New York – Page 4 – IAMNOTASTALKER

March 8, 2017March 7, 2017

Strand Book Store from “Sex and the City”

I have made no secret of my love for bookstores on this blog, especially in recent weeks (as evidenced here and here). I literally cannot get enough of them! So when I spotted a book boutique pop up in the Season 2 episode of Sex and the City titled “The Freak Show,” which I was re-watching shortly before my trip to New York last April, I knew I had to track it down and stalk it. Come to find out, the place is one of NYC’s most famous and historic book sellers!

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Thankfully, the locale was not very hard to identify. While scrutinizing “The Freak Show,” I spotted a red oval-shaped logo situated next to Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) with the word “Strand” centered in it and recognition immediately clicked. I had come across mentions of Strand Book Store, or “the Strand” as it is more commonly known, countless times over the years while researching interesting spots to check out in the Big Apple. Touted as one of NYC’s oldest and largest book shops, the place intrigued me and its name stayed lodged in my brain, but somehow I never made it a point to see it in person during any of my trips back east. So I decided to remedy that and put the site at the very top of April’s New York To-Stalk List.

Originally established in 1927, Strand Book Store was the brainchild of 25-year-old bibliophile Benjamin Brass. The shop was initially located on Fourth Avenue’s Book Row, a six-block area in Greenwich Village comprised of no less than 48 book sellers. Brass dubbed his emporium, which back then sold only used tomes, in honor of the famed Strand street in London where countless notable writers, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Virginia Woolf, have lived over the years.

In 1956, Benjamin’s son, Fred, took over management of the Strand and moved it to its current home on the corner of Broadway and East 12th Street the following year. Though Book Row and the 47 other boutiques once located there are no longer in existence, the Strand managed to not only survive throughout the years, but thrive.

Fred eventually purchased the building housing the store and expanded his retail space. Today, the Strand encompasses three and a half levels comprised of more than 2.5 million new and used titles – or as the Strand’s tag line states, “18 miles of books.” The boutique, which is now co-run by Fred and his daughter Nancy and tended to by 240 employees, also stocks gifts, cards, and various other sundries.

Unfortunately, the employee that I spoke with told me no photos were allowed inside the store, so I was only able to snap pics of the exterior.

In “The Freak Show” episode of Sex and the City, which aired in 1999, Carrie dates a succession of men who all turn out to have freakish habits. The segment shot at the Strand involved a broker named Max (Thomas Pescod) who, as Carrie learns, has a penchant for pilfering books. The brief scene took place outside of the store among the bargain dollar carts stationed on Broadway.

Sex and the City is hardly the only production that has been lensed at the Strand. In the 1993 drama Six Degrees of Separation, Ouisa (Stockard Channing) visits the bookstore with some friends to look for a copy of Sidney Poitier’s biography in order to see if her houseguest, Paul (Will Smith), is lying about being his son.

It is at the Strand that Julie Powell (Amy Adams) laments the unfavorable New York magazine article written about her to her friend Sarah (Mary Lynn Rajskub) in the 2010 biopic Julie & Julia.

Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson) works at Strand Book Store in the 2010 drama Remember Me.

While the exterior of the Strand was featured briefly in the 2014 comedy They Came Together . . .

. . . interior filming took place at Community Bookstore, located at 143 Seventh Avenue in Brooklyn.

In the Season 1 episode of Master of None titled “Finale,” which aired in 2015, Dev (Aziz Ansari) contemplates his life choices while reading The Bell Jar at the Strand.

That same year, Bryan Robbins (Josh Helman) popped into Strand Book Store while looking for his sister, Claire (Sarah Hay), in the Season 1 episode of Flesh and Bone titled “Reconnaissance.”

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Strand Book Store, from “The Freak Show” episode of Sex and the City, is located at 828 Broadway in New York’s Greenwich Village. You can visit the shop’s official website here.

March 1, 2017September 5, 2018

The High Line from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”

I absolutely love the great outdoors. In fact, alongside Starbucks and stalking, there’s pretty much nothing I enjoy more than being outside. So when I read about a former-elevated-train-track-turned-urban-park in NYC prior to my trip to the Big Apple last April, I knew it was a spot I had to check out. At the time, I did not realize the place was a filming location, but since returning home, I’ve seen it pop up in several productions, including fave show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. So I figured it was definitely worthy of a blog post.

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The High Line saw its beginnings in 1929 when the city of New York decided to build an elevated railway via its West Side Improvement Project. Completed in 1934, the High Line viaduct, as it came to be known, was part of New York Central Railroad’s West Side Line and was mainly used to transport food products from factories to warehouses.

Thanks to the rise of the trucking industry, the High Line saw a vast decline in use beginning in the 1950s and was shut down altogether in 1980. Portions of the elevated track had been torn down in the interim and while many New Yorkers lobbied for the rest of railway to be razed, as well, others fought the demolition. As the debate over what to do with it lagged on, the site was left to deteriorate, sitting abandoned, overgrown, and weed-strewn for decades.

In 1999, neighborhood denizens Joshua David and Robert Hammond joined forces with other preservationists to establish Friends of the High Line in the hopes of turning the former railway into a public park. The group’s plans were eventually approved and in 2006 work on the project began. The High Line was completed in three stages, opening sections in 2009, 2011, and 2014. Today, the 1.45-mile span, which stands 30 feet above ground, is a bustling oasis, visited by more than 5 million people each year.

The picturesque site boasts more than 600 varieties of plants;

countless benches and chaises for lounging;

a walking path;

and views of both the Hudson River . . .

. . . and the streets of Chelsea.

Considering its beauty, it is not surprising that the High Line has been featured in countless productions since its revitalization – so many productions, in fact, that it would be impossible for me to chronicle them all here. But I have compiled a list of a few of the highlights. As I mentioned above, the park popped up in an episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. In Season 7’s “Going Commando,” Kyle Richards and her daughter Sophia Umansky took a walk there during a visit to New York.

