I recognize I am VERY late in getting this blog post out–but I wanted to take my time to ensure that I was only including TRUE New York City holiday movies (which admittedly required a lot more research than I thought).
I will acknowledge–as noted in the title, this is not an ~official~ list of every holiday movie ever made about New York City. In fact, I really focused MAINLY on Hallmark movies since I was getting a lot of requests for that on Instagram! But be sure to stay through til the end, I included a few classics there too.
I hope you enjoy & happy watching!
NYC Hallmark Movies
All synopses and/or descriptions borrowed from Hallmark or IMDB!
Busy career woman Elise MacReynolds (Sarah Lancaster) has no time or desire to take part in Christmas festivities. However, a few twists of fate land Elise in the middle of her worst nightmare: unemployed, newly single, and running her family’s Christmas tree lot for the dreaded holiday season.
Jessica is creating an exhibition about the history of Christmas at The Plaza Hotel. There, she meets Nick, who is decking out the iconic landmark and bringing the display to life.
A woman dumped by her fiancé a month before her storybook Christmas wedding decides to take the series of ballroom lessons intended for her wedding dance.
After sensing her husband is losing his Christmas spirit, Mrs. Claus travels to a place where she knows the spirit of Christmas still exists: New York City.
An attractive pair agrees to be each other’s supposed significant other throughout the holidays to keep their meddling families at bay.
After getting fired from her job as a maid at a ritzy New York City hotel, Allie reluctantly accepts a temporary gig as the governess to a young girl who is part of a powerful family in Europe that lives in a castle.
Stephanie Nichols takes over the Christmas Shop, but a property developer has bought the building and is terminating the retail leases. She finds help and love from Michael Kilpatrick, who works for the developer.
Sean trades his New York City apartment for Owen’s cottage in North Carolina. Sean meets Ryan, a single mother, and sparks fly while Owen is charmed by Sean’s sassy assistant, Mia.
A struggling actress finds a renewed passion for her craft when she is cast in an off-Broadway show, a modern take on “A Christmas Carol.”
When a royal princess runs away from her official obligations and duties, she starts to fall in love with a good Samaritan who is unaware of her real identity.
A youth choir director must write the title song for the Christmas Eve show, but she becomes distracted when a gifted boy joins her choir unbeknownst to his widowed father, Greg.
A department-store window decorator learns there is a vacancy for her dream job in the run-up to Christmas, only to find a professional rival has his eye on it too. They are forced to compete against each other to win the position, but begin to fall for each other as the contest heats up.
A jewelry designer teams up with an investigative reporter to find the owner of a charm bracelet before Christmas Eve.
When a snowstorm disrupts both Lina’s and Max’s holiday plans, they realize they must work together to find a way home — without taking it out on each other. NOTE: This one shows both NYC and Chicago, but I still thought it was significant enough to include!
Non-Hallmark NYC Christmas Movies
All synopses and/or descriptions borrowed from IMDB!
Buddy the Elf was accidentally transported to the North Pole as a toddler and raised to adulthood among Santa’s elves. Unable to shake the feeling that he doesn’t fit in, the adult Buddy travels to New York, in full elf uniform, in search of his real father.
In this modern take on Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life, Claire Phillips.
The story takes place between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day in New York City, and focuses on the effect of a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real Santa.
Holiday hardship in 1897 prompts an Irish immigrant’s daughter to ask the New York Sun a question.
Five New Yorkers come together on Christmas Eve, seeking a miracle.
A Yuletide angel shows a bride what could have been if she had followed her secret feelings for her best friend.
Kate is a young woman who re-lives the same first date on Christmas Eve over and over again.
While I haven’t seen all of these movies just yet, they’re definitely all on my list! Did I miss any of your NYC favorites? Let me know in the comment section!
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