25 movies and TV shows where New York City is a main character

It's right there in the title! This HBO series, inspired by Candace Bushnell's novels, definitely has New York City as a character right alongside Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. There's constant name-dropping of neighborhoods, the restaurants they love, and plenty of quintessentially NYC problems.

This 1979 film, starring Diane Keaton and Mariel Hemingway, is certainly problematic when viewed with 2022 eyes. Visually, though, it's a film that's all about New York City, with sweeping shots of its namesake borough and its most iconic sites. 

This 1984 cult classic is 100 percent NYC. The Ghostbusters themselves are Columbia University professors. They have a harrowing paranormal experience in the New York Public Library and even get arrested by the NYPD. 

Audrey Hepburn helped make Tiffany's a household name in this film based on the Truman Capote novel. Hepburn's character Holly Golightly finds a cure for the "mean reds" at the Tiffany & Co. store on Fifth Avenue as a dramatic love story for the ages unfolds. 

This 1973 Martin Scorsese film centers around a great cast of characters living in New York City's Little Italy neighborhood. It also stars multiple native New Yorkers, including Robert De Niro. 

This Hulu series starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez centers around a series of crimes that take place in a posh Upper West Side building. 

Released in 2002, this Scorsese classic is based on the 1927 novel of the same name and centers on street violence in NYC in the early 20th century. Thanks largely to incredible performances by stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, the film earned ten Oscar nominations, including wins for Best Picture and Best Actor. 

Jim Henson's furry gang of characters heads to New York City in search of Broadway stardom in "The Muppets Take Manhattan," but things don't exactly go according to plan. Central Park and the Great White Way play major roles in the film, which has since become a cult classic. 

The cutthroat world of Wall Street financiers got the film treatment in 1987 with Oliver Stone's "Wall Street." Starring Michael Douglas as the infamous Gordon Gekko, the film has inspired countless budding stockbrokers and finance moguls. 

Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, "Friends" is arguably the defining sitcom of the 1990s. The much-beloved series launched the careers of Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, scooped up armfuls of Emmy Awards, and made everyone in middle America want to move to Manhattan. 

There are few television shows more intricately linked with New York City than Dıck Wolf's legendary "Law & Order." Following detectives as they solve crimes in Manhattan, the show has inspired multiple spin-offs, some set in New York City and some in other cities. But none have quite earned the shine of the original. 

Al Pacino stars in the titular role of this 1972 classic, inspired by a true story of corruption in the New York City police department. "Serpico" was filmed in many locations across the city, including Brooklyn, where Pacino's character is assigned to a narcotics unit in retaliation for being a whistleblower, Harlem, and the South Bronx. 

Often described as a "show about nothing," "Seinfeld" revolutionized the sitcom when it premiered in 1989. The neuroses, romances, and debacles of Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer happen all over New York City, producing a truly dizzying number of iconic New York City scenes. Even today, "Seinfeld" fans regularly trek to Tom's Restaurant in Manhattan, made famous in the show. 

This kooky series, created by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, follows two young stoners as they date, work, and get themselves into trouble in New York City. One character lives in Queens, the other in Brooklyn, meaning plenty of New York City made its way onto the screen throughout this series's five-season run. 

Though it doesn't exactly show New York City at its best, there's no denying that the city is at the heart of "Taxi Driver." Vietnam veteran and cab driver Travis Bickle prowls the city nightly, viewing himself as a vigilante who can help rid the city of its crime problem as he battles PTSD and his increasingly loose grip on reality. 

Set on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, "Mad Men" explores the midcentury heyday of the city's advertising industry. It's positively replete with NYC nostalgia, even though many of its episodes were actually filmed on a Los Angeles soundstage. 

One of the first network sitcoms to feature a predominantly Black cast, the central premise of "The Jeffersons" is George and Louise Jefferson "movin' on up" from Queens to Manhattan. 

This series, created by Lena Dunham, follows a group of 20-something women trying to navigate life, love, and making it work in Brooklyn. Considering that Dunham is an NYC native, it's perhaps not surprising that major NYC landmarks like New York University play a major role in "Girls." 

There is no mafia movie more iconic than Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather," and many of its most iconic scenes are set in New York City. Even though the Corleones technically live on Long Island, there's no denying the deep connection between the city and this legendary film. 

Considering that this series takes its name from the address of one of New York City's most iconic buildings, "30 Rock" is definitely one of those shows that are just about life in the city as it is the chaotic hijinks of Liz Lemon, Tracy Jordan, and the rest of the fictional NBC crew. 

Based on the real-life story of a Mafia operative, "Goodfellas" is widely regarded as one of Scorsese's most important films. It was also filmed largely in Queens and Brooklyn, and many of the most iconic landmarks still stand across the city. 

This groundbreaking sitcom, created by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, centers around the life of a New York City housewife and her bandleader husband. But despite the show's connection to NYC, it was actually filmed in Los Angeles. 

After 50 years of teaching kids everything from their colors to their ABCs, "Sesame Street" finally became a real place in New York City in 2019. 

This wildly popular series features a ton of New York City landmarks, from the Empire State Building to Columbia University and Gray's Papaya, all while following a love story that involves a group of friends as they navigate life in Manhattan. 

Though it is based on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," pretty much everything else about "West Side Story" is 100 percent New York City. It follows the rivalry between two street gangs on the Upper West Side, tackling racism, poverty, and social mobility in 1950s Manhattan.