In 2008, before the site’s transformation was complete, it was featured in the Season 5 premiere of CSI: NY titled “Veritas” as the spot where Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and Stella Bonasera (Melina Kanakaredes) searched for a mimosa pudica plant. The episode provided a great visual of how different the High Line looked prior to its reimagining.

Louie (Louis C.K.) goes on a rather depressing “non-date” at the High Line with Janice (Kelly McCrann) in the Season 2 episode of Louie titled “Bummer/Blueberries,” which aired in 2011.

In the Season 4 episode of Glee titled “Makeover,” which aired in 2012, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Brody Weston (Dean Geyer) dance and frolic on the High Line during a musical montage set to Sheryl Crow’s “A Change Would Do You Good.”

John Reese (Jim Caviezel) takes Sofia Campos (Paloma Guzman) to the High Line in the Season 2 episode of Person of Interest titled “Masquerade,” which also aired in 2012.

The park pops up briefly in the 2013 thriller Side Effects.

Abbi Abrams (Abbi Jacobson) and Illana Wexler (Illana Glazer) visit the High Line to discuss a plan of attack after losing Kelly Ripa’s jacket in the Season 2 episode of Broad City titled “Coat Check,” which aired in 2015.

Harper (Zoey Deutch) and Charlie (Glen Powell) confer about “Parent Trapping” their bosses while walking on the High Line in the 2018 Netflix romcom Set It Up.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The High Line, from the “Going Commando” episode of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, between 10th and 12th Avenues, in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. You can visit the park’s official website here.

January 13, 2017January 22, 2020

McSorley’s Old Ale House from “Rounders”

It has been said that 60% of restaurants close within a year of opening and that 80% don’t make it past year five. Many in New York, though, have real staying power. Take McSorley’s Old Ale House, for example. The East Village watering hole/eatery has been around for more than 16 decades! Yep, 16 decades! I first learned about the place thanks to The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York while doing research for last April’s Big Apple vacay and figured the fact that Abraham Lincoln once drank there warranted it a visit. So the Grim Cheaper and I headed to the historic tavern, along with our good friends Lavonna (she’s a major Lincoln aficionado – you may remember her from this post), Kim, and Katie, for lunch one sunny afternoon during our trip. At the time, I had no idea McSorley’s was a filming location, so imagine my surprise when I spotted it while watching Rounders with the Grim Cheaper last week! I so love it when a place I have visited pops up unexpectedly onscreen!

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To say that McSorley’s Old Ale House is New York’s OG bar would be an understatement. Originally established in 1854 by Irish native John McSorley, the site was initially dubbed “The Old House at Home.” It held court under that moniker until 1908 when a storm hit Manhattan and knocked down the sign that hung out front. John replaced it with one reading “McSorley’s Old Time Ale House,” thereby changing the name of his saloon. (He later dropped the word “time”, as well.)

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention here that the bar’s origin date has been disputed by various historians, namely researcher Richard McDermott, who asserts that the spot where McSorley’s now stands was a vacant lot up until 1858. The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission put McDermott’s doubts largely to rest, though, in this 2012 Designation Report, stating, “Supporting the claim that McSorley’s Old Ale House first opened on this site in 1854, tax records reveal that the first improvement on this lot may have occurred in the mid-1850s. Though tax records note the lot as vacant until 1860-61, the value of the lot increased steadily between 1848 and 1856, indicating that a small structure may have been constructed here and not recorded (note: nearby lots did not change in value during the same period). The lot was purchased in 1854 by real estate speculator John W. Mitchell. As noted by Bill Wander, official historian for the pub, Mitchell may have constructed a small “taxpayer” structure on the lot to cover expenses, and McSorley’s could very possibly have operated out of this small structure.”

Regardless, McSorley’s asserts itself as “New York City’s oldest continuously operating saloon.” Other Big Apple bars, like Pete’s Tavern, may assert the same exact thing, but disputing the claim seems entirely beside the point. No one can argue that McSorley’s has history.

In 1864, the two-story structure that originally housed McSorley’s was renovated, expanded and transformed into a five-level tenement. John and his family moved into a unit upstairs and then eventually purchased the building in 1888.

When John passed away in 1910 at the age of 83, his son Bill took over operation of the bar. Bill continued to run the place for the next 26 years, even keeping it open during Prohibition. Though the sale of alcohol was outlawed during that time, McSorley’s managed to dole out ale made onsite in the basement. Bill called his libation “near beer” and authorities were none the wiser. As author Jef Klein states in The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York, “McSorley’s passed through Prohibition without passwords, secret exits, or hideaways.”

In 1936, Bill sold McSorley’s to a long-time customer/NYC policeman named Daniel O’Connell. Daniel’s tutelage did not last long, though. He passed away just three years later, leaving the bar to his daughter, Dorothy O’Connell Kirwan. The change of hands was ironic considering that McSorley’s did not allow women on the premises at the time. Kirwan promised her father that she would not overturn that rule. She also vowed never to set foot in McSorley’s during operating hours – a promise she kept even after the establishment was forced to admit the fairer sex in 1970 thanks to a lawsuit brought about by two females who were denied entry.

When Dorothy and her husband, Harry, passed away in 1974 and 1975, respectively, their son, Danny, inherited the bar. Just two years later, he sold it to night manager Matthew Maher, who still owns the tavern to this day.

Virtually nothing about the bar (aside from finally admitting women and the subsequent addition of a women’s restroom, which did not occur until 16 years later) has changed over its 163 year history – and I do mean nothing.

The décor, the memorabilia, and even some of the fare (the cheese, crackers and raw onion dish has been offered since opening day!) remain untouched from the time that John McSorley ran the place.

Menu items are written on chalkboards posted throughout the bar and, along with the aforementioned cheese plate, typically include hash, chili, burgers, and a fried chicken sandwich.

