A Guidebook to Billions Filming Locations
by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | July 1, 2019
I am an immigrant. I moved to the US for graduate study in late 1990s. My husband and I, having finished our PhDs, moved to New York in 2001, only weeks before September 11, for our first jobs. The city has since given me so much in so many different dimensions and defined me as an individual: a foodie, a film buff, a theatre lover, a feminist, a wine snob, a runner and more… Even though we moved to the South five years later for new jobs, we could not give up on New York. We still have a tiny apartment on the Upper West Side and we enjoy the city as part-time New Yorkers 😀
And as I mentioned a billion times before, Billions is a dream show for me not only because my favorite actor is in it, but also because New York, from its landmarks to its city parks and to its quirky shops, appears as a cast member in the show! As someone who feels the only home she has in the world is the city that never sleeps, I particularly love it that Billions is taking over New York, the BIG film studio that it is, and shooting all over the place, from Manhattan to Queens to Brooklyn to The Bronx to Long Island and to northern suburbs. So I have put together this Billions Season 4 Location Guide as a loving tribute to my most favorite place on earth and a heartfelt thank you to the show creators for writing a love letter to the city.
Hope you pick and choose and take your own Billions tour in New York City and beyond and give us feedback! And in case you missed our locations guide for Season 1, Season 2 and Season 3 you can check them out here, here and here.
Episode 1: Chucky Rhoades’ Greatest Game
Empire Stores has come about after a successful conversion of a pre-Civil War coffee warehouse in the waterfront neighborhood of Dumbo, Brooklyn, into an urban marketplace. With all seven historic warehouses restored and new construction added on the existing structure, Empire Stores has 380,000 square feet of combined office, restaurant, retail, and commercial space, complete with a rooftop beer garden with views of the New York harbor. Taylor Mason Capital calls it “home” in Billions.
Located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood on the Upper East Side, The Edith Fabbri House is an Italian Renaissance revival style townhouse. It was designed by architect Grosvenor Atterbury and completed in 1916. The house is a NYC Designated Landmark since 1974 and its highlight house is the library with historic panels from the Palazzo Ducale di Urbino in Italy.Â
Deeded to the Episcopal Church in 1949, the house now provides a unique setting for those who are seeking spiritual renewal under the name of “The House of the Redeemer.” There is an Episcopal priest-in-residence who leads Monday and Evening Prayer in the chapel every weekday from September to June. The chapel is open to the public for prayer and meditation.
The Edith Fabbri House passes off as The Embassy of Qadir, where they hold Wags captive, in Billions Season 4 Premiere.
It is fun to see how the production adapts the location according to its needs. Assuming they filmed Axe and Andolov’s meeting in the library, it is not just that they redecorated the room but they also made some movie magic to make the library look more like a Middle Eastern style room.
Episode 2: Arousal Template
The Refectory at High Line Hotel
The Refectory is the High Line Hotel’s premier event space that is used for wedding receptions, galas, meetings, exhibitions and fashion shows.
In Billions, we find the big shots of NYC law enforcement in this room hearing Kulbinder Darcha, the interim state AG, announcing his run for the seat he is currently occupying. As Chuck catches up with his new friend Commissioner Sansome, we learn that Darcha is not Sansome’s “boy†yet and if Chuck gets the commissioner what he wants – Raul Gomez’ head – Sansome may adopt him as his “boy.â€
Newtown Creek is an estuary that forms part of the border between Brooklyn and Queens. As one of the most heavily used bodies of water in the ports of New York and New Jersey, it is one of the most polluted industrial sites in the U.S.
Thus, a perfect place for secret meetings like this one between Chuck and Raul Gomez in which Chuck cannot get a word from Gomez about whether it is Bobby Axelrod that is managing the NYPD Pension Fund’s money through Michael Panay.Â
Surrounded by centuries-old government buildings, including City Hall itself, City Hall Park is a public park that provides much needed green space downtown Manhattan. Once a communal pasture, the site was used as a prison and then as an execution site during the American Revolution. On July 9, 1776, George Washington read the Declaration of Independence here.
