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Every exterior shot in *The Taking of Pelham 123*

“One cannot live by rebellion, and I want to live.”

This is a list of the location of every exterior shot in New York City from the classic 1974 crime film The Taking of Pelham 123.

Most of the film, which concerns a subway hijacking, take places underground, but there are about 40 exterior shots in Manhattan. The filmmakers evidently took care to use real locations that match the action in the film (i.e., when the subway train is parked near the 28th Street station, the aboveground police field command was filmed at 28th Street and Park Avenue), with only a few continuity breaks. Despite the passage of 50 years, nearly all the exterior shots are still easily identifiable in the contemporary city.

Timestamps are from the YouTube video, which is free to watch with ads as of July 2026.

Highlights

  • 56:26–59:58 A police convoy transports the ransom money from the Federal Reserve Bank in Lower Manhattan to the field headquarters at 28th Street, passing through the Financial District, Civic Center, SoHo, and the East Village.

Comprehensive list

Entering the subway

  • 1:41 Lexington Avenue and 59th Street, facing north; Bloomingdale's department store at right (StreetView)

Subsequent interior shots in the subway are the actual Lexington and 59th Street station.

Gracie Mansion

  • 32:19 Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side (the mayor's official residence)

FDR Drive

  • 40:08 FDR Drive just north of the Manhattan Bridge, facing south (StreetView)
  • 40:12 FDR Drive just south of the Williamsburg Bridge (StreetView)
  • 40:43 Just north of the Brooklyn Bridge, facing south (StreetView)
    • Minor continuity break: the car is heading north but this location is south of previous shots.
  • 40:51 Probably by Corlears Hook Park on the FDR Drive, facing south (StreetView)
  • 41:01 Just south of the Williamsburg Bridge on the FDR Drive, facing south (StreetView), then just north of the bridge at 41:11 (StreetView)
  • 46:18 FDR Drive around 51st Street, facing north – possibly taken from the footbridge (StreetView)

Field headquarters at 28th Street

Transporting the ransom money

  • 49:36 Interior courtyard of the Federal Reserve Bank in the Financial District
    • Labeled as such, although I don't see a courtyard or external vehicular entrance on the current building, nor can I match the building seen in the background to any of the surrounding buildings.
  • 56:26 uncertain
    • The "Italian Line" building appears to be this one at Platt and William, but I can't find a perspective that matches the shot.
  • 56:36 Pine Street and Pearl Street (StreetView)
  • 56:43 Pine Street facing west, between Pearl and William (StreetView)
  • 56:56 uncertain
  • 56:57 Nassau Street just south of Beekman Street, facing north (StreetView)
  • 57:05 Park Row at City Hall, facing west, pans north to the Manhattan Municipal Building (StreetView)
  • 57:28 Wall Street and Broad Street (StreetView)
    • Continuity break: This is well south of the previous shot.
  • 57:30 South end of Foley Square, facing north (StreetView)
    • I suspect the street has narrowed or been slightly rerouted since the 1970s as I cannot recreate the exact perspective in the shot.
  • 57:37 Centre Street and Worth Street, facing north (StreetView)
  • 58:29 Centre Street and Broome Street, facing north (StreetView)
  • 58:41 Cleveland Place just north of Kenmare Street, facing north (StreetView)
  • 58:44 Cleveland Place and Spring Street, facing south (StreetView), then at 58:57 facing north (StreetView)
  • 59:49 Lafayette Street between 4th Street and Astor Place, facing north (StreetView)
    • In the film, the policeman radios that they are crossing Houston Street, but the shot is actually a few blocks north of that: notice Colonnade Row at the immediate left.
  • 59:58 Lafayette Street at Astor Place, facing north (StreetView); later facing south at 1:00:02 (StreetView) and facing north again at 1:01:01 (StreetView)

The pursuit