The massively popular crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU)” will be bringing heavy firepower to Ridgewood on Tuesday, April 11.
SVU is scheduled to film scenes for their 18th season on 64th Street between 68th and Catalpa avenues where there will be actors in police uniforms, police cars, guns, snipers, and more than 100 background actors.
The show will be filming an active crime scene/hostage situation at the exterior of the bar from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
At the location, there will be a police staging area. Detectives will arrive on scene, pulling in hot, with squad car pulling in hot right behind them. Snipers will be moving into position on 64th Street and on top of the roof of 62-18 68th Ave.
Detectives will interview a victim with blood spattered on his clothes. There will be 20 actors in NYPD uniforms with guns drawn, 16 actors in ESU uniforms with long arms, hostage negotiators with badges, actors as Crime Scene Unit (CSU) officers, 10 actors in NYPD windbreakers, actors as plainclothes NYPD officers, actors as paramedics, an actor with a blood effect on their clothes, and approximately 100 background onlookers and approximately 16 actors as press.
There will also be five police cruisers with lights flashing, five EMS vehicles with lights flashing, ambulance lights flashing, four unmarked police vehicles with bubble lights flashing, an Medical Examiner’s van, and a CSU van.
Police vehicles will be moving on 64th Street and 68th Avenue with traffic, into position. The crew was granted permission to place a sniper on roof granted 62-18 68th Ave. by owner. Permission was granted to operate a 50-foot camera crane without outrigger on northwest corner of 68th Avenue and 64th Street. There has been a request to remove three “Dead End” signs (signs only; the posts will remain) on the northeast corner of 68th Avenue and 64th Street, the northwest corner of 68th Avenue and 64th Street, and the north end of 64th Street and 68th Avenue.
All requests were made at the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) discretion.
As always, when filming comes to the neighborhood there are parking restrictions. Here are the restrictions for Wednesday:
- Both sides of Fresh Pond Road between Madison Street and Catalpa Avenue for the entire block;
- Both sides of 68th Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and 60th Lane for half the block;
- The south side of 68th Road between 60th Lane and Fresh Pond Road for half the block;
- Half of the north side of Catalpa Avenue between 60th Lane and Fresh Pond Road;
- Both sides of 62nd Street between 68th Avenue and the Dead End for the whole block;
- The east side of 62nd Street between 68th Avenue and Catalpa Avenue for two truck lengths;
- The entire block, both sides, of 68th Avenue between 62nd Street and 64 Place; and
- The fill block, east and west, of 64th Street between Catalpa Avenue and 68th Avenue.
Photos by Margaret Cuffe
