On Film Shoots Holding Parking For Excessive Amounts Of Time

We stumbled upon these No Parking signs yesterday after the 9am deadline for neighbors to move cars, but had to wonder why said deadline would be so early on the day before the shoot. At 9am on Tuesday, March 11, there was a minimum of 15 hours before a shoot could even take place on Wednesday, March 12–not that we’ve seen any shoots set up at midnight in the past.

We got in touch with the location manager listed on the sign, who informed us that today’s shoot is a promotional video for The New York Times, and that he expected trucks to arrive on set at about 9:30am this morning.

Then we reached out to Marybeth Ihle of the NY Office of Film, Theatre, and Broadcasting to see if there was a hard and fast rule about how long before shoot times parking could be reserved. Here’s what she had to say:

Productions may not hold parking more than 24 hours in advance, and No Parking signs must be posted at least 48 hours in advance of the shoot. When productions hold parking, it coincides with alternate street parking, allowing residents to remain parked for as long as possible.

We also asked about productions releasing unused parking promptly back to the public, since we realized last week while walking past the set of The Black Box on Beverley Road that at 12:30pm (six and a half hours after residents were asked to move their cars), not much was parked on the road–it was still just full of cones, not serving a purpose for the crew or neighbors. Marybeth explained:

Productions release parking they are not using as soon as possible. It usually depends on their schedule, and sometimes there may be a last minute change or a delay in having a truck arrive.

Additionally, our office strictly limits the amount of parking given to productions and sends field representatives to monitor productions to ensure they’re in compliance with their permit. Parking is limited to essential production vehicles only; crew members are not allowed to park their own vehicles in spaces reserved for the production.

To be nit picky while keeping the office’s rules in mind, today’s New York Times promo shoot asked neighbors to move over 24 hours before vehicles were expected on set–and although we’re sure delays happen (maybe the trucks were originally scheduled to arrive at 9 or before), how could an entire day not be enough to accommodate hiccups? While considering the larger picture, we’re also curious as to what else neighbors have seen in the way of parking reserved (but not in use) for very long amounts of time around the neighborhood. And in particular, to our neighbors who work or have worked on sets, do you believe, based on your experience, that it’s necessary to reserve parking a whole 24 hours ahead of a shoot?