Explore the real places in New York that appear in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Gatsby's Mansion, Daisy and Tom's House, Nick Carraway's Cottage, Wilson's Garage, The Plaza Hotel and 6 more.
West Egg — Jay Gatsby's lavish estate
Jay Gatsby's colossal Gothic mansion serves as the novel's central stage, where he throws his legendary Saturday night parties hoping to attract Daisy Buchanan. Nick Carraway describes the mansion's marble swimming pool, towers, and forty acres of lawn. Gatsby stands on his dock reaching toward the green light across the bay. The mansion is where Gatsby dies, shot by George Wilson while floating in his pool.
West Egg (based on Kings Point) was developed in the early 1900s as Gold Coast estates for newly wealthy industrialists and financiers. These nouveau riche built elaborate mansions to rival the established families of East Egg.
Kings Point remains an affluent area with large estates, though many original mansions have been subdivided. The area is now home to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and exclusive residential properties.
East Egg — The Buchanan estate
Tom and Daisy Buchanan's Georgian Colonial mansion represents old money aristocracy, described by Nick as more fashionable than West Egg. Here, Nick reunites with his cousin Daisy and meets the brutish Tom. The house has French windows, a rosy-colored porch, and a green light on the dock that becomes Gatsby's obsession. Jordan Baker lounges here in white, and Tom reveals his affair with Myrtle Wilson.
East Egg (based on Sands Point) was the domain of established American aristocracy like the Astors and Vanderbilts. These families built understated but supremely elegant estates that emphasized breeding over ostentation.
Sands Point remains one of Long Island's most exclusive areas, with many original Gold Coast mansions still standing as private residences. The area maintains its reputation as old money territory.
West Egg — The narrator's rental home
Nick Carraway rents this small cottage squeezed between millionaire mansions, paying $80 a month for his 'cardboard bungalow.' From here, he observes Gatsby's parties and first glimpses his mysterious neighbor reaching toward the green light. The cottage represents Nick's middle-class Midwestern perspective on the excess surrounding him. He writes his account of Gatsby's story from this vantage point.
Small rental properties like Nick's cottage existed among the grand estates, often housing staff, guests, or young professionals working in nearby New York City who couldn't afford mansion-scale living.
West Egg continues to have a mix of property sizes, though small cottages among the mansions are increasingly rare due to development pressure and rising property values.
Valley of Ashes — George and Myrtle Wilson's business
George Wilson's ramshackle garage sits in the desolate Valley of Ashes, where he repairs cars and lives with his wife Myrtle. Tom Buchanan stops here regularly, ostensibly for gas but actually to conduct his affair with Myrtle. After Myrtle is killed by Gatsby's car, the grief-stricken George becomes convinced that Gatsby was both the driver and Myrtle's lover, leading him to shoot Gatsby.
The Valley of Ashes was based on the Corona Ash Dumps in Queens, where New York City dumped its ash and garbage. Small businesses like gas stations served the working-class residents of this industrial wasteland.
The former ash dumps are now Flushing Meadows Corona Park, site of two World's Fairs. The area has been transformed from industrial wasteland into recreational space, though some industrial facilities remain nearby.
Visit: Flushing Meadows Corona Park (park)
Fifth Avenue & Central Park South — The confrontation scene
On the sweltering hot day that climaxes the novel, Tom, Daisy, Gatsby, Nick, and Jordan retreat to a suite at the Plaza Hotel to escape the heat. In this oppressive atmosphere, the final confrontation occurs: Tom exposes Gatsby's criminal connections, Daisy chooses Tom over Gatsby, and Gatsby's dream dies. The group leaves the hotel in two cars, setting up the tragic collision that kills Myrtle Wilson.
The Plaza Hotel opened in 1907 and quickly became New York's most prestigious hotel, hosting high society gatherings and serving as a symbol of luxury and refinement during the Jazz Age.
The Plaza Hotel remains one of New York's most famous luxury hotels, designated a National Historic Landmark. It continues to host elite social events and maintains its reputation as a symbol of old-world elegance.
Visit: The Plaza Hotel (landmark)
Valley of Ashes billboard — The watching eyes
The enormous billboard advertisement for an oculist looms over the Valley of Ashes, its blue eyes behind yellow spectacles watching over the wasteland. George Wilson, in his grief and madness after Myrtle's death, stares at the billboard and tells his neighbor that 'God sees everything.' The eyes serve as a symbol of moral judgment and divine absence in the novel's corrupt world.
