Ultimate Home Alone 2 Filming Locations – How to find all the New York Film locations.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is one of the classic feel-good family movies and is wheeled out most Christmases to fill the gaps between the Turkey and Mince Pies. Unlike a lot of films, a large portion of the film was actually filmed on location in Manhatten. While some scenes were inevitably shot elsewhere the big cinematic city shots were all on location. In our Ultimate Home Alone 2, Filming Locations guide we hunt down and show you ALL the iconic places used in the Film so you can plan your own Movie Sites tour!

We know there are loads of guides out there, however, we always find them incomplete or misleading. We really tried to get EVERY important scene in there to let you know when Hollywood worked its magic and reality gets a little blurry!

We have tried to track down every important scene and if they are shot in the city we will show you where. And how to find them. Be sure to check out our movie sites page to see if there are any other Movies that have filming locations nearby to add on to your tour!

Home Alone 2 Filming locations Map

All the Locations can be found on our Google Map here, Click the “Open Larger Map” Square to open in another window!

The Opening Scenes of the Film are located at the Mcallister house and are shot in Chicago so we will not focus on these and begin once Kevin touches down in New York. The other Scenes are meant to be in Florida, they probably weren’t, and besides are not very interesting so we will stick to New York scenes only.

La Guardia Airport

Kevin First arrives at La Guardia Airport and after conversing with the check-in girl (at Arrivals?) Gazes out over the City! It’s worth flying into La Guardia simply for this view! Well, it would be if La Guardia had that view, or if Kevin was at La Guardia. The Scenes were shot at O’Hare in Chicago. We are unsure if the window scene was shot in Chicago and the backdrop was “added” in, or if some set was built in an office somewhere on long island. But we know it wasn’t La Guardia.

The View itself is from somewhere around long island City and includes the Pepsi Cola Sign. However, the area has undergone extensive regeneration and is unrecognizable anyway. At least the stock footage of landing planes is actually La Guardia!

New York Arrival Montage!

Kevin then Jumps in a cab and begins a whistle-stop tour of Manhattan. We have heard the Geography called a little messed up but actually, it’s pretty spot on. Albeit pretty ambitious. We included a line to show the route he “may” have taken, don’t take that too seriously though!

The montage begins with Kevin leaning out of a cab on Queensboro Bridge, before heading to Radio City Hall near the Rockefeller center to take a pretty awful polaroid of nothing. He then heads down to the Empire State Building to get a flyer of a tall wobbly Santa outside the Empire Diner, which is actually nowhere near the Empire State Building and is over in Chelsea. Quite a Detour!

He then heads downtown via China Town where he buys some firecrackers from the now-closed Quong Yuen Shing & Co Shop at 32 Mott Street. We Guess 90’s Chinatown Shopkeepers cared little about Age Verification?

He then Arrives at Battery Park to take a peek at the statue of liberty through the now vanquished binoculars. The Binoculars may have gone but you can still get a good view of the Statue from here. The final port of call for Kevin on his arrival montage is the Twin Towers Observation Deck. We are guessing you don’t need us to tell you these are no longer here. But you should still check out the Memorial and you can always head up the New Freedom Tower for a view of the City from the WTC.

Fulton Fish Market

We then cut to the old Fulton Fish Market, which has now moved to Brooklyn, but the streets are still here. Kevin walks across the street narrowly avoiding being run over by a fish van that contains the newly escaped prison, Wet Bandits.

The Bandits then presumably jump on the Tube up to 57th Street, which is a feasible Subway Journey. Here they emerge from the Subway and become ‘The Sticky Bandits’ by robbing the Samaritan’s Santa. They then proceed east to meet up with their first Encounter with Kevin…

Central Park Bridge – AKA Gapstow Bridge

Kevin then finds himself in Central Park. As he comes across Gapstow Bridge he first encounters the Pigeon Lady. Gapstow is what is lovingly referred to as Home Alone bridge and you will encounter many selfie-takers here. This is probably the Number one site most people head to in order to get their Selfie or Home Alone Photo, despite the fact it features very sparsely in the film. It is, however, a very scenic spot and great for photos.

After being startled by a woman feeding pigeons he runs off towards the Plaza via Grand Army Plaza and then runs slap bang into the Wet Bandits, or by now should we say, Sticky Bandits right outside the Plaza on the busy intersection of 59th and 5th.

The Plaza Hotel

There are a great number of scenes shot both inside and outside the Plaza Hotel. While without spending a large sum of money to stay in “a hotel room with an extra-large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators you open with a key” you are unlikely to get to see any of the room scenes but they were all filmed on location. You can, however, check out the lobby, areas, and the exteriors that were all also filmed on location.

Wollman Ice-Rink

After Hi-Jinks in the Plaza, The next stop is the Wollman Ice-Rink where the Sticky Bandits plot their next move. This is one of the more obvious locations, most visitors head to this Iconic location anyway, but it’s always nice to tie it in with your favorite Christmas movie. In the film their plan is to rob…

Duncan’s Toy Chest

Duncans Toy Chest is doubly disappointing, not only does it not exist in New York but the Shop it was meant to be, also has now closed down so there is really nowhere to visit to get that Toy Chest Vibe***. The suggestion is the store is FAO Swarz which closed down in 2015 and is now the Apple Store. Although this is just across the street and he didn’t really need to get a Limo there, he won’t be the first person to be taken for a “ride” by an unscrupulous Limo/Taxi Driver! The Scenes were actually shot in Chicago.

*** FAO Swarz has Re-Opened in New York City! Not the original location but just down the road at the Rockerfella center, so you can get a bit of Duncan’s toy chest vibe!

Leaving the Toy Chest the bandits bump back into Kevin and he escapes via the Solow Building on 57th, with the help of a street trader’s questionable merchandise. After more escapades in the Plaza, resulting in his eviction and capture by the Bandits, Kevin escapes his captors and heads off into Central Park, Via the Bethesda Fountain and terrace. Another Location used in multiple movies and TV Shows.

Now with nowhere to go and the bandits hunting him, Kevin heads to his Uncle Rob’s house, more on this later. With no one home, he runs into Central Park and finally finds the Pigeon Lady at Inscope Arch, which we think is the REAL Home Alone Bridge, but as it’s harder to find and not as obvious or pretty people make do with the Gapstow Bridge. More on this below.

Carnegie Hall

There are only minimal scenes shot a Carnegie, while the Scene shot in the Rafters are quite long they are obviously inaccessible (and we are not sure if this was on location or studio filmed) anyway the hall is worth a visit in its own right as it’s an icon of the New York Music Scene.

St Annes Hospital for Children

After Leaving Carnegie Hall Kevin Notices the Star on St Annes Hospital for children. Sparking his memory and inspiring him to thwart the Sticky Bandit’s nefarious plan. Unfortunately, this requires us to suspend belief as the hospital does not exist and the building used is over 50 Blocks away at Columbia University. It’s on our map if you really want to visit! There is no Star or child in the window though!

Uncle Rob McAllister’s House

Kevin now returns to Uncles Rob’s house to set up his devious traps. The reality of this location is disappointing. Due to the acrobatic nature of most of the scenes shot here, it required Studio shooting, so the house is actually part of the New York set at Universal Studios, and the interior scenes are shot on a sound stage. Damn you Hollywood!

However, we do have an address and the house in question is a similar style Brownstone house so you can pretend you are at the real house. Head to 51 West 95th St to see the house that wasn’t used.

Kevin returns to the Toy Chest to lure the Bandits to Uncle Rob’s House and there is much frivolity inside the house. Finally, Kevin escapes the house with the bandits scorched, beat up, and generally defiled and rather grumpy. However, On Kevin’s final Escape he is foiled by ironically slipping on some ice. He is then Frogmarched to the Inscope Arch.

Capture Scene – The Inscope Arch

This is the bridge we think of as the real Home Alone Bridge the picture-perfect little arch where the Bandits attempt to finally bring upon the Demise of Kevin only to be thwarted by the Pigeon Lady throwing seed on them causing a Bird storm.

The Problem is the Arch does not actually exist in the way it is portrayed in the film. The Actual Arch’s Tunnel is much deeper, The Arch more curved and the pretty little staircase does not exist. It could easily be a “backlot” recreation where the scenes are actually filmed. However, the intricate brickwork shows it is definitely this bridge or a direct copy, so this is basically the bridge in any real sense, you just have to accept Hollywood’s alterations…

Rockefeller Tree Reunion

Finally, we cut to Kevin’s mother who is in Times Square, we are sure you don’t need this location pointed out. The film then cuts to the tearful reunion under the Rockefeller tree before the whole family is reunited back at the Plaza. 

Have Your Say?

We Think, unlike all the other guides we have read, we really have got every location, real or not, in New York covered in our guide. We put this together as we were frustrated other guides always seemed to miss or omit something or someplace. If you disagree or think we missed something please let us know in the comments below, we will get it added as soon as possible, however, we watched the entire film while we put this together, and are pretty sure we got everything, this is on top of the 40,000 times we have watched in previously!

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