History Main / BigApplesauce

* The protagonists of Garth Ennis' ''TheBoys'' base themselves in New York City.

** The MarvelCinematicUniverse films have tended to avoid this however. ''Film/IronMan'', ''IronMan2'' and ''IronMan3'' primarily take place in California, ''Film/{{Thor}}'' takes place in New Mexico, ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' takes place in WorldWar2-era Europe and ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' will take place in Washington, D.C.

* The main characters of ''{{Californication}}'' were originally from New York, and Hank often pontificates on its superiority.

* The portal which opens between our world and the world where fairy tales are real in ''TheTenthKingdom'' is, located in New York's Central Park. What makes this miniseries a particularly striking example of the trope is how the opening titles quite conspicuously, and jaw-droppingly, magically morph the New York City skyline into a fantasy land to suggest the crossing over of magic into the real world. The sequence, quite justifiably, won an Emmy. To watch the sequence, go [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcKgcF-FU9M here.]]

* ''Series/LawAndOrder'' and its first few spinoffs take place in New York City, although this has changed with ''Series/LawAndOrderLA'' and several international spinoffs, including ''LawAndOrderUK''.

** However it's worth noting that the ''Wrestling/{{WWE}}'', which is the last major wrestling organization left standing from the old regional days had New York in its territory back then and New York and its Madison Square Garden arena was long considered home away from home for the [=McMahon=] family. Given that the Garden is only about a 35 mile drive from WWE headquarters, this is quite understandable.

* The Heisman trophy is the most prestigious in college football, and it is awarded by the Manhattan-based Downtown Athletic Club. Interestingly, College Football is possibly the only sport that is not represented in the New York City area, which has no major teams within 30 miles.
* The New York area has ''twelve'' professional sports teams: [[{{Baseball}} the Yankees, the Mets]], [[{{Basketball}} the Knicks, the Nets, the Liberty]], [[NationalHockeyLeague the Rangers, the Islanders, the Devils]], [[AmericanFootball the Giants, the Jets]], [[MajorLeagueSoccer Red Bulls]], and the Lizards (Lacrosse). Together, they make up America's largest sports market. In addition, all of the leagues that feature these teams, with the exception of Major League Lacrosse, have their primary offices in New York. (MLL is based in Boston.)

* During the "Golden Age" of Baseball, New York City boasted three teams: the Giants, playing in uptown Manhattan, the Yankees in the Bronx, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. These teams accounted for over half of the pennants and World Series titles from 1940 till the Dodgers and Giants moved west in 1958. They also boasted some of the most storied players Mays, Ruth, Gehrig, [=DiMaggio=], Robinson, Mantle, etc.

* The Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown, takes place in Belmont Park, near NYC.

* The first two books of ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'', as well as the fourth.

* The kids' film ''SamsonAndSally'' has Moby Dick living in or near a submerged NYC, called 'the city that man built'.

* The climax of ''Film/TheAvengers'' takes place mostly in the area around Grand Central Station and the Metlife building, which is replaced by a tower owned by Stark Enterprises. And yes, it gets wrecked hard. [[spoiler:There's a certain scene with Thor on top of the Chrysler Building conjuring up lightning against some Chitauri, and another with a flying alien creature crashing into Grand Central Terminal.]]

* ''{{Hamlet 2}}'' and ''Real Women Have Curves'' both end with the protagonists going to NYC.

* The ''MST3K''-featured Cold War film ''Rocket Attack USA'' ends with New York getting demolished by Soviet nukes.

* ''Home Alone 2: Lost in New York''. Stereotypes, stereotypes and nothing else...
* ''The Paper'' is set in New York, and could only ever be set in New York. Check the quotes page.

* The original ''Gremlins'' was set in small town America but the sequel, ''Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' takes place in New York (and features a stand-in for Donald Trump).

* Holly Black's Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside all take place in New Jersey, with several characters taking trains or driving up to New York. Additionally, New York City is where all exiled fae are sent, where the city and all its iron saps them of their powers.
* In the PeterDavid novel ''Knight Life'', King Arthur returns. In a clothing store in Queens. Oh, and his secret hiding place is in Belvedere Castle in Central Park.

* In Max Brallier's ''Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?,'' the zombie outbreak takes place in New York City and features much of the Big Apple's landscape.

* ''Series/AvenueQ''

* ''True Crime: New York City'' takes place solely in Manhattan and allows the player to roam freely throughout the island.

* Averted with extreme prejudice in the [[WorldWarIII 1983: Doomsday timeline]] in the AltHistoryWiki; the only things landing on Times Square were about two dozen nuclear warheads. Decades later, scouts reported nothing but open water where Manhattan Island and Brooklyn were, and charred, radioactive wastelands covering the other boroughs and [[{{Joisey}} surrounding states]].. Reconstruction is estimated to be possible no earlier than 2060. Ironically, fiction set in NYC prior to the war (and created either before or after) is quite popular.

