I took a trip to NY City...

Ghostbusters Discussion General Ghostbusters Discussion
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I’ve driven through NY several times, just on the cross-Bronx expressway/I-95 on my way to points south.

But from Aug 21 to 26 I was “really” in NY city for the first time. Stayed at a hotel in midtown and spent the time walking around Manhattan (& taking the subway) to visit all the classic Ghostbusters-related places.

-Took the subway to Little Italy, walked through there to Chinatown and then Tribeca, found the Firehouse (Hook & Ladder 8 ), took a ton of pics, talked to other GB fans congregating in the area, ate at Walker’s. They are building some huge, 80-story monstrosity right behind the Firehouse.

-Walked from hotel to Bryant Park and the New York Public Library, took pics all around there, the lion statues, etc. Went in and took a bunch of pics. The main reading room (Rose room?) is closed until 2017. Very disappointed. No air conditioning in the library, it was HOT.

-Walked to Columbus Circle, where the Marshmallow Man appeared. Took pics of Dana’s building, the church that gets stepped on, etc.

-Walked up to 87th(?) St. to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. No Vigo. lol

-Went thru Central Park and found the Sheep Meadow. Took pics of the cityscape that matched the ones in GB when Spook Central had the dark clouds forming. 55 central park west is shorter than in the movie. :slight_smile:

This was an amazing trip…we also saw AC/DC play Metlife in NJ, went to WWE SummerSlam, saw the Jets play the Falcons in NFL pre-season football, went to Coney Island, and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge.

But the Ghostbusters locations were the high point for me. What an amazing experience. I strongly urge any GB fan who is thinking about visiting NY and doing this to do so. I’d wanted to for years, and boy was it worth it!

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Wow, the Rose Room is still closed off? When I was there in July 2014, they estimated it would reopen in six months.

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Alex

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It was something about the ceiling. Mold? They have to replace the ceiling. Opening again in early 2017, according to the sign.

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…by the way, when I was walking from Tavern on the Green to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I passed a film set and for a few seconds I thought it was Ghostbusters! But it turned out to be the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. :frowning:

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You did more in NYC in one week than I have and I have lived here my whole life. Glad you had an awesome trip! :cool:

Oh and don’t over look Kimmy Schmidt. Besides being hilarious that show is full of GB references.

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I’ve never watched Kimmy Schmidt, maybe I will download some eps.

As for the trip, it WAS awesome! It was expensive, though…had to save up for a long time to be able to afford to see the events we went to, plus pay for the hotel room in midtown. Everything in midtown was expensive, actually.

But I was surprised how cheap the Ghostbusters-related stuff was. For the price of a subway fare I did just about every GB-related thing I could, many were within walking distance.

I would have liked to eat at Tavern on the Green (Louis tries to get in the back door for some reason…Go around the front, Louis!) but they were closed when I was there at 8 AM. The menu is posted outside, though, and it is an expensive place to say the least.

I’d like to recommend a place to eat: Wolfgang’s Steakhouse on East 54th. Got a ribeye. WOW.

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Sounds like you had a great time. :cool: (despite being somewhat expensive.)

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Episode 6 has a quick reference to a Winston Zeddemore High school.

Episode 8 has Kimmy dining at Tavern on the Green, which she simply calls “The Ghostbusters Restaurant”-- she is basically a thirty-year-old woman with the emotional maturity and pop-culture references of someone 15 years old, having been deprived of any news of the outside world since the mid-80s.

The Tavern on the Green scene ends with a character sliding down the glass in a great homage to Louis Tully.

For some screencaps and further discussion of the show, check out page 40 of this thread:

I gave it a look just for the GB references, got hooked, and binge-watched the entire first season.

I’m currently binge-watching another show that films in NYC, Person of Interest, and have spotted several familiar locales either from the GB filming locations or other places I explored last year.

Alex

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Thanks Alex, sounds like an interesting show!

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Going to New York and visiting the Ghostbusters locations is on my bucket list. But I fear the expenses to travel there.

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Manhattan is crazy expensive, especially midtown (where you have to stay in order to be in walking distance of all the attractions and GB locations).

That having been said, I encourage you to do it! I wanted to for many years and it was worth every penny.

p.s. The firehouse is far from the other GB places (Columbus Circle, Met. Museum of Art, NY Public Library, 55 Central Park West, Central Park itself, Tavern on the Green). But a quick subway trip takes you to Chinatown/Little Italy, from which you can easily walk to Tribeca where Hook & Ladder 8 is located.

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Is Chinatown/Little Italy subway station the closest GB location related subway station to the firehouse? And if so how many minutes walking do you think it is from that subway exit to the firehouse?

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If you’re planning a GB Pilgrimage to NYC, I highly recommend studying SpookCentral’s pages about the filming locations for both films: http://www.theraffon.net/~spookcentral/loc.htm

Paul and his contributors have done an amazingly in-depth job of identifying where practically every location shot was lensed. These pages also let you know what locations are close to one another. The production crew maximized each location by shooting other things nearby, and you can too once you understand which things are near each other.

(I never knew that the spot where Stay-Puft makes his first grand entrance was also the same spot where Louis talks to the horse, until I began researching this stuff for my trip.)

I found these pages so helpful, I was very happy to take some modern comparison pics that Paul wanted, many of which can be found at the bottom of the entries.

I had a buddy living in Brooklyn at the time of my trip. He got me a foldout map of Manhattan a few months before my departure, and as I researched all the NYC locales, I placed little stickers on the map for each site with an explanation of what they were.

I spent so much time cross-referencing Paul’s list of street addresses with GoogleEarth to find them on the map, that when I was flying over NYC on my final approach to LaGuardia, I was able to pick out things like the Museum and the Church beside 55 CPW from the air.

I also did several Men in Black locations. The MiB HQ is a stone’s throw from the Museum, and the Guggenheim is very close to the place on the Reservoir where they trap the ghost in GB2.

If I ever go back, I definitely want to visit the site of the World’s Fair out in Flushing Meadows. It’s a location from MiB, mentioned in a deleted scene of GB1, and was home to several rides that eventually relocated to Disneyland. (Disney Parks are another of my passions.)

Alex

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No, there are closer subway stations, I just wanted to see Chinatown and Little Italy. :slight_smile: The walk was about 20 minutes or so, maybe 25. But I was sightseeing and taking pics the whole way, could probably walk from Canal St.& Broadway subway station to Varick St. (where the firehouse is) in 15 min if walking fast and not stopping.

That’s a great suggestion. I had read those before, but years ago, and didn’t remember to re-read them before hopping on the plane. :slight_smile: