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Classic New York Movies: "You've Got Mail" and a Sweet UWS Apartment

March 20, 2008 at 4:00 PM | 0 Comments

Visit our Classic NYC Movies Map to... hey, what's that sound? Sorry, we got distracted by our 1998 e-mail.

When "You've Got Mail" opened in theatres and made a jillion dollars, we were young, naive non-New Yorkers. Why wouldn't a children's book store owner (Meg Ryan) and a publishing magnate (Tom Hanks) meet on AOL and eventually fall in love?

We had a screen name, we were fairly sure how it worked. Well, the Internet has changed a lot since then, but this movie is still a prime Sunday-afternoon cable pick--and its sense of Upper West Side geography pretty sound.

Well, sound with one big exception, and it's not that the Upper West Side is full of pretty people living decent lives. The bookstore Kathleen owns, the Shop Around the Corner, doesn't exist. Why location scouts didn't bother to find another of the many, many independent children's books in the city (like Books of Wonder or the Bank Street Bookstore) is beyond us, but you can see the storefront which stood in for Kathleen's shop at 169 West 69th Street. (It sells cheese and antiques.)

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Classic New York Movies: "Annie Hall" Left New York, but We Never Will

March 13, 2008 at 2:00 PM | 0 Comments

Visit our Classic NYC Movies Map because, well, you need the eggs.

We may have already visited the Land of Woody Allen once in this series, so you'll have to forgive us for doing it again. But no one has chronicled New York so thoroughly in his career; he may be making movies across the pond right now, but Allen will always be associated with New York City. No wonder the Academy had him make a rare Oscars appearance in 2002 to introduce a montage of clips of New York.

"Annie Hall" is not as travel-worthy as "Manhattan," particularly because many of the locations, like movie theaters like the Beekman Cinema (1254 2nd Ave.) and the Thalia (250 West 95th St.) have both been lost to Bergman fans the five boroughs over.

But Coney Island, the site of Allen's character Alvy Singer's childhood home, remains as does the Astroland amusement park there--for one more summer anyway, as it was recently bought out by a developer.

The 59th Street Bridge makes an appearance, and while it makes little sense that Alvy would trek all the way downtown to play tennis with his friend at the Wall Street Racquet Club (South Street at Pier 13), maybe he got a sadistic thrill out of beating those Wall Streeters in person. As for Annie, she lived on 70th Street between Park and Lex--very fashionable for such a bohemian!

Related Stories:
· Classic New York Movies coverage [Jaunted]
· Movie Set Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: bullyscomics]

Classic New York Movies: Where We Met Harry and Sally

February 28, 2008 at 1:30 PM | 2 Comments

Now that the Oscars are over, we're back to classic New York movies. Check out our map--just don't call it Sheldon.

1989's "When Harry Met Sally" begins in Chicago, but the story of a woman and a man who become friends over several years is at its heart a New York story, shaped by the experiences writer Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner as singles and divorcés in the city.

Harry and Sally may have lived uptown, but most of their adventures head downtown, like that memorable meal at Katz's Deli (205 E. Houston Street). You could have what she's having, but we recommend the pastrami. Their encounter at a bookstore should drive you to support the indie Shakespeare and Co. (downtown location at 716 Broadway), maybe even order some flowers from the local Plant Shed (2750 Broadway) instead of 1-800-FLOWERS.

Too broke from buying and furnishing your way-too-deluxe uptown apartment? Remember the admission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a "suggested donation." Maybe visiting these sites aren't great date material, but on the other hand, Harry and Sally started as friends first...

Related Stories:
· Classic New York Movies coverage [Jaunted]
· Movie Set Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: lazydork.com]

Classic NYC Movies: Disco To Brooklyn With John Travolta

February 14, 2008 at 3:30 PM | 0 Comments

Visit our Classic NYC Movies Map to get your groove on.

When we say "Brooklyn" in 2008, you probably think of hipsters, Park Slope mommy wars or Jay-Z. In the seventies, audiences everywhere were transported to a different Brooklyn, where Tony Manero (John Travolta) lived to rule the dance floor with his slick friends in "Saturday Night Fever." Whether you love the Bee Gees or think disco is the soundtrack to hell, you've probably done the "Stayin' Alive" strut down the street at least once... Admit it!

"Saturday Night Fever" was shot largely in the working-class community of Bay Ridge it portrayed, including external shots of the Manero house at 221 79th St. Sadly, the disco where Tony worked it, 2001 Odyssey, has since become what looks like a parking structure on Google Maps, but before that it was a working gay club called Spectrum.

You can still climb on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, but Jaunted does not endorse doing this. The Brooklyn of the '70s has almost disappeared, but "Saturday Night Fever" lives on.

Related Stories:
· Classic New York Movies coverage [Jaunted]
· Movie Set Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: HPgalleries.org]

Classic New York Movies: The Corleone Commute

February 7, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments

There are those who would not consider "The Godfather" a classic New York movie because many of its scenes, including all the ones we WON'T be spoiling, take place outside of New York City. Still, where would the Godfather himself (Marlon Brando) be without the city in which he does business?

One of the Don's favorite stomping grounds is Little Italy, in particular the Mietz Building (128 Mott Street) which helps to hide some of his less-savory activities. Son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) holds a significant meeting at Louis' Italian American Restaurant in the Bronx--an actual restaurant at the time of filming. It's now a yarn store.

Of course business isn't the only reason a Corleone will come to the city. Mama Corleone (Morganna King) does her Christmas shopping at the old Best & Co. on Fifth Avenue, and Michael meets his non-famiglia girlfriend (Diane Keaton) at the St. Regis Hotel for a little romp.

Even Jersey-centric scenes like the wedding which opens the film and a funeral near the end were shot on Staten Island and in Queens respectively. Guess the Port Authority office which doles out film permits made them an offer they couldn't refuse. (Sorry; we held off as long as we could!)

Related Stories:
· Classic New York Movies coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: IMDb]

Classic New York Movies: Leaving The Boroughs With "Working Girl"

January 31, 2008 at 3:45 PM | 0 Comments

Visit our Classic NYC Movies Map to make your way in the big, hard city.

Tess (Melanie Griffith), the heroine of 1988's "Working Girl," wants a future bigger than Staten Island and the temping pool. She may not be as highly educated as her bosses on Wall Street, but she's a fast learner, and when her smarmy boss Katharine (Sigourney Weaver) is put in traction after a ski accident, Tess sees it as her opportunity to get ahead. No one will stand in her way--not even a cute trader named Han Solo Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford).

Woody Allen's opening shots in "Manhattan" reference genteel Central Park, while Mike Nichols' in this film capture Tess's windy, cold commute. The Staten Island Ferry is a short, but free alternative to the classic Circle Line tour of Manhattan. While the lobby of Tess's office actually belongs to the 7 World Trade Center building (destroyed on September 11), the office scenes were shot at 1 State Street Plaza--rather convenient to the ferry, in a rare case of movie geography reflecting real-life geography.

The venue where Tess crashes the wedding is the City Midday Club, which used to be an exclusive Wall Street hangout until it closed in 1997. Katharine lives in tony Irving Place, while Tess and her good-for-nothing boyfriend (Alec Baldwin, with his downwardly mobile chest hair) live at Richmond Terrace and York Avenue.

Related Stories:
· Working Girl [Movies Rewind]
· Classic New York Movies coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Yahoo! Movies]

Classic New York Movies: Watch Out for the Sticky Bandits!

January 24, 2008 at 4:05 PM | 0 Comments

Visit our Classic New York Movies map to plan your own weekend, er, getaway.

We're admittedly stretching the definition of "classic" to feature 1992's "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." It's personal, though. It was this movie, along with Disney's "Oliver and Company," that shaped our understanding of New York City as kiddies. (And it's really hard to pick out locations when you're distracted by a Billy Joel-singing cat.)

"Home Alone 2" is a perfect example of how most New York-set movies are made: studding the shoot with a few classic New York locales that non-New Yorkers can recognize. Thus, trouble-maker Kevin McCallister stays at the Plaza Hotel, where no one we know has ever stayed (possibly because they were freaked out by Tim Curry's scary concierge), swings by the Twin Towers and prays that his family will find him at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

What we know now: Kevin's uncle must have been loaded, because his Upper East Side townhouse, however dusty, is now probably inhabited by a "Gossip Girl" follower, and no bum is as friendly as the pigeon lady Kevin runs into near the Gapstow Bridge in Central Park.

Sadly, the movie's primo toy store Duncan's Toy Chest is fictional, but it's based on the real-life across-from-the-Plaza store FAO Schwartz, which has also made appearances in movies like "Big" and "Mighty Aphrodite." It's still a great place to take kids; last we checked, there were several larger-than-life armored stuffed bears to celebrate the release of "The Golden Compass," though sadly no stuffed Daniel Craig.

Classic New York Movies: Love and Lunch in "Manhattan"

January 17, 2008 at 1:00 PM | 0 Comments


Those are the famed opening credits to "Manhattan," Woody Allen's 1979 love letter to his home city. Allen is known for using distinct New York City iconography in his movies, which makes him the perfect director to kick off our Classic New York Movies series.

Allen plays Isaac, an Upper East Sider who becomes caught between three women: His lesbian ex-wife (Meryl Streep), who's writing a tell-all book about their relationship; Tracy, a 17-year-old high school student (Mariel Hemingway) and a '70s version of "Gossip Girl"; and his best friend's mistress, Mary (Diane Keaton). Isaac woos Tracy guiltily in SoHo, away from her family, but when she announces she's going to study abroad, he starts making time for Mary under the guise of giving his married friend a cover story.

Unfortunately, the bench where Isaac and Mary sat overlooking the 59th Street Bridge (in the movie's most famous scene) is as long gone as Isaac's $700-per-month Upper East Side apartment, but the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art's Sculpture Garden, where their flirtations begin, still have plenty of benches.

Love New York? Love classic movies? Your favorite could be next! Let us know what movies you'd like to see in our series, and visit our Classic New York Movies Map to create your own movie moments.