The Very Best Songs About New York City, New York

Discover the very best songs about New York City. Whether you’re traveling there tomorrow or you’ve been a New Yorker your whole life, we have your back.

From Dean Martin to Jay-Z, from Simon & Garfunkel to The Black Keyes, from Doris Day to Alicia Keys, we’ve gathered the very best songs about New York City in one place.

Start with our top ten songs about  New York City, and then explore by genre—including hit Broadway songs about New York and the Great White Way, other standards, folk and singer/songwriter, hip hop, R&B, soul, jazz, pop, alternative, rock, classical, holiday songs, and even a Latin tune.

You’ll find all the best songs about New York City right here.

Top 10 Songs About New York City, New York

1. Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z with Alicia Keys (iTunes | Amazon) This immensely popular 2009 orchestral rap ballad was written by two homesick Brooklyn natives while overseas
2. New York State of Mind – Billy Joel (iTunes | Amazon) Joel wrote this 1976 song about his return to the East Coast after three years in L.A.
3. Theme from New York, New York – Frank Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon) Sinatra arguably made this song his own when covered this title song from Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film
4. No Sleep Till Brooklyn – Beastie Boys (iTunes | Amazon) Released in 1987, the Beastie Boys’ “joyful rant” pays homage to their home borough
5. The Only Living Boy in New York – Simon & Garfunkel (iTunes | Amazon) Simon’s lyrics were a message to Garfunkel who had left Simon behind in NYC to complete the songs their album “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
6. Autumn in New York – Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong (iTunes | Amazon) In 1957, Ella and Satchmo recorded this oft-covered classic NY tune, originally composed in 1934
7. Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees (iTunes | Amazon) The infamous montage from 1977’s “Saturday Night Live” set the scene for Brooklynite Tony Manero’s devotion to disco
8. On Broadway – George Benson (iTunes | Amazon) Benson’s 1978 R&B version of this popular standard became the definitive and layered take on the subject
9. Brooklyn – Mos Def (iTunes | Amazon) Brooklyn born hip hop MC Def raps about his home city in this 1999 track
10. Fairytale of New York – The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl (iTunes | Amazon) Celtic punk reverie about Christmas Eve in the NYPD’s drunk tank has often appears on lists of great and under appreciated Christmas songs

Want more of the best songs about New York City, the Big Apple itself? Check the list below for more favorites, standbys, classics, and a few oddball selections. No matter your musical taste, you can find a sound you like among the best songs about New York. Like us on Facebook or check out more top 10 songs for other great cities and destinations.

MORE SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

BROADWAY SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• The Lullaby of Broadway – Jerry Orbach and John Lesko (iTunes | Amazon)
• La Vie Boheme – Original Broadway Cast of “Rent” (iTunes | Amazon)
• Frank Mills – Shelley Plimpton, Galt MacDermott & the Original Broadway Cast of “Hair” (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York, New York – Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly & Jules Munshin & Original Film Cast for “On the Town” (Amazon)
• New York, New York – Original Studio Cast for “On the Town” (iTunes)
• N.Y.C. – Original Broadway Cast of “Annie” (iTunes | Amazon)
• Give My Regards to Broadway – James Cagney and Original Cast “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (iTunes | Amazon)
• America – New Broadway Cast of “West Side Story” (iTunes | Amazon)
• King of Broadway – Original Broadway Cast of “The Producers” (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island – Original Broadway Cast of “Annie” (iTunes | Amazon)
• One – Original Broadway Cast of “A Chorus Line” (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Avenue Q Theme – Original Broadway Cast of “Avenue Q” (iTunes | Amazon)

STANDARD SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Autumn in New York – Billie Holiday (iTunes | Amazon)
• Central Park Blues – Nina Simone (iTunes | Amazon)
• Take the ‘A’ Train – Duke Ellington Orchestra (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York’s My Home – Ray Charles (iTunes | Amazon)
• Avenue C – Barry Manilow (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island – Mel Torme & Marty Paich (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Boogie – Louis Prima (iTunes | Amazon)
• Downtown – Petula Clark (iTunes | Amazon)
• Manhattan – Ella Fitzgerald (iTunes | Amazon)
• Lullaby of Broadway – Doris Day (iTunes | Amazon)
• Give My Regards to Broadway – Al Jolson (iTunes | Amazon)
• Give My Regards to Broadway – Joel Grey (iTunes | Amazon)
• I Happen to Like New York – Bobby Short (iTunes | Amazon)
• An Old Fashioned Christmas – Frank Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon)
• Harlem Blues – Nat King Cole (iTunes | Amazon)
• Theme from New York, New York – Liza Minnelli (iTunes | Amazon)
• Pennsylvania 6-5000 – Glenn Miller (iTunes | Amazon)
• Slumming on Park Avenue – Bobby Short (iTunes | Amazon)
• Slumming on Park Avenue – Petula Clark (iTunes| Amazon)

