New York

• Type: City, American Metropolis
• Location: State of New York, United States of America
• Owner/Residents: Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), Porpentina Goldstein, Queenie Goldstein, Jacob Kowalski, Mary Lou Barebone, Credence Barebone
• Key Features: Location of the MACUSA Headquarters, a large No-Maj population, historical segregation between wizarding and non-magical communities (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them)

New York is a major American city that serves as a significant hub for the wizarding community in the United States of America. While not mentioned in the original seven novels, its importance is established in supplementary materials, primarily the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film and screenplay. In the 1920s, the wizarding community in New York operated under a state of heightened secrecy, far stricter than in the United Kingdom. This was largely due to the historical trauma of events like the Salem Witch Trials, which led the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) to enforce severe segregation between wizards and No-Majs (the American term for Muggles). Rappaport's Law, enacted in 1790, forbade marriage and even friendship between the two communities (Pottermore). The wizarding world coexists with the non-magical world by hiding its institutions in plain sight. The headquarters of MACUSA, for instance, was magically concealed within the Woolworth Building, a prominent No-Maj skyscraper. The city was also home to various wizarding establishments, such as underground speakeasies like The Blind Pig, and the residences of wizarding families like the Goldstein sisters. The atmosphere in the 1920s was one of tension, exacerbated by anti-witchcraft sentiment from groups like the New Salem Philanthropic Society.

New York is the primary setting for the events of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which take place in December 1926.

• Newt Scamander arrives in the city with his case of magical creatures, one of which escapes and causes a mix-up with the case of a No-Maj, Jacob Kowalski, at the Steen National Bank. This leads to the accidental release of several other creatures across the city.
• The incident brings Newt to the attention of Tina Goldstein, a demoted Auror for MACUSA, who sees his case as a way to regain her position.
• The city is simultaneously being terrorized by a powerful and destructive Obscurus, which MACUSA initially blames on Newt's escaped creatures.
• The investigation reveals that the Obscurus is Credence Barebone, the adopted son of Mary Lou Barebone, the leader of the New Salem Philanthropic Society.
• The climax of the story involves a major battle in a New York City subway station between the Obscurus and MACUSA Aurors. The conflict also exposes the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who had infiltrated MACUSA disguised as the Director of Magical Security, Percival Graves.
• Following the battle, which caused significant damage and was witnessed by numerous No-Majs, Newt Scamander uses his Swooping Evil and a memory-erasing potion to perform a mass memory modification on the city's entire non-magical population, thus preserving the International Statute of Secrecy.

• MACUSA Headquarters: The governing body for the American wizarding world, magically located within the Woolworth Building in Manhattan (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).
• The Blind Pig: A clandestine wizarding speakeasy and bar run by the goblin Gnarlak (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).
• Goldstein Residence: A brownstone apartment that was home to sisters Tina and Queenie Goldstein (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).
• Steen National Bank: The No-Maj bank where Newt Scamander and Jacob Kowalski first meet (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).
• Second Salem Church: The base of operations for the New Salem Philanthropic Society, an anti-witchcraft group led by Mary Lou Barebone (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them).

New York was introduced into the Harry Potter universe by J.K. Rowling as the setting for the Fantastic Beasts film series, which expanded the known wizarding world significantly beyond Europe. The choice of New York in the 1920s allowed for the exploration of themes like segregation and Prohibition within a magical context. The American term for Muggle, No-Maj (short for “No-Magic”), was revealed by J.K. Rowling on Pottermore prior to the release of the first film and is used exclusively by the American wizarding community depicted in New York.