Don’t go to McSorley’s hoping for a chilled glass of pinot, though. As the name suggests, the only libation served on the premises is ale.

Notables have long been attracted to McSorley’s no-frills environment. Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, Peter Cooper, e.e. cummings, Harry Houdini, J. Giels, John F. Kennedy, and Frank McCourt have all sidled up to the ale house’s bar at one time or another.

Ah, yes, and Abraham Lincoln, who stopped by in 1960 while in town to give his famous Cooper Union address.

McSorley’s boasts another connection to Lincoln. An 1865 wanted poster offering a $100,000 reward for the capture of the president’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, hangs above the bar. Yes, it’s an original.

McSorley’s has also long proved popular with felines. Ironically, while women were not welcome throughout much of the bar’s history, cats were. Up until a city law was passed in 2011 which banned the animals from restaurants, a number of them called the watering hole home. Aside from keeping vermin away, you could often find the McSorley’s cats curled up next to patrons or warming themselves by the pot-bellied stove. When Bill ran the place, as many as 18 roamed the premises. The most recent feline resident was a grey tabby named Minnie. Ironically, McSorley’s was shut down by the health department briefly in November of last year for several violations. One of the violations was – you guessed it – evidence of rats. If only Minnie was still on duty!

Considering McSorley’s historic aesthetic and unique decor, it is not surprising that it has wound up onscreen. I mean, the place just looks like a movie set! In Rounders, it is at McSorley’s that Jo (Gretchen Mol) admonishes her boyfriend, Mike McDermott (Matt Damon), for lying to her about gambling.

The exterior of the bar was featured in the 1998 film, as well.

The ale house also appeared in the 1984 gangster drama Once Upon a Time in America. It is there that a young David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson (Scott Schutzman Tiler) and his friends choose a drunk to “roll.”

In 1991’s The Hard Way, Nick Lane (Michael J. Fox) gives John Moss (James Woods) advice on women at McSorley’s.

And in 2018, Miriam Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) and Benjamin (Zachary Levi) headed to McSorely’s for a date in the Season 2 episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel titled “Look, She Made a Hat.”

Folk singer Dave Van Ronk also posed outside of McSorley’s Old Ale House for the cover of his 1964 album, Inside Dave Van Ronk. One of the bar’s former in-house cats even made it into the photo.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to my friend Kim for providing many of the images that appear in this post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: McSorley’s Old Ale House, from Rounders, is located at 15 East 7th Street in New York’s East Village. You can visit the watering hole’s official website here.

January 11, 2017April 25, 2017

The Conservatory Garden from “The Girl on the Train”

One of my favorite places in all of Manhattan is, surprisingly, not a stalking location. Or at least it wasn’t up until recently. The Conservatory Garden, a six-acre oasis in East Harlem situated across from the Museum of the City of New York, is easily the most picturesque park I have ever set foot in. I first learned about the site in 2007 thanks to Real City: New York City (sadly, the book is no longer in print, so I cannot provide a link), which described the “floral sanctuary” as “the most studiously tended area in Central Park.” My interest was immediately piqued and I headed right on over there during our NYC vacation later that year. (The photo above was taken during that trip, hence why I look sooooo different. Winking smile ) In person, it was even more stunning than I had envisioned. The Conservatory Garden has since become a regular stop during our New York travels. I have wanted to blog about it ever since my first visit, but had never come across any filming done there. So imagine my thrill when I spotted the Conservatory Garden while watching a SAG Awards screener of the 2016 thriller The Girl on the Train. Now I can finally write about the place! (For those who have not yet seen the movie and aren’t in SAG, have no fear – the DVD comes out on January 17th).

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The garden was initially established in 1899 and consisted of a large e-shaped glass greenhouse, or conservatory (hence the name), surrounded by flowerbeds. By the 1930s, the greenhouse had started to deteriorate and in 1937 NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses had it razed and commissioned a new, formal garden to take its place. The site became known as the Conservatory Garden(not to be confused with the Central Park Conservatory Water).

The lush property is actually made up of three distinct gardens – one English in style, one French, and another Italian. The English garden, located in the southern portion of the park, is lined with annuals and flowering trees and features the Burnett Memorial Fountain, designed in 1936 by American sculptor Bessie Potter Vonnoh in honor of The Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett. Its surrounding pool is dotted with water lilies. (The fountain is pictured below and in the first image in this post.)

The French garden, situated in the northern part of the park, features an astounding array of perennial flowers, including over 20,000 tulips during the spring months and more than 2,000 Korean chrysanthemums that bloom during the fall. The garden also consists of the Three Dancing Maidens fountain, designed in 1910 by German sculptor Walter Schott. (The fountain is also sometimes referred to as the Untermeyer Fountain, in honor of the family that donated it to the Conservatory Garden.)

The central garden is Italian in style and boasts a sprawling lawn, a pergola strung with wisteria vines, a 12-foot high fountain, and a smattering of colorful crab apple trees.

Though technically a part of Central Park, the Conservatory Garden is tucked away – hidden almost. Its main entrance can be found on Fifth Avenue, just south of 105th Street. There visitors wander through a towering wrought-iron gate that initially stood in front of the Vanderbilt Mansion, which was formerly located 47 blocks south. Assembled in France, the ornate gate was designed by American architect George B. Post and donated to the park by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1939, twelve years after the Vanderbilt Mansion was razed.

The Conservatory Garden is beautiful at any time of year, as my photos, which were taken on various trips to NYC during various seasons, attest to.

On any given day, even during the cold winter months, you will encounter people reading quietly under the shade of the trees, painters replicating the idyllic foliage via watercolor, and students sprawled out on the bucolic lawn, books surrounding them. Designated an official Central Park Quiet Zone, the Conservatory Garden is one of the most peaceful places in all of New York.

The Conservatory Garden is featured twice in The Girl on the Train. It first appears in an early scene in which a distraught Rachel (Emily Blunt) tries to find solace after discovering that the woman she has been watching is having an affair.

