The fictional All Saints Hospital from Nurse Jackie felt intensely real to viewers, a pressure cooker of medical emergencies and personal drama. This authenticity was no accident. The show’s production was a true New York City operation, using a clever mix of famous exterior landmarks and massive indoor studio sets to build its world. The city itself became a central character, and the filming strategy was key to making Jackie Peyton’s chaotic life believable.
The Ever-Changing Face of All Saints Hospital
For a show set in one primary location, Nurse Jackie used two very different buildings to represent the outside of All Saints Hospital during its seven-season run.
In the first three seasons, the hospital’s exterior was actually Baruch College, located on East 25th Street in Manhattan. Its modern, glass-and-steel facade provided a clean, urban look for establishing shots, ambulance arrivals, and scenes at the main entrance. Using a college campus allowed the production to film complex exterior scenes without interfering with the 24/7 operations of a real hospital.
From Season 4 onward, the exterior changed to the far more recognizable Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan’s Kips Bay neighborhood. Bellevue’s historic and imposing facade offered a grittier, more established look that matched the show’s evolving tone. This iconic New York City landmark provided the backdrop for the famous ambulance bay and sidewalk scenes for the remainder of the series, grounding the drama in a real-world medical institution.
The Heart of the Show: Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens
While the exteriors changed, every interior scene set inside All Saints Hospital was filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. This massive studio complex was home to the show’s primary set.
The entire hospital interior—from the busy nurse’s station and cramped ER bays to the patient rooms, hallways, and even the hospital chapel—was a meticulously built set on Stage G. The set was so large and permanent that it remained standing year-round. This gave the production complete control over lighting, camera angles, and the placement of intricate medical props, which was essential for a series reliant on fast-paced emergency scenes.
“I always felt weird making a TV show where [real] people were coming in with legs falling off,” said star Edie Falco, highlighting the strange contrast between their controlled set and a real hospital’s chaos.
Other smaller sets, including the interior of Jackie’s Queens home and the bar where the staff hung out, were constructed each summer on Stage H at the same studio complex.
Iconic New York Hangouts: The Red Owl Bar and City Streets
The characters’ lives extended beyond the hospital walls, and these locations were also shot at real New York spots.
The fictional Red Owl Bar, where Jackie and her colleagues often decompressed, was actually Kelly’s Bar & Grill at 31-04 Crescent Street in Astoria, Queens. This authentic neighborhood bar provided the perfect backdrop for the staff’s off-duty conversations and conflicts.
Furthermore, the show made extensive use of New York City’s streets to capture Jackie’s daily life. Scenes of her commuting, walking to work, or navigating the city were filmed in neighborhoods including Midtown Manhattan, Hell’s Kitchen, and Kips Bay. This commitment to on-location shooting captured the city’s unmistakable energy and sound, making Jackie’s story feel seamlessly woven into the fabric of New York.
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Why This Hybrid Filming Strategy Worked
The production’s choice to split filming between studio interiors and real New York exteriors was a deliberate and practical strategy.
Filming inside a working hospital is extremely difficult due to patient privacy, safety rules, and logistical hurdles. Building the entire hospital on a soundstage allowed the crew to operate efficiently and maintain total creative control for medical sequences that often involved stunts and complex procedures.
At the same time, using real college and hospital exteriors, along with actual city streets, provided an immediate sense of authenticity. This approach is common for television dramas, but for Nurse Jackie, it was essential to creating the show’s specific grounded, gritty, and unmistakably New York atmosphere. The production’s commitment to the city was so deep that before its third season, the show’s writers’ room was relocated from Los Angeles to New York to better capture the local stories and vibe.
The legacy of the show’s New York roots continues. In May 2023, it was announced that a sequel series is in development, with Edie Falco attached to star and executive produce.
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