* New York is the basis for the Unova region in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. Castelia City, specifically, is an expy of New York, and the rest is between {{Joisey}} and upstate New York.

* ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'''s introduction shows that New York City was one of the cities attacked by the [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue]] [[TerraForm Terraformer]] fleet. Central Park is burned to a crisp with a huge [[ColonyDrop impact crater from a meteor]], while most of the buildings have been turned into rubble. Terraformer ships [[OminousFloatingSpaceship hover over the remains]]

* During the "Golden Age" of Baseball, New York City boasted three teams the Giants, playing in uptown Manhattan, the Yankees in the Bronx, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. These teams accounted for over half of the pennants and World Series titles from 1940 till the Dodgers and Giants moved west in 1958. They also boasted some of the most storied players Mays, Ruth, Gehrig, [=DiMaggio=], Robinson, Mantle, etc.

* The KikiStrike books focus on a secret underground city in the middle of New York. The book is spliced with

* One of the films in ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'', ''The Second Renaissance, Part II'', features a Squiddie demanding humans 'hand over their flesh' in the UN after signing a peace treaty before setting off a nuclear bomb, killing ''everyone''. Yes. [[DownerEnding Everyone.]]

* The KikiStrike books focus on a secret underground city in the middle of New York. The book is spliced with facts about the real life New York City and it's history as well.
* Pete Hamill's ''{{Forever}}'' was about a man granted immortality who witnessed four centuries of the city's history.
* Creator/JonathanLethem sets many of his works in or around New York, especially Brooklyn. Or a fantastic version of New York. Examples include ''Literature/MotherlessBrooklyn'' and ''Fortress of Solitude''.
* ''Literature/TheAgeOfInnocence'' by Edith Wharton, which follows the lives of upper-class New Yorkers in the 1870s.
* In the ''Literature/StarCarrier'' New York was largely evacuated due to rising sea levels in the backstory; one of the viewpoint characters, [[AcePilot Lt. Trevor Gray]], grew up in the squatter communities there. At the end of ''Earth Strike'' [[spoiler:much of what remains is destroyed by a tsunami resulting from a Turusch OrbitalBombardment]].
* The first two books of ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'', as well as the fourth.
* In the ''[[ThePendragonAdventure Pendragon]]'' series, New York is apparently the most important place in the world, and is even visited in three different eras: [[TheGreatDepression 1937]], [[NextSundayAD 201X]], and [[TheFuture 5010]]. It's where [[TheChosenOne Bobby]] is from, it's where all Earth's Turning Points occur, and it's where [[ReligonOfEvil Ravinia]] is headquartered. FridgeLogic kicks in when you realise that events in all the other Territories were centered around one settlement, so why shouldn't it be the same for Earth?
* In ''TheUnderlandChronicles'', the Underland is located directly underneath New York. Of course.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'' and its first few spinoffs take place in New York City, although this has changed with ''Series/LawAndOrderLA'' and several international spinoffs, including ''LawAndOrderUK''.
** The French title for the franchise is even ''New York'', with a subtitle for each series (''New York - police judiciaire'', ''New York - section criminelle'', etc.).
* TheNakedCity, which had a TV series besides the film mentioned above.
* In the ''FoodNetworkChallenge'' episode "Celebration Cakes", one of the teams presented a cake celebrating the grand re-opening of New York's Museum of Modern Art; the team's assumption seemed to be that this would be worth more points due to a theme other than a birthday or baby shower cake, such as presented by the competing teams.
* A prime example of the SpinOff variety (in fact, the very one alluded to in the main text) is the expansion of the ''Series/{{CSI}}'' franchise to include ''CSINewYork''.
* Season one of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has many of its superpowered heroes meet up in New York, seeking to prevent a nuclear explosion there. However, the series does also have many crucial scenes set in Las Vegas and Texas, and the occasional few in Japan or India.
** As at least one critic pointed out, "Save the cheerleader, save New York" would have been a more accurate tagline for season one.
** Volume Five's conclusion returns to this trope with Central Park being the backdrop for Samuel's dastardly plan and, by extension, also used during the setup for Volume Six.
* {{MTV}} was established in the New York area and since the move to its iconic Times Square studio it has become even more NY-centric, filming nearly all of its dating and reality shows in and around the city.
* ''Series/NewAmsterdam''
* The original TimeTravel episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "The City on the Edge of Forever", sends Kirk, Spock, and [=McCoy=] to Depression-era New York City. "Assignment: Earth" had Gary Seven setting up in New York City. However, later time jaunts seem to focus on the West Coast, especially San Francisco. Non-TimeTravel trips to Earth also focus on San Francisco, since Starfleet headquarters is there. ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', spends about equal time in San Francisco and New Orleans (where Captain Sisko grew up and where his father still lives and owns a restaurant).
* The portal which opens between our world and the world where fairy tales are real in ''TheTenthKingdom'' is, located in New York's Central Park. What makes this miniseries a particularly striking example of the trope is how the opening titles quite conspicuously, and jaw-droppingly, magically morph the New York City skyline into a fantasy land to suggest the crossing over of magic into the real world. The sequence, quite justifiably, won an Emmy. To watch the sequence, go [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcKgcF-FU9M here.]]
* The fourth season midseason finale of ''[[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Battlestar Galactica]]'' featured a [[spoiler:devastated planet, the "original Earth". The ruins of the city where the crew makes landfall were designed to be reminiscent of a destroyed New York City to help the sequence resonate with American viewers.]]
** The ''actual'' finale, meanwhile, [[spoiler:fast-forwarded 150,000 years from prehistoric Earth to show the two "angel" characters chatting about the future of humanity (and Cylonity), while walking through Times Square.]]
* The main characters of ''{{Californication}}'' were originally from New York, and Hank often pontificates on its superiority.
