Today marks the first installment of “New York, You’ve Changed,” a new Scouting NY series in which the New York featured in movies is compared with the city of today. This is not meant to be the usual list of shooting locations and addresses to visit next time you tour the city. Instead, this is a full shot-by-shot dissection to see what New York once was and what it has become, for better or worse. I’ve tried to recreate the angles and framing as best as possible, and have presented the shots (more or less) in the order they appear in the film. Enjoy! And be sure to check out our Taxi Driver series here!
Though there are many movies I’m excited to cover for “New York, You’ve Changed,” I had no choice but to start with the movie that first introduced me to New York City…
I first saw Ghostbusters when I was about 8 years old and instantly fell in love with it. I watched it over and over, to the point where I could recite the entire film. Watching guys trapping ghosts with backpack nuclear accelerators was like a child’s fantasy come to life, and I defy you to find a kid of the ’80’s who will not confirm the magic Ghostbusters carried in their youth.
I had never been to New York City at the time, but the film made me desperately want to go. The public library, the university, the firehouse, Dana’s apartment building…New York seemed completely different from Boston, the only city I knew as a kid. Unfortunately, I only set first set foot in the city in 2000, and by then, New York was a completely different place.
Ghostbusters was shot in New York over a four week period beginning in October ‘83, then returned to L.A. for months of soundstage photography. Yet in those short four weeks, director Ivan Reitman and team managed to capture enough of the city to make Ghostbusters an iconic “New York” movie. The New York of 1983 is very different from the post-Giuliani city of today – it feels dangerous, gritty, dirty, tough, angry, and exciting. It seems like a struggle just to cross the street. How much has New York changed a quarter of a century later? Let’s have a look…
The film opens at the New York Public Library, which has a ghost residing in its stacks. The first image of the film cranes to one of the NYPL’s lions…
…which seems to be thankfully unchanged all these years later. One of Reitman’s goals in shooting was to focus on New York statuary, and it seems appropriate to start off the film with one of the city’s most iconic symbols.
At the time of shooting, the Ghostbusters crew was disappointed to find that the library was going through restoration work, and had to shoot tight to avoid showing too much scaffolding. Nevertheless, this shot reveals the extent of the work…
Today, the library is yet again under restoration – the top portion is covered in canvas, and the bottom right area is blocked off. While the main reading room was shot on location, the stacks were actually filmed in LA.
Next up is Columbia University, shown beneath the logo. I’m not sure if it’s a matter of color correction, a bad film transfer to DVD, or that New York was simply much smoggier back in the day, but I’ve never seen the campus look so dingy…
Today, like the New York Public Library, the campus is essentially the same, although the building on the right in the Ghostbusters picture, Ferris Booth Hall, was demolished in 1996 to create the much larger Alfred Lerner Hall, the current student center. Other than there seeming to be much less smog than in 2009, little has changed, a rarity in New York.
When we first meet the Ghostbusters, they’re working out of “Weaver Hall,” the “Department of Psychology.”
In reality, Weaver Hall is actually Havemeyer Hall, a classroom building primarily dedicated to science and math (in fact, this building has what I consider to be New York’s finest lecture hall – you can see it repeatedly in the Spider-man films; nice to know Peter Parker and Peter Venkman hung out in the same building). In comparing the two pictures, you can see that we’ve come so far since the ’80’s – we now recycle, and we no longer believe in handicap access! (just kidding, I’m sure there’s an alternate entrance somewhere). Here’s the full building, located in the north-western portion of the campus:
After getting booted from the university, Peter and Ray have a life-altering conversation on the east side of the campus.
I was shocked to see that Columbia has not installed a plaque on this block announcing that “Bill Murray drank here.” If there was one single scene in a film that made me think “drinking is what the cool kids do” as a child, it was this. Other than some noticeable differences in foliage, Columbia continues to look the the same.
As they continue their conversation, you get a reverse view, and again, you can see the difference in student centers. Also note that a gate has been put up, preventing you from going into the area where they have most of their conversation.
After deciding to go into business for themselves, the crew takes a trip to the generically-named “Manhattan City Bank” to take out a mortgage on Ray’s childhood home (“Everyone has a third mortgage nowadays”). I can tell from the footage that they were filming across the street from the New York Public Library…
…but I think the entrance to this building has been completely renovated.
The only clue that this is the correct location is that wall of stone on the left hand side, which seems to match in color to the above photograph. I think the original entrance was more inset.
Finally, the Ghostbusters find their home: Tribeca’s iconic Hook & Ladder #8 (also seen in Hitch and Seinfeld).
Note the new glass-curtain building on the right. The building to the left, which was probably considered a dump in 1983, is now the Bubbles Lounge champagne bar. Times have changed. The alley next to the firehouse is used for firefighter parking.
Shortly after Ray proclaims “You’ve gotta try this pole!”, we head uptown to Dana’s apartment at 55 Central Park West. Our first shot is of the building towering over the skyline, as seen from Central Park. Compare that to the actual view…
Dana’s building is dead center, but in reality actually seems somewhat squat compared to the surrounding buildings. Of course, the first image is actually a matte painting, in which a very realistic painting is superimposed on actual footage of Central Park. Not only did they give the building a much more menacing appearance, they also blotted out a number of the surrounding buildings. I wrongly assumed the field was Central Park’s Great Lawn; it’s actually the Sheep Meadow. Stand on the east side under the trees to get the correct view.
