Rom-Coms
17 Best New York City Rom-Coms, Ranked
New York City is the most romantic city in the world. It’s just a fact. Cupid masquerades as the city that never sleeps.
The magic of falling in love in New York City is that it can happen anywhere, and it always feels like a movie. Manhattan and the other boroughs are filled to the brim with possibilities when it comes to love — and Hollywood has taken notice.
Through the decades, countless New York City-set rom-coms have been released, many of which have a permanent place in our hearts. When Harry Met Sally, probably the most well-known New York City rom-com, was released on July 12, 1989. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Katz’s Deli, When Harry Met Sally illuminates that love (and fake orgasms) can happen anywhere in the Big Apple.
In honor of the patron saint of NYC rom-coms turning 36, Swooon is ranking the 17 best New York City rom-coms. Did we miss any that you love? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
17. Sex and the City: The Movie
A late in the game entry. Look, we can hate on And Just Like That all we want, but we can’t forget the monumental impact Sex and the City has had on New York City. Following a six-season run, the core four girls returned for Sex and the City: The Movie in 2008. The movie was a great continuation of Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Charlotte (Kristin Davis), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Samantha’s (Kim Cattrall) journeys. After getting humiliated by Big (Chris Noth) on her wedding day at The New York Public Library, New York City healed Carrie Bradshaw. The four ladies laughed, cried, and always looked fabulous as they started new chapters. Sex and the City: The Movie featured notable Big Apple locations, including Carrie’s iconic apartment (of course), the Astor Place Starbucks (RIP), the Brooklyn Bridge where Miranda and Steve (David Eigenberg) reconnect, and The Carlyle Hotel. The film is the perfect toast to the series we love so much and to New York City. — Avery Thompson
16. Breakfast at Tiffany's
There’s a lot to love about the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany‘s, inspired by Truman Capote‘s novella, much like the woman at the center of it all, Holly Golightly, portrayed by the singular Audrey Hepburn. It doesn’t get much more iconic than Holly’s early morning stroll down Fifth Avenue as she sips coffee and enjoys a pastry while clad in last night’s party dress. The film follows her transformative relationship with writer and New York City transplant, Paul Varjak (George Peppard). In many ways, both of them represent the possibility of what it means to reinvent yourself in the Big Apple. Over the course of the film, they hit up the titular jewelry store, promenade the streets, and peruse the book shelves at the public library, making it a film synonymous with the city in which it’s set. Unfortunately, a higher rating evades this film mostly because of Mickey Rooney‘s racist portrayal of Holly’s upstairs neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi, but that’s nothing a quick fast-forward can’t fix! — Meaghan Darwish
15. Sleeping with Other People
Sleeping with Other People has it all: intense tension, believable chemistry, witty dialogue, and a New York City backdrop. First, Lainey (Alison Brie) and Jake (Jason Sudeikis) meet in a dorm room at Columbia University. Years later, they cross paths again, and agree to form a strictly platonic friendship. As sexual tension simmers between them, Lainey and Jake run around the city together.
Any New Yorker would tell you it’s obvious the movie was shot on site. The film’s writer and director Leslye Headland said her film is basically “When Harry Met Sally for a**holes.” If that isn’t the perfect way to sum it up, we don’t know what is! — Morgan Pryor
14. Something Borrowed
Justice for Something Borrowed! The movie is messy to the max, but that’s what makes it good. Based on Emily Giffin’s novel of the same name, Dax (Colin Egglesfield) and Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) have a whole will-they-won’t-they thing going on in law school, but they never act on it. Dax ends up engaged to Rachel’s best friend, Darcy (Kate Hudson), but Rachel and Dax sleep together (we don’t endorse cheating) after Rachel admits her crush on Dax. From there, things get even messier, and everyone is pretty much a terrible friend, with the exception of Ethan (John Krasinski). It’s hilariously diabolical. As Rachel and Ethan walk through Madison Square Park and eat at the Shake Shack (IYKYK), you feel like you could brush past them. Something Borrowed is a testament to how New York City will lift you up, break your heart, and you’ll always manage to run into someone you know on a random street in a city of eight million people. Oh, and Rachel and Ethan should have been endgame. — Avery Thompson
13. Someone Great
One of the newer rom-coms on this list. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson‘s Someone Great is that great. Jenny’s (Gina Rodriguez) gotten her dream job in San Francisco, but she’s also dealing with her boyfriend breaking up with her out of the blue. For one last New York City hurrah, Jenny heads out with her best friends, Erin (DeWanda Wise) and Blair (Brittany Snow), to get tickets for a concert series. This adventure takes them all across New York City, and Jenny recalls notable moments from her relationship. Someone Great is a beautiful tribute to those who have to leave New York City behind and come to realize their memories haunt (complimentary) all the places they’ve been in the city that never sleeps. You may leave New York, but it never leaves you. — Avery Thompson
12. Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist
What a special, sweet little movie Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist is. Based on the YA novel by David Levithan and Rachel Cohn, this movie follows two teens on an odyssey across the city to see their favorite underground, if-you-know-you-know band, Where’s Fluffy?, in a rare, secret performance.
