Seen & Heard: Inside the Woolworth Residences

••• I got a tour of the Woolworth Tower Residences, in the top of the Woolworth Building. The restoration of the terra cotta tile on the façade is gorgeous…. How’s that for a kitchen window? (The last two photos are only a bit dark because the day was bright; the interiors weren’t dark in the slightest.)

••• Tribeca Veterinary Wellness at 256 West appears to be open.

••• The TV show “Suits” is shooting today in the Chambers/West area. And an anonymous “film shoot” was on Chambers yesterday. I left a voicemail for Brendan asking what the shoot is for, but he didn’t respond. This is where the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment really lets residents and businesses down: The shoots are a significant inconvenience, and the least they could do is be forthcoming about what they are. (The notion that the shoots would be overrun with fans is absurd; most are for films and TV shows no one has ever heard of.)

••• From Notify NYC: “A flight of two US Navy F/A-18F aircraft will fly over the Hudson River [today] at approximately 2:00 PM. The aircraft will fly at approximately 2,500-3,000 feet.”

••• Al Gore will be at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on July 18 for a New York Times talk. You can ask him yourself about his role in creating the Internet.

••• Still no activity at 30 Warren.

••• Citigroup’s façade, meanwhile, is creeping upward quickly. The photo doesn’t really capture the fin effect of the window frames…. I’m not sure I get it.

••• It seems safe to say that Mayor de Blasio’s touted placard reform is having no effect. This car was parked in the no-standing zone on Warren, just west of West Street; the union notebook is on the dashboard as a signal to the cops not to ticket it.



  1. Not providing information about film shoots in her overly-filmed district is another non-service not brought to you by esteemed City Councilmember Chin.

  2. I understand from a friend this morning that it is a catalog film production for some fashion brand called White House, but who knows if that is true. It would seem to account for the anonymity, since that kind of project would seem to have nothing to do with media or entertainment such as TV or movies indirectly promoting New Yorkthat is the usual justification for inflicting these nuisances on city residents and businesses.

  3. As a person who works in media and broadcasting, i can say, with certainty, that those filming permits do in fact add to the city’s economy. They are not cheap. They do not come for free.

    If, at any given day in Manhattan alone, there have been 20 filming permits allotted for shoots from the top to the bottom of the island, you can be sure that the city has pocketed a lot of money.

    And we are just talking Manhattan.

    And we are just talking one day.

    • To disrupt a neighborhood for a shoot of any length used to be free, but now only costs the production $300. In 1966 NYC established a film office and began issuing permits for shoots. From that year until 2010 the permits were free. Bloomberg instituted a fee of $300 that year and that has been the cost of a film permit since. The $300 is a one-time fee for every movie, commercial or music video shoot, no matter how many days the production is working in the city, and once a season for television projects. New York requires a permit for any shoot that uses vehicles or equipment other than hand-held devices and cameras on tripods – items such as props, sets, lights, dolly tracks, screens and microphone devices. Sometimes the city will waive the $300 fee depending on the budget of the project. In some situations, a permit also is needed if a production wants exclusive use of city property. That one-time fee is $3200.

    • Those permits are a bargain compared to renting and dressing a soundstage for a day, with far more realism shooting on the street.

  4. Does anyone know what happened last night along the esplanade and marina north of Chambers? Around midnight I saw a lot of police, 2 police boats and a helicopter searching the water. Thanks!