Fun City Cinema New York City and the Movies that Made it

Fun City Cinema is a landmark visual history of New York City as seen through the lens of cinema. Film critic and historian Jason Bailey traces 100 years of filmmaking across ten iconic decades, charting the parallel stories of a city and its movies. With a foreword by acclaimed critic Matt Zoller Seitz, the book features exclusive interviews with legendary NYC filmmakers and stunning imagery spanning from silent-era Manhattan to contemporary blockbusters. Bailey’s sharp, authoritative writing reveals how films like Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver, and Do the Right Thing didn’t just capture New York — they shaped its identity. Published by Abrams in 351 richly illustrated pages, this is an essential volume for cinephiles, urban history lovers, and anyone who has ever fallen in love with New York City through its movies. A rare book that is as much a love letter to a city as it is a work of serious film scholarship.