* In ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', the heroes operate out of Boston, but [[MegaCorp Massive Dynamic]] is headquartered in New York City, and the first season was filmed in New York until budget considerations forced them into StargateCity.
** In addition, events the AlternateUniverse take place in New York, including the Statue of Liberty as the headquarters of the Department of Defense and the gateway between worlds in an opera house in Brooklyn.
* ''TheJob'' and ''RescueMe'' both take place in New York, but in the latter's case, it's kind of important to the story, what with the main character being a 9/11 survivor.
* The History Channel's documentary series ''Series/LifeAfterPeople'' consistently plays into this trope. They do talk about other places but at least once an episode they have to go into detail about what will happen to the landmarks in New York over the centuries after humans disappear.
** To be fair, the show is made by an American cable channel, and due to the effects of this trope, New York landmarks are most likely to be recognized by the majority of viewers. And urban landmarks are the most massively constructed of modern civilization.
* The PBS-BBC children's series ''Series/{{Ghostwriter}}'' was set in Brooklyn.
* The US ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2008}}'' remake was moved to New York, despite the original having been set [[OopNorth in Manchester]], a city whose US parallel would be more on the lines of Philadelphia or Detroit.
* ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' couldn't hold out forever. After setting the first six seasons in L.A. and the seventh in Washington D.C., the eighth and final season takes place in New York City.
* ''GossipGirl'' is naturally set in Manhattan's Upper East Side and, on occasion, Brooklyn.
* An entire episode, "I Heart NJ," of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is dedicated to a series of arguments between the characters regarding whether New York or New Jersey is superior. Long-term relationships hang in the balance as they try to resolve this question. The result is an episode that is headscratchingly [[ContinuityLockout locked-out]] for viewers outside of the Tri-State area.
** Though anyone in the world can appreciate Ted's rebuttal to the information that Frank Sinatra was born in New Jersey: [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Yeah but what city is he singing about? It's not "Seacaucus, Seacaucus!"]]
* ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' takes place in New York City. Waverly Place is a real street in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan.
* So far all of ''Series/{{V 2009}}'' takes place in New York City. Even though alien ships have supposedly landed in major cities all over the world, they're only ever seen in the periphery flashes as the main characters all have their dealings in (or above) New York.
* ''Series/ILoveLucy'' (until season 6)
* ''Series/TheHoneymooners''
* ''Series/AllInTheFamily''. An ever-changing setting of a working class neighborhood in Queens during TheSeventies was the perfect backdrop for [[NobleBigot Archie Bunker]] would have to contend with [[MonsterOfTheWeek Minority Of The Week]]. It's hard to imagine the show taking place anywhere else.
* ''TheCosbyShow''
* ''{{Seinfeld}}'' (which likes to trash the more annoying quirks of the city as often as possible, often with ''entire episodes'' dedicated to the problems caused by oversized parking garages, impossible-to-find parking spaces, and infuriating subway systems).
* ''SpinCity'': A multi-camera sitcom revolving around workers at City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
* ''{{Friends}}''
* ''NightCourt''
* ''[[Series/ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'' Justified because NBC and [[SaturdayNightLive the show on which TGS is based]] really are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan.
** On the other hand, it references several things that only people who've been to New York know about, such as Duane Reade, cornbread from Sylvia's, the F Train being in Queens, and the G Train being horrible.
* ''TheWayansBros'': The Brothers and Pops live in Harlem.
* ''WhatILikeAboutYou''
* ''MadAboutYou''
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episodes "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E4DaleksInManhattan Daleks in Manhattan]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E5EvolutionOfTheDaleks Evolution of the Daleks]]".
** And then we have "New Earth" and "Gridlock", set 5 billion years into the future, in "New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York".
* ''SexAndTheCity''. The City is exactly that. Its French title is even "Sexe à New York".
* ''TheDoctorOzShow'' is filmed in New York. Call-outs for participants to appear on the show usually specify that they must live in New York, or at least the tristate area.
* ''WillAndGrace''
* ''Series/SesameStreet'' is set in New York, in an unnamed borough (probably Brooklyn or Queens).
* The season two finale of ''{{Glee}}'' is set in New York. Since this [[MusicalEpisode is]] [[TheMusicalMusical Glee]], a Broadway scene is practically compulsory.
** Season four has the attention split between the primary Ohio setting and some graduated students' lives in New York.
* ''RaisingTheBar''
* Subverted with ''Series/PanAm''. Although the home base in the U.S. is New York, each episode features at least one foreign locale. Most of the scenes take place at the destination or aboard the plane, though New York is always the end of the journey.
* The famous opening sequence of ''Series/TheSopranos'', which takes place primarily in New Jersey, depicts main character Tony Soprano driving ''away'' from New York. Series creator David Chase says this was specifically to underline the fact that, in contrast to most gangster movies, it was not set there.
* ''Series/BlueBloods'', which is actually shot in NY, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_shows_filmed_in_New_York_City rare for a series these days]].
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'' is set in New York.
* ''Series/HowToMakeItInAmerica'' is a paean to New York at times with two main characters, Ben and Cam, representing very different New Yorker archetypes.
* In the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "Psychodrama", the team is sent to investigate a series of bank robberies in Los Angeles. When tasked with having to watch hours of victim testimony, Elle Greenaway essentially suggests L.A. doesn't have any sights making the lead detective correctly suggesting she is from Brooklyn.
