Not so much for the episode titled "A Wednesday Night Story" starring David Jansen. So few, I debated whether to even make the effort of taking the photos. But when most of the shooting location was at the end of my block, there was really no excuse to be lazy.
The very first shot of the episode is of Carl Schurz Park at 84th and East End Avenue. Carl Schurz was, among other things, the editor of the New York Post, a founder of the Republican Party, and the senator from Missouri. He was played by Edward G. Robinson in John Ford's Cheyenne Autumn. Maybe it should be renamed Edward G. Robinson Park.
You didn't expect me to have a camera crane to get a similar shot, did you? It looks to me there are fewer trees now than in 1961, but maybe that's just the angle. Otherwise, except for the painted crosswalks, it's more or less the same.
A chauffeur opens the door for a governess and her young charge on the corner just outside the park. You can just about make out the Chapin School on the left, and an apartment building on the right.
The limo is replaced by a city-owned SUV, and governesses are now known as nannies. But Chapin and the apartment building remain.
Our heroes are on the path to the right of the swing set area. Behind the fence on the right is an area where sprinklers provide relief during hot summer days. Kids only, unfortunately.
New benches on both sides of the path and the rear right, along with a fence on the left. The sprinkler area is still there. I'm no arborist, but I think that's a new tree on the rear left, too. Pardon the puddle in the middle -- we've been having thunderstorms of late.
A chauffeur opens the door for a governess and her young charge on the corner just outside the park. You can just about make out the Chapin School on the left, and an apartment building on the right.
The limo is replaced by a city-owned SUV, and governesses are now known as nannies. But Chapin and the apartment building remain.
The governess and the spoiled brat walk from the car to the park entrance.
Trees now hide the apartment building visible on the left rear of the previous photo. Little fences surround the trees now. The NO PARKING street-cleaning sign is different but still gets the same message across. I told you there wasn't much of a difference between then and now.
Trees now hide the apartment building visible on the left rear of the previous photo. Little fences surround the trees now. The NO PARKING street-cleaning sign is different but still gets the same message across. I told you there wasn't much of a difference between then and now.
The sign on the gate reads PRIVATE PARK PUBLIC NOT ADMITTED. But luckily our girl has a key. Such is the good life on the Upper East Side.
The gate was gone before I moved to the neighborhood in 1983, and the NO ADMITTANCE sign was likely a prop for the show. That thick post, which can go down when necessary, is a recent addition to keep unauthorized vehicles (i.e., terrorists) out of the park.
Now we're inside the park's Catbird Playground. The swing set on the left is similar to the one when our daughter played here throughout her childhood. In the rear of the shot is a storage building for the park's maintenance crew.
A few years ago, the playground was closed to install new equipment. The swings are radically different, and a checkerboard pattern replaced the asphalt. Benches have been installed to give parents a break. In the far rear left are tables to picnic or play chess and checkers. The trees on the right haven't gone anywhere, although the blocks that used to be around them are gone. (The apartment building on the left was seen on another Naked City episode, examined here.)
Our heroes are on the path to the right of the swing set area. Behind the fence on the right is an area where sprinklers provide relief during hot summer days. Kids only, unfortunately.
New benches on both sides of the path and the rear right, along with a fence on the left. The sprinkler area is still there. I'm no arborist, but I think that's a new tree on the rear left, too. Pardon the puddle in the middle -- we've been having thunderstorms of late.
The kid briefly runs off to the middle of the playground, which should be lousy with children in the middle of the day. But not when the Naked City crew takes over for a few hours.
The round track in the previous screenshot is gone. The benches have been replaced by a mini-walking bridge for the kiddies. A small sliding board has taken the place of a larger one; new trees line the area. And if you're wondering why it's so empty, I had to take these photos at 7:00 a.m. before anybody arrived. Otherwise, nannies and parents would have called the cops on the creepy old guy taking pictures of the children.
The governess's employees live in the sleek apartment building at the north end of East End Avenue across the street from the FDR Drive and the East River. Look at that four-wheeled yacht pulling up! That thing easily gets seven miles per gallon. Note the thin leaning tree to the right of the entryway roof.
That thin leaning tree has grown thicker over the years, as have most of us (except me). A nice brick wall replaces the wire fence that surrounds the plants. The roof over the entryway has been refurbished but is essentially the same, while the poles are now black.
The governess's employees live in the sleek apartment building at the north end of East End Avenue across the street from the FDR Drive and the East River. Look at that four-wheeled yacht pulling up! That thing easily gets seven miles per gallon. Note the thin leaning tree to the right of the entryway roof.
Nope, not a whole lot of change in the last 60 years. That's the way we Upper East Siders like it.
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1 comment:
A fun little tour into the neighborhood's past.
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