By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com
NYC Transit Strike: Do Not Panic, The Sopranos Took the Week Off
So New York’s transit workers are officially on strike, and most of the reports I have read so far today say the city is either “plunged into chaos” or “in gridlock.” It is, however, fairly quiet outside The Reeler’s uptown Manhattan HQ, which should not be too surprising considering no private vehicles carrying fewer than four passengers are allowed below 96th Street.
Inside, of course, I am freaking out about getting to the plane I have to catch this afternoon at JFK. But as Reuters implied last week, the NYC film community as a whole faces major hassles of its own. The Reeler now hears that not only have emergency transportation regulations nullified the City Film Office’s special parking permits, but the free NYPD support customarily offers to location crews has been yanked. (City officials claim NYPD overtime could reach $10 million per day as the strike drags on.)
NYC Film Office representatives were unavailable for comment this morning, as was a spokesman from Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens. A source at Long Island City’s Silvercup Studios indicated that most of the productions based there (including The Sopranos) has taken the week off as a holiday, and that no other production delays he knew of had arisen because of the transit strike.
Meanwhile, a representative for Brooklyn’s Steiner Studios told me that the only problem to arise was a little more protracted commute. “A lot of people who work here live in Brooklyn, so they carpool,” the source told me, asking not to be named. “Everything’s pretty much taken care of right now, but who knows, if it continues?”
Who knows, indeed. One guy who might know is Transit Workers Union Local 100 boss Roger Toussaint, whom I would like to bug for a ride to the airport after he has dropped off a few of his biggest fans on Craigslist (via Gawker). We have to have four to a car, anyway, right? Then he can go downtown and help out whatever half-dozen Law & Order episodes the stoppage so cold-heartedly paralyzed. Deal?