* The BBC America drama ''Series/{{Copper}}'' is set in Manhattan during the AmericanCivilWar and focuses the New York Police Department. The protagonist Kevin and his police colleagues work a beat in the impoverished Five Points neighbourhood, but he also has friends and acquaintances living in the wealthier Midtown district.
* ''BarneyMiller''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/BillyJoel was born and raised on Long Island; as such, his more autobiographical songs (of which there are a lot) discuss New York City. "New York State of Mind" is the most blatant example; another one is "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)," which is about the destruction of New York City and the survivors living in Miami in the year 2017--it was written during the 1975 bankruptcy of the city government. His songs may possess a few subversions. "Leningrad," "Allentown," and "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" come to mind.
** Although in the context of the album (''Turnstiles''), which is really a ConceptAlbum, "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" is really about going '''back''' to New York ''from'' L.A.
** And lots of his songs contain plenty of references to places in NYC, too many to list.
* UK artist Estelle's popular song "American Boy" lists off all the places in the US she'd like to visit, with New York listed first and more often than any other place (5 times). It also mentions Broadway and Brooklyn.
* Gothic heavy rockers the Music/BlueOysterCult are local boys: hence the intro on their live album ''Some Enchanted Evening''
--> All the way from Noo Yoik City - the Blue! Oyster! Cult!
** Local references in their songs include the dystopian ''Joan Crawford'', in which the revenant allegedly Satanist actress returns to Brooklyn as a zombie, spreading terror and loathing, so as to find Christina and discuss some of the more contentious points of ''Mommie, Dearest''.
* Music/{{Suffocation}} and Immolation are not from the city proper (Suffocation is from Long Island, while Immolation hails from Yonkers), but it's a large part of their identity. It's also reflected in the prominent (and frequently joked about) accents of Frank Mullen and Ross Dolan.
* Steely Dan throws around NYC-specific terms and locations so often that at least one website has been created specifically to explain these references to non-New Yorkers.
* TheyMightBeGiants are New York-based, and apparently their songs are packed with obscure references, especially Village landmarks and personalities
* The Bronx is recognized as the birthplace of hip hop. As a result, many rappers make it no secret that they hail from New York City, and countless hip hop songs have been made in honor of its boroughs, neighborhoods, and culture. Even rappers from elsewhere in the world tend to eventually make reference to the city out of respect to the music's origins.
* Music/BeastieBoys "Open Letter to the NYC".
** Beastie Boys bring up New York in their music pretty often (it is their hometown, after all). More well-known examples of NYC appearing in their music, however, would include the song "No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn" and the album ''To the 5 Boroughs''.
* Often in Music/{{Cage}}'s music. Cage was raised in New York City.
* Dead Prez "NYPD" recounts the history of the city. Also echoes the nickname of the city "Eight Million Stories".
* Andrew WK's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_wi5IhvkKo I Love New York City]] is pretty [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin self explanatory]].
* According to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York,_New_York_%28disambiguation%29 TOW]], there are no fewer than seven songs specifically titled "New York, New York", including the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqlJl1LfDP4 most famous]], popularized by Frank Sinatra.
* "Empire State Of Mind," performed by New York natives {{Jay-Z}} and AliciaKeys.
** "N.Y. State Of Mind" by {{Nas}} paints a far grittier picture of the city.
* The Music/{{Genesis}} ConceptAlbum ''TheLambLiesDownOnBroadway'' takes place in New York City. Well, [[MundaneFantastic parts of the story]] do, anyway.
* Music/JohnLennon and Music/YokoOno's 1972 album ''Some Time In New York City'' was recorded and released not long after the two moved to New York, where Lennon would spend the rest of his life. Partly subverted, in that most of the songs deal with wider political issues; however, a couple -- such as "New York City" and "Attica State", about the then-recent riots at the nearby prison -- are about their experiences in New York and some of the issues they encountered there.
* [[Music/VelvetUnderground Lou Reed]] has an album called ''New York''. He also sang about the city's gossip culture in "New York Telephone Conversation":
--> Just a New York conversation, gossip all of the time / Did you hear who did what to whom, happens all the time / Who has touched and who has dabbled here in the city of shows / Openings, closings, bad repartee, everybody knows
* Willie Nile's adopted hometown is New York (considering he's from it's Crapsack World Evil Twin, Buffalo, this is hardly surprising), and he likes to mention it from time to time.
* The RollingStones' 1978 album ''Some Girls'' was heavily inspired by the vibe of New York.
* The concept album "Snow" by the Southern California-based band [[SpocksBeard Spock's Beard]] is set in NYC, and was inspired, somewhat obliquely, by 9/11.
* ''[[Music/{{Hero}} !Hero]]'' is a Christian Rock Opera with much of its story of Jesus taking place in New York City, which has become its Jerusalem for the main character.
* EltonJohn and his lyricist Bernie Taupin have written many songs about, set in or namechecking New York City, including "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" (and "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters Part II" written in 1988), "Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)", "Ticking" ,"Levon", "You're So Static", and of course, "Empty Garden".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Print Media]]
* ''National Geographic'' magazine did a pictorial on the three most culturally significant cities at year 1, 1000 AD, and 2000 AD. New York was, naturally, their choice for the year 2000.
* [[http://bigthink.com/ideas/21121 This New Yorker Magazine cover]] pretty much sums this trope up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Generally subverted, as professional wrestling in America has a very regional history, meaning that although some wrestlers may come from New York or the Northeast, far more come from the Southeast, Southwest and Midwest.
