Movies and Murders

To celebrate its 40th anniversary, the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting has created an interactive Flash map that shows where movies and shows have been shot. The map isn't comprehensive by any means. For the entire neighborhood of Chelsea only two movies are included -- "I Shot Andy Warhol," which was filmed on 20th St. and  "Bed of Roses," which was filmed on 19th St., in 1996.   Have they never heard of The Chelsea Girls, Sid & Nancy, and Chelsea Walls, just to name a few. The Chelsea Hotel should have its own interactive movie map. (via Gothamist)

Also, in a new feature called Shot in NYC, travel blog gridskipper will pair a murder and a scene (and some times a murder scene) that takes place near or exactly in the same location.  They focused on 23rd Street for the first installment.

On the corner of 23rd Steet near Eigth Avenue. It's February 28th at 12:45 in the morning. Gangster Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll is gunned down by members of Dutch Schultz's gang. Earlier Coll has accidentally killed a 5 year-old boy on East 107th street in an attempt on Schultz's life. Coll had wanted to take over Schultz's uptown beer business. The building is now a condo.

Another mob scene took place on 23rd Street at what used to be the McBurney YMCA at 215 W. 23rd (the inspiration for the VIllage People's YMCA). This is where the famous steamroom scene in the Godfather was filmed. Sadly, the new occupant, yuppie gym David Barton, completely renovated and no one knows exactly where the steamroom was. Yuppies.