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Cut! Besieged DUMBO cries out for film permit ban

The Brooklyn Paper

Residents of DUMBO are shouting, “Cut!” to film crews who hog the streets of a neighborhood that is already besieged by street work and construction.

In the past two weeks, at least six film and television productions — cop dramas, art flicks and even a Louis Vuitton commercial — have lensed the screen using DUMBO’s gritty industrial backdrop and sweeping city views.

But neighbors say that Hollywood couldn’t have picked a worse time to spotlight their hot area, what with chunks of Water Street blocked off to accommodate construction, street reconstruction and water main work.

“Give me a break,” said Fred Connolly, who thinks film shoots are burdensome to drivers who must compete for parking. “Enough is enough; tell ’em to go back to Tribeca.”

Connolly wants big-budget filmmakers to pay for neighbors’ parking garage spaces when they invade the streets, and was irked last week when yet another crew — this time for a crime thriller, “The Projectionist” — set up camp for three days. (A spokesperson for the movie didn’t return calls on Friday.)

It’s hardly the first time movie crews have gotten bad reviews from the neighborhood. In 2007, the city temporarily deemed DUMBO, along with Brooklyn Heights, a no-film zone after couple of particularly inconvenient shoots.

Since then, DUMBO has set the screen for movies such as “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” staring Sandra Bullock; “Dark Horse,” starring Christopher Walken (which is directed by twisted genius Todd Solondz); “Friends With Kids” starring Megan Fox; along with a smattering of TV shows such as “Law and Order.”

On top of that, at least four condo towers — 205 Water St., 220 Water St., 192 Water St. and 37 Bridge St. — have sprouted in a two-bock radius near Water and Bridge streets, making parking even tougher.

Those towers are just a couple blocks from a four-block stretch of Water Street that’s been blocked off construction teams, who are ripping up the pavement as part of a $5-million water main and sewer replacement project.

That’s part of why community leaders want more notice from the city, along with the stricter enforcement, when it comes crews that overstay allotted permit times.

“It can be a hassle,” said Doreen Gallo of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance. “It seems like we’re getting bombarded.”

Another option is a film “moratorium,” during which the city asks filmmakers to “take five” in certain movie-burdened neighborhoods. Marybeth Ihle of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting would say only that those decisions “are handled on a case-by-case basis” and that “it depends on what’s happening in the neighborhood.”

Either way, Connolly wants the city to clamp down before the weather gets warm — and even more crews flood his backyard.

“This is just the beginning of the tidal wave,” he said. “We are about to get hammered.”

Updated 10:11 am, April 21, 2011: An earlier version of this story had a mispelling. Horrors.

Reader Feedback

mike from greenpoint says:
To Ms. O'Neill - I think you mean TIDAL wave, not TITLE wave.
April 11, 2011, 9:56 am
Mikey from Vinegar Hill says:
it's all the new rich folks that are complaining, isn't it?
April 11, 2011, 11:39 am
BrooklynGreene from Fort Greene says:
I can understand their frustration. There's a film production now in Fort Greene and two streets are being repaved. The loss of parking has been extreme because these things fell all at the same time. I am a little disgusted how the all these contract film workers/freelancers loaf around, sometimes hang out on people's stoops (to eat their meals) and have catering companies that set up food tables so that pedestrians and those with physical disabilities, strollers or carts cannot get through. Today on Lafayette, the current film production caterer had a table set up in an L-shape on the sidewalk completely narrowing the pedestrian space. You could not have managed a motorized scooter or wheelchair through that space. Shame on them. There seems to be no oversight, no inspectors, not even a truly dedication production assistant manager who can go around the blocks they've commandeered and give the freelance kids their what-for. They're barely monitored or directed most of the long day. The City is so desperate for good PR, etc., etc., they seem to me to be handing out filming permits like water and not providing for necessary oversight.
April 12, 2011, 12:24 am
BrooklynGreene from Fort Greene says:
And PS, Mikey. It's not just "rich folks" are are complaining!
April 12, 2011, 12:26 am
Rex Thunderclap from DUMBO says:
Well, I love it. I think the answer is more public parking in DUMBO area. Bash out the interior of one of those old warehouses and shove it full of cars like buildings in midtown. If you can't afford to park your card here, you really shouldn't come here by car or have one anyway.
April 12, 2011, 9:31 am
Q from Dumbo says:
It's pretty terrible for parking and walking in general. God forbid you have a stroller or wheelchair. The two buildings coming up on Water between Bridge and Jay for you to walk on the cobblestone street... and THEN you walk into a movie set.

It's really too much. Cut down on the film permits at LEAST until the construction (primarily city construction) is complete.

Oh, and all the city money being made from permits should go to fixing the god awful roads in Dumbo.
April 18, 2011, 7:21 am
Dan from West Village says:
Come on! What a bunch of complainers! The film industry employs thousands of New Yorkers and is one of the only businesses that has weathered the recession. These folks in DUMBO have got to take it easy - there's never anywhere to park down there anyway!
Parking on streets in NYC is a luxury - having a job is not. Without neighborhoods like DUMBO, Hollywood will just leave NY and go to Detroit or Chicago and leave tons of New Yorkers unemployed!
July 1, 2011, 10:19 am
Mikey from Upper West Side says:
Give me a break - doesn't this guy Connelly have anything better to do ?!?!?
July 1, 2011, 10:21 am
Ann from dumbo says:
Why don't you take the subway dude ?

Btw- it's the hundreds of new condo apts that have crowded the 'hood - film shoots are part of nyc! Hooray for New York film crews!
July 1, 2011, 10:22 am
phyllis from dumbo says:
would you rather have them there or those who you know for sure will not bring any good to the area........Wake up there is change that come for the good
Sept. 19, 2011, 9:05 pm
lillie from dumbo says:
i find it fairly easy to park around dumbo/vinegar hill -- much easier than the heights, downtown brooklyn... or of course manhattan

the film shoots only bother me when their signs pop up with 1 days notice - what if you're away and can't move your car in time? also when the crew never even shows up... wtf? if you're going to block off all our streets at least show up and film something!
Feb. 13, 1:08 pm
Dennis from Dumbo says:
Its usually easy to find a spot to park, but a filming now... As in today/yesterday... Has about 6 blocks blocked off. And when you walk around there is no one shooting...it's like they do it just in case. At least figure out what block you need and use it. A little pre- planning for the shoot goes a long way.
Feb. 13, 2:27 pm
Joseph from DUMBO says:
Seriously Fred, filming in NYC brings THOUSANDS of needed jobs to our city. Now if somebody would just fight this moratorium on dogs on the grass in the park.
May 8, 2:31 am

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