** However it's worth noting that the ''Wrestling/{{WWE}}'', which is the last major wrestling organization left standing from the old regional days had New York in its territory back then and New York and its Madison Square Garden arena was long considered home away from home for the [=McMahon=] family. Given that the Garden is only about a 35 mile drive from WWE headquarters, this is quite understandable.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puppet Shows]]
* ''Series/AvenueQ''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]
* The Heisman trophy is the most prestigious in college football, and it is awarded by the Manhattan-based Downtown Athletic Club. Interestingly, College Football is possibly the only sport that is not represented in the New York City area, which has no major teams within 30 miles.
* The New York area has ''twelve'' professional sports teams: [[{{Baseball}} the Yankees, the Mets]], [[{{Basketball}} the Knicks, the Nets, the Liberty]], [[NationalHockeyLeague the Rangers, the Islanders, the Devils]], [[AmericanFootball the Giants, the Jets]], [[MajorLeagueSoccer Red Bulls]], and the Lizards (Lacrosse). Together, they make up America's largest sports market. In addition, all of the leagues that feature these teams, with the exception of Major League Lacrosse, have their primary offices in New York. (MLL is based in Boston.)
** The NBA and NFL drafts are held each year in New York.
* Madison Square Garden has a snippet of Frank Sinatra singing "it's up to you, New York, New York!" that they use in DownToTheLastPlay situations. [[SarcasmMode No pressure]].
* During the "Golden Age" of Baseball, New York City boasted three teams the Giants, playing in uptown Manhattan, the Yankees in the Bronx, and the Brooklyn Dodgers. These teams accounted for over half of the pennants and World Series titles from 1940 till the Dodgers and Giants moved west in 1958. They also boasted some of the most storied players Mays, Ruth, Gehrig, [=DiMaggio=], Robinson, Mantle, etc.
** JackieRobinson became the first black man in modern major league baseball when he debuted for the Dodgers in 1947. The Yankees catcher Elston Howard was the first black American League MVP.
*** A flavor of this occured in the modern era when the Yankees and the New York Mets played in the 2000 World Series. Alternate logos for the Series included mock-ups of a [[http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/4967/_MLB_World_Series/2000/Alternate_Logo subway sign]] and a [[http://www.sportslogos.net/logos/view/4966/_MLB_World_Series/2000/Alternate_Logo manhole cover]].
* The Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of horse racing's Triple Crown, takes place in Belmont Park, near NYC.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The starter setting for ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' (a game about monsters battling damage to the environment) is Central Park!
* The paragon city for ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'' is New York City, the reason given by the book being because so many people die there every day.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* The theater industry itself. Theatres are divided into "Broadway", "off-Broadway", and "off-off-Broadway", based mostly on the seating capacity of a particular theatre. You can get up to about five offs before leaving Manhattan. Obviously playing in a Broadway theatre means being in the center of the English speaking theater world.
* ''AngelsInAmerica''
* ''{{RENT}}''
* StephenSondheim's ''Company''. "Another hundred people just got off of the train..."
* Neil Simon plays almost always take place in New York.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The original VideoGame/MarioBros and presumably the original VideoGame/DonkeyKong (seeing as the [[Film/KingKong source material has this]]) take place in New York, the former taking place in the [[AbsurdlySpaciousSewer dense underground sewer network]] as WordOfGod states. This explains the show and movie expanding it to Mario and Luigi living in Brooklyn, and partially explaining their Italian roots.
* Lampshaded in ''{{Fahrenheit}}'': in the opening cutscene, the narrator proclaims that such an epic event in the world's history as described in the game could ONLY happen in New York City, "capital of the universe".
* NYPD officer Aya Brea encounters the first wave of a neo-mitochondrial epidemic in ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'', which takes the player through the subways, Central Park Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, and the Statue of Liberty, all while fending off BodyHorror at every turn. Why New York? Because it's fun to see it get trashed. Even the game's BonusDungeon takes place in one of the city's famous landmarks, the Chrysler Building.
** The third game, ''The 3rd Birthday'', deals with a mutant outbreak that manifests in New York City.
* The first two ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' games feature New York predominantly during the worst winter in history and the noir-esque nature of the city is commented on by Max several times throughout the game.
* Guess where ''VideoGame/DukeNukemManhattanProject'' takes place?
-->'''Duke:''' New York... If I can kill them here, I can kill them anywhere!
-->'''Duke:''' Time to de-worm the Big Apple!
* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' takes place in New York City. TheVirus and the [[ArmiesAreEvil Army]] [[HeWhoFightsMonsters That Fights It]] trash the city during their war. All you can really do is finish the job or [[ImAHumanitarian eat everyone]] while you finish the job. ''VideoGame/{{Prototype 2}}'' trashes it even further (with Manhattan being blocked from the other buroughs for suffering the worst).
* The team working on ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'' apparently chose NYC for the sequel, because it was the city that constantly appeared on the top of their lists due to its iconic nature.
** Oh, and it's had an epidemic of TheVirus, with the C.E.L.L. organization attempting to contain it by murdering any potential carriers-that is to say, anything that moves and isn't one of them. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything?
* ''True Crime: New York City'' takes place solely in Manhattan and allows the player to roam freely throughout the island.
* The first two games of the ''DefJamSeries'' of fighting games take place in New York City, with the third, ''Icon'', featuring the city as one of several locales.
* ''PunchOut'', the NES and Wii versions, takes place in NYC as you see Doc Louis train Little Mac with the bike and you see the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty in the background.