Large billboard advertisements were common features of the industrial landscapes around New York City in the 1920s, often advertising medical services, consumer goods, and other businesses to commuters and travelers.
While the specific billboard is fictional, the area where it would have stood is now part of the transformed Flushing Meadows area. Modern billboards still dot the highways and industrial areas of Queens.
West 158th Street — Tom and Myrtle's love nest
Tom Buchanan rents this small apartment on West 158th Street for his affair with Myrtle Wilson. The apartment is decorated with Myrtle's attempts at sophistication—tapestried furniture and a photograph of her mother. Nick attends a party here where Myrtle, drunk on whiskey and pretensions, repeatedly mentions Daisy's name until Tom breaks her nose. The apartment represents the tawdry reality behind the era's glittering surface.
Washington Heights in the 1920s was a middle-class neighborhood with many small apartment buildings, popular with both established residents and those seeking to appear more sophisticated than their circumstances allowed.
West 158th Street remains a residential area in Washington Heights, now predominantly Latino. The neighborhood has retained its character as a working and middle-class community with pre-war apartment buildings.
Times Square — Meyer Wolfsheim's office area
Nick meets Gatsby's business associate Meyer Wolfsheim for lunch in this area, where Wolfsheim reveals he fixed the 1919 World Series. The bustling, somewhat seedy atmosphere of Times Square reflects the corruption and criminal underworld that funds Gatsby's wealth. Wolfsiem nostalgically recalls this area's past, mentioning the old Metropole Hotel where his friend Rosy Rosenthal was shot.
Times Square in the 1920s was already becoming the entertainment hub of New York, with theaters, restaurants, and less reputable establishments. It was also home to various business offices and had a grittier, more criminal element than today.
Times Square is now one of the world's most famous commercial intersections, dominated by massive digital billboards, chain restaurants, and tourist attractions. The criminal element of Gatsby's era has largely been displaced by commercialization.
Visit: Times Square (landmark)
Connecting Manhattan and Queens — Gatsby's commute
Nick and Gatsby drive across the Queensboro Bridge in Gatsby's spectacular yellow Rolls Royce on their way to Manhattan. Nick observes that the city seen from the bridge always makes him feel that anything is possible, even for Gatsby. They pass a hearse and a car full of wedding guests, symbolizing the novel's themes of death and failed dreams. This bridge represents the connection between Gatsby's Long Island fantasy and Manhattan reality.
The Queensboro Bridge (now Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge) opened in 1909 and was a marvel of engineering, connecting Manhattan to Queens and enabling the suburban development of areas like Long Island's Gold Coast.
The Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge remains a major thoroughfare connecting Manhattan's Upper East Side to Long Island City in Queens. It's still considered one of New York's most architecturally beautiful bridges.
Visit: Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge (landmark)
Manhattan — Jordan Baker's golf and social scenes
Jordan Baker, the professional golfer and Daisy's friend, represents the new modern woman of the 1920s. She plays golf tournaments in the city and embodies the careless, dishonest wealthy class that Nick both admires and despises. Her relationship with Nick begins and ends in the social whirl of Manhattan's elite circles, often centered around Central Park area activities.
Central Park in the 1920s was the recreational heart of Manhattan's upper class, hosting sports events, social gatherings, and serving as a playground for the wealthy elite of the Jazz Age.
Central Park remains New York City's premier urban park, hosting millions of visitors annually for recreation, cultural events, and as a green oasis in the heart of Manhattan.
Visit: Central Park (park)
Manhattan — Nick's arrival point from the Midwest
Nick Carraway arrives in New York through Penn Station, coming from the Midwest to work in the bond business. This represents his entry into the corrupted Eastern world that will transform his understanding of the American Dream. At the novel's end, Nick reflects on returning to the Midwest, suggesting Penn Station as his likely departure point from the morally bankrupt East.
The original Pennsylvania Station was one of New York's grandest architectural achievements when it opened in 1910, serving as the primary gateway for travelers from across the country to Manhattan.
The current Penn Station, built in the 1960s after the demolition of the original, is primarily underground and serves as one of the busiest transportation hubs in North America, handling Amtrak, NJ Transit, and LIRR trains.
Visit: Penn Station (landmark)
More by F. Scott Fitzgerald: All F. Scott Fitzgerald books
More novels set in New York City: Browse all New York City books on Map A Story
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