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March 25, 2009

Big Fire on 9th Street?

This just in from a tipster: "I was just running and saw that the Fire dept. has shut down 9th street between 7th & 8th Avenue. Tons of fire trucks. Not sure what's happening."




Posted by Brownstoner at 12:53 PM | Comments (20)

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It's a movie filming there I think, "Sorcerer's Apprentice" or something like that, talking advantage of the special tax breaks for movie production that the mayor and the governor have lavished on the folk who bring trucks from Pennsylvania and California and park them on our streets so that the people who live here and don't get special tax breaks can't park their cars or drive where they want to. Infuriating.

Posted by: commenter3 at March 25, 2009 12:58 PM

When I walked to the F train along 7th avenue this morning, I noticed No Parking (shooting "Sorceror's Apprentice")
so it could be for the movie/TV show they are filming today???!!

Posted by: gemini10 at March 25, 2009 12:58 PM

Ahhh, that explains those marching lines of brooms carrying buckets.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at March 25, 2009 1:07 PM

Knuckleheads.
It was a REAL fire. In the cleaners next to Dizzy's. Fire went all the way up to the top floor. Yes, it did look unreal for a while, as the movie trucks co-existed with the fire apparatus.
And FYI, the movie people when shooting here employ a lot of local folks. Good union jobs. Those trucks with the Pennsylvania address are normally parked in Red Hook or at the Navy Yard.

Posted by: 5w30 at March 25, 2009 1:09 PM

"And FYI, the movie people when shooting here employ a lot of local folks. Good union jobs. Those trucks with the Pennsylvania address are normally parked in Red Hook or at the Navy Yard."

Posted by: 5w30 at March 25, 2009 1:09 PM

Agreed. They have PA plates because the rental company is based there.

The tax breaks for film co's is a great thing. Brings tons to money in to the city, they crew local people, local homeowners and businesses get compensated, if the city cuts the tax incentives and the films leave the city will be hurting a lot more without them than ever possible with the tax breaks.

Posted by: christopher at March 25, 2009 1:35 PM

Okay, then, why is the rental company based in PA ?? Because it doesn't want to pay taxes in NY, or the higher NY insurance rates that those of use who don't get special tax breaks do pay.

Posted by: commenter3 at March 25, 2009 1:42 PM

Good one Snarky.

Posted by: IMBY at March 25, 2009 1:46 PM

"Okay, then, why is the rental company based in PA ?? Because it doesn't want to pay taxes in NY, or the higher NY insurance rates that those of use who don't get special tax breaks do pay."

Posted by: commenter3 at March 25, 2009 1:42 PM

Who cares? They come here, hire local people, and contribute to the local economy. A "tax incentive" is not "not taxes at all". The need to gas up, guess what, it's an NYC gas station and all applicable taxes and revenue.

The driver is a NYS resident? Guess what? NYS taxes are taken out of their check.

Tax incentives are not free passes from all expenses. And guess what, no tax incentive no movie shoot. No movie shoot no trucks to gas up, no tolls paid, no taxes on the now unemployed crew, no revenue for the city at all.

Tax incentives add revenue because they generate business and create expansion. Without them the business goes elsewhere and the city loses everything.

Posted by: christopher at March 25, 2009 1:59 PM

I'm with "commenter3" about film crews. IMO they harm vastly more people than they employ. I think they should have to shoot on their own property, no matter how many jobs might be lost.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at March 25, 2009 2:20 PM

Great, by that logic, Christopher, all of us individual New Yorkers ought to renounce our American and New York citizenship and become residents of offshore tax havens, because if we still lived here, we would still be buying gas in New York City and paying sales tax on our restaurant meals and tolls when we drive over bridges. The IRS and the New York State tax department would laugh at (or prosecute) an ordinary New Yorker who tried that, but somehow these Hollywood types get away with it. Drives me nuts.

Posted by: commenter3 at March 25, 2009 2:22 PM

And if Sex and the City wasn't shot here, none of you would have moved here...

Posted by: Sunset Parker at March 25, 2009 2:45 PM

I work in the film and television industry, the trucks that have the Pennsylvania plates are from a company called Haddads.
They are the best trucks on the east coast, and no New York doesn't have any company that has anything remotely as nice as theirs, that's why you see them on every major production.
New York needs to keep the tax incentives more than you know, jobs have already started going away like they did in Seattle, everything started filming in Vancouver, now New York productions are going to Toronto, and they don't always take the crew with them.

Posted by: Under the Radar at March 25, 2009 3:08 PM

This all sounds like sour grapes to me. So what you have a little bit of a harder time finding parking a few days a year? Is that really so terrible in exchange for thousands of people being employed directly (and then the additional revenues that come from tourisism, etc. that are helped as well).

Posted by: Mrs. Limestone at March 25, 2009 3:19 PM

It's all very exciting... not that long ago, i could have touched a Gossip Girl if I wanted to. Oh, how I wanted to...

Posted by: tybur6 at March 25, 2009 4:17 PM

this is actually a live action remake with nicholas cage as the sorcerer. and i will support them shooting here and elsewhere in nyc, even if it's a nicholas cage movie.

Posted by: balticthunder at March 25, 2009 5:10 PM

this is quite the series of posts about a fire. at least i now know what happened ;)

Posted by: raphael9 at March 25, 2009 5:13 PM

I can understand people's frustration about losing parking spots, and I think that there are some steps the city could take to make things easier on car owners when a shoot comes to their neighborhood (such as suspending street cleaning regs for the surrounding area).

But the benefits are huge. The tax break brings the state at least $1.10 on the dollar in taxes alone, and the smaller city incentive helps to employ thousands of locals, who in turn support their own local businesses, pay taxes, and improve the city in intangible ways.

Posted by: Filming In Brooklyn at March 25, 2009 5:28 PM

Actually it's not just about parking--it's closing off our streets, blockading us from walking down them, etc. And they DON'T employ that many locals--all those union crew guys live in NJ. they don't purchase anything locally--bring in their own caterers. Oh yeah, that great publicity is going to enrich us all-- after seeing the movie in 2011 shitloads of tourists will come down 9th Street on those red double decker buses.

I saw the aftermath of the fire, too--but I've been searching all the local news sites and don't see any reference to it--so maybe it IS part of the film shoot. A cop told me it wasn't, but you can't trust a cop.

Posted by: Ppark at March 25, 2009 8:31 PM

I have an issue with treating public streets like private property. And, if the production company is dumping so much money into the economy, can't they hire help to ease congestion and ensure pedestrians have freedom of movement when there is no shooting--ie, MOST of the time? They may put some money in the local economy (but not much--they bring their own food and interfere with usual shopping), but residents pay taxes and pump money into the local economy EVERY DAY. As a citizen, I have zero patience with some kid with a walkie talkie trying to keep me from my front door.

Posted by: lf2009 at March 25, 2009 11:11 PM

The productions use local catering companies, as in New York City companies. Nobody's saying that the entire cast and crew walks down the street to the diner for lunch, that would be a logistical nightmare. Of course the meals have to be catered.

The vast majority of the crew members that I meet at shoots live in the five boroughs, most of them in Brooklyn and Queens.

Posted by: FilmingInBrooklyn at March 26, 2009 11:24 AM

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