* In keeping with the Comic Book examples listed above, any video game based upon the MarvelUniverse will usually be set at least partially in New York City, even if it's just one or two levels.
* The final set of missions in the PC game ''CrimsonSkies'' are based in New York and involve the showdown between [[LoveableRogue Heroic]] SkyPirate Nathan Zachary and BigBad CorruptCorporateExecutive Lucas Miles.
* Invaders come and take over the United States, while a plumber from New York rises to fight back. No, it's not some DarkerAndEdgier [[SuperMarioBrothers Mario]] game - it's VideoGame/FreedomFighters.
* NYC is a recurring location in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. Liberty Island was made the headquarters of the United Nations Anti-Terrorist Coalition after the destruction of the Statue of Liberty. The player can visit Battery Park and Hell's Kitchen.
* Although not specifically by name - Liberty City of VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto fame gets progressively closer to it's real life counterpart with every passing sequel.
** Even Grand Theft Auto III was originally supposed to be closer to that goal than it ultimately was; but due to when it was released and, the [[TheWarOnTerror unfortunate implications]] of allowing players to kill cops, driving around in (at the time) current NYC police car paint jobs (blue & white), Rockstar realized that this would go over far worse than usual, and instead, distanced itself from the city Liberty City was supposed to represent. This included using landmarks from other cities (i.e. the airport) and giving cop cars a far more traditional black & white paint job.
** By the time Grand Theft Auto IV was released, TooSoon had passed, and featured plenty of parodies and depictions of New York City (and the surrounding area). Going so far as to directly mimic famous landmarks and the current NYPD color/font scheme of their cars and the officers that drive them.
* ''SteelBattalion: Heavy Armor's'' debut trailer highlights an Operation Overlord-esque United States offensive on Manhattan in 2082 against a currently unknown enemy.
* ''SakuraWars: So Long, My Love'' has demons attacking New York City (though previous installments took place in Tokyo and Paris).
* HydroThunder has the "NY Disaster" course which is Manhattan submerged in a flood caused by a meteor strike at New York harbor.
* ''TestDrive Off-Road 3'''s New York is Manhattan in the middle of a blizzard.
* In ''[[EnslavedOdysseytotheWest Enslaved]]'', the slave ship at the beginning crashes in New York.
* Even though ''ModernWarfare'' and ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' have no explicit storyline connection to New York, both choose to set a Multiplayer level there ("Skidrow" for the former and "Stadium" for the latter).
** It does appear in ''Modern Warfare 3'''s campaign mode, as the setting of the first two missions. "Black Tuesday" takes place around Wall Street, while "Hunter-Killer" is centered on a Russian submarine in New York Harbour.
* One of the early levels of ''NinjaGaidenII'' (both the NES game and the entirely different Xbox360 / PS3 game) has Ryu traversing the Big Apple.
* Much of ''VideoGame/TheDarkness'' is set in downtown Manhattan, and allows players to explore the streets and subway tunnels in between violent encounters with local thugs, mobsters, and crooked cops.
* ''TheShivah'' is set in New York. At least partially justified in that both Judaism and organized crime has a strong presence in the real city and feature prominently in the game's plot. Plus, creator Dave Gilbert is an ethnic Jew living in New York, so he is probably [[WriteWhatYouKnow writing what he knows]].
* Eight of the nine levels in ''SonicUnleashed'' are based off real world locations, and the Empire City/Skyscraper Scamper level is heavily based off New York and some other American cities as a result.
* Manehattan in ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyRiseOfVicis'' appears to be this.
* New York is the basis for the Unova region in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. Castelia City, specifically, is an expy of New York, and the rest is between {{Joisey}} and upstate New York.
* Both ''XMenLegends'' have a level there (then again, see the Marvel example in Comics, above). In the first, it's the very first mission, where {{Wolverine}} and Cyclops rescue viewpoint character Magma. In the sequel, Apocalypse attacks New York because, as he sums up, "Now I've razed their mightiest city".
* This is where all the fun happens in ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance''. Various landmarks both fictional and real are even specifically featured, including Stark Tower, the Chrysler Building, Times Square, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.
* All of Alex's stages from the 3 games of the ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' series take place in New York City. Combines this with {{Eagleland}}, as the last one is an unusually patriotic take on the New York City subway.
* ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'''s introduction shows that New York City was one of the cities attacked by the [[AIIsACrapshoot rogue]] [[TerraForm Terraformer]] fleet. Central Park is burned to a crisp with a huge [[ColonyDrop impact crater from a meteor]], while most of the buildings have been turned into rubble. Terraformer ships [[OminousFloatingSpaceship hover over the remains]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Lampshaded in [[http://nonadventures.com/2011/10/01/london-galling/ this]] [[TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella Non-Adventures of Wonderella]] strip.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In the ''WhateleyUniverse'', New York City has its own major superhero group (the Empire City Guard), a "teenage sidekicks" group, a ton of "street heroes", and a couple main characters (like Phase, She-Beast and Techno-Devil, Kerry) and side characters (like Tempest) come from the New York area too.
* The EpicTales series ''Shadow Hawk'' is set in New York. However, the complete lack of references to any actual places leads one to believe that the writer has never actually been to New York, and is just treating it as a generic city.
* [[http://theglen.livejournal.com/89715.html 665. My WW2 era mad scientist will pick a new target for his project other than Manhattan.]]
* NewYorkMagician: Mostly Manhattan, to be precise.
