As a brand new resident of Brooklyn who also happens to be a serious film geek, one of the most exciting features of discovering my new neighborhood has been recognizing various landmarks known to me from the silver screen.
A short drive from my front door stands the towering and haunting Verrazano Narrows Bridge from Saturday Night Fever.
Coney Island, a memorable backdrop in films like The Wiz, Remo Williams, Angel Heart, Requiem for a Dream and He Got Game, is a few blocks away. JFK Airport, formerly Idlewild Airport and just up the Belt Parkway, is the site of the 1978 Lufthansa heist as chronicled in GoodFellas. The elevated train tracks over Shell Avenue that are the centerpiece of the classic car/subway chase in The French Connection are but a hop skip and jump across town.
The whole borough feels like a giant theme park full of famous movie sets.
Excited by the prospect of visiting as many recognizable Brooklyn filming locations as possible, I will map my progress and check back in periodically with more accidental discoveries and successful pilgrimages to places made magical and mystical for me simply because I’ve seen them in the movies.
Then, after Brooklyn, I’ll set my sights on Queens and Manhattan.
Home of the iconic Wonder Wheel, a memorable training obstacle for our hero in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
Classic wooden rollercoasters such as the Cyclone, the Thunderbolt and the Tornado are featured in films like Annie Hall, The Warriors and The Wiz.
The Verrazano Narrows Bridge
In Saturday Night Fever, the bridge is the site of a cruel prank where Tony Manero (John Travolta) and his gang of hooligans pretend for their girlfriends to leap off the upper deck catwalk. They merely jump safely down to the lower deck and hardy-har-har wasn’t that a gas?
Later, Tony’s insecure and drunk buddy Bobby C. tiptoes along the same precipice, loses his balance and plunges to his death.
Elevated Train Tracks
When I first recognized the elevated train tracks looming over Shell Avenue, all I could do was look long and hard both ways for Popeye Doyle (Gene Hackman) from The French Connection, racing down the road, weaving in and out of the forest of steel columns as he’s chasing his fleeing prey above.
My future pilgrimages will include finding as many spots from GoodFellas, Dog Day Afternoon, Once Upon a Time in America and The Warriors as I can track down. And as are still standing.
