From Garbo to Peter Parker: Explore NYC's housing history at the Museum of the City of New York
To us, just about any movie set in New York is, by its very nature, also about real estate. And it looks like we're not alone. This coming Monday, February 1st, the Museum of the City of New York is hosting Home Sweet Home: New York Housing on Film, a look into the many ways our city's real estate situation has been depicted onscreen over the years.
Though the event is in tandem with the museum's ongoing affordable housing exhibition, the exhibit's curator (and event panelist) Thomas Mellins tells us, "the event is less about affordable housing efforts than it is about how movies have represented, indirectly, the issue of affordable housing to a very broad audience—everything from people having no place to live and being on the street, to a very glamorized depictions of penthouse living."
"There's always been this subtext of, 'Where do you live in New York, and how do you afford that?'" he adds. [Editor's note: We agree.] "Even when you watch something like Moonstruck, for instance, you see this very depressed character (Nicolas Cage) but wonder, if he's living in this nice penthouse, can things really be that bad?" Three panelists will be giving short presentations with images and clips of films ranging from a lavish old Greta Garbo film to a gritty depiction of life in the South Bronx, with a discussion to take place afterwards.
The event starts at 6:30 pm on Monday, and is free for museum members, $16 for the general public, and $12 for students and seniors. More information can be found here.
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