Take the Billions Tour Around New York City and Beyond
by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | December 4, 2023
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 7 Location Guide as a loving tribute to my most favorite place on earth (and also to my second 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 – especially if you know about a location that is missing in this post! Oh, and in case you missed Fan Fun locations guide for the previous seasons, you can check them out here, here, here, here and here. And please note that many show staples like Axe Capital HQ, Chuck’s Southern District office, or Chuck Senior’s apartment were all listed in previous seasons when they first appeared. ENJOY!
Episode 1: Tower of London
We find Chuck and Ira in his capacity as Chuck’s attorney in the courthouse making a request for Chuck to take off the GPS ankle monitor he has been wearing.
The building was designed by Cass Gilbert, a famous architect and an early proponent of skyscrapers, who also designed other NYC landmark builldings such as the Woolworth Building and the  Alexander Hamilton Customs House.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York sits in the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse and it is one of the most influential and active federal district courts in the United States, largely because of its jurisdiction over New York’s major financial centers!
I am not positive about this location. But since I followed Billions shoot very closely and noted down that they were filming in the Willliamsbridge area in the Bronx mid-November 2022, I believe that the Rhoades family mausoleum where Chuck and Dave meet in the wee hours should be located at the Woodlawn Cemetery.
Founded in 1863 by some of New York’s most prominent citizens, Woodlawn Cemetery covers over 300 acres and is a resting place for 300K people including musicians Miles Davis, Duke Elllington, Irving Berlin, authors Herman Melville, Dorothy Parker, E.L. Doctorow, and Macy’s department store founder Rowland Hussey Macy. The cemetery has some fine examples of Art Nouveau, Egyptian Revival, Greek Revival, and Romanesque Revival architecture and design on its grounds. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011.
Federal Hall National Memorial:
Dave Mahar and a squad of state troopers confront Chuck in front of the Federal Hall. Dave is here to let Chuck know that she knows Chuck is behind the on-going PR campaign favoring him. She is utterly annoyed about getting calls from politicians and civic leaders all over the city for dropping the case against Chuck.
The original building that stood here, as the two characters talk in the scene, served as the original seat of the government in the Colonies and,George Washington took the oath of office here. The original building was demolished in 1812 and the current Greek-revival style Federal Hall was completed in 1842 and used as the first U.S. Custom House. Federal Hall is now a Nationa Memorial housing a museum on Washington’s administration.  A piece of the balcony Washington stood on at his inauguration as well as the Bible used in the ceremony is on display.
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Billions comes to London, my second favorite city on earth and the only one that can, in my humble opinion, rival NYC in arts, music, food and culture.
And here we are at the Tower of London, the location Axe chooses to meet Wendy when she calls on Axe to help stop Prince from ruining the company they built together.
Tower of London is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. The White Tower was originally constructed by William the Conqueror in the 1070s. It has been expanded upon throughout the centuries with a series of smaller towers. The Tower has been used in various capacities, as an armory, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a public record office, and the home of the Crown Jewels.
As Wendy appreciates the Tower of London, a place where the Kings or Queens stayed the night before their coronation ceremony and a place where countless executions took place, in the episode, it is inevitable to remember Damian as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall here…
…before Wendy hears a familiar voice:
“Stirring spot, isn’t it?”
If you happen to be in London and love history, you should by all means visit the Tower. There is so much to see varying from the Crown Jewels of England to Tower Green reserved for upper class executions (think of Henry VIII’s wives Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard both of whom were accused with adultery) and to ‘Lines of Kings’ exhibition housed inside the White Tower displaying one of the largest armories in the country, with pieces dating back to the 15th century. I also recommend highly the Tower tours with the Yeoman Wardens who have been guarding the Tower since Tudor times. iThe one who gave us a tour had great sense of humor kept referring to me as “that red head” in a delightfully sinister way during the tour 🙂
Episode 2: Original Sin
Wendy, Wags and Taylor arrive at Axe’s new humble digs in the UK: Welcome to Raby Castle, one of the finest medieval castles in England
Raby Castle was built in the 14th century by the powerful Neville family. Located close to Staindrop, Durham County, the castle was home to Cecily Neville, mother of two kings of England, namely Edward IV and Richard III. They plotted the Rising of the North in favor of Mary, Queen of Scots, at the Raby Castle, which also was a Parliamentary stronghold during the English Civil War. Still a private home, Raby Castle is open to the public every year between May and September and at Easter.
Here is a painting of the castle and its landscape by the brilliant J.M.W. Turner currently housed at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
While Axe, the new owner of the castle, gives his people a tour, I am not sure whether they filmed the interior scenes at the castle.
Episode 3: Winston Dick Energy
The North Condo Building, Williamsburg
Thanks to jotting down every single address posted online as Billions filming locations, I have been able to identify the building where Winston lives! But of course…the guy who thinks very highly of himself lives where the cool kids live: Williamsburg!
Grant’s Tomb (General Grant National Memorial):
Located in the Morningside Heights, my former neighborhood, General Grant National Memorial is the final resting place for President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife, Julia. And it is the largest mausoleum in North America. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and its facade as well as the interior are NYC designated landmarks.
It is very smart of Karl, Senior and Ira to meet Chuck at Grant’s Tomb . Because he is a student of history, it is inevitable that Chuck remembers General Grant lost at Shiloh but President Lincoln refused to remove him as the commanding general of the Union Army because he trusted Grant’s abilities. And Grant went on to win at Chattanooga and Vicksburg. And so Chuck lost once, but he can still win!
And while the Ulysess S. Grant story is a great one, the real motivator is inside the mausoleum: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. One of the greatest all-time basketball players, who won a record 6 MVP awards, is here to get Chuck back to his true nature.
They filmed the interior scene between Kareem Abdul-jabbar and Chuck at Gould Memorial Library at Bronx Community College, one of the few campuses in the US that are designated as a National Historic Landmark because of their collection of architecturally significant buildings. Gould Memoria Library is one of these architecturally significant buildings. Built by renowned architect Stanford White, who designed many private homes as well as the monumental arch in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, the library is widely accepted as White’s masterpiece.
Episode 4: Hurricane Rosie
Little Island is an artificial island park in New York City. Located at Pier 55 in Hudson River Park, it is free to the public. There are pedestrian crosswalks across the West Side Highway at 14th Street and 13th Street that connect Little Island to Manhattan.
Ready the rest of the original article at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis here