Shooting New York City

Image: Elevated platform on the corner of Broadway and 125th Street

As anyone who goes to the movies regularly, or who watches even a modest amount of television will tell you – New York City is a favourite location for movie directors everywhere. In America, Los Angeles is the only other city that probably comes close to New York – and maybe even surpasses it as a movie location. I’m musing about this today, because yesterday, I happened upon two separate film locations during my rambles around Manhattan.

I spotted the first movie shoot as a rode the M4 bus from Washington Heights down to Harlem. I was bussing it because I knew the M4 passed alongside a massive elevated railway platform for the 1 (One) Train which surfaces from its subterranean depths between 135th Street and 122nd Street (see image above). By the time the train passes over 125th Street it is probably six floors above street level, and I wanted to take some photographs of the massive steel structure towering high over pedestrians, motor vehicles and shops on the street.

Image: Film crew playing the ‘waiting game’ on location in New York City

Folks, if you want to know why modern movies cost 200 or 300 million dollars to make, it’s because dozens of crew members, and acting ‘extras’ literally sit around for hour after hour waiting for the shot to be set up, the sun to come out (or go behind a cloud), the rain to stop, or any one of a thousand other reasons before the director calls, “Action”.

I stood around for over an hour waiting to see what would take place, and just when I thought I might as well move on, I noticed a buzz of activity as walkie-talkie’s crackled into life, and things began to happen. The chase car moved into place. A stunt man mounted his bicycle, and a dozen or so vehicles which had been parked by the curb, suddenly roared into life; swung into position; paused for a moment like Formula 1 cars on a starting grid; and as the director called ‘Action’ the chase scene got underway – and was over before I had time to focus my camera!

I hate to think how many thousands of dollars were expended during the 90 minutes I had been hanging around on the edge of the shoot, let alone during the hours the crew must have been on location. I’m sure the chase scene will look great in the final movie, but quite frankly, standing around watching movies being made is pretty dull when all is said and done.

Image: Film crew setting up under elevated railway on Broadway, New York City

Of course you want to know what the movie is called, and who the lead actors are. All the crew woman I spoke to told me was that it was called Premium Rush. However, a 15 second search on the Internet Movie Database provided the following information: Directed by David Koepp, Premium Rush is described as "An action story set in New York City, where a bike messenger picks up a package at Columbia University and subsequently catches the attention of a dirty cop."

Aha. That explains the 20 second chase sequence between a camera car and the stunt man on the bicycle.

Image: Camera car rigged for chase sequence on Broadway, New York City

Just for the record, the film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (currently appearing with Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception), and Jamie Chung (who despite the masculine sounding name is female, and who seems to have done mostly television but is now branching out into feature length movies). Maybe it's just me, but from time to time Gordon-Levitt bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Heath Ledger!

Later in the day, I was heading towards the South Street Seaport and saw three or four film company semi-trailers parked off Broad Street, with a couple of crew members setting up a lighting rig for an evening shoot.

As usual, you can find information online about daily shooting schedules and locations for movies and television shows being filmed around New York. The best site for I have found for that is the On Location Vacations website here…

The Laundry (Reading) List

~ Image: Bookcase in basement of Washington Heights apartment

It is my understanding that most, if not all apartment blocks in New York City have shared laundry facilities located in their basements, and the apartment block I am staying in is no exception. However, I don’t know if all basement laundries have a shared bookcase stuffed with books for apartment residents to read, and contribute to.

The image on the left is of the bookcase in the laundry of the apartment I am staying in, where I estimate there are probably 200+ books.

In amongst the usual suspects (Mary Higgins Clark, V.C. Andrews, John Grisham), you will also find outdated text books and computer manuals (Windows 2000, anyone?); and discarded travel guides for San Francisco, Arizona and Savannah, Georgia. Then there are books representing the abandoned hopes of dreams of budding actors and thespians, as indicated by the grandly named Actor’s Book of Contemporary Stage Monologues, and The Actor’s Scenebook, along with a copy of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot (I wonder if every New York apartment laundry has a copy of that one?).

Of course, you will also find a selection of ‘bringing up baby’ books, starting with books on pregnancy, before moving on to baby’s first year, and so on up the age range.

But just in case you think the bookshelf is filled with such fare, be assured that amongst the dross there are also some great titles, including The Pesthouse by one of my favourite authors, Jim Crace. Here is a partial list of some other great reads: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness; Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman; and Beneath The Wheel by Herman Hesse (Wot? No Siddhartha?). Sorry, no, maybe someone has borrowed it. There is a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast; a couple by Tom Wolfe, I Am Charlotte Simmons, and Bonfire of The Vanities; The Muslim Discovery of Europe by Bernard Lewis, and Arundharti Roy’s The God of Small Things.

Clearly there are some well-read residents here.

But the piece de resistance is Kathleen Meyer’s 1989 book (in its 2nd Revised Edition, no less), called How To Shit In The Woods. Seriously. Billed as “An environmentally sound approach to a lost art,” (I think it’s probably safe to assume that few New York apartment laundries have copies of this book), Kathleen outlines the best way to deal with the perennial problem facing hikers, travelers, campers, and road warriors of all types; and that is, How do you dispose of your body’s most precious waste products in a safe, healthy and environmentally friendly way?

Fascinating stuff, this. I don’t know if it ever made it to the top of the New York Times best seller lists, but it certainly deserved to. There’s even a chapter called, For Women Only, How Not to Pee in Your Boots.