This is an aerial photo of the building in 1983…
…and a sketch of the addition:
Originally, the filmmakers had been planning to use 1 Fifth Avenue, the first building north of Washington Square Park, for Dana’s apartment. Not only is it much taller…
…it also features a roof that would lend itself naturally to a temple…
…especially compared to the top of 55 Central Park West:
Also, it was perfectly located for an iconic shot of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man passing by (or perhaps destroying) the Washington Square Park Arch. Unfortunately, the 1 Fifth Ave condo association couldn’t come to an agreement on filming, and shooting was moved uptown.
Back at 55 CPW, we first see Dana leaving a cab while struggling with groceries.
Notice a difference? While the buildings are very much the same, New York’s cabs have certainly changed…
Dana walks across the street to the entrance of the building, nearly getting hit (if there’s any major difference between New York of the ’80’s and today, it’s that I could stand in the street for a good 30 seconds taking pictures with cars swerving around me without a problem).
I believe that’s a new bus stop pole. It also looks like the building might have had central air installed, as the air-conditioning units have been removed. But all-in-all, still very much the same. I love the light-up taxi globe positioned over the entrance:
Louis Tully tries to get into Tavern on the Green! The Ghostbusters montage it up through New York! And more! Part 2 is here! And, if you’ve made it this far, think about subscribing to our RSS feed or Twitter account (if you’re not already) for future updates! And be sure to check out our Taxi Driver series here (a LOT has changed).
-SCOUT
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Tags: 55 Central Park West · blogsherpa · butler library · Columbia University · dana's apartment · egon spengler · filming locations · firehouse · ghostbusters · hook and ladder #8 · lerner hall · low library · Manhattan · Midtown · new york · new york city · new york public library · peter venkman · ray stantz · tribeca53 Comments
53 responses so far ↓
Not sure, but the bank could have also been shot just down the block from NYPL a bit on 5th Ave. at what is currently the HSBC building. The marble is the same color and there are more entrances that have a similar look. Hard to tell though from such a tight shot.
Yay! My elementary school is 2 blocks south of 55 CPW (visible in your photo of the avenue) and every day the bus would take us by the shooting. I still remember the day we thought they were spraying fake snow on the street. Yeah, not so much…
At the time Starlog magazine (yes, I’m a nerd) did a feature on the effects with a great photo of the model used for the Stay Puft stop-motion footage. As far as I can tell, every detail was absolutely correct (66th Street or so down to Columbus Circle). This was a real NYC movie that strove for accuracy throughout. None of this 2 seconds to get from Grand Central to the Guggenheim on foot nonsense (name the movie!).
Love it!
Love the feature! I can’t wait to see what else you post in this series!
This is FANTASTIC. Please keep it coming!
[...] blogs about the famous and not-so-famous filming locations of New York City, have posted a 25 year what’s-it-like-now retrospective of Ghostbusters – the article hits a lot of scenes in the movie to see what the locations look like today, [...]
Really liked this. Ghostbusters is the best movie ever
Nice, but you forgot to mention that they didn’t use Ladder 8 for the firehouse interiors. They used a Los Angeles firehouse for those. However, the sign for Ghostbusters II is in the apparatus bay at Ladder 8.
I can’t admit to being the biggest Spiderman buff ever, but I do know that the scene where Peter Parker is in the lab (and he gets bitten) is shot inside the rotunda of Low Library (For an idea of it: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1399/1428001549_e945ed1e2e.jpg?v=0).
I really enjoyed this one! (It might be because I happen to go to Columbia…)
See also this interactive guide to Ghostbusters locations. It was broken for a bit, but it’s all fixed now: http://bit.ly/gmapbusters
Brilliant. You should tackle THE WARRIORS, too. A perfect film for this type of thing.
LOVE this idea for a new section… great work… love this kinda stuff… seeing pics of NYC back in 70s and 80s and now
Fabulous! I can tell you I never walk up that staircase by Kent Hall without picturing Murray and Ackroyd sitting on that ledge, bemoaning their fate and the horrors of the results-expecting public sector.
My earliest Ghostbusters connection: one ’80s day I was walking down Fifth Avenue and saw a bizarre white vehicle repeatedly screeching to a halt in front of Saks Fifth Avenue. I was delighted, when I went to see the film, to discover that brief footage in the “Who you gonna call?” montage.
Yep, like you I have amazing memories of this film. In fact it was playing in a shop the other day and I was walking around mouthing the words as I went. I could still remember the script like it was yesterday.
When I eventually went to New York I was slightly disappointed. Reitman had distilled the essence of NY so well, that the reality just couldn’t live up to the dream. Oh well!
[...] in-depth look at a number of city locations featured in Ghostbusters. Definitely required reading for all fans [...]
