The air over the Brooklyn Bridge will be filled with Army and Coast Guard helicopters and the East River will be filled with police boats trying to save us from evil starting on Tuesday — but don’t worry, it’s just a movie shoot.
From Jan. 23 at 4 pm and continuing every weekday until the end of the month, Warner Bros. will be shooting Will Smith’s new movie, “I Am Legend” near the Brooklyn Bridge. Most of the action will happen on a barge in the river, so traffic on the bridge and surrounding streets is not supposed to be affected.
Yeah, right. Rubbernecking is almost guaranteed as people stop to check out the action on the water and in the air over the bridge.
Nonetheless, the mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting is promising that there will be no significant traffic delays.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” said a spokeswoman. “All the diversions are going to be in the middle of the night when hardly anyone is on the road.”
The movie, an action flick about a man in post-apocalyptic New York saving the world from marauding creatures of the night, includes scenes that utilize “flood lighting, Army and Coast Guard helicopters, mock police and military vehicles, and over 1,000 extras for an evacuation scene,” according to the NYPD.
But cops say there’s no reason to be alarmed — not that the NYPD would comment officially beyond its highly unusual Monday afternoon press release asking media outlets to tell a jittery, post–9-11 public about the shoot.
