Many of us who do not often visit New York City are still intimately familiar with its iconic buildings and streets mainly because of its over-representation in film and television. Every other sitcom takes place in Manhattan, and aliens have destroyed the New York skylines more times than we can count. This keeps NYC’s film office exceptionally busy, issuing thousands of permits every year to large and small productions filming on public property.
New York-focused data visualization group Metrocosm got their hands on over 10,000 filming permits issued from 2011 to 2013 and plotted them on a map, revealing which streets see the most action. Unsurprisingly, Times Square and the classically styled Financial District saw the most play, but you might notice a few other zones of interest. According to Metrocosm’s analysis, those correspond to the city’s outdoor and non-private film studios, including the massive indoor space at the 47th Regiment Armory.
We’ve most interested in productions that shot on the side-streets. Magician thriller Now You See Me shot extensively in Long Island City, and that’s a little more exciting than seeing the Flatiron Building again.