Yeah! I’m liking this new…uhhh…”segment”…s’okay, I’ll come up with the right word…probably at 2am…
[...] or less) in the order they appear in the film. This is Part 2 to our look at Ghostbusters – Part 1 is here. [...]
The NY of today looks more “Sterile”
What a change.
[...] A while back we shared our love for Scouting NY, a blog run by location scout Nick Carr. The scout’s site features photos from every corner of the city, documented as only a professional observer could. Now there’s yet another reason to love the site: New York, You’ve Changed. [...]
Donna Karen now owns the entire penthouse floor of 55 CPW.
built a multimedia walking tour of new york city based on ghostbusters locations a few years back with some friends:
http://ghostbustour.net/
it’s free and totally self-guided, all you have to do is put the files on whatever portable media device you have: iphone, ipod, psp, nokia or blackberry, etc.
[...] What happens when you take scenes from Ghostbusters and see how New York used to look and how it looks today? Pretty awesome, actually. In two parts. [...]
f’n phenomenal. I love this article. I’m fixated.
[...] commentary. It’s fantastic; I urge you all to click through and see for yourselves. (Scouting New York (Part 1) and Scouting New York (Part [...]
[...] commentary. It’s fantastic; I urge you all to click through and see for yourselves. (Scouting New York (Part 1) and Scouting New York (Part [...]
[...] commentary. It’s fantastic; I urge you all to click through and see for yourselves. (Scouting New York (Part 1) and Scouting New York (Part [...]
LOVE your site!! Can’t wait for more!
I believe the reasoning they didn’t use the sign of Columbia University, or the name of the Halls was because of the agreement the University had with the filmmakers. I think the people who ok’d the filming on school grounds didn’t think the movie would be a hit, so they didn’t want their name associated with a bomb, and allocated the profits from the movie to landscaping.
Thanks, this made for an interesting read. Too bad they put a gate or something across where peter and ray talk after they get booted from the university. Any idea what it is acutally for? Is it to reinforce an entrance or…?
[...] a fun collection of then-and-now pictures of NYC to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Ghostbusters. Part 1 & Part 2 [...]
This was awesome! Please do more! REminds me of that book, “Footsteps In The Fog”, where it took a tour of the Bay Area through Hitchcock films. Of course, love to see a breakdown of “Taxi Driver”, “Manhattan”, and “Naked City”.
[...] were pleasantly surprised at how little had changed with regard to the New York of Ghostbusters (part 1, part [...]
[...] were pleasantly surprised at how little had changed with regard to the New York of Ghostbusters (part 1, part [...]
Quite an interesting post. Guess I should do it for my hometown, Bombay (India) as well. We make a lot of movies here
[...] ScoutingNY takes a look at how New York City has changed since Ghostbusters. [...]
[...] website Scouting New York put together a great two-part feature showing how the locations of Ghostbusters look [...]
Can I just say THANK YOU THANK YOU for doing this!! My friends and I have had conversations about this very thing: NY in 70’s and 80’s movies like Ghostbusters and how it seems like a whole different world. Like you said it was iconic, it was grittier, but it had this sense of magic. It’s so different from today! Aah you totally GET IT!!
[...] Taxi Driver coverage (Part 1 is here). Enjoy! And for those who missed our look at Ghostbusters: Part 1 & Part [...]
[...] SCOUTING NY – http://www.scoutingny.com » New York, You’ve Changed: Ghostbusters – Part 1. [...]
Amazing, I loved this post.
Loved the article. I hope you don’t mind I make a reference to it on my website. Being a geek movie fan and living in New York is one of the best things on Earth.
The distinct color differences may be due to the director choosing a specific color palette for this movie.
Well done. I must say, some of those shots totally surprised me.
Thank you! Great memories of the movie and really sweet idea to show how the places look or have never changed: )
[...] (if you missed the previous articles: Part 1/Part 2; for those who missed our look at Ghostbusters: Part 1 & Part 2!). [...]
What are you supposed to be, some kind of Cosmonaut?
Somebody saw a roach up on 12…
That must be some cockroach…
Bite your head of man…
[...] feature in two parts, and set aside some time to take it all in. The commentary is also awesome. Part One and Part Two. Related [...]
I think they took their inspiration for the Shandor Temple on Dana’s apartment from some other NY buildings.
During a couple of days stop-over in NY in 2008 I noted the following building top on Bryant Sq which shouted GOZER at me.
http://budley.quatermass.co.uk/picture-gallery/?album=1&gallery=17
I am a film professor in Texas and I lOVE your work on this website.
My son is an architect in Manhatten who sent me your site to check out.
I now plan to use Ghostbusters as a film in my next class and with your permission use this website to describe storyboarding and sets to my class.
Thank you.
Dr.Greenberg
[...] few months ago, I posted an exhaustive then-and-now look at the New York shooting locations in Ghostbusters. As it turns out, I’m not the only one [...]
[...] recently hit a stumper of a location, I reached out to Scouting New York’s head honcho, Nick, who is a full time , professional location scout while I’m a total dilettante at this. Sadly, he confirmed everything I sent – all my [...]
I just re-watched Ghostbusters today, its still an amazing film, I can wait till the next one comes out! Hopefully Early next year