Shot! The Psycho Spiritual Mantra of Rock

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Sal

I’m quite excited to share a four star (out of four) review generated by our screening at the 2016 BFI/The London Film Festival #bfilondonfilmfest for my documentary film “Shot! The Psycho Spiritual Mantra of Rock” featuring the life and work of extraordinary Rock and Roll photographer and dear friend, Mick Rock. I describe the film as a psychedelic Rock and Roll jamboree – a very experiential and entertaining journey. Directed by Brit Barney Clay and produced by VICE Films, Straight Up Films and RockEye Productions. We’re looking at a Spring 2017 commercial release worldwide – details TBA. For now, take a read of of this lovely review by Neil Dowden. [SHOT! Review] Cheers!

Silvercup Studios Expands to Bronx

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Sal

PORT MORRIS, The Bronx — A Queens based film and television studio opened up its third city location Wednesday in the Bronx.

Silvercup Studios– home to “Sex and the City,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “Girls” – built the $35 million studio complex to meet the needs of New York’s film industry. In 2006, only nine TV shows were based in New York City, but more than 30 film in the city now, according to the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting.

“Silvercup Studios is a great New York success story, whose growth and strength parallels everything going on in the Bronx right now,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “This expansion will help create hundreds of good-paying jobs, generating millions of dollars to local businesses and further build upon New York’s booming film industry.”

READ ENTIRE STORY [PIX11]

Barry Diller’s Pier55 gets the green light

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Sal

Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg’s Pier 55

I’m so very excited to see the rendering of Pier 55 which was green lit for NYC’s Hudson River Park. I can remember when Hudson River Park began. It was an ambitious project which began all the way downtown in Battery Park City and ended a few blocks up just north of The World Financial Center in the mid 1980s. Hudson River Park now runs up the entire West Side Highway beyond 133rd Street towards The George Washington Bridge. Amazing! The park has completely transformed the West Side of Manhattan including my neighborhood Hell’s Kitchen and The Hudson Yards which butts right up to the park. I go to it all the time to just sit and read, enjoy the river, ride my bike, relax. The following article announcement appeared in Crains New York Business today. Take a read.

The site of the future 2.7-acre Hudson River park funded by Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg has cleared its final regulatory hurdle, the Hudson River Park Trust announced Wednesday.

Construction of Pier 55, as the park-on-a-pier will be known, is now expected to begin this summer, the trust said. The park will include grassy hills.. [read full article]

Mick Rock – A Real New York Story

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Sal

It was just over 10 years ago when Mick Rock, the iconic Rock and Roll photographer, came into my office with a bag full of photos and a DVD to talk about a crazy JT Leroy indie film project we were working together on for Island Records founder Chris Blackwell’s film company, Palm Pictures. By that time, I had known Mick for a few years mostly from attending his very high profile photo exhibits in New York City with my good friend Jane Stuart. These were not photo exhibits for the quiet wine sipping cheese eating art crowd. Mick is rock star! You’d have to do battle with massive crowds at the door through the mounted police because, if you got in, you were likely to bump into Debbie Harry, Keith Richards, Lou Reed or Mick Jagger – all artists Mick has shot over his 4 decade and counting career. At the end of our JT Leroy film meeting, Mick pulls a DVD out from his bag and proceeds to tell me that he thinks there might be something we can do with a bit of footage he shot over the years going back as far as 1972 from his early years photographing Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie).

Naturally, I was more than quite interested in taking a peek. From the flicker of the first frame of grainy b/w footage, I knew he was sitting on a Rock and Roll goldmine. How much of this footage did you say you shot Mick? I ask. Jump to today, just one week from the world premiere of Shot! The Psycho Spiritual Mantra of Rock at The Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. #mickrockdoc #tribecafilmfest

Mick Rock with Lou Reed at Varvatos for Lou’s Transformer launch.

The film is one of the most anticipated of the festival and is already on everyone’s must see list including Rolling Stone. So much transpired over those 10 years a feature film documentary financed and produced the way Mick and I wanted. We had set our sights pretty high for how we wanted the story told, the look, a unique approach. We weren’t going to make another talking heads, isn’t he just great documentary. We wanted to really tell a story. So many meetings, false starts, imploding TV network executives, directional changes, the birth of Netflix streaming, the success of Amazon Prime and, most recently, the deaths of both Lou Reed and David Bowie, two of Mick’s dearest friends. The whole experience is such a New York story because so much of Mick’s professional life has been centered around New York City starting with Lou Reed. Looking back, it was always the City’s unique energy that projected this project forward. So, I’m going to have my own very New York moment this coming Friday when the lights go down and the flicker of the frames appear on the big screen before a sold out, standing room only NYC audience. It’s been an amazing ride so far. I love this crazy town!

Living in Hell’s Kitchen NYC

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Sal

Living in Hell’s Kitchen (HK) in New York City over 23 years, I’ve seen the neighborhood change dramatically. So, when I saw this feature piece on HK in the New York Times, I was thrilled. As the New York Times points out, many residents affectionately call the area “Hell’s Kitchen” vs. Clinton or MiMA which officials and developers concocted to polish up the area’s seedier past. No matter what you call it, you won’t find a more diverse, energetic, creative, tolerant and entertaining neighborhood in all of New York City. And for all you foodies out there, HK’s is home to the international food festival held each Spring on 9th Avenue reflected by the many reasonably priced restaurants and food merchants featuring food from every corner of the globe. If you’re not already here, you really should check it out. If you’re interested in buying or renting here, give me a call and I’ll show you some great spots you can call home. Check out the NY Times video on HK!

