Lights, Camera, Action!

They do still say that while filming, right? Regardless the production trucks moved into my neighborhood this week! That is definitely something different about living in the city. Lots of tv shows and movies are filmed here year round! The number of things being filmed in the city are only increasing too. This fall, NYC hit a record of filming 23 prime-time shows up from 9 only 5 years earlier. It doesn’t hurt the local economy either adding an estimated 100,000 jobs and 5 million dollars to the economy (stats according to AM New York) I have definitely noticed the increase. I’m not sure if it is just because I live here and I am more “New York conscious” but there are several movie and tv sets that all take place here. I’m sure you’ve seen a few yourself.

Of course, filming in the city doesn’t make all New Yorkers happy. Last year, there was a battle between Will Smith’s movie trailer and the West Village because the neighbors thought it took up too much space on their nice street view. Personally, I think it is pretty cool though! The first sign that they will be filming are the no-parking signs. These usually pop up the week before letting people know that they can’t park there and it usually tells you what the project is. Sometimes they are sneaky though and only put the production company info on there. A couple of days later, the movie trailers show up, except for the fancy actor ones they all have the production company names on the side. Then you walk by the food buffet and food trucks.. and have to think twice about not grabbing a bagel on the way to the bus. Another tell-tale sign are the lifts. Like the ones you would see at a construction site or a warehouse. I’ve seen them use them for lighting and also filming. It is quite the production!

After doing a little searching, I found out they were filming Law and Order: SVU in my neighborhood. So if you watch that show. Be on the look-out for a shout-out to York Avenue! If you’re ever interested in finding out who is filming what and where, this is a great website to check this out> http://www.onlocationvacations.com/category/daily-filming-locations/