Seen & Heard: Film-Shoot Overkill

••• Tara of Tribeca at 20 Warren put up an awning. It looks like the bar is going to try to go straight to the State Liquor Authority again (after Community Board 1 refused to allow 4 a.m. closing).

Tara of Tribeca••• Still another shoot (this one on Monday): The signs around Duane and Hudson are for “Abercrombie,” so presumably it’s a commercial. The Mayor’s Office for Media & Entertainment needs to give this neighborhood a rest already. The big shoot yesterday that called for several blocks—Franklin, N. Moore, etc.—to be cleared was a pretty significant disruption.

••• The Chambers side of the Reade Chambers came out from under its veil. Looks nice! The more interesting side, on Reade, is still behind netting.

The Reade Chambers Chambers side•••May 6 at Apexart: “Described as ‘The Muppet Show meets Flight of the Concords’ by Theater is Easy, Ithai Benjamin sits on a chair much like his digital automatons. Who’s leading who? Recalling vaudeville ventriloquists and their dummies Benjamin and his robots, who are together known as The Princes of Persuasion, banter between songs as if they were jamming in their living room. The Princes of Persuasion will play a 30-minute set followed by a short talk by Benjamin about his puppetry practice.” Free.

••• This’ll help show where you’ll be most likely to engage with L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon when it opens at Brookfield Place.

LAtelier de Joel Robuchon••• A reader sent in an update on Collect Pond Park:

Collect Pond Park continues its struggle to the finish line. The northern edge is getting a slathering of pavers. Maybe the chain-link fence that’s been ringing the site of the work for the last 5 years or so will come down at some point? The “water feature” is still a very dry affair. But work does seem to be progressing on that front as well. I’m not sure what went wrong with the pumps or drainage, but workers have torn up an area to the east side to service whatever did go wrong. Given the unsettled nature of the landfill of the area I have a feeling they’ll be back. (It’s not just a park… It’s also a jobs program!) Speaking of jobs, I hope the people who seem to spend most of the day in the park get some help for what troubles them. For some reason this park is a magnet for garbage hoarders and the animals that love them.

Collect Pond northern edge Collect Pond water feature

 

8 Comments

  1. Albeit overkill please note “the important economic role the production industry plays in New York City: the $400 million in tax revenue generated by the hundreds of films and television shows produced throughout the five boroughs translates to salaries for thousands of local firefighters, teachers and sanitation workers. The industry also employs over 130,000 fellow New Yorkers who work behind the scenes on films and TV shows. ”
    Thanks

  2. Can we eliminate the loud noise and music on an early Sunday morning from the the start line of the “Five Boro Bike Tour” at Franklin St. and Church St. in exchange for some extra film shoots during the week?

    • Bill, So with you! 7am wake up call from a woman behind a microphone at Chambers & Church who sounded like she was yelling at us with a megaphone from the bottom of our bed. It was nuts – this is a residential neighborhood. We talked to someone who was in the tour and asked if the amplified woman made any difference to his ride. I think we all know the answer. This is a residential neighborhood – crazytown on an early Sunday morning.

      • You guys were lucky. I live in Bay Ridge which is the almost-end of this nightmare of a bike tour. In addition to the helicopters flying overhead every few minutes, we had to deal with the incessant honking of cars trying to get to the Verrazano ALL DAY, starting at 10 am and ending around 6:30 PM. The 92 Street entrance ramp to the bridge was closed and people did not know where to go, causing horrendous traffic along 86 Street. The really bad thing was that ambulances could not even get through. Could have been a really bad situation.

    • This was THE loudest 5-bike tour EVER. I am so supportive of this race but they have done them for years WITHOUT THE SOUND SYSTEM FROM HELL. I finally called 311 around 10AM having listened to that screaming woman from our Duane & Church St corner for three hours. Trust me folks, They have done this race without ANY sound system AT ALL. Somehow the bikers survived. It was lovely seeing the bikers quietly assemble and ride on in the Spring morning mist.

  3. http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2013/11/8536314/unpublished-report-cuomos-tax-commission-questions-cuomo-initiative

    “New York’s tax rebates for movie and TV studios are so generous that the state is actually paying them to film here, according to an analysis prepared for—but not published by—one of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s tax commissions.

    “The 137-page addendum to the commission’s formal report asserts the Film and Television Tax Credit—which Cuomo has expanded to $420 million a year—now accounts for nearly a quarter of all business tax subsidies the state offers, and should be rolled back. […]

    “While film has blossomed in New York—especially since the opening of Steiner Studios in the Brooklyn Navy Yard—the addendum notes that ‘the industry accounts for less than one percent of the state’s employment’ and ‘many of the film industry jobs are temporary.’”

  4. The noise level with the amplified music playing along with the horns blasting every time a group started and the woman with the megaphone, this was absolutely the loudest 5 borough bike ride start since I have lived here. I agree, the event is high energy enough without all the amplification!

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