It then pops up again in one of the film’s closing scenes. Interestingly, the Three Dancing Maidens fountain figures prominently in The Girl on the Train’s theme. As is explained in the movie’s production notes, “Central Park provided the visual image that [director Tate] Taylor chose to frame the story: a sculpture of three dancing maidens at the Untermeyer Fountain, which graces the Conservatory Garden near 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. Early in the story, unemployed and drunken Rachel goes to the fountain to kill time. Later in the film, she returns there sober, with a new appreciation of the artwork’s three joyful females holding hands as they encircle the fountain. ‘Tate connected with this idea of the three women in the sculpture and the three women in our story,’ says [production designer Kevin] Thompson. ‘That was the poetry that he saw in that fountain.’”

It is at the Conservatory Garden that David Shayne (John Cusack) tells Helen Sinclair (Dianne Wiest) that he is falling in love with her in the 1994 comedy Bullets Over Broadway.

While a few websites state that the Conservatory Garden is where John Reese (Jim Caviezel), Lionel Fusco (Kevin Chapman), and Joss Carter (Taraji P. Henson) discuss HR in the Season 2 episode of Person of Interest titled “Bury the Lede,” that information is incorrect. Though an overhead shot of the park is shown leading up to the scene . . .

. . . actual filming took place elsewhere. (Though I am not certain, I believe the scene was shot at Forest Park in Queens, where another portion of the episode was lensed.)

Being that the Conservatory Garden is easily one of the most picturesque spots on the island of Manhattan, I’m shocked it has not been featured in more productions over the years.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Conservatory Garden, from The Girl on the Train, is located at 5th Avenue and 105th Street in New York’s East Harlem. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

September 7, 2016September 2, 2016

Bow Bridge from “Glee”

I have a thing for Central Park bridges. One of my favorite places in all of New York City – in all of the world, actually – is Gapstow Bridge. I’ve stalked it countless times, blogged about it, and honestly just cannot get enough of its bucolic beauty. Though I have walked pretty much every square inch of the park and seen the vast majority of its bridges, one span that I had never properly stalked until my recent NYC visit this past April was Bow Bridge, which I knew of from its two appearances on the television series Glee.

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Designed by Calvert Vaux, Bow Bridge was constructed between 1859 and 1862 and has the distinction of being the first cast-iron bridge built in Central Park.

The 87-foot-long site gets its name from its arched shape, which is said to resemble the bows of both archers and musicians.

Bow Bridge sits atop the Central Park Lake and, with its 60-foot span, connects Cherry Hill to The Ramble.

The structure’s walkway is made of the highly durable South American ipe (pronounced ee-pay) wood, also known as Brazilian walnut.

Not only is the bridge itself extremely picturesque . . .

. . . but its setting is absolutely magical.

Bow Bridge also boasts some pretty amazing views.

As such, it should come as no surprise that the location has been featured countless times onscreen – far too many times for me to properly document here. But read on for a list of the highlights.

In the Season 2 episode of Glee titled “New York,” Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) surprises Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) with a spontaneous date in the Big Apple, telling her via text to “Meet me in Central Park at Bow Bridge. Dress up. Finn.”

The two meet on the bridge, where Finn gives Rachel flowers, and they then venture off to various landmark Manhattan locales. During their date, Rachel says, “Being in New York is like falling in love over and over again every minute.” I know what you mean, Rachel. I know what you mean.

Rachel returned to Bow Bridge – wearing a fabulous fuchsia trench coat – while singing “Yesterday” in the Season 5 episode titled “Love, Love, Love.”

Bow Bridge was the site of another romantic scene involving another Finn. In 1998’s Great Expectations, Finnegan Bell (Ethan Hawke) met up with Estella (Gwyneth Paltrow) at the picturesque site.

Molly (Brittany Murphy) jumps from Bow Bridge into The Lake in the 2003 comedy Uptown Girls.

Bow Bridge is where Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) breaks up with Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) in 2007’s Spider-Man 3.

That same year, Giselle (Amy Adams) danced across the bridge, while Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey) followed behind, during Enchanted’s big “That’s How You Know” number.

Patrick Dempsey returned to Bow Bridge for the filming of Made of Honor. It is there that Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) tells Dempsey’s character, Tom, that she is going to Scotland for six weeks in the 2008 romcom.

Beth (Kristen Bell) jogged across the bridge in 2010’s When in Rome.

Bow Bridge was also featured a couple of times in the Season 7 episode of Doctor Who titled “The Angels Take Manhattan,” which aired in 2012.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Bow Bridge, from the “New York” and “Love, Love, Love” episodes of Glee, is located in Central Park at 74th Street, just west of Bethesda Terrace.

August 29, 2016August 27, 2016

The Ansonia from “Single White Female”

There is no shortage of strikingly beautiful, ornately embellished buildings on New York’s Upper West Side. I blogged about one of them, The Apthorp, and the circuitous route some friends and I took to stalk it on Friday. That route included a stop at another gorgeous UWS structure, The Ansonia, easily one of the most breathtaking properties I have ever laid eyes on. Since the site has appeared in countless productions over the years, including the 1992 thriller Single White Female, I figured it was definitely blog-worthy.

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Commissioned in 1899 by millionaire property developer William Earl Dodge Stokes, the building took five years to complete at a cost of $3 million, finally opening to the public on April 19th, 1904. The 17-story Beau Arts-style structure originally served as a luxury residential hotel.

Encompassing 550,000 square feet of space, the ornate limestone building was designed by French architect Paul E. M. Duboy, though Stokes was said to have had a large hand in the conception.

Upon completion, The Ansonia boasted a roof garden with two pools, a basement swimming pool, an art collection, a towering rooftop skylight, a two-story mansard roof, turreted corner towers, balconies, and balustrades.

Stokes also harbored a virtual circus of animals onsite. Several geese, goats, ducks, a bear, a pig, and 500 chickens made their home in the roof garden, while seals were stationed in a fountain in the lobby.

Each of The Ansonia’s 340 suites featured countless then cutting-edge amenities such as an early form of air conditioning, electric stoves, a tubing system to deliver messages, and hot and cold running water.

According to a 2005 New York magazine article, Stokes was not a fan of insurance companies and hoped to avoid using them in any of the dealings with his new building. As such, he went so far as to establish a company that manufactured a strong terra-cotta that would help fireproof The Ansonia. The interior walls were also built incredibly thick for the same purpose, making the hotel units largely soundproof, which made the site attractive to musicians such as conductor Arturo Toscanini, pianist Igor Stravinsky, and opera singers Lauritz Melchior, Ezio Pinza, Enrico Caruso, and Lily Pons, who all stayed on the premises at one time or another. Other luminaries who checked in included Billie Burke, Florenz Ziegfeld, Babe Ruth, and Jack Dempsey. The Ansonia was also where Arnold “Chick” Gandil and some of his fellow Chicago White Sox players cooked up the scheme to throw 1919 World Series.

The 1930s and ‘40s were not kind to The Ansonia. Due to the Great Depression, the site began to lose revenue causing all of the hotel facilities, including restaurants, to be shut down and the building was eventually transformed into an apartment house. During World War II, the property was stripped of all of its metal detailing, which was then sent to be used for war supplies, and its large skylight covered over with tar to satisfy the blackout ordinances.

The structure fell into such disrepair that it even faced demolition by its then owner in 1970. Thankfully, Ansonia residents and concerned local citizens stepped in and had the building landmarked, protecting it from being razed. In 1978, the property was purchased by investor Jesse Krasnow who began a lengthy restoration process. His idea of restoration was vastly different from most of the residents, though, and in 1980 they banded together, filed a lawsuit against Krasnow, and began a rent strike. There was dissention among the ranks, though, and a smaller group wound up breaking off and filing a different lawsuit. Of the tenuous situation, journalist Steven Gaines said in the same New York magazine article, “The Ansonia Hotel became the single most litigated residence in the history of New York City. A housing-court judge was assigned full-time to the case, and over the next ten years, Krasnow found himself cast in the role of one of the city’s most villainous landlords.” Jesse eventually converted the Ansonia to a condominium building, bought out the most troubled tenants, and set the property on a more copasetic path. He still owns the building today.

One look at The Ansonia’s uniquely arresting architecture and it is easy to see how it has wound up onscreen so many times over the years – far too many times for me to fully chronicle here, but I’ll try.

In Single White Female, The Ansonia served as the apartment building of Allison Jones (Bridget Fonda), where she first lived with her philandering boyfriend, Sam Rawson (Steven Weber), and then with her psychotic roommate, Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

Many great shots of the property were shown in the movie.

Though the interior of Allison’s apartment was a set and not one of The Ansonia’s actual units . . .

. . . the building’s grand interior staircase, which spans 17 floors, was utilized in the filming.

Curmudgeon actor Willy Clark (Walter Matthau) lived at The Ansonia in the 1975 comedy The Sunshine Boys.

That same year, the alley that runs behind The Ansonia appeared in Three Days of the Condor as the spot where Joseph Turner (Robert Redford) engaged in a shootout.

Two Brittany Murphy productions have been shot at The Ansonia. In the 2001 thriller Don’t Say a Word, the building served as the home of Dr. Nathan R. Conrad (Michael Douglas).

And at the beginning of the 2003 comedy Uptown Girls, Brittany’s character, Molly, called a top floor residence home.

In the 2006 comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend, G-Girl (Uma Thurman) puts out a massive fire at The Ansonia.

The Ansonia served as the home of Rowena Price (Halle Berry) in the 2007 thriller Perfect Stranger.

The building masked as the fictional Upper East Side Drake residential hotel, supposedly located at 999 Park Avenue, on the 2012 television series 666 Park Avenue.

The real life interior of The Ansonia was featured in the pilot episode of the series. Those interiors were later re-built on a soundstage at Cine Magic Riverfront Studios in Brooklyn for all subsequent filming once the show was picked up.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Ansonia, from Single White Female, is located at 2109 Broadway on New York’s Upper West Side.

August 26, 2016August 26, 2016

The Apthorp from “Funny Farm”

I am the first to admit that, though I am not a natural towhead, I am a dumb blonde through and through. The Grim Cheaper often kids that all of the hair dye I’ve used over the years has obviously gone to my brain. Case in point – during a 2008 trip to New York, the two of us came across a massive and beautiful building on the Upper West Side. We were both struck by the structure’s size and elegance and stopped to peer through its front gates at the gorgeous and also massive central courtyard. I made a mental note of the property’s name, The Apthorp, but did not take many photographs of it because, at the time, I did not realize it was a filming location. Later that same year, I read the novel Black & White by Dani Shapiro, in which the main character, Clara Dunne, grew up in The Apthorp. The building served as an almost character in the story and I became even more fascinated by it. Flash forward to our recent trip to the Big Apple. While planning our visit, I came across a blurb about the building in a movie locations book – or at least I thought I did. The book actually referenced another striking and similarly-named Upper West Side structure, The Ansonia, with a mention that Single White Female had been shot on the premises. So I added The Ansonia’s address (2109 Broadway) to my To-Stalk List and dragged the GC and our friends Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, Lavonna, Kim, and Katie out to see it our second day in the city.

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As soon as we walked up to the building, though, I realized I had gotten my wires crossed somewhere, as it wasn’t the place I had remembered. While gorgeous and grand in size, The Ansonia (pictured below) lacked that stunning central courtyard that the GC and I had been so enamored with. Thoroughly confused, I apologized to the group and pulled out my trusty iPhone to figure out where I had gone wrong. A woman happened to overhear my musings over the mistake and mentioned that there was another spectacular structure located nearby named The Dorilton. She figured it might be the place I was looking for. So our group walked a few blocks south to 171 West 71st Street to see if it was the spot the GC and I had visited all those years ago. (And don’t worry, I will be doing a blog post on The Ansonia and its many onscreen appearances soon.)

The Dorilton (pictured below) proved to be a bust, too. Though the building is undoubtedly stunning and huge, and even boasts a courtyard, I knew right away it was not the correct place.

Feeling like a complete and total dolt, I was ready to throw in the towel when Owen mentioned another stately Upper West Side building, The Apthorp, that boasts a large central courtyard. He knew of the locale thanks to its appearance in the 1988 film Funny Farm. So our poor group once again turned around and headed eight blocks north to take a look. Sure enough, Owen had hit the nail on the head! The building I had remembered was The Apthorp! I later mentioned to Owen that I felt like we were playing “musical buildings” that day. Huge thanks to him for finally leading us to the right spot!

Commissioned by the Astor family, The Apthorp was designed by the Clinton and Russell architecture firm in 1908. The 12-story Italian Renaissance Revival-style structure, which occupies an entire city block, originally consisted of 103 uniquely-designed units, each with eleven-foot ceilings and eight-foot windows. The building, which for a time was New York’s largest apartment complex and even today remains one of its most luxurious, is best known for its grand entrance featuring a spectacular curved limestone ceiling and an intricate wrought iron gate, as well as the 12,000-square-foot courtyard that serves as its centerpiece.

Sadly, the courtyard is closed off to the general public. The glimpses that can be gleaned, though, show that it is strikingly beautiful and sprawling.

Considering its lavish appointments, it is no surprise that The Apthorp has been home to many celebrities and notables throughout its history including Al Pacino, Lena Horne, Joseph Heller, Rosie O’Donnell, Conan O’Brien, Nora Ephron, and Cyndi Lauper, who in an absolutely ridiculous move in 2005 sued the building’s owners to have the rate on her rent-stabilized unit lowered from $3,750 to $989 a month. Even more ridiculous – she won the case. As an article in The New York Sun about the verdict stated, “So New Yorkers can sleep easy in their (excessively expensive) bedrooms tonight, knowing that the truly needy are getting affordable housing.”

In 2006, The Apthorp was purchased by a developer, who set about turning the units into condos. Cindy’s wasn’t the only apartment to be rent-stabilized, so as you can imagine, the transition did not go smoothly. What followed was several years worth of fighting with the many tenants opposing the change, the Attorney General who not only shut down the sales office for a time, but fined the developers $190,000, and the brokers who at one point all resigned. The conversion was so fraught with drama that Curbed New York dubbed their series of reports on the story “As the Apthorp Turns.”

The condo conversion did eventually go through and the husband-and-wife architecture team of Ingrid Birkhofer and Fernando Papale were commissioned to bring each unit back to its original glory. The result of their efforts is nothing short of spectacular. You can check out some images of the re-vamped building here and here. As Jason Sheftell wrote in a 2009 Daily News article, “Determined not to turn the Apthorp into the next Plaza Hotel, where New York history was massacred by poor layouts and claustrophobic rooms, owners and architects executed a long-term project, with skilled artisans restoring apartments as they become vacant.” I am so thankful that such care was taken to conserve the building’s past. As I noted in this 2009 blog post, I was not at all impressed with the conversion of the Plaza and wholeheartedly agree with Sheftell’s assessment that the hotel and its history were “massacred.” Today, The Apthorp boasts four lobbies, 161 units, a private spa, a gym, a yoga studio, a steam room, a sauna, an entertainment suite, and a kids’ playroom. What I wouldn’t give to live there!

The Apthorp has been featured in countless productions. According to a 1986 The New York Times article, at that time around 30 films were shot on the premise each year! Though I could never properly chronicle all of the movies and television shows shot at the building, read on for a list of a few of the highlights.

The building was featured in the opening scenes of Funny Farm as the New York home of Andy (Chevy Chase) and Elizabeth (Madolyn Smith Osborne). The front exterior of The Apthorp . . .

. . . as well as the courtyard were featured in the flick.

In the 1976 movie Network, The Apthorp served as the home of Max Schumacher (William Holden).

According to the book Mad as Hell, Apartment 9F was utilized in the filming.

The exterior of the building was also shown briefly in the film.

I was floored to learn while researching for this post that The Apthorp was featured briefly as the home of John Russell (George C. Scott) in my favorite scary movie of all time, 1980’s The Changeling. For those who have never seen the film, I cannot recommend it more. It’s absolutely terrifying!

Interestingly, it appears that 9F, the very same unit that was featured in Network, was also utilized as John’s apartment in The Changeling. As you can see below, the living room areas from both films are an exact match.

As are the kitchens.

Vera Cicero (Diane Lane) lived at The Apthorp in 1984’s The Cotton Club.

Nora Ephron not only lived in the building for a time, but she also filmed a movie there. In the 1986 dramedy Heartburn, Rachel Samstat (Meryl Streep) heads to the home of her father at The Apthorp after finding out that her husband is cheating on her.

Supposedly, the interior of an Apthorp unit was used in the filming of the 1986 comedy The Money Pit, but because all of the apartments in the building were individually designed and bear very different looks, it was impossible for me to verify that information.

The Apthorp was used regularly on the 2009 NBC series Kings.

Though its roofline was digitally altered on the show.

Horvath (Alfred Molina) and Balthazar (Nicolas Cage) are released from their ten-year imprisonment in an urn while at The Apthorp in the 2010 adventure film The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

In the Season 1 episode of Person of Interest titled “Super,” which aired in 2012, John Reese (Jim Caviezel) moves into The Apthorp to investigate the building’s longtime superintendent, Ernie Trask (David Zayas).

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Big THANK YOU to my friend Owen, from the When Write Is Wrong blog, for not only figuring out which building I was looking for, but for letting me know of its appearance in Funny Farm and for providing the screen captures from the movie that appear in this post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Apthorp, from Funny Farm, is located at 2211 Broadway on New York’s Upper West Side.