In his meeting with Commissioner Sansome in City Hall Park, Chuck assures him that keeping Raul Gomez is his optimal play going forward. Chuck is sure Sansome and the next manager of the fund, Bobby Axelrod, will hit it off immediately 😀
And now that Chuck has scratched Sansome’s back, it is the commissioner’s turn: How about him and his union backing Chuck for the state AG seat? And this takes us to our next location!
The Feast of San Gennaro is an Italian-American Festival that was first celebrated in the United States in September 1926. The immigrants from Naples gathered along Mulberry Street in Little Italy to continue the tradition they had in Italy to celebrate San Gennaro (Saint Januarius) the Patron Saint of Naples.
Mulberry Street, the center of the festival is closed to traffic during the Feast of San Gennaro. And in line with the word “Feast” the festival features a lot of food as well as parades, rides, and games! We see Bobby Axelrod throwing a dart…
https://twitter.com/DavidLevien/status/1109997749754306561
As an Italian-American Festival, The Feast of San Gennaro is the perfect place for the Italian-American Commissioner Sansome to introduce Chuck as New York’s next State AG!
And while I was thinking, looking at the shoot date, they may have filmed these scenes during the festival, this guy tweets about about Billions building a fake San Gennaro down the street from him 🙂
Nice Friday so far, thank you Billions for building a fake San Gennaro down the street from me pic.twitter.com/rVapL6gL1D
— Matthew Ogle (@flaneur) September 21, 2018
Episode 3: Chickentown
Resorts World Catskills is a casino and a luxury hotel in Kiamesha Lake, New York. Opened in 2018, the resort is owned and operated by the Empire Resorts. The casino seems to be the biggest of its kind in the region with 150 live Las-Vegas style table games, 1,600 state-of-the-art slot machines, a poker room and private gaming salons.
Well, would you expect any less from Chuck Senior? 😀
In Billions, Resorts World Catskills appears as Chuck Senior’s new casino in Kingsford that has its grand opening with a lot of fanfare complete with a concert by the great Michael Bolton.
Foley Square is a street intersection and green space dominated by civic buildings such as the United States Courthouse, Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse that houses the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the New York County Municipal Building. The square was named after a prominent Tammany Hall district leader and local saloon owner, Thomas F. “Big Tom” Foley. I wonder if he is somehow related to the late “Black Jack” Foley 😀
We see the journalist Lucien Porter finding Bryan and Kate at Foley Square, with Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in the background, to share with them that he is launching a missile called SugarVape that could kill Chuck’s political campaign for the State AG seat.
Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis
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Jersey City Waterfront Promenade
Jersey City Waterfront Promenade is a section of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, a wonderful 1.85 linear miles of pathway on the western shore of the Hudson River that runs through 9 municipalities in New Jersey.
Axe and Taylor meet at Jersey City waterfront with a stunning view of Manhattan behind them where Axe reminds his former protege they had to think twice about assassinating the Archduke before offering him peace.
Episode 4: Overton Window
Fifth AvenueÂ
Axe’s day takes a drastic turn when he gets a shocking phone call from Baton Rouge as he stands on 5th Avenue in front of Andaz Hotel 5th Avenue and just across from Stephen A. Scharzman Building also known as New York Public Library Main Branch.
It turns out LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals at the port has a perforation nobody has noticed until it was too late and the tank will explode. No one else knows about it yet and Axe has 3-4 hours until the whole world finds out. Axe calls Dollar Bill immediately to tell him to get out of all positions in natural gas NOW and runs for his life!
Halcyon Management’s Greenpoint Waterfront Project SiteÂ
Part of the last vestiges of Greenpoint’s post-industrial waterfront, this site was formerly occupied by Consolidated Freight, a national freight forwarding company that declared bankruptcy in 2002. It is located immediately south of the former Greenpoint Terminal Market and north of the Bushwick Inlet which is slated to be surrounded by the 28-acre Bushwick Inlet Park. Halcyon Management has the permits to build three residential towers on the site.
And how about Chuck Senior? Well, he plans to build his “Elysian Fields†on the site and make it the family legacy. The problem is, unlike Halcyon, Senior has not been able to secure the permits for his Elysian Fields yet and asks his son to help expedite them!
Named after the fourth president of the United States, Madison Square Park is a public park at the northern end of the Flatiron District of Manhattan.
