Spike Pulls Plug on Dekalb HQ
It’s official: Spike Lee has moved his 40 Acres and a Mule production company out of its long-time headquarters at 124 Dekalb Avenue. A reader noticed movers coming and going last week and the drive-by this morning confirmed that the company’s big red flag had been taken down. A call to 40 Acres a few…
It’s official: Spike Lee has moved his 40 Acres and a Mule production company out of its long-time headquarters at 124 Dekalb Avenue. A reader noticed movers coming and going last week and the drive-by this morning confirmed that the company’s big red flag had been taken down. A call to 40 Acres a few minutes ago revealed that the company has consolidated its activities into one location. And, luckily, it’s not on the Upper East Side, where Lee decamped several years ago with his family. It’s just a block away at 76 South Elliott Place.
Spike’s Gone But 40 Acres and a Mule Lingers On [Brownstoner] GMAP
Montrose, there’s a scene in Crooklyn where the kids are forlornly walking in a park after they learn of the death of their mother. They are walking up a long flight of stairs. Where was that filmed? Do you know?
NOP, there is pizza around the corner from where the set was, but I wouldn’t make the journey for it. We don’t have a good pizza joint here in the hood.
The main reason I know that is that I used to walk by the set every day on my way to the subway. It was up for at least 6 months, so I had plenty of time to check it out. I wish I had taken pictures. It really was amazing set building.
I don’t know everything about central Bklyn, far from it. I just find things like that interesting, and more proof that any neighborhood has more going on that what many people assume. If they had had blogs when Spike was filming here, I’m sure everyone would have been all over it.
did spike lee really live and sell 180 washington pk in 1999?
A whole house? Well lah-dee-dah.
How does he treat the staff?
Like Cosby (and Bloomberg), he has a whole house and is master of his domain (when his wife lets him).
Spike Lee lives in the Upper East Side? LOL!!
Let me guess, condo not co-op.
Montrose Morris:
How do you know EVERYTHING about central Brooklyn? That post at 5:12 is yet another example. I picture you walking around the streets with note pad and camera, the news reporter of yore, capturing every little detail and keeping deep files for future commentary.
Spike Lee fooled me. I would have sworn those houses in “Crooklyn” were real. Then again, Sal’s Famous Pizzeria looked the real thing, too, and that was a set for “Do the Right Thing.” Too bad Spike didn’t leave it behind. I, for one, would have lined up for a slice. (You could get two for a quarter when I was a kid in Crown Heights — with Coke! Are there any pizza places on Nostrand these days? It would be a real treat to hit a spot, at whatever price multiple.)
And did you see this morning’s Brownstoner link to the piece about CH in AM New York (I think I have that right). A nicely balanced summary of the neighborhood. I felt your property’s value go up a tick just reading it.
Nostalgic on Park Avenue
“Plus “simple narrative storytelling” is not a requirement in all films. Hardly.”
True…but it helps!
Most of the block used in Crooklyn was a set put up on location on Macon St. in Bed Stuy. It was very well done. They closed off the intersection of Macon and Arlington Place, and constructed a row of brownstone facades where the street is. From the corner of Macon and Nostrand, they looked like they had been there forever.
The scene where the father plays the piano in a concert was shot in the auditorium of Boys High School, that magnificent terra cotta landmark on Marcy and Putnam.
Kudos to Spike’s location team. They were among the first to utilize the beauty of Bed Stuy for middle class strivings, instead of only being the location for gang fights and back alley murders.