Take the Billions Tour in New York City and Beyond
by Damianista | Fan Fun with Damian Lewis | June 25, 2018
Billions is a dream show, not only because our favorite actor Damian Lewis 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. We particularly love it that Billions is taking over New York, the big film studio that it is, shooting all over the place, from Manhattan to Queens to Brooklyn to The Bronx to Long Island and to northern suburbs. So we have put together this Billions Season 3 Location Guide as a loving tribute to our 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! In case you missed our Locations Guide for Season 1 and Season 2, you can check them out here and here. And don’t forget about our Dining Guide, Season 3.
Episode 1: Tie Goes to the Runner
The new season introduces two surprising relocations! It is not just that the newly single Bobby Axelrod has moved from Westport to New York living in an incredibly luxurious penthouse, but Axe Capital has now relocated to Manhattan as well.
Sky Lofts Glasshouse Penthouse
As much as I have known that sky is the limit in New York Real Estate, I never knew how high the sky could be! Well, a little bit of research about Axe’s “bachelor pad” he lives in Billions Season 3 reveals that the top-of-the-line penthouse was for sale a few years ago.
Here is the description from the real estate listing:
“Masterful design and modern luxury are uniquely embodied in this 4 bedroom 4.5 bath Duplex Penthouse with a 4500 SF wraparound terrace atop Sky Lofts Condominium. This one-of-a-kind glass house, created by NY architect James Carpenter who designed 7 World Trade Center, is sheathed in high-performance, museum-quality insulated glass atop an historic Art Deco loft building in the heart of Tribeca. The sun and temperature-controlled glass envelope of its 7500 SF interior was tastefully designed with the top art collector in mind. Unobstructed 360 views from this penthouse are truly unparalleled, and include vistas of the Freedom Tower, Empire State Building and Hudson River.
Highlights include Lutron light and shade systems, heated bathroom floors, concrete first-level and hallway floors, teak wood bedroom flooring, troweled plaster walls and ceilings, artwork display lighting, hidden mechanicals, a climate-control system, high-tech security system, and spacious corner rooms that overlook the city. Entertain in grand style in the 42′ x 21′ living room graced by 22′ ceilings, a wood-burning fireplace (1 of 3 in the home) surrounded by a floor-to-ceiling plain-sawn cherry wood hearth, and a perfect Freedom Tower view.
The top-of-the-line chef’s kitchen is clad with premium finishes and fixtures including custom white lacquer cabinets, bluestone counters and professional-grade appliances.
Sliding glass doors in the dining area showcase views while opening up the home to even more light and air. Spill out to the awe-inspiring terrace which can be accessed from any room, where a fully-equipped outdoor stainless steel kitchen, sun deck, hot tub and private outdoor shower await.
Two dramatic stairways lead to the private bedroom suites, all boasting sleek en-suite baths, generous closets and wonderful views. The master bedroom is the ultimate retreat facing the Hudson River, complete with a spa-like onyx bath with a steam shower, Jacuzzi and sauna.”
It could be all yours for only $48M!
And even if you cannot afford it, you can still take an exclusive tour of Bobby’s “bachelor pad” here:
This 47-story glass tower in midtown Manhattan is supposedly housing the new Axe Capital Headquarters!
Please notice that even though we have seen the bird’s eye views of the building quite a few times in the show along with a few exterior shoots around the building like the one below, they do not shoot the interior scenes in the building but in a studio where they have created a spaceship-like Axe Capital!
Bach finds Bryan showing off his ping pong skills at Wang Chen’s Upper West Side branch!
We find Chuck and company celebrating(!) the arrival of the new Attorney General Waylon “Jock” Jeffcoat at a reception at Roosevelt Hotel Ballroom.
Having served New York City since 1892, the facility features five saunas and steam rooms, a cold plunge pool, a roof deck, and a restaurant. They also offer massage services and treatments.
And it is the perfect place for Wags and Taylor to take a field trip and talk somewhere without everyone coming at them 😀
Episode 2: The Wrong Maria Gonzalez
Bronx County Courthouse (Mario Merola Building)
This historic courthouse building was designed in 1931 and built between 1931 and 1934 in Art Deco style. The murals on the walls depict scenes from the Bronx history such as the landing of Jonas Bronck, George Washington in the Bronx, and Van Cortland Park.
We see Bryan and Dake arriving at the courthouse to find out what judge the wooden wheel will draw for United States v Robert Axelrod.