The park hosts a critical meeting between Chuck and Wendy in Billions. Chuck asks for Wendy’s permission to preemptly make their BDSM life public because otherwise Foley will make it public and end Chuck’s political campaign for the State AG seat. Wendy’s answer is a big NO and we all know what Chuck does next, don’t we… which takes us to the next Billions location!
Owned by the Sons of Revolution since 1904, this historical landmark, built in 1719, is claimed to be Manhattan’s oldest surviving building: 300 years old! The building had an important role in American history both during and after the American Revolution. It served as the headquarters George Washington used to negotiated peace with the British and later housed federal offices. The menu has traditional as well as contemporary American food. They have been serving the famous chicken pot pie for such a long time that it may have been enjoyed even by Washington himself! 😀 The museum preserves and interprets the history of the American Revolution through public education.
As a serious student of history, Chuck finds it appropriate to bid farewell to his political campaign where George Washington bid farewell to his troops. But he changes his mind and instead adds to the history of the Tavern with his own historical speech!
Episode 5: A Proper Sendoff
One Chase Manhattan Plaza, located at 28 Liberty Street, is a banking skyscraper. Shaped like a “an enormous steel-framed rectangle” the building houses the Office of the New York Attorney General!
We see the new state AG Chuck runs into the new SDNY US Attorney Bryan on his way to his first day in the office! Bryan, who is into all things Japanese, presents himself as a Shinobi (a Ninja) who can get into the Shogun’s palace and cut his radial artery while he was sleeping. But Chuck knows that Bryan already cut his and, guess what, he is still standing 🙂
Duane Reade at 51 West 51st Street
Duane Reade is a drugstore and a pharmacy that you can find at almost every corner in New York City 🙂 But the particular location we see in Billions has a historical importance.
Senior calls a meeting wth his son at Duane Reade at 51 West 51st Street where he is picking up his “little blue helper.†Knowing that Jeffcoat has “spayed and neutered†his son, Senior is ready to shed some light on the current situation.
This exact location, Senior points out, was Toots Shor’s, a place where Albany power brokers hung out with mobsters and Broadway stars. More importantly, this was the place Senior met Black Jack for the first time as Foley was working on changing the mayor of Utica. And he was not only able to make an incompetent man to be the mayor but he was also able to make the current mayor a lawn man! Can Chuck do the same? Yep, he does at the next location!
Church of the Blessed Sacrament
Billions is in my neighborhood again! Church of the Blessed Sacrament is a Roman Catholic Parish Church in the Upper West Side. The construction of the church began in 1914 and they held the first mass on Christmas 1920. The Arclight Theatre is located on the lower level of the church, down one flight from the stairs.
In the most Shakespearian Billions scene ever, Chuck “Mark Antony†Rhoades is at Foley’s funeral to make his own “Friends, Romans, and Countrymen†speech calling out the criminals and conspirators that have infested New York politics for decades. I cannot think of a more proper send off for Black Jack Foley. Bravo!
Episode 6: Maximum Recreational Depth
This store has the most interesting story: They started as a shoe and hat repair shop with a push cart outside which sold candy. During the Depression years, the candy cart brought in more business than the repair shop and so the owners decided to turn the store into a candy shop in 1937. The discount candy store has been selling all kinds of candy, chocolate, nuts and dried fruit since then. It feels like a candy museum just because you can always find that candy bar you are not able to find anywhere else!
Republic Airport is a regional airport in Babylon, Suffolk County on Long Island.
Bryan organizes a “welcome back†party for Chuck at the airport as the State AG comes back from Cayman Islands with a witness to use against Todd Krakow.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park
Located on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, FDR Four Freedoms Park is a memorial to Franklin Delano Roosevelt that celebrates the four freedoms he talks about in his 1941Â State of the Union address. Freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
The park was designed by celebrated architect Louis Kahn who was carrying the finished designs for the park when he suddenly died of a heart attack in Penn Station in 1974. Mitchell | Giurgola Architects continued the designs after Kahn’s death following his wishes closely. The park was dedicated in October 2012.