* Averted with extreme prejudice in the [[WorldWarIII 1983: Doomsday timeline]] in the AltHistoryWiki; the only things landing on Times Square were about two dozen nuclear warheads. Decades later, scouts reported nothing but open water where Manhattan Island and Brooklyn were, and charred, radioactive wastelands covering the other boroughs and [[{{Joisey}} surrounding states]].. Reconstruction is estimated to be possible no earlier than 2060. Ironically, fiction set in NYC prior to the war (and created either before or after) is quite popular.
* ''TheSalvationWar: Pantheocide'': Lampshaded by Michael - the last Bowl of Wrath gets poured on New York precisely because it's the city that always gets attacked in fiction.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', especially in the original comics and second animated series.
** The '80s series took place here in the first few seasons, but later seemed to move to an [[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield unidentified big city]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Although it is technically [[NewNeoCity New New York]].
-->'''Bender:''' New York City... the city so great, it inspired a casino in Vegas.
* ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'': Although the Rescue Rangers' hometown remains [[CityWithNoName unnamed]] and shows a little GeographicFlexibility, there are still landmarks from New York City to be seen and identified, namely the Chrysler Building ("The Carpetsnaggers"), the Twin Towers ("Robocat"), and the Statue of Liberty ("It's a Bird! It's Insane! It's Dale!").
* Magical creatures are drawn to New York in ''AmericanDragonJakeLong''.
** At one point, there's even an episode in which they need to go to a different dimension, using a portal which is said to randomly appear anywhere at any time. [[ContrivedCoincidence Cue the portal "randomly" appearing in Central Park.]]
* The situation is {{Lampshaded}} in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ultimate Spider-Man}}'' episode "Spidah-Man," where it's pointed out that since most of the superheroes like Spider-Man and Comicbook/TheAvengers live in New York, very few other cities have their own heroes. The episode ends with Spider-Man entrusting the protection of Boston to a teen hero named the Steel Spider.
* They should change the name ''ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' to ''The Penguins Of New York'', given that said penguins live... guess where.
* It's a good thing that [[TheRealGhostbusters the Ghostbusters]] decided to set up shop in New York, since the Big Apple is regularly invaded by all kinds of demons, ghosts, phantoms, goblins, and other assorted evil creatures. This trope is sometimes averted, however, when the Ghostbusters travel to other parts of the U.S. or even overseas to places like Scotland or France to deal with the hauntings going on there.
* The second 1980's ''StrawberryShortcake'' special takes place in "Big Apple City", a clear parallel to New York City. Additionally, there are various place names that are take offs on various locations in New York such as "Times Pear" (Times Square), "Sentimental Park" (Central Park), and "Spinach Village" (Greenwich Village).
* ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'' takes place in New York.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' universe all of the really weird stuff happens in New York.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'''s season finale takes place partly in New York City, and ''UglyAmericans'' takes place there as well. Both are produced by Brooklyn-based Augenblick Studios.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' 9th season episode "The City of New York vs Homer Simpson". Homer has to wait for a traffic officer to remove a parking boot from his car (which Barney left at the World Trade Center) while the rest of the family explores the city. This episode was pulled from syndication after 9/11, although it has started to reappear.
** The one where Bart forms a boy band. They find themselves in New York but Milhouse is clueless:
-->''The Statue Of Liberty? Where are we?''
* ''ArgaiTheProphecy'' features much of its action in New York.
* ''CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' had an AlternateTimeline episode where Wheeler (who's from New York originally) stopped the Planeteers from forming. He ends up in a New York City that's underwater.
* The kids' film ''SamsonAndSally'' has Moby Dick living in or near a submerged NYC, called 'the city that man built'.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* John Lennon famously gave this as a justification for why he abandoned his British roots to make his permanent home in NYC. "If I'd lived in Roman times, I'd have lived in Rome. Where else? Today America is the Roman Empire and New York is Rome itself."
* Name a major American news network. Unless it's {{CNN}} (they're in {{Atlanta}}), it's based in New York.
* After the American Revolution, and before Washington D.C. was built, New York City served as the capital city of the United States.
** Before being replaced by the more central Philadelphia, which hosted the Continental Congress before the Revolution as well.
* When the Erie Canal opened in 1825, New York became the only US city which could easily ship goods west of the Appalachian Mountains. The business culture and population of New York City exploded as a result, to the point where the growth was incomparable to other US cities. Much like modern TV writers, 19th century businessmen and merchants believed there were only two types of cities: "Places Called New York", and "Places Not Called New York".
** Modern day New Yorkers can also exhibit this attitude. And you know what? ''[[TheReveal They're right.]]''
* Call it TooSoon or even BlackComedy, but the real-life September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York make this trope sickeningly self-authenticating, complete with many moments of going FromBadToWorse (multiple surprise attacks on different locations from an unknown enemy, with the precision of [[TheChessmaster a Chessmaster]]) where, for that day at least, [[TheBadGuyWins the bad guys totally won]].
* New York City is called the "Financial Capital of the World". There is a reason why when you say, "Wall Street", everyone knows you are talking about money. While there are others, the New York Stock Exchange is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010.
** Although, interestingly enough, many of the traders are based in [[BritainIsOnlyLondon London]], therefore demonstrating both this trope and its transatlantic sister. This is because, thanks to the relative time zones, traders based in London can trade on both the NYSE Euronext, and the European and Asian Stock Exchanges in a single working day.
* The UsefulNotes/UnitedNations is headquartered in New York City, which, in a sense, makes it the closest thing there is to a capital of the entire world.
[[/folder]]
----

