BACK TO BACK AND BACK AGAIN

Following a six or eight week break in most television production in New York, resulting in slim pickings job-wise, I resumed regular extra work in late July. Several days a week, working up to 13 hours at a shot, allowing my wife to relive her childhood days when her parents were out of the house and she got to watch as much TV as she wanted and stay up late. She's gone from "I missed you!" to "Back so soon?"

This must be a fictional
character -- he packed a bag
lunch.

One of the cool things about this work is that it's allowed me to see more of New York  in the last 12 months than I did in the previous 35 years I lived here. The outer reaches of Queens that resemble the opening credits of All in the Family, to the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn where all the advertising posters were in Hebrew, to the heart of the financial district (right). For the first time since I moved here in 1981, I feel like a tourist in my own city.

Take me out to the balding game.

I've worked at landmarks, famous and obscure, that I'd never have gone to otherwise. The old, abandoned Bronx courthouse on East 161st St.; Citifield, home of the New York Mets (left); the Mass Transit Museum in Brooklyn; Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens. Formerly an expert only on the East side trains, I've since travelled  almost the entire alphabetical and numerical subway lines. Too bad it's still not 75 cents, like it was when I moved here.



There are times when shooting occurs beyond the subway lines' reach. That's when

What's not to like about
slot machines at 7:00 in the
morning?

productions provide busses. I've heard there are some that leave from 86th St. & 3rd Ave., a brief stroll from my home. That must be nice; the only ones I've ever been called for are those that leave from 35th & 3rd, or, more often, Broadway & 96th.

That doesn't sound like such a long commute, until you realize that the bus from the latter location has been known to leave as early as 4:45 a.m., necessitating a 3:00 rise and shine. The last time that happened, it was for a trip to the Empire Casino in Yonkers (right) on an episode of Bull, where I barely saw the light of day until shooting wrapped at sunset -- just like a real gambler. (It's those early shoots where there's a physical necessity to break my no-caffeine rule.)

Moments away from
seeing my client go
the chair.

I've recently been promoted from "nd bg" (nondescript background) to things like "wealthy donor", "upscale lawyer" (left), and "Wall Street" type. Yet despite living on the Upper East Side for almost 35 years, I can never get cast as an "Upper East Sider" because I don't look like one. Nor do I get cast as someone "rich looking". To which I ask, do you mean Mark Zuckerberg?

It's the make-up, not the job, that gives
me the ghostly pallor.

I've also been pegged as "reporter" and "newspaper photographer", most recently on Gotham (right). The latter was a real treat. The young wardrobe women were gobsmacked by my outfit. Never have women gazed at me with such wonder, such hunger. (I knew I was hanging on to that necktie for 25 years for a reason.)

Like many of Gotham's characters, I appeared to have stepped right from the pages of a 1940s comic book -- only these were my own clothes. Consequently, I was placed close to the action -- and the all-important TV camera. Remember, folks, clothes make the extra.

Yes, it's been busy -- so much so, I've had to turn down jobs because I've already been booked for those dates. In fact, I started this piece yesterday, only to accept a last-minute call to appear on Elementary as -- what else -- "upscale audience member".

In case the seal act before the
main feature wasn't to your liking.

It was filmed at the United Palace Theater, formerly Lowe's 175th Street Theater, built in 1930 as a movie/vaudeville palace, and described as a "delirious masterpiece". (You can read about it here.) 

Of all the photos I snapped of the interior, my favorite by far is of the original intercom off the lobby. Due to the flash, it's difficult to discern, but if you look carefully, there are not one but two areas marked as "VOMITORY". 

In no other job would I have seen this. I await the next piece of history with joyous anticipation. ACTION!

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