The 1996 movie Independence Day features famous New York City locations including the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Manhattan Bridge and the Empire State Building, which are all important parts of the iconic NYC skyline. In Independence Day, the entire city of New York among other cities in the U.S. are in danger of being completely destroyed by aliens. You can see sites from the film on the Central Park TV & Movie Sites Walking Tour.
Independence Day won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1997, including 34 other awards and nominations that year. It was also the highest-grossing film of 1996, with a total worldwide gross of $817,400,891.
The movie is set in different locations around the USA, namely New York City, Washington, D.C., California and Nevada. Some New York locations include:
- David (Jeff Goldblum) and his father Julius (Judd Hirsch) play chess in the Donnelly Memorial Park before David has to head to work
- David makes his way to his father’s home on 36 64th Street so they can leave the city together
- In the Lower East Side, a group of kids are playing basketball under a bridge when they see a spaceship emerging from the clouds, right above South Street & Pike Slip
- People panic when the spaceship arrives over Wall Street & William Street in the Financial District.
- A police offer stops in the middle of the intersection between Leonard Street and Church Street in Tribeca to look at the incoming spaceship, which causes a traffic accident.
- The ship hovers over the Empire State Building before destroying it at the climax of the film.
- On his way out of town, David bikes through SoHo, passing the Grand Street and Greene Street intersection.
* In an effort to stay current, we are constantly updating our tours with new locations and cannot guarantee the presence of locations mentioned on our site. If you have a particular interest in locations from a specific TV show or movie, please let your tour guide know and we will do our best to accommodate your request.