royal’s financially precocious son Chas, is in fact located at 21 Tier Street on City Island in the Bronx. The 1896 Shingle-style house, which also features a corner tower that faces the Eastchester Bay, was designed by Samuel H. Booth and was designated an individual landmark in 2000.
Introduced at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival by Martin Scorcese, the Italian film Nuovomondo (translated as The Golden Door) tracks the story of a family immigrating to the United States from Sicily during the early 1900s as a record-breaking number arrived from Europe. The issues of class, gender, and power within society are explored, particularly in its final scenes as the newcomers are subjected to extensive examinations at what New York City landmark?
Movie poster via Rotten Tomatoes
Ellis Island
Angel Island Immigration Station
Castle Clinton
Statue of Liberty
Ellis Island became the point of entry for most immigrants after 1892. Surprisingly, the movie scenes depicting Ellis Island were filmed in studios in Rome and in Buenos Aires. The sets recreated Ellis Island’s Main Building, designed by Boring & Tilton and built in 1900. In 1965, Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument under the National Park Service. Thirty years later in 1993, the entire island was designated the Ellis Island Historic District by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Image of Ellis Island via Wikimedia Commons user Rhododendrites
Ellis Island became the point of entry for most immigrants after 1892. Surprisingly, the movie scenes depicting Ellis Island were filmed in studios in Rome and in Buenos Aires. The sets recreated Ellis Island’s Main Building, designed by Boring & Tilton and built in 1900. In 1965, Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument under the National Park Service. Thirty years later in 1993, the entire island was designated the Ellis Island Historic District by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Image of Ellis Island via Wikimedia Commons user Rhododendrites
In the movie adaptation of E. L. Doctorow’s novel Ragtime, one of the characters, in an effort to bring attention to his demands for redress of grievances, takes what New City landmark hostage?
Hint: The landmark is known for its collection of rare books and artifacts. Police Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo, played by veteran Hollywood actor James Cagney, leads the negotiations to save the building from destruction.
Pierpont Morgan Library
Madison Square Garden
Appellate Division Court House
Plaza Hotel
The Pierpont Morgan Library and Annex was designated in 1966.
Fun Fact: James Cagney (1899-1986), whose acting career on stage and in film spanned more than four decades, came out of retirement to play Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo in Milos Forman’s Ragtime. It was his last film role. The real Rhinelander Waldo (1877-1927) was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served both as NYC Fire Commissioner (1910-1911) and Police Commissioner (1911-1913).
Image of the Pierpont Morgan Library via LPC
The Pierpont Morgan Library and Annex was designated in 1966.
Fun Fact: James Cagney (1899-1986), whose acting career on stage and in film spanned more than four decades, came out of retirement to play Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo in Milos Forman’s Ragtime. It was his last film role. The real Rhinelander Waldo (1877-1927) was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served both as NYC Fire Commissioner (1910-1911) and Police Commissioner (1911-1913).
Image of the Pierpont Morgan Library via LPC
The first John Wick movie, released in 2014 and starring Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, and native New Yorker John Leguizamo, included five New York City landmarks among its film locations. Which of the following was not among the landmarks featured in the movie?
Cunard Building
Municipal Building
Flatiron Building
Surrogates Court/Hall of Records
The Flatiron Building was not used in the movie, but the following were all film locations in John Wick:
- The Cunard Building, designed by Benjamin Morris and built 1920-1921. The interior was used as the lobby of the Continental Hotel in the movie. Fun Fact: The building is both an individual and interior landmark.
- The Municipal Building, designed by McKim Mead and White and built 1904-1914, was designated as a landmark in 1966. Fun Fact: This building is home to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
- Surrogates Court/Hall of Records, designed by John R. Thomas and Hogan & Slattery and built from 1899 to 1907, was designated an individual New York City landmark in 1966. Its grand interior space was designated an interior landmark in 1976.
- Central Park's Bethesda Terrace, designed by Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Central Park was designated a scenic landmark in 1974.
- The Beaver Building, a.k.a. 1 Wall Street Court, designed by Clinton & Russell and built in 1903-1904. Fun Fact: This site was used as the exterior of the Continental Hotel and is considered a “Flatiron Building.”
Image of the Municipal Building via Wikimedia Commons user Arjay Surash
The Flatiron Building was not used in the movie, but the following were all film locations in John Wick:
- The Cunard Building, designed by Benjamin Morris and built 1920-1921. The interior was used as the lobby of the Continental Hotel in the movie. Fun Fact: The building is both an individual and interior landmark.
- The Municipal Building, designed by McKim Mead and White and built 1904-1914, was designated as a landmark in 1966. Fun Fact: This building is home to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
- Surrogates Court/Hall of Records, designed by John R. Thomas and Hogan & Slattery and built from 1899 to 1907, was designated an individual New York City landmark in 1966. Its grand interior space was designated an interior landmark in 1976.
- Central Park's Bethesda Terrace, designed by Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Central Park was designated a scenic landmark in 1974.