August 19, 2016August 27, 2018

The Rum House from “Birdman”

The Grim Cheaper typically could care less about filming locations, but he is absolutely obsessed with the movie The Godfather. So I included a couple of locales from the 1972 Best Picture winner on the itinerary for our recent trip to the Big Apple. One of those spots was Hotel Edison, a historic Theater District lodging that made a brief appearance in the flick. While we were stalking the place, we happened to strike up a conversation with the super-friendly doorman who informed us that the property’s first-floor bar, The Rum House, had been featured in another Best Picture winner, 2014’s Birdman. So we headed right on in to snap some photos of it. As I’ve said many times before, stalking begets stalking.

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Commissioned by Milton J. Kramer, the 26-story Hotel Edison was originally designed by Herbert J. Knapp in 1931. Thomas Edison was enlisted to turn on the property’s lights (albeit via a remote control from his home in New Jersey) during the grand opening ceremony.

Despite a few renovations that have taken place over the years, the hotel still appears to boast much of its original Art Deco detailing. You can check out a postcard with vintage images of the property here.

At the time of its founding, Hotel Edison featured three onsite restaurants. Today, there is only one eatery/bar in operation on the premises – The Rum House.

The Rum House was originally established in 1973. By the time its owners lost their lease in 2009, the place was in desperate need of a facelift.

Thankfully, a group of restaurateurs including Kenneth McCoy, Michael Neff, and Abdul Tabini took over the space in 2011 and began a renovation. The threesome kept much of the watering hole’s original charm intact, while adding some updates, including a new bar, lighting, and tile flooring. Of the redesign, McCoy stated in a 2015 New York Post article, “We wanted to bring back the feeling of a Times Square piano bar in the 1940s or ’50s.” You can see what it formerly looked like here.

The renovated lounge quickly became a hit with New Yorkers, tourists, and celebrities alike. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Tony Danza, George Wendt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Molly Ringwald, and Jon Hamm. Emma Stone and Bill Murray even tickled the ivories there together one night in 2014.

The Rum House appeared twice in Birdman. It first popped up in the scene in which Mike (Edward Norton) and Riggan (Michael Keaton) discussed their bad preview.

The exterior of The Rum House was also featured in that scene. Through a bit of camera trickery, the bar was made to appear as if it is situated next door to the St. James Theatre, where much of the film took place. In reality, though, it is located three blocks to the north.

Riggan returns to The Rum House to grab a drink in a later scene and winds up confronting theatre critic Tabitha Dickinson (Lindsay Duncan).

According to the Post article, location manager Joaquin Prange chose The Rum House, which shut down for a week to accommodate the shoot, because of its old school aesthetic. He says, “The place needed to fit with Michael Keaton’s character. He’s a recovering alcoholic. Just the fact that he’s taking a drink is a big deal, and the look of the place needed to reflect that. Rum House is dark and woody, with a bit of a patina, like the kind of place where Riggan Thomson would go for a drink by himself. This is not about drinking during the good times, but we also wanted a bar that looked classy, a place that could make you a good cocktail. It was not about finding a dive.” The cast and crew wound up liking The Rum House so much that an impromptu wrap party was held there the last night of filming shortly after the final scene was lensed.

As I mentioned earlier, Hotel Edison appeared briefly in The Godfather. It popped up at the beginning of the scene in which Luca Brasi (Lenny Montana) headed to meet with Sollozzo (Al Lettieri). In the segment, Brasi is shown walking through the Edison’s rear hallway, which can be reached via 46th Street. (Sadly, that area of the hotel was closed for renovations when we were there so I could not photograph it.) When Brasi turned the corner to head into the restaurant where he ultimately met his end, though, he was at a different location entirely – a much disputed location. While it has been reported in several books and online that Sollozzo killed Brasi in Hotel Edison’s now shuttered Sofia Ristorante Italiano, according to Scouting NY the scene was actually shot at the Hotel St. George in Brooklyn.

The same Hotel Edison hallway appeared in 1994’s Bullets over Broadway as the spot where David Shayne (John Cusack) argued with Julian Marx (Jack Warden) about hiring Olive Neal (Jennifer Tilly) for a role in his play.

I was floored to discover while researching Hotel Edison for this post that the site’s now shuttered Café Edison was used in an episode of Sex and the City! In Season 5’s “Anchors Away,” Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) seeks shelter from the rain – and a bowl of matzo ball soup – at the eatery and winds up being seated next to a woman who has a penchant for lithium-laced ice cream. Café Edison was a longtime Theater District staple that served meals onsite from 1980 through 2014 when its owners, unfortunately, lost their lease. The space currently remains shuttered. You can see some photos of what it used to look like here.

The hotel’s Edison Ballroom also made an appearance in “Anchors Away” as the spot where Carrie and her friends party with the plethora of sailors in town for Fleet Week. At the time, the space was known as Supper Club and, though it looks a bit different today, it is still recognizable from its SATC cameo. You can check out some photos of what it currently looks like here.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Rum House, from Birdman, is located at 228 West 47th Street, inside of Hotel Edison, in New York’s Theater District. You can visit the watering hole’s official website here.

August 15, 2016August 12, 2016

The TKTS Booth from “Glee”

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I bailed on the television series Glee shortly after the second part of the first season began airing. In my opinion, after starting out so strong, the show totally jumped the shark at that point. But because I love the Big Apple, I did make sure to tune in to the Season 2 episode titled “New York,” which was partially shot in Manhattan. One of the locations featured was the TKTS booth, or TKTS staircase, in Times Square. While I had seen the booth shortly after it was constructed in 2008, I had never properly stalked it. So, since the site is so picturesque and so quintessentially New York, I made sure to amend that while visiting the city this past April.