Stars Kat Dennings and Michael Cera are incredibly charming. They meet when her frenemy Tris (Alexis Dziena) makes fun of her for being single, and Norah pulls Nick into an emergency, be-my-boyfriend-for-five-minutes kiss. But what’s that? Tris is Nick’s ex! And he is NOT over her. Plus, Norah’s friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) is too drunk — and she’s a runner.
It’s a very NYC movie. From Caroline despondently throwing up in Port Authority, to groaning, “Brooklyn?” when it’s late and you’re in Manhattan, to teens from New Jersey pretending to be adults in the city, to (spoiler alert) Norah’s first orgasm at the iconic Electric Lady Studios, it’s a treat! — Leah Williams
11. Working Girl
The opening scene of Working Girl is iconic. What could be more New York then the Staten Island Ferry chock-full of commuters set to Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run?”
Melanie Griffith is fabulous as Tess, a working class woman fraudulently rising in the ranks at her corporate job, and Sigourney Weaver is the perfect ice queen as Katharine, the woman who Tess is borderline impersonating. And between the two of them is Harrison Ford, a generational hottie. Ford changing his shirt in his windowed office and bowing to the women watching him is one of the most charming scenes in rom-com history. — Leah Williams
10. Enchanted
Enchanted might be a Disney movie, but Giselle and Robert’s romance is definitely on par with the other couples on this list, even if their love story comes with more spontaneous musical numbers than the rest. The story follows Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a New York City grump, who crosses paths with Giselle (Amy Adams), a chipper former cartoon who claims she recently popped out of a Times Square manhole. However, Richard begins to soften towards his unexpected guest as he watches his daughter grow attached to the real life princess living in their apartment.
While Giselle has a prince waiting for her back at home, and Richard has a longtime girlfriend, a dazzling ball in NYC’s own Empire State Building could change everything. Sure, New York City isn’t Andalasia, but it can still be home to a hilarious fairytale romance. —Rebecca Perlmutter
9. Brown Sugar
Never underestimate the power of Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan onscreen together. A true friends-to-lovers rom-com, Brown Sugar follows Andre and Sidney, lifelong friends who bonded over hip hop on a New York street corner as kids. New York City is at the center of their lives, and Brown Sugar makes the Big Apple a central character. Diggs told Swooon that Brown Sugar was one of the first movies to film after the 9/11 attacks. “We felt like we were doing something, you know what I mean? Something very important. So that made us enjoy New York all that much more,” he said. — Avery Thompson
8. Set It Up
To say that 2018’s Set It Up is the elite Netflix rom-com would be both true and a bit of an understatement, as Glen Powell and Zoey Deutch‘s chemistry sizzles as much as the summer heat under which their characters’ stories unfold. As overworked and undervalued assistants to monster employers, Rick (Taye Diggs) and Kirsten (Lucy Liu), Charlie and Harper devise a scheme to make their bosses fall in love with the goal of securing some extra free time in their lives for a healthier work-life balance. Along the way, the duo hits up various hot spots in the city, ranging from Yankee Stadium to the High Line (as seen in the photo above), and as time passes, they become closer and closer until the reality of their circumstance entangles them in a romance of their own. It’s a film filled with the kind of shenanigans rom-com dreams are made of, and I’d be lying if I didn’t think of Harper’s definition for her “over dick around” predicament that is all too relatable. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, this is your sign to check it out. In other words, don’t “over dick around,” and watch the film now. — Meaghan Darwish
7. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
If there is one thing that How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days teaches us, it’s that everyone in New York City needs a love fern. While Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) and Ben Barry (Matthew McConaughey) enter a relationship for less than romantic reasons, their love story is not one to be slept on.
Throughout How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Andie is challenged with getting a new boyfriend to break up with her after only 10 days together, while Ben needs to get a woman to confess her love for him over the same timeline. That means that while Andie puts in every effort to drive Ben up a wall, he spends a week and a half putting up with her faux intensity while trying to charm her. While the deceptive daters enter a relationship with questionable motives, they wind up being each other’s perfect match. Get a guy like one, one who will find you on the Manhattan Bridge and declare his love for you. — Rebecca Perlmutter
6. Serendipity
Bloomingdale’s, Serendipity 3 … These two locations alone, key to Jonathan (John Cusack) and Sara’s (Kate Beckinsale) romance, are enough to land this entertaining rom-com on this list. The two, while in other relationships, meet at the department store when they reach for the same pair of gloves, then head to the restaurant — whose meaning (fortunate accident) is central to the film — and have dessert. She insists on leaving their future to fate when, upon returning to said restaurant, wind blows his phone number out of her hand. They part ways, each with one glove and their phone numbers out there in the world for the other to hopefully find … and they do, reuniting once again in New York and returning to the same locations. — Meredith Jacobs
5. Hitch
Long before dating apps, finding love in New York City still wasn’t easy … which was evident in the 2005 rom-com Hitch. Even dating expert Alex Hitchens (Will Smith) had trouble locking down Sara (Eva Mendes) in the film. The movie is equal parts romantic and funny, and the charm/allure of New York City only adds to the story. — Alyssa Norwin
4. You've Got Mail
“Don’t you love New York in the fall?” Joe (Tom Hanks) reads Kathleen’s (Meg Ryan) email early on in this beloved rom-com — my favorite ever — about rival bookstore owners who fall in love online and in real life, not knowing, at first, they’d met each other in an AOL chat room. It highlights the city from start to finish with key moments in their romance, from both walking from their apartments to their places of business, unknowingly crossing paths, to familiar places like Cafe Lalo (where they planned to meet until he realized who she was) and Riverside Park (pictured above, where they finally meet, fully as themselves, and get together). Locations like that, as well as a love story that I just love so much (enemies-to-lovers is a popular trope for a reason) make this a film I can watch over and over again even though I have it pretty much memorized. — Meredith Jacobs
3. Moonstruck
A three-time Oscar-winning film, Moonstruck puts the spotlight on Cher‘s Loretta, a widow who accepts a proposal from her boyfriend, Johnny (Danny Aiello), just before he leaves New York to tend to his sickly mother in Sicily. When her family learns about her lukewarm feelings for Johnny, Loretta’s father, Cosmo (Vincent Gardenia), is particularly vocal about his indifference towards wedding planning. In the meantime, Loretta seeks out Johnny’s estranged brother, Ronny (Nicolas Cage), to invite him to their wedding, but she’s met with a fierce personality from the baker who sports a wooden prosthetic hand. According to Ronny, Johnny distracted him while using a bread slicer, resulting in the maiming of his hand and a broken engagement. Loretta’s efforts to smooth things over, though, land her in Ronny’s orbit, and after a few romantic moments together, he invites her to the opera for an unforgettable night. But we’re only just scratching the surface of this film, which also hones in on the family element, encompassing Loretta’s life with her parents in Brooklyn Heights. Along with Cher, Cage, and others, Olympia Dukakis‘ portrayal of Loretta’s mother is more than worthy of your time. — Meaghan Darwish
2. 13 Going on 30
When Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) unexpectedly jumped forward 17 years to the age of 30 in 13 Going on 30, she was undoubtedly going to be confused no matter what. So finding herself amid the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple only made things more hectic.
Going from a 13-year-old middle school student to a magazine editor in NYC was the ultimate culture shock. But once she got (somewhat) settled, the city was the perfect backdrop for her to fall in love with her childhood friend Matty (Mark Ruffalo), who she didn’t think she’d ever have romantic feelings for as a teenager. — Alyssa Norwin
1. When Harry Met Sally
Boy meets girl is a concept that really gets a workout in the all-timer New York City rom-com known as When Harry Met Sally. Beginning with a drive to Manhattan from their shared college, Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan) are the perfect players for a back-and-forth banter that ignites the will-they-won’t-they vibe underlying their relationship throughout the years. Initially, the pair is driven to hate each other, particularly when he suggests that men and women can’t be friends because sex always gets in the way. After parting ways, the duo never had any intention of reuniting, but fate continues to push them together in various moments over the years until they eventually relent and allow a strong friendship to blossom. As the movie proceeds, you follow the friends across different New York City institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Katz’s Deli, where Sally really enjoys her pastrami sandwich. The irony of the film is that while Harry’s statement about friendships between men and women is partly true after the pair hooks up, he’s also wrong, because while sex briefly knocks Harry and Sally off course, it’s also the catalyst that pushes them towards the next step in their ever-evolving dynamic. It’s the thing that sends Harry racing through the NYC streets on New Year’s Eve to deliver the best romantic declaration onscreen in a rom-com, and yes, that is just simply not up for debate. — Meaghan Darwish