Chuck meets Wendy at the Promenade to give her the full description of the judge they need for the Ice Juice case 😀
We find Axe at the Classic Car Club of Manhattan, taking a good look at vintage cars as well as chatting with Mark Cuban, who does not want his money, as well his fellow hedge-funder Michael Panay, who wants his money to buy a vintage Cheetah together 😀
The entrance to the stunning new Nike Headquarters stands in for the entrance to the stunning new Axe Capital Headquarters 😀 The new Nike Headquarters is in the EOS Building where the new Axe Capital offices supposedly are but has a separate entrance.
This is the original home for the WNYC public radio station’s twin antennas for broadcasting in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. After WNYC moved its antennas elsewhere, the property sat unused until 2010 when they broke ground for WNYC Transmitter Park. Mayor Mike Bloomberg opened the park in 2012 as a local waterfront destination for Greenpoint and Williamsburg communities.
Axe meets with the New Halls at the recreational pier in the park to talk to them about how to solve a problem like Maria Gonzalez.
Episode 3: A Generation Too Late
Whitney Museum of American Art
Founded in 1931 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), and informally known as the “Whitney” this art museum focuses on 20th- and 21st-century American art with a particular emphasis on exhibiting the works of living artists. From 1966 to 2014, the museum was located on the Upper East Side. It relocated to its current location a new building designed by Renzo Piano in the Meat Packing District in 2015.
Axe meets Michael Panay, a fellow hedge-funder, at Whitney’s stairs to tell him there is a way to get out of the dire financial situation he is currently in.
A high-end jewelry store, founded in Milan in 1919, at the backroom of which Ira makes a “recession special” deal with Axe for $30M and gets a bonus engagement ring for Taiga, courtesy of Mr. Robert Axelrod.
Federal Building and Post Office
A beautiful example of Romanesque Revival architecture, this historic building was originally the Brooklyn General Post office. It is now the Downtown Brooklyn Station with the north addition housing the offices for the United States Attorney as well as the courthouse for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York.
We see bird’s eye views of the building followed by Dake, the interim United States Attorney for the Eastern District, and Bryan, conducting the Ice Juice investigation.
Amsterdam Avenue and 72nd Street
I never really list general neighborhoods. But, man, this is EXTRA SPECIAL since Billions shot a couple of scenes literally around the corner from my apartment in October and I was able to catch up with a certain hedge-funder on Amsterdam and 72nd Street! You can read my story here!
It was a thrill to have #BobbyAxelrod in my neighborhood yesterday! 🎬📺 #Billions #DamianLewis #UpperWestSide #UpperBestSide #NewYork #NYC pic.twitter.com/jwusIbdOk4
— Fan Fun Damian Lewis (@FanFunDamian) October 17, 2017
Episode 4: Hell of a Ride
One of the two oldest public non-sectarian cemeteries in New York City, NYC Marble Cemetery was designated as a city landmark in 1969. The cemetery has 258 underground burial vaults constructed of Tuckahoe marble on the site. And it seems Wags, who is determined to do death right, has reserved the last burial plot here for a bargain $350K (not possible in real life).
Among the notable people resting at NYC Marble Cemetery are James Henry Roosevelt, founder of the Roosevelt hospital, and James Lenox, co-founder of the New York Public Library and founder of Presbyterian Hospital, and John Lloyd Stevens, an archeologist that became pioneer in the study of Mayan culture. While it is generally closed to the public, the cemetery is open twice a year, on a Sunday in spring, and a weekend in the fall.
Axe shows up at the venue for a reception held by World-Aid, a charity whose board he is sitting on, and meets Oscar Langstraat, whose plane runs on recycled corn oil, the same oil Axe’s masseuse uses, is worried about overheated Central Africa!
Oh this is our old neighborhood – Morningside Heights! The Morningside castle is a unique venue with old world charm and a popular place for weddings. It is a part of Union Theological Seminary, an independent, non-denomination, Christian seminary affiliated with neighboring Columbia University.
The Morningside Castle stands in for Yale University where the class of 1968 is having their 50th reunion and presenting Chuck Senior a life achievement award. Chuck takes the stand to make a speech celebrating his dad’s life and accomplishments, yet his sentimental approach to steal Senior’s heart does not work!
Wempe Jewelers has been located on 5th Avenue since 1980 when the German-based watch and jewelry retailer decided to enter the US market. It has been located in the famous Peninsula building, across the street from the original location, since 1990.
We see Taylor at Wempe buying a Patek Philippe 5270R in Rose Gold, the perfect timepiece Craig Heidecker has been wearing, for $165K, as a tribute to their fallen hero.
