2. The Barbershop and Akeem’s Apartment
The cab drops them off in what’s supposed to be extremely ordinary Queens, “the most common part,” Akeem requests. The filming location for Akeem’s apartment, above the barbershop, is actually located at 392 South 5th Street in Williamsburg at Hooper Street and South 5th Street. The building still remains, painted a yellow instead of the red brick it has in Coming to America and the businesses on the ground floor are now Rosa’s Services, a translating service, and Jose Fashion.
Much of the surrounding area is unrecognizable, however. Many buildings have been demolished and replaced, the empty lots filled in. In the distance as the cab approaches the destination, you can see a tall warehouse building with a water tower. That building still exists, sans water tower, and is now a Hasidic-owned building.
Excitingly, in Coming 2 America Akeem and Semmi return back to this same filming location! A great conversation about gentrification ensues in the barbershop. Akeem, now King, is searching for his bastard son he didn’t realize he conceived on his last visit in Coming to America.
