By Brendan Browne
The explosive success of “Spider-Man” and its Forest Hills story line has some in the community tangled up in the movie’s web.
The blockbuster has not only brought notoriety to Forest Hills, the hometown of Spider-Man’s alter ego, Peter Parker, but especially to the residents of two of the community’s streets, Ingram Street and 69th Road.
Super fans know that 20 Ingram St. is the address given to Peter Parker and his Aunt May in the comic, and it just so happens a real life Parker family lives there.
Andrew and Suzanne Parker and their two daughters never could have imagined their 15 minutes of fame would come as a result of such a strange coincidence involving their address.
“The whole thing is completely nuts,” said Mrs. Parker, sounding annoyed with reporters and Spider-Man fanatics. “I’ve gotten calls from all over the world.”
Mrs. Parker, who would only speak for a few seconds, and her famous address have been featured in The New York Times, Time Out New York, and local papers. She has appeared on CBS’s Early Show and probably has had to brush off phone calls from Spidey-obsessed crank callers.
The coincidence grows larger at 19 Ingram St., across from the Parkers. Spider-Man’s arch enemy is the Green Goblin, also known as Norman Osborn. The 19 Ingram St. address lists both a Herbert Osborn and a Maxwell Osborne as residents. Neither was available for comment, but they are probably not evil scientists like Norman Osborn.
A few blocks from there, the folks of 69th Road have been coping with the spotlight too. Columbia Pictures chose one house on their street to use as Peter Parker’s home in the movie.
The nice couple that lives in the home requested their name and address not be printed and they refused to be photographed because they feared the attention Spidey “lunatics” might bring.
Still, they said they enjoyed hosting part of the filming and the wife of the couple got to meet Tobey Maguire, the star of “Spider-Man.”
“It was more exciting than anything else,” the husband said. The movie’s crew members “were very pleasant to work with” and even invited them to enjoy cake and coffee on one worker’s birthday.
Others on the block have not had to deal with obsessive fans and some were paid for their compliance with filming.
“Everybody feels it’s interesting. Nobody complains. I like it,” said John Yang, a resident.
You can reach Brendan Browne by email at TimesLedger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 155.