- The Beaver Building, a.k.a. 1 Wall Street Court, designed by Clinton & Russell and built in 1903-1904. Fun Fact: This site was used as the exterior of the Continental Hotel and is considered a “Flatiron Building.”
Image of the Municipal Building via Wikimedia Commons user Arjay Surash
The Marx Brothers (Chico, Groucho, Harpo, and Zeppo) filmed their zany movie debut in a New York City landmark. In what neighborhood was the studio located?
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Sunnyside
Flatbush
Astoria
The Coconauts and Animal Crackers were filmed at Paramount Studios, formerly Famous Players-Lasky Studio, in 1929 and 1930. Located on 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, this New York City landmark is now called Kaufman Astoria Studios.
Image of Kaufman Astoria Studios via Wikimedia Commons user Jim.henderson
The Coconauts and Animal Crackers were filmed at Paramount Studios, formerly Famous Players-Lasky Studio, in 1929 and 1930. Located on 35th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, this New York City landmark is now called Kaufman Astoria Studios.
Image of Kaufman Astoria Studios via Wikimedia Commons user Jim.henderson
Crooklyn (1994), Spike Lee’s semi-autobiographical ode to the Brooklyn of his youth, was filmed on Arlington Place in which historic district?
Bedford Historic District
Crown Heights North II Historic District
Prospect Park South Historic District
Wallabout Historic District
Set in the early 1970s, Crooklyn centers on the Carmichaels, a family living at 7 Arlington Place in the Bedford Historic District, home to remarkably well-preserved streetscapes of lavish late-19th-century row houses. Designed by Brooklyn architect George P. Chappell in 1887, 7 Arlington Place is an impressive three-story Renaissance Revival-style residence.
Image of Arlington Place via LPC
Set in the early 1970s, Crooklyn centers on the Carmichaels, a family living at 7 Arlington Place in the Bedford Historic District, home to remarkably well-preserved streetscapes of lavish late-19th-century row houses. Designed by Brooklyn architect George P. Chappell in 1887, 7 Arlington Place is an impressive three-story Renaissance Revival-style residence.
Image of Arlington Place via LPC
In what 1992 movie does the blind and retired Lt. Col. Frank Slade whisk high school senior Charlie Simms off to New York City, where the mismatched pair stays in a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and takes a driving adventure in the DUMBO Historic District?
Hint: Al Pacino, who is playing Lt. Col. Frank Slade, won the Academy Award for Best Actor for this movie.
Image of the DUMBO Historic District via NYC Go
Taxi Driver
Scent of a Woman
The Godfather
Serpico
Scent of A Woman, directed by Martin Brest and starring Al Pacino (Lt. Col. Frank Slade) and Chris O’Donnell (Charlie Simms), was primarily shot in the interiors of the individual and interior landmark Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, designed by Schultze & Weaver and built 1929-1931.
One of the most memorable scenes in the movie, in which the characters take a test drive, features the industrial atmosphere of the DUMBO Historic District. This scene closes with one of the most iconic landmarks of New York City in the background, the Brooklyn Bridge, designed by John A. Roebling and Washington A. Roebling and constructed between 1867-1883.
Scent of A Woman, directed by Martin Brest and starring Al Pacino (Lt. Col. Frank Slade) and Chris O’Donnell (Charlie Simms), was primarily shot in the interiors of the individual and interior landmark Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, designed by Schultze & Weaver and built 1929-1931.
One of the most memorable scenes in the movie, in which the characters take a test drive, features the industrial atmosphere of the DUMBO Historic District. This scene closes with one of the most iconic landmarks of New York City in the background, the Brooklyn Bridge, designed by John A. Roebling and Washington A. Roebling and constructed between 1867-1883.
In the 1997 blockbuster Men in Black, viewers first encounter agent James Edwards (Will Smith, later Agent J) in a dramatic chase scene that begins at the individual landmark Grand Central Terminal and culminates on the roof of which other landmark after the suspect effortlessly scales its iconic concrete exterior?
Image of Grand Central Terminal via Wikimedia Commons user Axel Tschentscher
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
University Village
Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight Center
Begrisch Hall, Bronx Community College
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is both an interior and individual landmark, and Men in Black includes both interior and exterior shots of the Frank Lloyd Wright masterwork. Completed after his death in 1959, the Guggenheim Museum is the last major work by Frank Lloyd Wright and is an example of the architect’s fascination with the expression of organic forms—a perfect foil for the extraterrestrial suspect’s unearthly behavior in the movie.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is both an interior and individual landmark, and Men in Black includes both interior and exterior shots of the Frank Lloyd Wright masterwork. Completed after his death in 1959, the Guggenheim Museum is the last major work by Frank Lloyd Wright and is an example of the architect’s fascination with the expression of organic forms—a perfect foil for the extraterrestrial suspect’s unearthly behavior in the movie.
Though mostly set in a faraway land, what animated adventure features several NYC landmarks, including an escape from the Central Park Zoo, a triple axel at Rockefeller Center, and a romp thorough Grand Central Terminal?