FOLK & SINGER/SONGWRITER SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Talkin’ New York – Bod Dylan (iTunes | Amazon
• The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) – Simon & Garfunkel (iTunes | Amazon)
• At the Zoo – Simon & Garfunkel (iTunes | Amazon)
• Bleecker Street – Simon & Garfunkel (iTunes | Amazon)
• Chelsea Morning – Joni Mitchell (iTunes | Amazon)
• Chelsea Morning – Judy Collins (iTunes | Amazon)
• A Heart in New York – Art Garfunkel (iTunes | Amazon)
• American Tune – Paul Simon (iTunes | Amazon)
• Cold Hands From New York – Gordon Lightfoot (iTunes | Amazon)
• All the Way to New York City – Rosie Thomas (iTunes | Amazon)
• If This City Never Sleeps – Rosie Thomas (iTunes | Amazon)
• Alphabet Town – Elliott Smith (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn – We’re About 9 (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island – Good Old War (iTunes | Amazon)
• Outside of a Small Circle of Friends – Phil Ochs (iTunes | Amazon)
• Anniversary – Suzanne Vega (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York is a Woman – Suzanne Vega (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Ghost of Greenwich Village – Pete Molinari (iTunes | Amazon)
• Down in Dear Old Greenwich Village – June Lazare (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song – Jeffrey Lewis (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island Washboard Woman – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (iTunes | Amazon)

HIP HOP SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• An Open Letter to NYC – Beastie Boys (iTunes | Amazon)
• Doin’ It – LL Cool J (iTunes | Amazon)
• Welcome to New York City – Cam’ron, Jay-Z & Juelz Santana (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn’s Finest – Jay-Z feat. The Notorious B.I.G. (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Go Hard – Jay-Z feat. Santogold (iTunes | Amazon)
• N.Y. State of Mind – Nas (iTunes | Amazon)
• N.Y. State of Mind, Pt. II – Nas (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Best Of Queens (It’s Us) – Mobb Deep (iTunes | Amazon)
• 212 – Azealia Banks feat. Lazy Jay (iTunes | Amazon)
• C.R.E.A.M. – Wu-Tang Clan (iTunes | Amazon)
• Bronx War Stories – A.I.G. (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Zoo – Ol’ Dirty Bastard (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas in Hollis – Run-D.M.C. (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Brooklynites – Soul Coughing (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Movements – Da Bush Babees (iTunes | Amazon)
• Cali To New York – The Black Eyed Peas (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Message – Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York – Fat Joe, Ja Rule & Jadakiss (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Girls – Charles Hamilton (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn–Queens – 3rd Bass (iTunes | Amazon)
• King of New York – K5 & Da Bottom Feedaz (iTunes | Amazon)
• Deja Vu (Uptown Baby) – Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz (iTunes | Amazon)
• South Bronx – Boogie Down Productions (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Bridge – MC Shan (iTunes | Amazon)
• Jamaican in New York – Shinehead (iTunes | Amazon)
• Lazy Sunday – The Lonely Island feat. Chris Parnell (iTunes | Amazon)
• I’m in New York Trick – LMFAO (iTunes | Amazon)

R&B/SOUL SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Living for the City – Stevie Wonder (iTunes | Amazon)
• Spanish Harlem – Ben E. King (iTunes | Amazon)
• Spanish Harlem – Aretha Franklin (iTunes | Amazon)
• Up On The Roof – The Drifters (iTunes | Amazon)
• Funky Broadway – Wilson Pickett (iTunes | Amazon)
• I Need a Dollar (How to Make It In America) – Aloe Blacc (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brights Lights Bigger City – Cee-Lo feat. Wiz Khalifa (iTunes | Amazon)
• Boy From New York City – The Manhattan Transfer (iTunes | Amazon)
• Boy From New York City – The Ad Libs (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Night the Lights Went Out – The Trammps (iTunes | Amazon)
• Native New Yorker – Odyssey (iTunes | Amazon)
• On Broadway – The Crystals (iTunes | Amazon)
• Uptown – The Crystals (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York Is Killing Me – Gil Scott-Heron (iTunes | Amazon)
• Harlem – Bill Withers (iTunes | Amazon)
• Harlem Shuffle – Bob & Earl (iTunes | Amazon)
• Across 110th Street – Bobby Womack (iTunes | Amazon)
• Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.) – Tom Browne (Amazon)
• Funkin’ for Jamaica (N.Y.) – Ameritz (iTunes)

