Spider-Man Rescues FiDi (from the Mayhem of Movie-Making)

Spider-Man will be on Exchange Place next month, but don't expect to see him.

Posted
Mar. 07, 2013

Spider-Man and crew will descend on the Financial District next month, but they’ll be as stealthy as Peter Parker himself.

So says location manager Jason Farrar, who told Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee on Wednesday that the producers of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” will do their best to be good neighbors when shooting for the movie comes Downtown to the ornate Art Deco lobby of 20 Exchange Place, a popular backdrop for movies.

The shoot will take place from April 22 to 24 and again on April 29.

“We’re basically doing everything we can to make it as easy on the community as possible,” Farrar told the committee. “People won’t even know we’re there.”  

According to Farrar, the film crew will use cars instead of production trucks, set up noisy generators away from residential buildings, and arrange cable crossings neatly on the sidewalk so as not to disrupt pedestrian traffic. There will be no street closures because the film will be shot indoors, he noted.

Farrar said that the props used for the Exchange Place movie set will come from local vendors, and that the 250 crew members won’t be getting catered lunches but will patronize local eateries.

Committee member Joel Kopel, who had met earlier with production people as a representative of nearby 3 Hanover Square, said the producers have “done everything” to accommodate the community. “They’re supporting the businesses in Hanover Square and Stone Street,” he said. “So, it’s a win-win.”

As a further display of good will, Farrar said the production company, Columbia Pictures, will be making monetary donations to Pace University, Manhattan Youth and the National Minority Business Council.

“You’ve established a precedent,” said committee chair Ro Sheffe, “that I hope a lot of other production companies follow.”