Taylor and Wendy meet at the park for the first time since their harsh exchange of words in a garage in Season 3 Finale. Billions uses analogies brilliantly in its story telling and the conversation between Taylor and Wendy about Louis Kahn, the architect of the park, is no exception. As they talk about Kahn and his estranged relationship with his son, they actually talk about Taylor and their relationship with their dad Douglas. And, if you have not seen the Oscar-nominated documentary My Architect  which I saw at least a decade ago at Full Frame Documentary Festival and still remember vividly, please do yourself a favor and see it. Made by Nathaniel Kahn, Kahn’s son, it is an effort to understand a brilliant innovator, a flawed man, and an estranged father.
Lotos Club is one of the oldest literary clubs in the United States. Founded as gentleman’s club in 1870, the club changed its constitution in 1977 to admit women. Mark Twain, an early member of the club, called it the “Ace of Clubs.” Lotos Club gets its name from the poem “The Lotos-Eaters” by Lord Tennyson, which was very popular at the time a group of young writers, journalists and critics founded the club.
Michael “Cinderella” Wagner arrives at the Lotos Club in her fancy dress, wig and high heels for the Kappa Beta Phi dinner and he is quite surprised to find out that his name is not on the invitee list until… Nussfaur, the guy he tricked to get his burial spot in Season 3, shows up with a huge smile on his face and a Page Six photographer by his side. It turns out Nussfaur is friends with the Grand Swipe and the club invitation was to humiliate Wags as a trespasser. I am dying to see Wags’ revenge. I know it will be delicious!
Episode 7: Infinite Game
I am copying/pasting the description and amenities of this new residential building from Street Easy below. A little bit of research shows 4 bedroom – 2 bathroom apartments are likely to be sold at $15 – 18M in the building.
“The residences at 45 East 22nd Street are perfectly positioned in one of the most iconic and culturally sophisticated neighborhoods in Manhattan – the Flatiron District at Madison Square Park. Transforming the downtown skyline, the soaring tower is a sculptural glass silhouette standing at sixty-five stories rising seven hundred and seventy seven feet in the sky. The striking exterior, crafted by the world-renowned architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, wraps around modern, elegant interiors designed by the celebrated Martin Brudnizki Design Studio.
The tower features a 75-foot-wide granite base that fits harmoniously within the tree-lined block and marks a sense of arrival before ascending to eighty-three residences. Floor-to-ceiling windows offer a dramatic cityscape that includes the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, the clock tower at 1 Madison Avenue, World Trade Center, the Hudson and East Rivers, and Madison Square and Gramercy Parks.
The collection of amenities throughout five floors consists of a fitness center with boxing and private training suite, golf simulator, basketball court, children’s playroom, library, billiards, cards room, terrace with outdoor grill, and two gracious entertaining spaces including the Upper Club on the fifty-fourth floor.”
Taylor rents an apartment with an iconic view of the Empire State Building for his parents in Billions.
Poliform Contemporary Furniture
Poliform is an Italian brand of fine and designer furniture with high quality finishings. In Billions, we see Taylor visiting the store with Wendy who helps them choose furniture for their parents’ new fancy apartment.
Much more than a restaurant featured in the show, Rosa’s has been a Billions staple since the pilot episode where we met Bobby Axelrod for the first time — folding a NY slice at his favorite pizzeria.
Lewisto and I visited the pizzeria two summers ago and you can find the details of our experience here. In case you want the short version only: Nonna Pie! Nonna Pie! Nonna Pie! 😀
If you have been reading my Billions recaps for a while, you know that Axe broke my heart when he broke Bruno’s in Season 2 when he fucked Sandicot. And it is beautiful to finally see Axe making amends to the only father figure in his life! And while the old man will now be able to make the sunshine state his home, Axe will keep the pizzeria. This is the Bobby Axelrod I truly like. And, believe it or not, I was extremely lucky to watch this scene being shot at Rosa’s Pizza. You can read my story here. Salud!
Episode 8: Fight Night
Brooklyn Bridge Park is a 85-acre park on the Brooklyn side of the East River spanning over 1.3 miles of waterfront. Thanks to its stunning views of Lower Manhattan’s skyline and the New York harbor, the promenade gets crowded with tourists as well as locals strolling along and drinking in the iconic cityscape.
The park has numerous recreational facilities varying from playgrounds and basketball courts to Brooklyn’s newest roller skating rink. We see two active residents of Brooklyn, Wendy and Bonnie, doing their morning run along the promenade with iconic Brooklyn Bridge in the background.
