“New York, You’ve Changed” is a new Scouting NY site feature in which the New York depicted in movies is compared with the city of today. This is not the usual list of shooting locations and addresses to visit next time you tour the city. Instead, it 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. Today, we delve into Part 2 of our Taxi Driver coverage (Part 1 is here). Enjoy! And for those who missed our look at Ghostbusters: Part 1 & Part 2!).
When we last left off, Travis Bickle was cruising through Times Square. We then catch him uptown as he makes a drop off at the Hotel Olcott at 27 West 72nd Street. Here, he drives up to the hotel, and we see the O LAR Restaurant on the east side. Today, it’s a Dallas BBQ.
Curious what O LAR Restaurant was all about? This awesomely bizarre ad from a 1974 New York magazine should tell you all you need to know!
Travis pulls up to the front of the hotel. Note the new awning:
Then, Travis meets up with his cabbie buddies at an unknown grease joint. As far as I can tell, this isn’t the Belmore Restaurant nor The Terminal/Exchange bar featured later on in the film. Anyone have any idea where this might have been? There’s a Hess across the street, if that helps.
The next day, Travis meets Betsy at the campaign office. I incorrectly identified the building in the previous post – I trusted the Taxi Driver Special Edition DVD “Locations Featurette,” which has the building at 62nd & Broadway. As alert reader David pointed out, it’s actually at 63rd & Broadway and has completely changed. Nowadays, Betsy would be coming out of a Bank of America (I’ve updated Part 1 with new pictures for those who are curious).
Travis takes Betsy to a place called Charles’ Coffee Shop at the corner of 58th & 8th Ave (long gone, of course). In this shot, we get a glimpse of the old Museum of Arts & Design building:
A different angle gives us a view of Columbus Circle and the future site of the glass-and-steel Time Warner Center:
Charles’ Coffee Shop is now a Duane Reade:
Travis asks Betty out to a movie, and decides to get her a Kris Kristofferson album as a gift. He goes to a record store, and though I don’t know the original location, the woman’s shirt tag identifies it as a Sam Goody (one institution I don’t mind having gone extinct). Any guesses?
We then get a shot of Travis driving by a news ticker announcing Palantine’s arrival in New York, and at first I couldn’t figure out what the hell this mundane office building was. When it hit me that it was 1 Times Square, I couldn’t believe how much has changed. Also, I love the ad on the bus.
Travis then meets up with some friends at the Terminal Bar (next to the Exchange Bar), formerly at 41st Street and 8th Ave. Currently, the New York Times building resides on the property, with a Schnippers restaurant in place of the Terminal. I realize “Terminal” refers to the Port Authority across the street, but there’s something absolutely perfect in the double-meaning.
The Terminal Bar was closed in 1982. A short documentary about the place – more information here.
Finally, we have the legendary meeting between Travis and child prostitute Iris (played by Jodie Foster) in front of the Variety Theater. What remains of the Variety today?
Yes, the Variety was torn down to make room for another glass-and-steel 21-floor condo highrise. Originally opened in 1913 as a Nickelodian theater, the Variety operated until 2004, at which point it was an off-broadway theater. It was torn down in 2005. Intelligent Flickr photographer GVSHP took some pictures prior to its demise, and I warn you, they’ll break your heart:
We get a tighter angle as Travis pulls up. The bar on the left is now Daydream Yogurt.
A yogurt place. Just because I’m now feeling particularly angry (really, I want to drive home the point), here’s a picture of the Variety’s demolition:
Later, as Travis drives west on 42nd Street, we are treated to a great view of 8th Ave looking north. First, we catch a man begging in front of a diner on the east corner. That diner is now some sort of bland pizza chain called the Villa Italian Kitchen (with locations around the world – even Kuwait!).
As we move west, you can see how much has changed. That cigarette shop now appears to be an Auntie Anne’s pretzel place. Also, note that the phone booth in the first picture is now a phone stand.
As we continue west, we get a glimpse of the sign for the old Times Square Motor Hotel (free parking!). According to this NY Times article, in 1988, “the director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless and Single Room Occupancy Housing Services…announced the city’s intention to buy the hotel and use it as a residence for the homeless and as the site of a work-release program for jail inmates.” In other words, a halfway house. Times have changed since ‘88: a Westin Hotel is now on the site.
