On a recent OHNY tour of the Greenpoint Oil Spill Remediation Project run by ExxonMobil and the Newtown Creek Alliance, we were also shown Broadway Stages, a film studio within the spill zone. The buildings in this area of Newtown Creek were once home to 50 oil refineries, tanneries, gas plants, metal manufacturers and other businesses, and an extensive oil spill underground is the result of a century of accumulated contamination. The oil companies were eventually consolidated, but of the buildings in the area were unused and certain stretches lacked basic infrastructure–like sewers, electricity and sidewalks. Moreover, the streets were used essentially as dump sites.
Broadway Stages came in to change that, and with the partnership of ExxonMobile, who has sought to be a good neighbor during the remediation process, installed lights and created sidewalks. In 2010, the road was paved for the first time in 50 years. Broadway Stages is now one of the largest film production companies in New York City, with shows like The Undoing, Gotham, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods and Royal Pains filmed there.
Broadway Stages kept some of the original brick facades of the buildings and added modern extensions
An office film set for the show Gotham built into the former industrial building
As new masters at adaptive re-use, Broadway Stages announced earlier this year that they will be converting a former prison, the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility on Staten Island into another production facility. Meanwhile, they’ve also loaned part of their Greenpoint space to the North Brooklyn Boat Club, an organization doing great events like an overnight circumnavigation of Manhattan.
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy (HarperOne, forthcoming) Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
