The "Kings" of Roosevelt Island

Parking is a bit messed up today on Roosevelt Island's Main Street due to filming associated with the new NBC show "Kings" expected to air in March 2009.

The show is "a modern-day reimagining of the historical story of King David featuring a young heroic soldier who winds up dethroning a corrupt monarch to become king of a great and powerful city." according to Yahoo TV and stars Ian McShane and Chris Egan. Deadwood this aint.

"Ugly Betty" on Roosevelt Island ?

According to “On Location Vacations” the hit TV show “Ugly Betty” was on Roosevelt Island today filming at Coler-Goldwater Hospital. No sightings being reported.

Being unfamiliar with the show I am unsure if the story line has a character being admitted to the hospital or whether they are using the hospital to represent another type of structure or office space. Recall that "New Amsterdam" filmed at least some exterior balcony shots at Coler-Goldwater as scenes from their detective's squad room.

"Rescue Me" Filming on Island

According to an individual navigating residents away from walking along the Western promenade the film project lighting up the "boardwalk" was for a future episode of "Rescue Me" starring Dennis Leary. Lights from the shoot were clearly seen from the Roosevelt Island Tram.

WNBC News: Neighborhoods - Roosevelt Island

Sometime within the next week local television news station WNBC will be running a neighborhood segment on Roosevelt Island.

Veteran correspondent Gabe Pressman visited Roosevelt Island, yesterday May 28, 2008, and interviewed Matthew Katz, the President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association as well as Judy Berdy, President of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society. And while I am not a President of anything but in my own mind, Mr. Pressman also interviewed my wife and I about our experiences on Roosevelt Island and how we came to be part of this community. According to Mr. Pressman the segment is expected to air during the 11:00 pm newscast.

It was an enjoyable experience and one that thankfully my children were in a good mood for and they did not destroy the nice and expensive camera that was brought to the island for the interviews. We covered the basics as to what drew us here, what we enjoy and the differences between living here and the rest of the City. As an aside I will say Mr. Pressman and his team were great guests and it is very easy to see why this man is still doing what he obviously loves doing. A real pro.

On camera at least I did not bore Mr. Pressman with my views and concerns regarding our ongoing transportation issues. Although my wife and I, on camera, did state how beautiful Southpoint Park is in its current natural state.

Between the interviews of Mr. Katz, Ms. Berdy and my wife and I, we (my wife and I) figure our part of the segment will be about 1 minute of an expected (our guess) 3 minute segment. Stay tuned.

Roosevelt Island Scenes Shown on Fox Television Show "New Amsterdam"

Well this week the scenes filmed on Roosevelt Island for the FOX television show "New Amsterdam" aired within Episode 7 "Reclassified". Thanks to the folks over at the fan site "New Amsterdam Forever" for pointing the scenes out to me as I missed this week's episode. I admit I first starting watching because I had seen the television production vehicles some months agao and I have become a fan since.

The first scene (at 7.41 minutes) played involves the main character John Amsterdam, a homicide detective, having a discussing with his former partner Andy. The scene is supposed to be on a balcony just off the detective's office space in the local precinct house. Based on the views and the balcony railing it became clear that the scene was shot at Goldwater Hospital just South of the Queensboro Bridge facing East into Queens.

The second scene (at 12.41 minutes) is obviously shot from the Western promenade overlooking the East River with Manhattan and the Queensboro Bridge in the background.