Hollywood lights up city but irks some residents
By Tom Davis and Lauren Moraski
Usually, it is a serene Upper West Side block notable for freshly-painted brownstones, leafy shade trees and languid dog walkers.
But, sometimes, oversized trucks take over West 80th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues, forcing residents to park elsewhere. Muscular men blast away with electric saws and sanders. At night, white-hot lights shine into apartment windows.
The presence of famous actors and curious onlookers ultimately reveal the scene's true identity: a Hollywood movie set, New York style.
Lured by city-sponsored incentives, more movies were filmed in New York last year than ever before – despite getting mixed reviews from residents on 80th Street and in other neighborhoods who have watched the film industry gain what seems to be sweeping control over what some observers call “the most authentic movie setting in the world.”
While some get excited by the sight of an exploding car, a car chase or even galloping horses that took West 80th Street residents by surprise several years ago, others have grown tired of giving up their street to film crews that park trucks, lighting equipment and stage platforms at least several times a month.
"As far as an actual benefit to the block, there is none," said Steven Weisz of the West 80th Street Tree Fund and Block Association. "It's a real love-hate thing and it makes New York intriguing. But for people living here, it's disruptive."
The film industry's expanding presence makes many residents groan - and others celebrate - as Columbia pictures, Time Warner and a number of big-studio and independent companies pumped a record $5 billion into New York's economy last year. With the city’s blessing, local business districts and neighborhoods provided a setting for 276 films last year – 10 percent more than in 2005.
The driving force behind the boom in filming is the Mayor's Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting, which has sweetened the pot for filmmakers with tax breaks and other incentives.
Film producers, for instance, receive a 15 percent income tax credit if they complete at least 75 percent of their stage work in New York City. The incentive was the major component of the city’s "Made in NY" program established in 2004 to boost New York’s then-declining film industry.
“Production companies were spending less and less time in New York and more time in Canada and Australia, where they were providing tax credits,” said Katherine Oliver, the film office’s commissioner. “We needed to remind our customer base of what we have going for them. We realized we needed to do more.”
In recent years, movie companies such as Columbia Pictures and 20th Century Fox have set up shop in New York, bringing in big-name actors with film sets that have created tantalizing scenes on the city’s streets.
Over time, the city says, neighborhoods have adjusted to a film landscape that has changed dramatically since the film office was founded in 1966 to streamline the obtaining of permits to film on city property.
For decades, Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet and Woody Allen saw New York City as the perfect setting for films that epitomized an era of realism in filmmaking that began in the mid-to-late-1960s. More recent films, such as “You’ve Got Mail,” have captured the stature and elegance of the city’s more upscale neighborhoods, such as West 80th Street on the Upper West Side.
Even city officials and production companies, however, acknowledge they haven’t been able to satisfy everybody – particularly long-time residents who have virtually given up any attempt to fight the noise, no-parking rules and spotlights shining through their windows until 4 a.m.
Indeed, the city gives film crews wide latitude in their dealings with neighborhoods – as long as they don’t supersede city ordinances that deal with decency and conduct.
On the set of “The Wackness,” for instance, production assistants recently paid $500 to each West 80th Street housing unit directly affected by the production’s lights and sounds.
But the low-budget, independent film, starring Ben Kingsley and Mary Kate Olsen, caused a stir in August and September because filmmakers yelled at residents to shut their windows, or they scolded them for interfering with the movie’s scenes.
Ann LoPresto, a former actress, recalled meeting a film crew member from “The Wackness” at the door of the West 80th Street brownstone she shares with her husband.
“I went home one night, and I was stopped by a woman on the steps and she said, ‘You can’t come in,’” she said. “I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is my property.’”
Residents, meanwhile, say they’ve considered drawing up petitions to protest the continuous appearance of film crews, and sending their complaints to the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
But their fear is that such efforts would be wasted, given that the city has opened the door for anybody to take advantage of the city’s authenticity.
“We've got no choice – they've doing it for years,” said George Nieves, a resident of West 80th Street. “But when they do it a couple days in a row, it’s a pain in the ass. We should get compensated.” |