JAZZ SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Central Park West – John Coltrane (iTunes | Amazon)
• Blue Belles O’ Harlem – Duke Ellington (iTunes | Amazon)
• Blue Harlem – Ike Quebec (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York Tendaberry – Laura Nyro (iTunes | Amazon)
• Harlem Nocturne – Illinois Jacquet (iTunes | Amazon)
• Bronx Blues – Stan Getz (iTunes | Amazon)
• U.M.M.G. (Upper Manhattan Medical Group) – Chick Corea’s Akoustic Band (iTunes | Amazon)
• 110th Street And 5th Avenue – Tito Puente (iTunes | Amazon)
• Big Apple Boogaloo – Brooklyn Funk Essentials (iTunes | Amazon)

POP SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• 52nd Street – Billy Joel (iTunes | Amazon)
• Copacabana – Barry Manilow (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York City Rhythm – Barry Manilow (iTunes | Amazon)
• Jenny from the Block – Jennifer Lopez (iTunes | Amazon)
• I Love New York – Madonna (iTunes | Amazon)
• All the Way From New York – Wilson Phillips (iTunes | Amazon)
• Big Man On Mulberry Street – Billy Joel (iTunes | Amazon)
• Alphabet City – Clare & the Reasons (iTunes | Amazon)
• Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) – Christopher Cross (iTunes | Amazon)
• Back to Manhattan – Norah Jones (iTunes | Amazon)
• Bells of New York City – Josh Groban (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Blurs – The Paper Raincoat (iTunes | Amazon)
• Do Like You Do in New York – Boz Scaggs (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York in the Fifties – Stephen Bishop (iTunes | Amazon)
• Red Cab to Manhattan – Stephen Bishop (iTunes | Amazon)
• Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters – Elton John (iTunes | Amazon)
• I Can’t See New York – Tori Amos (iTunes | Amazon)
• My Blue Manhattan – Ryan Adams (iTunes | Amazon)
• Hotel Chelsea Night – Ryan Adams (iTunes | Amazon)
• Manhattan Skyline – Julia Fordham (iTunes | Amazon)
• Fire Island – Village People (iTunes | Amazon)
• Manhattan Skyline – David Shire (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Blues – Barry Manilow (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Eyes of a New York Woman – B.J. Thomas (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn Roads – Neil Diamond (iTunes | Amazon)
• Greenwich Village Folk Song Salesman – Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood (iTunes | Amazon)
• Bleecker & MacDougal – Fred Neil (iTunes | Amazon)

ALTERNATIVE SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Brooklyn Bound – The Black Keys (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island – Death Cab for Cutie (iTunes | Amazon)
• Cabbies on Crack – The Ramones (iTunes | Amazon)
• A-Punk – Vampire Weekend (iTunes | Amazon)
• M79 – Vampire Weekend (iTunes | Amazon)
• White Sky – Vampire Weekend (iTunes | Amazon)
• Avenue B – Gogol Bordello (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York City Cops – The Strokes (iTunes | Amazon)
• Back of a Truck – Regina Spektor (iTunes | Amazon)
• Token Back to Brooklyn – They Might Be Giants (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn – They Might Be Giants (iTunes)
• New Amsterdam – Elvis Costello (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York City Speed – Kill Hannah (iTunes | Amazon)
• Bulls In Brooklyn – The Academy Is… (iTunes | Amazon)
• I’ll Take New York – Tom Waits (iTunes | Amazon)
• USA Out of NYC – The Bamboo Kids (iTunes | Amazon)
• Breakfast in NYC – Oppenheimer (iTunes | Amazon)
• Breakin’ Up – Rilo Kiley (iTunes | Amazon)
• Broadway – The Clash (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York – Snow Patrol (iTunes | Amazon)
• Chelsea – Counting Crows (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Vampires of New York – Marcy Playground (iTunes | Amazon)
• 14th Street – Rufus Wainwright (iTunes | Amazon)
• Chelsea Hotel No 2 – Rufus Wainwright (iTunes | Amazon)
• Poses – Rufus Wainwright (iTunes | Amazon)
• My My Metrocard – Le Tigre (iTunes)
• The Mermaid Parade – Phosphorescent (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York Crew – Judge (iTunes | Amazon)
• D Train – Unsane (iTunes | Amazon)
• Avenue A – The Dictators (iTunes | Amazon)
• Daughters of the Soho Riots – The National (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York/N.Y. – Nina Hagen & Karl Rucker (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Luckiest Guy on the Lower East Side – The Magnetic Fields (iTunes | Amazon)
• Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror – Jeffrey & Jack Lewis (iTunes | Amazon)
• NYC – Interpol (iTunes | Amazon)
• Tom’s Diner – Suzanne Vega (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island Winter – Garland Jeffreys (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down – LCD Soundsystem (iTunes | Amazon)
• First We Take Manhattan – Leonard Cohen (iTunes | Amazon)
• NYC’s Like a Graveyard – The Moldy Peaches (iTunes | Amazon)
• Times Square Go-Go Boy – East River Pipe (iTunes | Amazon)

