Home Alone 2: Lost in New York locations you can visit today
The Home Alone franchise (well, only the first two, we don’t talk about the others) have become holiday staples on American television sets, and while Home Alone started it all, I and many others will tell you Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the best of the pair.
As the title implies, shooting took place all over the Big Apple. If you want to explore some of the locations Kevin McCallister journeyed through, we list some of the most iconic locations featured in Home Alone 2 that you can still visit today.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York locations you can visit
Central Park
With minor exceptions, a great deal of the plot of Home Alone 2 takes place either within Central Park or a few blocks from its perimeter. While that may seem limiting, the sheer virtue of the park’s size allows for a plethora of locations to choose from. One scene has Harry and Marv, the infamous burglar duo, discussing their plans at Central Park’s Wollman Rink, a winter attraction that still operates today on the South East side of the park. Another scene, when Kevin McCallister first encounters the Pigeon Lady, takes place in front of Gapstow Bridge, one of the most iconic bridges within the green square.
Plaza Hotel
Built right on Central Park’s South East corner, in front of the Pulitzer Fountain, is the Plaza Hotel, which, in the movie, Kevin McCallister makes his temporary home (until Tim Curry chases him out). All those hotel scenes were truly shot within the Plaza’s lobby, halls, and suites, giving many an inside look to one of the ritziest joints in the city.
Originally a different hotel, yet of the same name, built in 1890, The Plaza as the world knows today was built between 1905 to 1907, opening October 1st of that year. It’s French Renaissance style, as well as its proximity to Central Park, made it a New York icon from the moment of its compilation, and has hosted some of the most famous people across the world and history. One of them happens to be Kevin McCallister.
Duncan’s Toy Chest
In the movie, Duncan’s Toy Chest is a large, picturesque toy store in New York that Kevin visits and saves from robbery by Harry and Marv. However, Duncan’s Toy Chest is a purely fictional place, and the external shots of it were actually filmed in Chicago, using the Rookery Building.
While this toy store is not real, Duncan’s Toy Chest was based on the real life stores of F.A.O. Schwarz (the toy store featured in 1988’s Big), which have had a long and interesting history. Claiming to be one of the first toy stores in the country, F.A.O Schwarz first opened in Baltimore in 1862 before moving to New York City, where it hopped between several addresses. That is until 1931, when F.A.O Schwarz opened its signature location on 745 Fifth Avenue, which operated for, coincidentally, 55 years. Today, F.A.O Schwarz has locations all over the world, and its New York City headquarters can be found in 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
Rockefeller Plaza
Speaking of Rockefeller Plaza, this is exactly where the movie comes to its narrative and emotional conclusion, with Kevin reuniting (again) with his mother beneath the lights of the famous Rockefeller Christmas tree.
The Rockefeller Christmas tree has been a stable harbinger of the yuletide season as the cold northern winds since 1933. This is an interesting detail when you consider that Rockefeller Center’s construction spanned from practically the whole of the 30’s. Indeed, the very first Rockefeller Christmas tree was set up in Dec. 24th, 1931, by Italian American workers who decorated the pine with ornaments made by their families. Two years later, in 1933, the second Christmas tree was put up, and since then, not a year has gone by without a noble pine to grace the plaza.