City processes encourages the numerous movie and TV shows using New York City as a backdrop.
Photo credit: *B*tch Cakes* via flickr.
New York City is currently experiencing a golden age of television and movie-making. The advantages to such a booming industry seem undoubtedly positive, but some argue that daily life can be marred by the constant displacement due to filming on local streets. Residents of specific communities claim that the negatives outweigh the positives when films use a particular location for days which can interfere with certain residents’ daily lives and livelihoods for an extended period of time.
Filming anywhere in the city requires a permit issued from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Multiple websites track the most frequently used locations for filming throughout the City and report how many films and TV shows are being filmed in any given year. The City issues tens of thousands of permits per year, thousands per month and even hundreds per day. Residents can track specific filming locations in their area which is published daily providing information such as project type, start and date of filming, the exact location in which the production crews can be found.
Permits are required for any film crew that has more than a simple camera. There are other rules and requirements that include notifications to the community in which the project is being filmed. Mayor’s Office Media and Entertainment’s website offers a sample letter that notifies residents that specific blocks will have suspended parking and any remaining vehicles will be towed or moved.
Josephine Beckmann, District Manager of Brooklyn Community Board 10, explained that the process between the Mayor’s Office and community boards delicately balances the interests of the public as well as the interests of the city. Community Board 10, covering Southwest Brooklyn, including the northern section of Bay Ridge, has been used extensively in filming, most recently in the television series, Blue Bloods. In 2017 alone, there have been between 20 and 25 shoots in Community Board 10. Frequently, the same areas are re-used in the filming of different productions, likely for the aesthetic of downtown’s skyline of older buildings and recognizable City streets.
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