[gwbas1c]

> However the most important things you need to stage New York are actually smoke generators. Lots and lost of smoke generators. There were several big ones on the street, the garbage cans had ones, even the aforementioned ATM had its very own smoke machine. Don't really know if that is relevant to the plot or whether ATMs in New York run on steam.

Steam is a utility in NYC, from co-generation. It's used to provide heat.

At least when I was younger, steam was also a utility in Boston. I used to see it escape from "Boston Steam" manholes. Not sure if it's still a utility there or not, though.

[HillRat]

Also, in cinematography, haze and fog is frequently used to manipulate light for shots, not intended as a practical effect as such. If they were shooting a scene taking place after a rainstorm, using fog to flatten contrast would make sense for the shot.