Episode 5: Flaw in the Death Star
Lotos Club is one of the oldest literary clubs in the United States and certainly Lawrence Boyd’s happy place next to his boat 🙂
Bryan meets Boyd in the Lotos Library at the Lotos Club, the exact same place Chuck meets him in Season 2 Episode 5 Currency. However, while Chuck convinces Boyd to cooperate with him, Bryan cannot convince the man to cooperate with him and take down Chuck!
Republic Airport is a regional airport in Babylon, Suffolk County on Long Island.
The New Halls find Axe, who is about to leave for a trip to Bay Area, at the airport to let him know that the FBI is looking at Dr. Gilbert!
A public park located in the Hudson Heights and Inwood (where Lara grew up!) neighborhoods of Manhattan with commanding views of the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the New Jersey Palisades, Washington Heights, Inwood, the Bronx and the Harlem River.
Once his flight is cancelled due to the wind breakers looking at Dr. Gilbert, Axe joins the new Halls in finding the good doctor as the latter is enjoying his favorite pastime, bird photography, at the park!
145 Hudson Street Parking Garage
Dollar Bill does pull his pants off for a “Strip or Retire” in front of Axe’s personal garage directly below his luxurious penthouse.
Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, Central Park
Bethesda Terrace is considered the heart of the Central Park, my most favorite place on earth.
source: Damianista
The Bethesda Fountain, the gorgeous focal point of the Bethasda Terrace is one of the largest fountains in New York, measuring twenty-six feet high by ninety-six feet wide. The statue at the center, Angel of the Waters, was the only sculpture to have been commissioned as a part of Central Park’s original design. Emma Stebbins, who designed the statue in 1868, became the first woman to receive commission for a major work of art in the city of New York.
source: Damianista
While Axe finds Dr. Gilbert at Fort Tryon park, Chuck chooses to meet the good doctor in the middle of the night at the Bethesda Terrace.
Episode 6: The Third Ortolan
Chuck ruins Bryan’s lunch on Mount Morris Park West bordering Marcus Garvey Park just to find out he will pay a visit to Chez Rhoades that afternoon 😀
Duane Street (close to Greenwich Street)
source: Damianista
Axe gives Lara, who seems to have shopped at Stella for new linens, a heads-up that he is considering to take the plea and go to prison.
Episode 7: Not You, Mr. Dake
I am very good at finding locations in the five boroughs but it becomes a challenge when Billions leaves the city 😀 One location of interest in this episode is the place standing in for Nova Scotia where Axe visits Hall!
I am pretty sure they did shoot it somewhere in New York State but I do not know whether and how much of the scene is digitally made. Please let me know if you have any idea what this place is!
Episode 8: All The Wilburys
Stella Tower was built by Ralph Walker, a prolific American architect whom Frank Lloyd Wright praised as “the only other honest architect in America.” The building, photoshopped a bit for the show, is a stand-in for Devon & Maker, a safe storage place for Todd Krakow’s Dutch Masters which his young wife cannot fit into their post-modern DC townhouse with their De Sede couch.
Axe buys a Land Rover as a token of appreciation for his CIO taking care of the company while he was away. Well, Taylor will certainly look good in it up in Hudson on weekends 🙂
Wendy finds Chuck Senior in a bathrobe, and I bet he has taken the pill, in his hotel room to tell him that he may want to think twice before he fucks with her next time.
Episode 9: Icebreaker
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, also known as the Nassau Coliseum, is a multi-purpose indoor arena used for sporting events, concerts, large exhibitions and shows as well as trade shows. The Coliseum used to be the home for the New York Islanders (hockey) and New York Nets (basketball) both of which currently play at Barclays Center in Brooklyn now. The venue is now the new home of the Brooklyn Nets’ NBA G League team, the Long Island Nets.
Axe meets Grigor Andolov for the first time at the Coliseum as the latter is playing hockey with the New York Islanders, a team he is considering to buy!
Episode 10: Redemption
We find Axe playing tennis with Maria Sharapova of all people at Sportime! This is arguably the largest and finest tennis facility to open in New York in the past 30 years and, moreover, it is the Manhattan home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy.
Episode 11: Kompenso
A carousel like no other commemorating the original NYC Aquarium. Each of the 30 massive fiberglass fish is custom designed, internally illuminated with color-changing LED light fixtures and outfitted with integrated audio systems creating a real underwater atmosphere. A ride on Seaglass, oh yes adults can ride, too, will make you feel like a kid again and put a smile on your face. Guaranteed!
This is THE place where Taylor “programs” Wendy so that the latter goes and convinces Axe to put them back on the raise team…
…And, hey, Wendy is right, you feel like a mermaid here! Look at me! 😀
Episode 12: Elmsley Count
Read the rest of the original article at Fan Fun with Damian Lewis