Scorsese’s Boston crime epic is set deep in the tribal neighbourhoods of South Boston – but watch closely and half of it is New York in a Red Sox cap. The production split its time between the real Boston it’s about and the cheaper, tax-friendly streets of Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Where was The Departed filmed?
The Departed was shot across Boston and its suburbs – Charlestown, South Boston, Quincy, Lynn and Dorchester – and across New York City, mainly Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, with interiors on New York stages. Scorsese used real Boston for the exteriors that had to feel authentically local, and New York for everything that didn’t.
The result is a city portrait stitched from two cities. The accents, the triple-deckers and the parish geography are pure Boston; a surprising number of the actual bricks are New York.
Every The Departed location, explained
South Boston and the Seaport – rooftops and stakeouts
The tense rooftop chases were shot in South Boston’s Seaport on Farnsworth Street, then a district of half-empty warehouses. Downtown Crossing and Beacon Hill supplied the street-level Boston texture.
Charlestown and Quincy – Costello’s turf
Charlestown – the real-life heart of the film’s Irish-mob world – appears around Trenton Street, while the brutal warehouse shoot-out was filmed on Hancock Street in Quincy, just south of the city.
Lynn and Dorchester – working-class exteriors
The mill city of Lynn (Essex Street) and the streets of Dorchester filled in for the grittier corners of Costigan’s and Sullivan’s world, including the car-argument scene on Arcadia Terrace.
New York doubling for Boston
Much of the film is New York. Frank Costello’s headquarters interior is Raoul’s restaurant on Prince Street in Manhattan; Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, Sunset Park and Brooklyn Heights, plus the Bronx, provided streets and buildings redressed as Boston. The Bronx Zoo and SUNY Maritime College both appear.
The civic landmarks
Keep an eye out for New York City Hall standing in for a government building, a recurring Scorsese trick that lets Manhattan pass for almost any American city.
Planning a visit
For the genuine article, Boston rewards a walk: Charlestown, Southie and Downtown Crossing are all close together and steeped in the film’s world. In New York, Raoul’s in SoHo is still open, and Brooklyn Heights and Greenpoint are pleasant wanders in their own right. Between the two cities you’ll have covered nearly every frame.