This Isn’t Edie’s 10th Avenue Anymore

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Sal

In the Maysel brother’s ground-breaking 1975 documentary “Grey Gardens”, Edith Bouvier Beales an American socialite, fashion model, cabaret performer and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, complains of abandoning her bustling exciting NYC life to care for her ailing mother, that she would be happier in any New York rathole, “even on 10th Avenue.” Well, if only sweet Edie were alive to see what’s popping up on 10th Avenue now. High Line and Hudson Yards high-rise, retail and public space construction is moving ahead at a rapid pace and it seems that more spectacular developments are being announced every week. Here’s a development from the architects of the new World Trade Center tower that caught my eye with its accessible vertical outdoor spaces placed in a very unique way. As a long time resident of 10th Avenue for over 22 years, I’ve seen major changes in the neighborhood, mostly for the better and some not so good. This is getting interesting. Urban life is being re-imagined in NYC in innovative and exciting ways. I just hope that we don’t lose the heart and soul of our great neighborhoods rats and all. [Full Article] [Contact Me] [History of Hudson Yards]

“Grey Gardens” Parody with Bill Hader and Fred Armisen – Hysterical!!

Treasures of New York – Stanford White

Posted on January 18, 2016 by Sal

I’m obsessed with the stories of New York City and passionate about architecture, so there was no way I could avoid discovering Stanford White who transformed New York City in the Gilded Age. He was one of the most prominent architects of the 19th and 20th Century, larger than life, a genius, and quite eccentric … his story is a New York story. Dick Cavet hosts an episode of the marvelous WNET series “Treasures of New York” featuring the life and work of Stanford White. You won’t want to miss this. [Sotheby’s International Realty]

NYC Subway Enters 21st Century

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Sal

As a New York City real estate agent, I’m all about New York which also means, I take the subway a lot. So, when I see an article about improvements to one of the busiest transit systems in the world (6 million passengers a day!), I want to read it and share. Looks like we’re finally getting the love we deserve underground.

From Curbed NY (Jan 8, 2016)

Governor Andrew Cuomo already revealed plans to improve Penn Station and the Javits Center this week, so why not throw the entire subway system on top of that, too? As part of the governor’s State of the State initiative, Cuomo detailed a plan of action for the MTA today (at the New York Transit Museum, no less) that includes big changes; namely, that more countdown clocks are coming sooner than expected, all subway stations will have Wi-Fi soon, and contactless payment will be a reality by 2018. [ Read full article, Curbed NY ]

You’re Going to Miss These Diners

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Sal

I love NYC diners. I live just around the corner from a landmarked diner near 11th Avenue. We’re losing these fabulous slices of NYC to high rents, unless, like my corner diner, they receive a historical designation. Check out some of these diner gems on Madison Avenue as described by Steve Couzzo of the NY Post. [click here for article]

Mr. Barbarino! What?! Where? Bensonhurst?

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Sal

I’m working a listing in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn NYC for a client who I’ve known from the music and film business for 10+ years give or take, a NYC dance genre music producer legend. The Village People, Klaus Nomi, Crystal Waters, NYC club DJ scene, drag queens, motorcycles, go go boys, the real deal, the works and then some and then some more. Manny’s a lifelong resident of Brooklyn, a real New Yorker, a survivor, an innovator, a risk taker, a true NYC original. www.manparish.com Being his exclusive listing agent is perfect as, in addition to real estate, I’m in the music, film and TV biz and a huge (guilty pleasure alert) disco fanatic since my teen years- I still have an awesome collection of vinyl 12 inchers from the 70s I would never part with.

Like most Manhattan living snots, Bensonhurst wasn’t a destination for me in the 30 years I’ve been in NYC, but I now realize that it has been a big part of my life all along watching TV or going to the movies going back to being a kid in Madison, WI. Like seeing Lenny’s Pizza in the fabulous opening scene of “Saturday Night Fever” – still open for business or watching the opening for the TV hit (also starring John Travolta) of “Welcome Back Kotter”. Or seeing the hood star in “The Bensonhurst Bomber” episode of The Honeymooners from the Classic 39 episodes of that series which is still running on TV around the world. Today, there’s no more graffiti subway cars, no more bell bottoms or men’s platform shoes (never say never) and we live in a very cleaned up, well run NYC City. Somehow and up until now, Bensonhurst remains a sleepy real Brooklyn neighborhood unspoiled by stale corporate coffee shops and GAPs on every corner. It’s still Perfect, it’s still REAL NYC. I love it!

So, who knew Bensonhurst had been calling me for years? Now, 30+ years later since I moved here, NYC is having an incredible renaissance with people actually deciding not to move to the burbs when they procreate but staying here or, better yet, moving to the City from the burbs! The population growing. All the boroughs are on fire, Brooklyn especially.. and Bensonhurst’s will no doubt come back into the spotlight as home prices continue to skyrocket in Long Island City, Williamsburg, Park Slope, Carroll Gardens pushing the 99% ers further out. It’s remarkable to see this happening. So, what’s my advice then? Well, don’t dispair! It’s jewels like Bensonhurst where you can still score a fabulous home with lots of character in a real neighborhood, with locally owned markets, diversity, very real people, a real NYC life. So, OK, like, not for nothin’… take a look at a great place that will get you a whole lot of living for your money that would only score you a lousy one bedroom in Manhattan. Best part, if Manny Parrish’s walls could sing, Madonne! You’d for sure hear a lot of great music! . You gotta check it out!

Travolta famously walking in Bensonhurst

Salvatore A. Scamardo

Home.Work.People. Real Estate

Author Archives: Sal