Finally, as we complete our journey across 8th Ave, we get a shot of the old Show World Center porn theater marquee. Though the theater is now the Times Square Comedy Club/Laugh Factory, Show World is still in business next door as a sex store, and for some reason, I find that a bit refreshing.
Here, you can see the building housing the theater in full – I love its bizarre height and width, and how it sticks out so oddly from the surrounding buildings. It almost looks like a giant middle finger flipping off the rest of Times Square.
Meanwhile, I’d love to know how much – if any – of the awning is originally part of the old porn theater sign (again, I find it strangely appealing to think about tourists sitting in the same theaters where countless pervs spent skeezy nights in Times Square).
Ready for Part 3? Click here!
-SCOUT
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Tags: 1 times square · 42nd street · 8th Ave · blogsherpa · charles coffee shop · columbus circle · dallas bbq · exchange bar · hotel olcott · museum of arts and design · new york · new york city · o lar restaurant · taxi driver · terminal bar · time warner center · Times Square · times square motor hotel · variety theater21 Comments
21 responses so far ↓
Oh I LOVED the Variety! All the great mid-sized Off-Broadway theatres are gone. So sad.
Great posts Scout!
As far as the diner that isn’t the Belmore, my guess would be the old Market Diner at 43 & 11th. There very well could have been a Hess station across the street in the 1970s, there were many gas stations, as well as cabbies.
Sam Goody’s. I understand your feeling about this record store, but back in the 60s-70s Sam Goody’s was one of those places you went if you were into music. Besides selling records (which you could listen to before buying) they also sold hifi equipment. I bought my first receiver (a Harmon Karden) there.
The main Sam Goody’s was located on 49th Street between 8th and Broadway (not sure if the building is still there, but there was a dental clinic on the ground floor 5 years ago).
And the Variety Photoplays…I lived just above 14th Street for a while in the first half of the 80s. I was in there when it was a porno (that’s another story), and I can tell you it was pretty insane. I saw a 7 foot tall African American transvestite hooker approach someone, and I could see heads bobbing in the seats in front of me. The bar next door was called the Dugout, and was a pretty sleazy joint also! Actually, it was even sleazier 5 years after Taxi Driver than what you see in the movie. OF course, this is all pre NYU (they built dorms along Third Ave, which was the start of the cleanup, even before Giuliani)
Anyway , great blog, you brought back some memories for me of NYC in the 70s-80s.
Oops, sorry…I thought I put spaces between the paragraphs! My post might be a little hard to read.
The Sam Goody in quesiton may have been the one that used to perch on the northeast corner of 51st & 6th Avenue. More about that here:
http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2008/05/goody-got-it.html
Love this series and you’re covering such great films. Maybe Annie Hall, Manhattan, or some kind of all encompassing Woody Allen edition in the future?
Fantastic post! I remember the Variety well, and was sad to see it go. I remember the Dugout, too–thanks, Aonghais!
There was a Sam Goody’s on 5th Ave in, I think, the 30s, too. I waited on line there when I was 16 to get Queen to autograph my copy of “A Night at the Opera.”
Sigh.
[...] Part II of the epic scouting of Taxi Driver [Scouting NY] [...]
Ha ha…I almost forgot, one of my favorite places…
Disco Donut was also on the corner of Third and 14th, just down the block from the old Academy of Music (later Palladium, now NYU dorms). I spent quite a number of drunken 4 ams getting the greasiest cheeseburger on the planet. And let us not forget Julian’s pool hall!
I always thought that the diner that the drivers hang out in was the Frontier coffe shop on 39th and 3rd, but others say it actually was Disco Donut! Was the Con Ed parking lot across the street a Hess station?
[...] 2, published yesterday, here. + tags: arts / movies / [...]
Burgeon, there weren’t any gas stations in the vicinity of 14th & 3rd where Disco Donut was. I’d forgotten the Frontier, I think I ate there twice but then 39th & 3rd wasn’t exactly in my travel routine! .
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I would agree with Aonghais, the old grease joint is almost certainly the Market Diner.
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That coffee shop on 58th & 8th was called “Childs” and they were a franchise outfit that were staples in the city at that time.
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Impressive work and great pictures, taking on one of the finest films of all-time.
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