Did I read it? Does a bear shit in the woods? Of course, I read it. While her advice to women to practice peeing standing up has some merit, I suspect that if she was writing the book today, she would also recommend women pack a Shenis with them.

What is a Shenis? I’m glad you asked

I think.

The Shenis was invented by a woman (of course) and looks like a 12 inch pe… Well, you don’t need me to describe it when you can visit the Shenis website and check it out for yourself...

Of course, YouTube was not around either in 1989, when the book was published. Today if you search for “Shenis” on YouTube, not only will you find numerous examples of women putting the product to use, but also videos of women successfully peeing standing up!

Who would have thought a trip to the laundry could be so interesting?

NYC Round Up #1

There is so much to observe and absorb, experience and process during any visit to New York City – no matter how long or short your stay – that it is pretty much impossible to write about everything here on this blog. Well, I could, but I would end up spending most of each day writing, and very little time actually doing anything.

Here’s a quick round up of just four recent observations and experiences.

Katz’s Delicatessen

Image: My $14 tuna/tomato/lettuce on Rye with custom labeled mineral water

Yesterday I found myself walking down East Houston Street, and dropped in to New York’s most famous delicatessen, Katz’s Deli at 205, East Houston Street. Even at 3.00pm, the place was busy, but I hear trying to find a seat for breakfast or lunch is all but impossible.

You have to see Katz’s for yourself, but believe me when I say that just about every famous (and infamous) New Yorker and quite a few non New Yorkers have at one time or other eaten at Katz’s Deli. It was almost worth paying $14+ for my humble tuna sandwich just to spend some time looking at the hundreds of photographs lining the walls of this New York institution.

At least four U.S. Presidents are represented including Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. I don’t know if Barak Obama has visited yet, but I’m sure it is only a matter of time before he does. The greatest number of well know visitors are the actors: Jerry Lewis, Elija Wood, Danny DeVito, Ben Stiller, Liev Schreiber, Paul Reiser, and Dom DeLouise among many others, as well as a host of actor/musicians including Madonna, Frank Sinatra, and Tito Puente. New York City Mayors and former mayors Rudolf Giuliani, Mike Bloomberg and Ed Koch have ‘eaten at Katz’s’, and the list goes ever on… and on…

Katz’s Deli is also famous for its slogan: “Send a salami to your boy in the army.” The slogan was coined during World War II after three sons of the owners were all serving in the armed forces, and the family tradition of sending food to their sons became encapsulated in the slogan.

When You Gotta Go…

Image: Not for the shy or fainthearted, but when you gotta go…

Sorry for the photograph but let’s play a little game, shall we? Where do you think a line up of toilet bowls like this might be? Somewhere in Africa maybe? Asia? Some other poverty stricken third world city?

No friends, this parade of bathroom bowls is in the public convenience located in Washington Square Park in the heart of New York’s Greenwich Village! Actually, I should point out it is in the Men’s section of the facility. Whether women are faced with a similar lineup, I have no idea, but if any reader knows the answer, maybe they’d like to let us know via the Comments section below.

Personally, to say I was surprised to see such an open public display of Thomas Crapper’s toilet bowls would be a gross understatement! Especially since Washington Square Park is probably one of New York’s most popular parks.

Still, when you gotta go, you gotta go.

So I did!

But hopefully, the next time I get ‘caught short’ I will be able to find a less public place to do so.

191st Street Pedestrian Tunnel

Image: the 191st Street subway tunnel stretching off into the distance

Sometimes the most interesting things present themselves to you when happy ‘accidents’ occur when you least expect them. Take the massive pedestrian tunnel connecting the 191st Street 1 train station with Broadway at the top of Manhattan. The 1 train terminates/begins at the Staten Island Terminal at the foot of Manhattan, and runs all the way through to the Bronx station of 242nd St/Van Courtlandt Park.

I was heading back to the apartment on the 1 train, following my recent afternoon on Staten Island. Normally, I would have found an A train station, as the train passes closer to my accommodations, but the 1 train was right at the Staten Island Terminal door, so I was happy to do a little extra walking rather than go looking for the nearest A train station.

However, I should have left the 1 train at the 181st Street station. But I was tired, and not paying close attention as the train progressed up the island, so when I missed my stop and had to get out ten blocks further up Manhattan I was annoyed but resigned to the extra walking I would need to do.

Following the exit signs pointing towards Broadway, I encountered the pedestrian tunnel you see in the photograph which runs straight as an arrow for some 300+ metres. It might not look like much in the image, but I was taken by surprise at its length and presence. Mind you, I shouldn’t have been. New York City’s subway system is filled with massive pedestrian passages that make the 191st Street passage seem short by comparison. But when you unexpectedly encounter things like this, you have to stop and remind yourself that sometimes happy accidents can reveal things you might not other discover.

New York City Apartment Living

Image: floor plan for a massive New York City apartment

The subject of apartment living deserves its own entry, but for now take a good look at the image above. It shows the floor plan for an apartment that covers the complete floor area of a New York apartment block.

It is not just the fact that the apartment has three bedrooms that caught my attention, but each of the bedrooms has its own en-suite bathroom facilities. Not only that, but there is a fourth bathroom at the end of the Gallery.

That’s four bathrooms – in one apartment!

What are the chances of getting ‘caught short’ there?