Waiting on a Friend

Ed. Note: Okay, so I assume everyone knows this, but just in case...

When I first moved to the East Village I spent most of my time at Downtown Beirut (best jukebox ever) and St. Marks Bar & Grill. I had been here maybe six months when I found myself chatting about the mural on the back wall at St. Marks, and how the Rolling Stones had filmed their video for Waiting on a Friend on St. Marks Place and in the bar itself, and how the band actually played a set in the bar.  I tried to pretend it was old news, but I'm a terrible liar. 

"Wait, you did know that, right?"

Mick walks and Keith staggers into the bar at St. Marks and First Avenue, looking north along the east side of the avenue, screen grab from the Waiting on a Friend video (filmed July 21, 1981, according to the Rolling Stones database).

The same view today.  (Author, 2010)

Another screen grab, the whole band inside the bar.  Ron Wood opened his own short-lived club not far away, on East 4th (west of Second Avenue), in 1990.

While researching this post, I learned something I hadn't heard before.  The video was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, an early director of musical promo films (that came to be known as videos), whose credits include an extensive library of film, video, and television work, including the iconic video for the Beatles "Hey Jude."

A behind-the-scenes shot.  You can find more here.

There's plenty of other web content about this video shoot along St. Marks between First and A (as was the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album, which everyone knows already, of course, right?), so I'll just direct you to Google for more info.

Or visit EV Grieve for info on the recent fire at the Physical Graffiti buildings.

Sleepers

In 1996, the Barry Levinson film Sleepers opened with an all-star cast and good reviews.  A scene that establishes the story involves a hot dog cart careening down the stairs of a subway station.  If you look closely, you'll see the scene was filmed at the Astor Place station.  Note the period of the cars and dress; the scene takes place in the mid/late 60's.  Some screen grabs are below.

The kids push the stolen hot dog cart around the corner at 9th Street, headed downtown on 4th Avenue.  You can see Chris French Cleaners on Google.

A view from the bottom of the stairs at the uptown side of the Astor Place station, looking up at the kiosk.

The kids struggle to keep control of the cart.  Note the Wanamaker's building (770 Broadway) and the Stewart House apartments in the background.

I wonder if I'm the only one who found it amusing that these kids pushed that cart all the way from Hell's Kitchen (where they lived) to Astor Place.  Or is that what they mean by "suspension of disbelief."

You can see this scene on YouTube.  Look for an effects shot that makes a downtown view of Astor Place look like Times Square.

The Taking of Pelham 123

The classic The Taking of Pelham 123 is one of my favorite New York movies (the 1974 original, of course).  One particular scene has a police car crashing as it races to catch the hijacked train, and was filmed on Lafayette.  Some screen grabs are below.

A motorcycle flips as a police car races up Lafayette.  You can see Alamo, better know as The Cube, on the left of the frame (it was installed in 1967).  Also note that the uptown 6 entrance does not yet have the reproduction kiosk which was added as part of the station renovation in 1986.  I always found this shot humorous with the locals obviously watching the filming on the right of the frame and elsewhere.

Yes, there was a time before Astor Place had a Starbucks.

Just like living in Hollywood!

Lafayette Court, Pageant Books, and The Central Bar (9th Street)

109 East 9th Street, between 3rd and 4th Ave, was the home of Pageant Books and Prints (made famous in Hannah and Her Sisters) from the 1950's through the 1990's.  It later became, in rapid succession, Pageant (a restaurant), No. 9 (a restaurant), and The Central Bar, an Irish pub that remains at the address.  The building is adjacent to a small private street/driveway known once as Lafayette Court.

1933 view of the north side of 9th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues.  No. 109 is on the left, with nos. 111 and 113 to the right, which were demolished in the early 1960's and replaced by the St. Mark apartment building at 115 East 9th.  It's difficult to tell what business exists at 109 in this photo.
NYPL Digital Gallery

Map showing no. 109 and the adjacent Lafayette Court, with its own addresses.  Note the Bible House across 9th Street.
NYPL Digital Gallery

In 1911, a real estate deal combined the building at 59 Fourth Ave with two of the lots on the adjacent Lafayette Court behind the building.  The building was apparently expanded and the unusually-shaped result can be seen here.
Deal in Fourth Avenue Loft Zone, New York Times, June 7, 1911

Pageant Books and Prints, no. 109 East 9th St, c. 1986, with Michael Caine and Barbara Hershey from Hannah and Her Sisters.

Luke Wilson and Rainn Wilson in a scene from My Super Ex-Girlfriend, filmed inside The Central Bar, 2006.

A current view of no. 109 from Google, note the gated Lafayette Court to the left.

Some NY Times articles about 109 East 9th Street's shady past...

• 1878: A group runs a scam selling broken-down horses
  SWINDLERS BALKED: At No. 109 East Ninth-street...and in a number of other localities are pseudo livery-stables which, the Police say, are run by a company of swindlers...
• 1895: A fight over loud children
  BADLY WOUNDED WITH A BOTTLE: William Tardoe of 109 East Ninth Street was struck on the head Monday night with a soda-water bottle by Mrs. Catherine Lynch of the same address.
• 1900: Policeman slips and falls, perhaps
  POLICEMAN BADLY INJURED: Patrolman Benjamin Harrison...was found suffering from concussion of the brain and a possible fracture of the skull...in front of 109 East Ninth Street...
• 1954: A coffee roaster faces prison
  ROASTER CONVICTED; Faces 4-Year Term for Adding Cereal to His '100% Coffee': Herman Wiengast, president of the Louvain Coffee Company, 109 East Ninth Street, was convicted yesterday in Federal Court...