There are a couple of shots of an el train, apparently on the street where the pawn shop is located. I may be wrong but I don't think there was an elevated line in the Spanish Harlem area of Manhattan where most of the movie was shot, so does anyone know where those shots of the el train were obtained?
shareThat's not a subway el. They're commuter train tracks on Park Avenue at 116th Street. The tracks go from Grand Central Terminal to Bronx. At one point, a Connecticut bound train passes by with the pantographs lowered. (Third rails may not be used for electricity in Connecticut).
shareAt the time this was filmed, the EL was the elevated tracks of the New York Central Railroad over Park ave. with trackage rights granted to the New Haven Railroad for access into Grand Central Station. In 1968 it became Penn Central and in 1976 Conrail. The Line was purchased by the state of NY-MTA on 1/1/1983 and became Metro North Railroad. By the early 1990's the viaduct was in such bad shape the MTA tore down one entire section at a time by Track (4 tracks) and rebuilt the entire stucture. So the EL seen in the this film no longer exists as it did in 1964 having been totaly rebuilt.
shareThe pawnbroker shop was located at what was 1642 Park Avenue in East Harlem. This address today is an empty lot. The EL is on Park Avenue and ran past the shop. To see the lot today, go to http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=E+116th+St,+New+York,+NY&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=37.052328,71.894531&ie=UTF8&ll=40.79963,-73.943181&spn=0.001941,0.008776&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.799551,-73.943235&panoid=pSdkeUqJRWnf9EXzkLK49w&cbp=12,316.95,,0,5
shareYep, Jay, you're exactly right!
Last film seen: An Education - 8/10
One other detail: in 1964 the line was also used by intercity trains of both the New York Central and the New Haven. In fact, the famous Twentieth-Century Limited was still running through there.
When Amtrak was created in 1971, it shifted the former New Haven trains from Boston to Penn Station. Twenty years later the former New York Central routes (from upstate, Chicago, and Canada) also moved to Penn. Now only commuter trains operate on the viaduct.
The Pawnbroker shop is now a vacant lot, the link for it is:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=1642+park+avenue,+new+york,+ny,+united+states&layer=c&z=17&iwloc=A&sll=40.799664,-73.943445&cbp=13,305.1,0,0,0&cbll=40.799559,-73.943247&gl=uk&ved=0CA8Q2wU&sa=X&ei=OZBeTrXqGcPl8QOAgJ2yDQ
Well it WAS a vacant lot!! After revisiting the link, I can see that google maps has paid the area another visit and as of August last year a building was being constructed on the site of Nazerman's shop.
This elevated train structure, which primarily carries commuter trains to and from Grand Central Station along Park Ave., was very prominently seen in news reports for several weeks following the water main break and gas line explosion on March 12, 2014, that, ironically, destroyed the building that was then at the exact location where Nazermman's Pawn Shop had been located in the film, as well as the adjacent building. Also interesting is the fact that this disaster took place precisely 50 years after the release of the film.
shareFascinating! Good call romarub! I have traveled that train line (Metro-North) that runs by that location from Connecticut into New York City since I was a child and remember when the explosion happened. I just watched the movie last night and was curious about filming locations that were so familiar from childhood.
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