ROCK SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• New York – The Sex Pistols (iTunes | Amazon)
• Saturday in the Park – Chicago (iTunes | Amazon)
• Another Rainy Day in New York City – Chicago (iTunes | Amazon)
• Harlem Shuffle – The Rolling Stones (iTunes | Amazon)
• Shattered – The Rolling Stones (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York City – John Lennon, The Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory & Invisible Strings (iTunes | Amazon)
• 53rd & 3rd – The Ramones (iTunes | Amazon)
• Rockaway Beach – The Ramones (iTunes | Amazon)
• Sheena is a Punk Rocker – The Ramones (iTunes | Amazon)
• N.Y.C. – Steve Earle with the Supersuckers (iTunes | Amazon)
• I’m Waiting for the Man – The Velvet Underground (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York, New York – Ryan Adams (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York Minute – Don Henley, David Paich & Jeff Porcaro (iTunes | Amazon)
• 6th Avenue Heartache – The Wallflowers (iTunes | Amazon)
• Big Apple Dreamin’ (Hippo) – Alice Cooper (iTunes | Amazon)
• Walk on the Wild Side – Lou Reed (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York Telephone Conversation – Lou Reed (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island Baby – Lou Reed (iTunes | Amazon)
• Halloween Parade – Lou Reed (iTunes | Amazon)
• Angel of Harlem – U2 (iTunes | Amazon)
• 8th Avenue Shuffle – The Doobie Brothers (iTunes | Amazon)
• Harlem – Ian Moore (iTunes | Amazon)
• Almost Gothic – Steely Dan (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me) – Steely Dan (iTunes | Amazon)
• Daddy Don’t Live in That New York City No More – Steely Dan (iTunes | Amazon)
• Avenue B – Iggy Pop (iTunes | Amazon)
• Big Apple – Molly Hatchet (iTunes | Amazon)
• Brooklyn – Jesse Malin (iTunes | Amazon)
• Central Park ‘n’ West – Ian Hunter (iTunes | Amazon)
• Chelsea Hotel No 2 – Leonard Cohen (iTunes | Amazon)
• Coney Island Whitefish – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts (iTunes | Amazon)
• Statue of Liberty – XTC (iTunes | Amazon)
• Union Square – Tom Waits (iTunes | Amazon)
• Downtown Train – Tom Waits (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – Genesis (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York City (You’re a Woman) – Al Kooper (iTunes | Amazon)
• Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway) – Billy Joel (iTunes | Amazon)
• Englishman in New York – Sting (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York City Serenade – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (iTunes | Amazon)
• Incident on 57th Street – Bruce Springsteen (iTunes | Amazon)
• The Rising – Bruce Springsteen (iTunes | Amazon)
• I Love NYC – Andrew W.K. (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York Groove – Ace Frehley (iTunes | Amazon)
• I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers (iTunes | Amazon)
• Subway Train – New York Dolls (iTunes | Amazon)
• Chelsea Girls – Nico (iTunes | Amazon)
• NYC Ghosts & Flowers – Sonic Youth (iTunes | Amazon)
• Big Apple – Kajagoogoo (iTunes | Amazon)

CLASSICAL MUSIC ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Rhapsody in Blue – Leonard Bernstein with the Columbia Symphony Orchestra (iTunes | Amazon)
• Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Henry Mancini & His Orchestra (iTunes | Amazon)

LATIN & SALSA SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• Charanga pa Nueva York – Tito Puente, Jr. feat. Ricky Melendez (iTunes | Amazon)

CHRISTMAS & HOLIDAY SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

• An Old Fashioned Christmas – Frank Sinatra (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas In New York – Lou Christie (iTunes | Amazon)
• Fairytale of New York – The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas in Hollis – Run-D.M.C. (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas in Harlem – Kanye West, Prynce Cy Hi & Teyana Taylor (iTunes |Amazon)
• New York Christmas – Rob Thomas (iTunes | Amazon)
• Washington Square – Chris Isaak (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas in Washington Square – Wayne Newton (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas In New York – Shilelagh Law (iTunes | Amazon)
• New York is a Christmas Kind of Town – Marah (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas In New York – The Pointer Sisters (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas Night in Harlem – Louis Armstrong (iTunes |Amazon)
• I Love New York at Christmas – Lorraine Feather (iTunes | Amazon)
• Xmas in New York – The Rosebuds (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmastime in New York – The Lascivious Biddies (iTunes | Amazon)
• Christmas in New York – Ray Dahrouge (iTunes |Amazon)

SUGGEST SONGS ABOUT NEW YORK CITY

Is there a great, good, or not half-bad song about New York City or that takes place in New York City that we missed? Drop us a line or like us on Facebook and let us know your favorite songs about New York City, New York.