Neighbors Tell All: The Headache & Thrill
of Film Shoots in the Neighborhood

OST MORNINGS Miriam Ponce, 35, has no trouble parking her car on the somewhat subdued 87th Street block where she works as an administrative assistant. This morning, however, Ponce paid for a garage. The blocks around her office were filled with camera trucks and trailers for the filming of NBC's "Third Watch" television series. "They disrupt everything," Ponce says, watching the film crew from the sidewalk.

The celebrities and drama of "Third Watch," "Law & Order" and the dozens of other television shows and movies filmed in New York City may seem sexy to people watching from their couch, but those who live and work by the filming have another perspective. Some have been awakened in the night by noise, stopped from crossing the street for a shoot or kept from parking in their neighborhood. The novelty of spotting a star or TV camera from their window has quickly worn off, they say.

PRIVATE PARKING: On filming days, parking garages are the only place for neighbors to turn. (PHOTO: C. Rae Jung)

"I've lived in New York too long to be affected by seeing someone of celebrity status," says 57-year-old Richard Gordon, who lives blocks from the filming of "Third Watch" on 87th Street. Robert Gari, 80, remembers being awakened at 3 a.m. by Barbara Streisand's singing, in the filming of "The Mirror Has Two Faces." "That's the only one that really annoyed me," says Gari, an actor who generally approves of filming on the streets. The production crew of "Third Watch" say that most neighbors and passers-by are more enchanted and curious, than inconvenienced. And those who do feel put out, are accommodated, the crew says. "Someone just complained about the noise of our generator so we're going to move it for them," says Warner Brothers electrician James Harker, 35. "The production companies do as much as they can."

EW YORK residents might do well to befriend the production crews and hope they'll continue to move their trucks when asked. According to the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, the number of productions filmed in New York doubled this fall. In addition to "Cosby," "Spin City," "Law & Order," "Oz," "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City," six new series have been added to the register. And this is just television. Feature film productions also have increased in days by 189 percent since 1993. The city justifies this potential nuisance as not only notoriety for the city, but income for its residents. Camera crews and celebrities buy coffee, take taxis, sleep in hotel rooms, hire local workers and otherwise spend their money in New York. The Mayor's Office of Film estimates $2.57 billion was spent in 1998 from the production of films, television series, commercials and music videos. This offers little solace for people like Gordon, who remembers the parking headaches he and his neighbors endured during the recent filming of "You've Got Mail" and "The Mirror Has Two Faces." "We have a routine, but when the movies are filming, everything gets wiped out," Gordon says. "We have to go looking for parking 10 blocks away."