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The TKTS (pronounced “Tee-Kay-Tee-Ess”) booth was initially established in 1973 to provide theatregoers with same-day discount tickets to Broadway shows. The pavilion was constructed at Duffy Square, a traffic island situated between West 46th Street, 7th Avenue, Broadway, and West 47th Street that was named in honor of World War I military chaplain Father Francis P. Duffy. (A statue honoring Duffy is pictured in the images below.) The original design, which was completed by the Mayers & Schiff Associates architecture firm and stood at the site from 1973 through 2006, consisted of a trailer surrounded by a red truss frame strung through with white canvas panels bearing the TKTS logo. You can see what it looked like here and here.

Though Mayers & Schiff’s design proved iconic, the structure was only meant to be a temporary installation and it eventually began to show signs of wear and tear. In 1999, the Theatre Development Fund, along with the NYC 2000 Millennium Committee and the Van Alen Institute, hosted a competition to re-design the booth. Over 683 submissions were received, but there was one clear winner. Australian architects John Choi and Tai Ropiha’s concept of a red staircase topping a transparent pavilion won the vote. Of their creation, juror Tucker Viemeister said, “The winner is really the winner. Seldom in a design competition with so many excellent entries is the winner so obviously the best choice. It goes beyond meeting the criteria and is even poetic (which is really hard considering the Times Square environment!) It will become a landmark.” The Perkins Eastman architecture firm was brought in to finalize the design, which consists of a glass ticket booth with twelve sales windows . . .

. . . capped by a large set of red bleacher-style steps.

Construction of the new booth began in May 2006 and was completed in October 2008.

The TKTS stairs have gone on to win 18 design awards and today are a favorite gathering place for New Yorkers and tourists alike. The site is also turning into a popular filming location.

In the “New York” episode of Glee, the New Directions members gather at the TKTS booth upon first arriving in the Big Apple for Nationals. While there, they spontaneously break out into an a cappella version of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

The TKTS booth also popped up later in the episode during the “I Love New York”/”New York, New York” mash-up number.

Alicia Keys and Jay Z made prominent use of the TKTS stairs in their 2009 music video for “Empire State of Mind.”

You can watch that video by clicking below.

Get More: Jay Z, Empire State of Mind feat. Alicia Keys, Music, More Music Videos

A dilapidated version of the TKTS booth was featured in 2007’s I Am Legend, though no actual filming took place at the site.

Instead, the steps were re-created as part of an elaborate set inside of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx for the shoot. You can see photos of that re-creation and the entire Times Square set here.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The TKTS Booth, from the “New York” episode of Glee, is located at 1564 Broadway in Times Square.

August 1, 2016July 29, 2016

The “Sex and the City” Starbucks

One of the best things about starting this blog is the people it has put me in contact with – a myriad of fabulous individuals who share my unique affection for filming locations. One such fellow stalker, a New Yorker named Gary, has gifted me with countless Big Apple locales since we first started exchanging emails way back in 2010. Most of Gary’s knowledge comes from driving a cab for three years. The job took him all over NYC, made him familiar with its nooks and crannies, and he now knows the city like the back of his hand. He has also come across quite a few filmings during his tenure in New York and, thanks to his hawk-like memory, can recall where each took place. One such filming was of a Sex and the City episode that Gary witnessed being shot at the Starbucks at 16th Street and Eighth Avenue. Well believe you me, when I read the words “Sex and the City” and “Starbucks,” I practically came unglued and added the locale to my NYC To-Stalk list. And while Gary could not remember which episode the scene appeared in, it did not take me long to figure it out.

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In Season 4’s “The Good Fight,” Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) heads to the Eighth Avenue Starbucks for some respite after getting into a huge fight with then fiancé Aidan Shaw (John Corbett) over the lack of space in their newly shared apartment. (You can watch that fight here.) While there, she says, “I used to think those people who sat alone at Starbucks writing on their laptops were pretentious posers. Now I know – they’re people who have recently moved in with someone. As I looked around, I wondered how many of them were mid-fight, like myself. The hard thing about fighting in relationships as opposed to Madison Square Garden? No referee. There’s no one to tell you which comments are below the belt or when to go to your separate corners. As a result, someone usually gets hurt. And it seems the closer a couple gets and the more stuff they have between them, the harder it is to figure out exactly why they’re yelling. When it comes to relationships, I couldn’t help but wonder, what are we fighting for?” Despite the fact that I have re-watched the entire Sex and the City series a copious amount of times, I often forget how ingenious the writing is. When the Grim Cheaper and I first moved in together, we had Aidan and Carrie’s exact same fight. In preparation for our move – and the tiny closet at our new apartment – I had thrown out countless outfits that I loved. So when the GC showed up with six (six!) medium-sized boxes filled solely with white undershirts, I practically had a meltdown. Thankfully, we survived our tiff (after five of those boxes of undershirts were thrown out, of course), but Carrie and Aiden did not. They broke up just two episodes later.

Most of the Starbucks scene was shot looking in through the property’s south window.

Though the café’s exterior remains unchanged from its onscreen appearance in 2002, I somehow failed to snap a photograph of the correct window.

You can check out Google Street View images of it below, though.

While very little of the Starbucks interior was shown in “The Good Fight,” it is apparent that the space has been remodeled since filming took place and looks a bit different today.

In the scene, Carrie sat at a tall shared table in the middle of the café.

That exact table is no longer there, but a similar one currently stands in the same spot.

I was excited to see that the seating that runs along the south window, which was visible in the scene, remains intact.

It was raining when we showed up to stalk “The Good Fight” Starbucks and, as a result, the place was exorbitantly crowded, which made it a bit difficult to snap pics. The deluge is also the reason I did not pose for my normal photograph out in front of the locale. And although I hate rain pretty much more than anything, as I said that day to fellow stalker Owen, of the When Write Is Wrong blog, “I’ll take rain in New York over sun in Palm Springs any day!” Smile

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Gary for telling me about this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: The Starbucks from “The Good Fight” episode of Sex and the City is located at 124 8th Avenue in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood.