6. Abandoned 9th Avenue Subway Station

The gritty, graffiti-ridden New York City subway system is quite a character in Joker. Most of the subway system in New York City no longer has that feel, so when film production crews need to find something that references an earlier era, they often shoot in abandoned stations. The abandoned level of the Bowery subway station is a popular spot — seen in Mr. Robot for example and recently in a Tom Ford fashion show — but 9th Avenue’s abandoned lower level, where Joker is shot, is rarely used.

Photo courtesy an Untapped Cities reader

The 9th Avenue station is located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn at 39th Street. This lower level has not been used since 1975, when it was no longer needed as as through route for the former BMT system. It was used for the filming of Crocodile Dundee in 1986, but we have not seen it since. Our readers report that other subway stations used for filming Joker included the Church Avenue station (also seen in Mr. Robot) and the Bedford Park Boulevard station on the D line. You can see from photographs taken by our readers that the signage on the platform have been changed accordingly (Downtown & Tricorner via Local or the 8 Express train) and even the inside of the subway cars are fully designed, with a Gotham subway map and ads.

Photo courtesy an Untapped Cities reader

Photo courtesy an Untapped Cities reader

Photo courtesy an Untapped Cities reader

In an interview with Untapped Cities, production designer Mark Friedberg told us that filming on the 9th Ave lower section was the easiest, since it is closed but “some of the stations that are public have to be carefully coordinated with the MTA. They have specific guidelines which are for our safety generally. We who work in New York know the folks who coordinate this well. In the case of Joker they went above and beyond and really helped us be able to tell our story. Some of the subway car work was also shot on stage.”