"New York, You've Changed" is a new Scouting NY site feature in
which the New York depicted in movies is compared with the city of
today. This is not the usual list of shooting locations and addresses
to visit next time you tour the city. Instead, it is a full
shot-by-shot dissection to see what New York once was and what it has
become, for better or worse. I've tried to recreate the angles and
framing as best as possible, and have presented the shots (more or
less) in the order they appear in the film. Today, we delve into Part 2
of our Taxi Driver coverage (Part 1 is here). Enjoy! And for those who missed our look at Ghostbusters: Part 1 & Part 2!).
When we last left off, Travis Bickle was cruising through Times
Square. We then catch him uptown as he makes a drop off at the Hotel
Olcott at 27 West 72nd Street. Here, he drives up to the hotel, and we
see the O LAR Restaurant on the east side. Today, it's a Dallas BBQ.
Curious what O LAR Restaurant was all about? This awesomely bizarre ad from a 1974 New York magazine should tell you all you need to know!
Travis pulls up to the front of the hotel. Note the new awning:
Then, Travismeets up with his cabbie buddies at an unknown grease joint. As far asI can tell, this isn't the Belmore Restaurant nor The Terminal/Exchangebar featured later on in the film. Anyone have any idea where thismight have been? There's a Hess across the street, if that helps.
The nextday, Travis meets Betsy at the campaign office. I incorrectlyidentified the building in the previous post -- I trusted the Taxi Driver SpecialEdition DVD "Locations Featurette," which has the building at 62nd& Broadway. As alert reader David pointed out, it's actually at63rd & Broadway and has completely changed. Nowadays, Betsy wouldbe coming out of a Bank of America (I've updated Part 1 with new pictures for those who are curious).
Travis takesBetsy to a place called Charles' Coffee Shop at the corner of 58th& 8th Ave (long gone, of course). In this shot, we get a glimpse ofthe old Museum of Arts & Design building:
A different angle gives us a view of Columbus Circle and the future site of the glass-and-steel Time Warner Center:
Charles' Coffee Shop is now a Duane Reade:
Travis asksBetty out to a movie, and decides to get her a Kris Kristofferson albumas a gift. He goes to a record store, and though I don't know theoriginal location, the woman's shirt tag identifies it as a Sam Goody(one institution I don't mind having gone extinct). Any guesses?
We then geta shot of Travis driving by a news ticker announcing Palantine'sarrival in New York, and at first I couldn't figure out what the hellthis mundane office building was. When it hit me that it was 1 TimesSquare, I couldn't believe how much has changed. Also, I love the ad onthe bus.
Travis thenmeets up with some friends at the Terminal Bar (next to the ExchangeBar), formerly at 41st Street and 8th Ave. Currently, the New YorkTimes building resides on the property, with a Schnippers restaurant inplace of the Terminal. I realize "Terminal" refers to the PortAuthority across the street, but there's something absolutely perfectin the double-meaning.
The Terminal Bar was closed in 1982. A short documentary about the place and more information is here.
Finally, wehave the legendary meeting between Travis and child prostitute Iris(played by Jodie Foster) in front of the Variety Theater. What remainsof the Variety today?
Yes, theVariety was torn down to make room for another glass-and-steel 21-floorcondo highrise. Originally opened in 1913 as a Nickelodeon theater, theVariety operated until 2004, at which point it was an off-broadwaytheater. It was torn down in 2005. Intelligent Flickr photographer GVSHP took some pictures prior to its demise, and I warn you, they'll break your heart:
We get a tighter angle as Travis pulls up. The bar on the left is now Daydream Yogurt.
A yogurtplace. Just because I'm now feeling particularly angry (really, I wantto drive home the point), here's a picture of the Variety's demolition:
Later, asTravis drives west on 42nd Street, we are treated to a great view of8th Ave looking north. First, we catch a man begging in front of adiner on the east corner. That diner is now some sort of bland pizzachain called the Villa Italian Kitchen (with locations around the world-- even Kuwait!).
As we movewest, you can see how much has changed. That cigarette shop now appearsto be an Auntie Anne's pretzel place. Also, note that the phone boothin the first picture is now a phone stand.
As we continue west, we get a glimpse of the sign for the old Times Square Motor Hotel (free parking!). According to thisNew York Times article, in 1988, "the director of the Mayor's Office ofHomeless and Single Room Occupancy Housing Services...announced thecity's intention to buy the hotel and use it as a residence for thehomeless and as the site of a work-release program for jail inmates."In other words, a halfway house. Times have changed since 1988: a WestinHotel is now on the site.
Finally, aswe complete our journey across 8th Ave, we get a shot of the old ShowWorld Center porn theater marquee. Though the theater is now the TimesSquare Comedy Club/Laugh Factory, Show World is still in business nextdoor as a sex store, and for some reason, I find that a bit refreshing.
Here, youcan see the building housing the theater in full -- I love its bizarreheight and width, and how it sticks out so oddly from the surroundingbuildings. It almost looks like a giant middle finger flipping off therest of Times Square.
Meanwhile,I'd love to know how much -- if any -- of the awning is originally partof the old porn theater sign (again, I find it strangely appealing tothink about tourists sitting in the same theaters where countless pervsspent skeezy nights in Times Square).
Coming soon! Part 3 of our New York, You've Changed: Taxi Driver
series, beginning with Travis's ill-fated date with Besty to a 42nd
Street porn theater. A sneak peak at what was playing then and now:
-SCOUT
PS -- And again, if you've made it this far, think about subscribing to our RSS feed or Twitter account for future updates!