** Of course, the original ''Madagascar'' movies were all about trying to get ''back'' to New York.

-->''The statue of Liberty? Where are we?''

* ''CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' had an AlternateTimeline episode where Wheeler (who's from New York originally) stopped the Planeteers from forming. He ends up in a New York city that's underwater.

* The original TimeTravel episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', "The City on the Edge of Forever", sends Kirk, Spock, and [=McCoy=] to Depression-era New York City. "Assignment:Earth" had Gary Seven setting up in New York City. However, later time jaunts seem to focus on the West Coast, especially San Francisco. Non-TimeTravel trips to Earth also focus on San Francisco, since Starfleet headquarters is there. ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', spends about equal time in San Francisco and New Orleans (where Captain Sisko grew up and where his father still lives and owns a restaurant).

* Mega-City-One from ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' is essentially supposed to be New York City in the 22nd Century... and stretch from about Boston to Charlotte in current continuity.

** Until recently, there was a giant, crowded, vibrant, multicultural ghetto of Mutants in lower Manhattan, known as Mutant Town, occupying roughly the space of our world's Alphabet City. Given that this overpopulated ghetto full of superpowered, alienated freaks was barely even mentioned outside its own book, ComicBook/DistrictX (swiftly cancelled), it might perhaps have made more sense to set it down in a city that wasn't already swarming with superheroes, and the subject of 99% of Marvel's comics output. But, hey, New York is just -- that -- special.

** This is so pervasive that Marvel sells [[http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Comics-Guide-York-City/dp/1416531416 Their own guide to New York]], allowing you to walk around and see all the real inspirations for the comic sites.