Hey, ‘cut!’ it out
Residents of DUMBO are outraged by a spate of neighborhood shootings — of movies and TV shows.
And they want city officials to shout, “Cut!”
Crews from NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” last Monday and Tuesday hogged parking spots along nine blocks in the hip Brooklyn ‘hood to shoot scenes for an upcoming episode.
On Thursday, Chrysler took over the Pearl Street Triangle near the Manhattan Bridge archway and its surrounding parking spots to shoot a commercial with cars from the 1950s.
The shoots were at least the eighth film or TV production to tap into DUMBO’s historic manufacturing backdrop and scenic waterfront views since March 18, occupying some the neighborhood’s busiest intersections for a solid two weeks.
The street-clogging productions included “New Year’s Eve,” starring Robert De Niro; “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock; the upcoming NBC reboot of the popular British series “Prime Suspect,” starring Maria Bello; and even commercials for Louis Vuitton and the Polish beer Tyskie.
Neighbors say that the city couldn’t have picked a worse time to dish out so many film permits in DUMBO, considering big chunks of Water and Washington streets are now blocked off for street and water- main repairs.
And, at the same time, a condo tower at Water and Jay streets is being built and two homes on the bustling block are undergoing restoration work.
“It’s impossible to find a parking spot these days, between the streets being ripped up and all the filming,” said Gus Sheha of the DUMBO Neighborhood Foundation.
Doreen Gallo, who heads DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance, agreed, saying, “Residents love that their neighborhood is filmed, but they just don’t seem to like it when it’s actually going on.”
Gallo said her group has asked the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting to limit the number of future production shoots in the neighborhood, particularly ones that “overlap” with other nearby shoots and construction work.
A city spokeswoman, however, said that “rest periods for streets within neighborhoods are determined on a case-by-case basis” and that “part of DUMBO is currently undergoing a rest period.”
Sheha, who moved to DUMBO in 2003, said he’s had to spend $400 a month on a private parking garage for his car the past three years as the film shoots increased and the city began installing parking meters.