Image of Rockefeller Center via Wikimedia Commons user Andy C
Mary Poppins
Madagascar
Frozen
The Incredibles
In an attempted rescue, a group of Central Park Zoo animals follow Alex the lion as he makes his way through Manhattan, but Alex’s escape is foiled by a tranquilizer dart (and an old lady’s purse) at Grand Central Terminal.
In an attempted rescue, a group of Central Park Zoo animals follow Alex the lion as he makes his way through Manhattan, but Alex’s escape is foiled by a tranquilizer dart (and an old lady’s purse) at Grand Central Terminal.
The 2005 rom-com Hitch stars Eva Mendes (as columnist Sara Melas) and Will Smith (as advisor Alex “Hitch” Hitchens) and features which scenes shot in landmark locations in New York City?
A disastrous date at the Ellis Island Historic District and Main Building Interior
A flashback of awkward, college-age Hitch on the steps of the Low Memorial Library
Hitch's consultation with a fire captain at Hook and Ladder Company No. 8 in the Tribeca West Historic District
All of the above
Hitch features several iconic individual, interior, and scenic landmark locations, including the entrance stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Seagram Building, Riverside Park and Riverside Drive, United States Custom House, Central Park, the SoHo-Cast Iron District, and City Hall.
Film still on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art via On the Set of New York
Hitch features several iconic individual, interior, and scenic landmark locations, including the entrance stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Seagram Building, Riverside Park and Riverside Drive, United States Custom House, Central Park, the SoHo-Cast Iron District, and City Hall.
Film still on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art via On the Set of New York
In the 1978 superhero blockbuster Superman, which designated landmark stands in for Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s place of employment?
Empire State Building
Bank of the Manhattan Company, Long Island City
Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building
Daily News Building
One of the city’s major Art Deco Landmarks, the Daily News Building, designed by Raymond Hood and completed in 1930, stands in for Clark and Lois’ employer, the Daily Planet newspaper. Clark and Lois walk through the building’s lobby, a designated interior landmark, dominated by a globe set beneath a domed ceiling of faceted black glass.
Image of Daily News Building via MCNY
One of the city’s major Art Deco Landmarks, the Daily News Building, designed by Raymond Hood and completed in 1930, stands in for Clark and Lois’ employer, the Daily Planet newspaper. Clark and Lois walk through the building’s lobby, a designated interior landmark, dominated by a globe set beneath a domed ceiling of faceted black glass.
Image of Daily News Building via MCNY
Though it takes place mostly in Singapore, the popular 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians also includes scenes establishing the relationship of its main characters near NYU in which historic district(s)?
Greenwich Village Historic District
South Village Historic District
Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II
All of the above
The hit movie Crazy Rich Asians presents a modern-day Cinderella story about a Chinese-American economics professor from New York City and her (until then, unbeknownst to her) fabulously wealthy boyfriend from one of Singapore’s most prominent families. It features gorgeous scenes in Singapore and Malaysia and a few establishing scenes in New York City, primarily around New York University in the Greenwich Village Historic District, designated in 1969; the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II, designated in 2010; and the South Village Historic District, designated in 2013.
For more detail on the movie's NYC locations, click here.
Image of Greenwich Village via Wikimedia Commons user Sam McIntosh
The hit movie Crazy Rich Asians presents a modern-day Cinderella story about a Chinese-American economics professor from New York City and her (until then, unbeknownst to her) fabulously wealthy boyfriend from one of Singapore’s most prominent families. It features gorgeous scenes in Singapore and Malaysia and a few establishing scenes in New York City, primarily around New York University in the Greenwich Village Historic District, designated in 1969; the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II, designated in 2010; and the South Village Historic District, designated in 2013.
For more detail on the movie's NYC locations, click here.
Image of Greenwich Village via Wikimedia Commons user Sam McIntosh
This New York City landmark was used as the exterior of the High School for the Performing Arts in Fame, the 1980 teen musical drama that follows four students from audition to graduation. What is the landmark?
Image via LPC
Public School No. 67
Church of Saint Mary-the-Virgin Complex
Carnegie Hall
Court Theater
The Church of Saint Mary-the-Virgin Complex, built in 1894-1895, consists of a French Gothic-inspired limestone-clad church, a flanking brick-faced clergy house and mission house, and a brick-clad rectory and lady chapel that face onto West 47th Street. J. Massey Rhind’s extensive sculptural decoration complements Pierre Le Brun’s, of Napoleon Le Brun & Sons, design. The complex is located across the street from Public School No. 67, also a New York City landmark.
The Church of Saint Mary-the-Virgin Complex, built in 1894-1895, consists of a French Gothic-inspired limestone-clad church, a flanking brick-faced clergy house and mission house, and a brick-clad rectory and lady chapel that face onto West 47th Street. J. Massey Rhind’s extensive sculptural decoration complements Pierre Le Brun’s, of Napoleon Le Brun & Sons, design. The complex is located across the street from Public School No. 67, also a New York City landmark.
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