• Law & Order: SVU is a popular and long-running police TV series
  • Famously, the detectives do their work in New York City!
  • This is the real shooting location of SVU

As fans of Law & Order: SVU know, New York City is where the dedicated detectives investigate those vicious felonies. 

On the series, we see the detectives on the streets of Manhattan, at the local police precinct, courthouses, and more.

But is that the real New York City you're seeing on Law & Order: SVU – or is it studio magic? The answer, it turns out, is yes and no!

Law & Order: SVU - The real shooting location is... 

For the most part, SVU has always shot exteriors on location in New York. But for a long time, most of what you were seeing on SVU was actually shot nearby in New Jersey. 

An NBC studio space in North Bergen, New Jersey, brought to life most of the interiors in the early seasons of SVU.

But that all changed in 2010. As Deadline reported, the series made the move fully to New York at that time after New Jersey changed a tax law.

Also interesting:

Instead, the series actually moved to the New York City studio formerly used by the original Law & Order. It's located at Chelsea Piers, which is on the West Side of Manhattan.

So from Law & Order: SVU season 12 forward, the majority of the show really is New York City. Neat!

See pictures and more in the video above!