N.Y.P.D. Blue

N.Y.P.D. Blue is one of the most realistic police dramas ever made for tv. The cops featured look incredibly real, and so does the city. But like many other shows, it is shot in studios; in Los Angeles!

Many good cut scenes are there to help us believe the universe we're seeing is real; and it works too.

The 15th precint, which was invented for the show, is located in the tough Lower East Side. Only one movie theater is close to the area, the Landmark Sunshine, with its beautiful front, which remains to be seen in the series. But at least two other theaters could be seen in those cut scenes.

Seen very briefly (below), the Angelica Film Center, an art theater, ins't very far from Lower East Side.

The "Play Pen", a former porn theater turned into a large sex-shop, is one of the last survivors of the sex industry on 8th Avenue, near Times Square. Its beautiful art deco façade is remarkable. The Play Pen appeared several times in the last episodes of the 8th season; but its sign is never shown on the same shot, probably because the place is supposed to be a bar operated by the mafia, which will eventually lead poor Danny Sorenson to a tragic fate:

Above, the Play Pen in the show; below, the same as seen in real life