NYC Cuts Film Industry Perk
Filed under: Newsstand
Just when the city of New York is enjoying a surge in film production, hopefully cutting down on movies set in NYC but shot in Canada, a new decision is pissing off a lot of people in the movie business. The Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting has announced they are getting rid of a parking privilege that film shoots have in the city. Many in the industry, from location scouts to costume people, need to make quick stops around the city, an in the past have been able to acquire tags that exempt them from paying meters or getting tickets. The cut doesn't dig into the permits which enable shoots to take up block after block with trailers and trucks, which is the more visibly annoying element of having a production in your neighborhood, but it seems that the tags were upsetting enough for locals to complain. Mostly, the problems had to do with the industry abusing their tags.
It is a shame that some dishonest people have to go and ruin a good thing for the rest of the film workers, but things like this are always going to happen. I just hope that productions aren't deterred from filming in NYC because of this change. Seeing film shoots around every corner is part of what makes the city special, and putting up with them is part of living and working here. I can't say they've ever been enough of a bother that I would rather they weren't around. And though I used to get frustrated with the parking situation in New York, I now accept that no intelligent human being should be driving around Manhattan unless they are a delivery truck or a taxi (and I'll lump in film industry vehicles with delivery trucks).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-14-2006 @ 1:06PM
Erik Feder said...
I find this post very interesting. I am the author of two books and many ebooks about parking in Manhattan, called "The Feder Guide to Where to Park Your Car in Manhattan (and Where Not to Park It!)". Our books list comprehensive street parking regulations and together have information on over 450 parking facilities. I also offer a free e-newsletter called PARKAZINE (accessible form our homepage at http://www.WhereToParkManhattan.com) and I get frequent letters from PARKAZINE readers. I just received one today in which a driver complained that she was towed after parking on a Manhattan street that was full of parked cars - apparently a film company had put up very small signs which are easily lost in the clutter of signage on NYC streets. The reader complained that there were three 5" handmade signs put up on a few of the meters and that this signage was intended to cover the whole block. Her car was towed away at 1am. It turns out that her car wasn’t towed by the NYPD but by the film company itself. When she finally located her car, it was damaged by the tow. She is now considering taking the film company to small claims court.
I think that film companies should be able to shoot in Manhattan and I don’t resent the permits issued to industry people who need them. I do think that common Manhattan drivers have to be not only treated fairly, but treated as the entity that is entitled to parking privileges. Manhattan motorists are the gracious hosts who make sacrifices so that the film companies can shoot there. For this they should be respected and thanked. When visiting film companies and their employees act as if they own the city, they make it more difficult on everyone.
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