Located in Times Square, this seven-floor cylindrical tower is the commercial marketing presence of the NASDAQ stock market. The exterior wall of the tower has LED electronic video display that provides market quotes, financial news and advertisements. The ground floor of the glass-walled building has a TV studio where CNBC’s Halftime Report is filmed.
Axe and Taylor have their own “Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn moment†on Halftime Report making it a field day for market reporters!
Well, this location was long due, wasn’t it?
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is considered the largest equities-based exchange in the world based on the total market capitalization of its listed securities. The NYSE began on May 17, 1792, under a buttonwood tree at 68 Wall Street. Between 1792 and 1865, it became more organized and structured — more on paper than in architecture :)Â The building at 18 Broad Street that we know as the NYSE building, designed by architect George B. Post, was completed and opened to business in 1903. The main building at 18 Broad Street and 11 Wall Street building where trading floors are were designated National Historical Landmarks in 1978.
Wags and Dollar Bill attend the Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange with Stacy Cunningham, the current President and the first female President of the NYSE, making a cameo! Wags does not only light up the tree but also promotes Dollar Bill as the Axe Capital fighter in the upcoming Charity Boxing Match against Taylor Mason Capital!
Capitale, a unique event space especially popular for weddings, is housed in the Bowery Savings Bank, one of the first savings banks in New York, building at 130 Bowery.
Designed by Stanford White, the bank building was built in 1893-95 and White’s choice of architectural style, a Roman classical, set the norm for bank buildings in NYC and later across the country. The exterior of the building was designated a New York City landmark in 1966. The interior, also designated as a NYC landmark in 1994, features tall Corinthian columns, a beautifully decorated 65 foot coved ceiling, and an art glass skylight making the Grand Ballroom one of New York City’s great event spaces.
No wonder Axe Capital and Taylor Mason Capital choose this unique event space for the unique boxing match between Dollar Bill and Mafee! 😀
Episode 9: American Champion
Galleria is a suburban shopping mall in White Plains, New York. And it is a perfect location for Rebecca’s “Barbie Dream House” aka Saler’s Department Store Headquarters.
A little bit of research shows Galleria currently has only one department store: Macy’s. But it used to have a Sears that closed like many other Sears stores across the country. So I am not 100% sure but I suspect the now closed Sears at Galleria is the stand-in for Saler’s in Billions. What do you think?
Union Square
Union Square is a lively neighborhood surrounding a bustling pedestrian plaza and a beautiful green space – Union Square Plaza and Union Square Park, respectively.
And on the northern tip of the pedestrian plaza, Taylor and Lauren have their first kiss!
Bury The Hatchet – Axe Throwing
At a time where many people want to move to Canada, why not import a favorite Canadian pastime to the U.S.? Axe-throwing — which is basically playing dart, but with axes! You can find out about the rules of the game here!
Bury The Hatchet provides competitive axe-throwing experience at its several locations in the U.S. The Greenpoint branch which we see Dollar Bill and Bonnie on a date in Billions also serves wine and beer bar as well as finger foods.
Episode 10: New Year’s Day
Iconic New York Landmarks Sequence
We don’t have any special location that our characters hang out in this episode. Yet, as the U2’s “New Year’s Day†plays in the background, the opening sequence of iconic New York landmarks under snow – from Freedom Tower and Oculus to Statue of Liberty and Central Park to the Wall Street Bull – reminds me that of Manhattan, one of my favorite New York movies!
Episode 11: Lamster
New York Law School (NYSL) is a private law school in Tribeca. It has a full-time day program, a part-time evening program, and a two-year accelerated J.D. honors program. One of the NYSL conference rooms is used in Billions as the hearing room where Wendy appears in front of the medical board.
Rebecca &Â Taylor Meeting?
Episode 12: Extreme Sandbox
A family owned and operated business, Extreme Sandbox has two locations, one in Hastings, Minnesota and the other Pottsboro, Texas. They offer individual packages, group packages as well as season passes.
Wendy and Rebecca experience Extreme Sandbox where they drive real-life construction equipment and literally move dirt and crush cars. I have to say this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen — sorry, Rebecca! – but if it is a “state changer†for Wendy then I am all for it!
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