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Here’s a fun one for movie buffs from the Weird Holidays & Observances page: June 8 is Ghostbusters Day. And 2019 marks a significant milestone for the paranormal comedy: its 35th anniversary!
Yep. That’s right. Ghostbusters was released in theaters 35 years (or more) ago.
Did you see it back then?
I sure remember that summer. In one respect it seems like just yesterday…then in another respect it definitely feels like it was 35 years ago.
Unusual Things to See and Do
Something I’ve recently started doing on trips is to check if Atlas Obscura has an Unusual Things to See and Do guide for wherever I’m headed. Then I make a list of things I’d like to check out.
When I accompanied my husband to New York City on a work trip at the beginning of this year, I had some spare time to jaunt around. I was excited to find the Atlas Obscura Guide to Manhattan: 328 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in Manhattan, New York.
That’s how I learned about the Ghostbusters Firehouse, the exterior of the firehouse that became ghostbusting headquarters in the movie.
Unfortunately I didn’t have time to get to it. (Maybe next visit to NYC.)
Other Popular Ghostbusters Locations
However, today I wanted to write about the firehouse for Ghostbusters Day, but I wondered “Are there other Ghostbusters film locations?”
So I Googled “what buildings were used in Ghostbusters” and was surprised to find something else pop up.
You know how sometimes when you Google stuff a “People also ask” box comes up as part of the search results?
That’s how I learned in addition to the firehouse, there are three other popular Ghostbusters locations people want to know about:
- The library
- The hotel
- The apartment building where Sigourney Weaver’s character, Dana, lived
I also learned that while a lot of scenes were shot in New York, filming was split between NYC and Los Angeles –and one of the most popular Ghostbusters location searches is for a place in L.A. (Covered below.)
The New York Public Library
In the movie, the first ghost Egon, Ray and Venkman encounter is an apparition in a library.
No name change for fictional purposes in the movie. They identify the spirit as haunting the New York Public Library, and that’s exactly where the scene was shot.
The Hotel – a.k.a. Cue Slimer
Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles
One of the movie’s most memorable scenes –and lovable spooks– hails from the Ghostbusters’ expedition to a hotel.
In the movie it’s called the Sedgewick Hotel. In real life it’s the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, which is located in Los Angeles. (Even better, it’s really haunted.)
The ballroom scene was shot in the hotel.
The scene in the hallway, however, was filmed in the studio. (Which I learned from a really neat post from Scouting Los Angeles. It compared the real hotel hallway to the movie one.)
It was a rough job, and they got slimed catching the greedy, gobbling, green ghoulie, but in the end the guys got the job done.
The Apartment Building – a.k.a. Spook Central
In the movie, the address for the building where Dana, played by Sigourney Weaver, and Louis, played by Rick Moranis, lives is 550 Central Park West. Take off the “0” and you have the actual address for the real life building: 55 Central Park West.
The building isn’t nearly as tall as it was made to look in the movie, nor does it have some of the architectural features that were created via special effects for the movie. (Like the rooftop temple. Nope. Won’t find that on the real building.)
It also wasn’t built by an occult-obsessed architect who founded the secret society, The Cult of Gozer.
Dan Aykroyd’s character, Ray, refers to the building as “Spook Central” in the movie. That’s sort of something the real-life building has in common with its fictional counterpart: ever since the movie it’s come to be known by a nickname, the Ghostbusters Building.
Also like the movie, the real life building does contain residencies.
No idea if dogs are allowed though.
Boo-K It!
Book the New York TV and Movie Tour the next time you’re in NYC and you could see some of the Ghostbusters filming locations!
Check-In
Do you like to tour sites that were in movies? If so, which ones have you been to? If you haven’t been to any, are there any you’d like to see?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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Thirty-five years? Gosh, I feel old! I saw it as a kid in a historic theatre that no longer exists. The building was probably haunted with all the things it had experienced.
I visited Pepperdine University where a TV series was filmed. (Forgot the series, some kids’ thing.) The location in real life was even more beautiful than on the screen.
I love that you remembered where you saw it even! But so sorry the theater is no longer there. Old theaters are the best!