Kaufman Astoria Studios

If Steiner Studios is New York’s modern studio city, Kaufman Astoria is its founding myth. This is where it started: the eastern home of Paramount Pictures, opened in 1920 when the movies belonged to New York, later an Army film factory, then the rescued landmark behind Sesame Street, Goodfellas, and Orange Is the New Black. Two studios, one town, a century apart — and this is the older soul.

The Scene

The production credits read like a syllabus of American film. Goodfellas (1990) used the studio’s soundstages and production facilities for its interiors — Scorsese’s Queens wiseguys came home to Queens. The Irishman (2019) shot key interiors here too: Umberto’s Clam House, Frank Sheeran’s house, and the car-interior scenes, all built and filmed on the Astoria lot. Sesame Street has taped here since 1992 — Big Bird’s nest is a Queens address. The Cosby Show moved here for seasons four through six — taping, as Parade once noted, “down the hall from Sesame Street.” And Orange Is the New Black built Litchfield Penitentiary on these stages.

The deeper cuts are just as rich: the studio was reactivated for Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz (1977); the Marx Brothers’ first two talkies, The Cocoanuts (1929) and Animal Crackers (1930), were shot here; and the credits run through Hair, All That Jazz, Carlito’s Way, The Devil Wears Prada, Birdman, The Bourne Ultimatum, Angels in America, Nurse Jackie, Succession, and Law & Order.

The Backstory

The studio opened in 1920 as the eastern headquarters of Famous Players–Lasky — Paramount’s forerunner — built near Broadway so stage stars could shoot between matinees. When Paramount shifted west in the early 1930s, the golden age paused; in 1942 the U.S. Army Signal Corps took over as the Army Pictorial Center. By the late 1970s the lot was fading — until developer George S. Kaufman took it over in 1982, renovated it, and put his name on the gate. (The corner of 36th and 35th is co-named “Kaufman Way” in his honor.)

The history is officially recognized: the Paramount Studios Complex joined the National Register of Historic Places in November 1978, and the main studio building was designated a NYC Landmark in March 1978. In December 2013 the studio opened New York City’s only working backlot. The Museum of the Moving Image, one block away, occupies a former studio building. The studio changed hands in the early 2020s but keeps rolling.

What to Look For

The hunt here is the gate itself: the large white entrance and the “Kaufman Astoria Studios” sign on 35th Avenue, best photographed from the corner of 35th Avenue and 36th Street — the address is 34-12 36th Street, right at that corner. Look for the “Kaufman Way” street sign while you’re there. Then walk one block to the Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Ave), which sits in a former studio building — the two hunts are a natural pair.

This is a working facility with no public tours — the visit is exterior-only: the facade, the gate, and the signage — and the knowledge that behind those walls, someone is probably building a prison.

Getting There

Kaufman Astoria Studios, 34-12 36th Street, Astoria, NY 11106 — main entrance on 35th Avenue at 36th Street, Queens.

Subway: take the M or R to 36th St or Steinway St, or the N/W to 36 Ave — all a short walk to the 35th Ave gate.

Trivia

• Sesame Street has filmed at Kaufman Astoria since 1992 — over three decades of Big Bird in Queens.
• The Cosby Show taped its later seasons here, down the hall from Sesame Street — two of the most-watched shows in American history sharing a hallway.
• The corner of 36th Street and 35th Avenue is officially co-named “Kaufman Way” for George S. Kaufman, who rescued the studio in 1982.
• The complex is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a NYC Landmark — but it is not a National Historic Landmark, whatever the old post claimed.

The Hunt Clue

On Thirty-fifth, the white gate gleams,

Where Paramount once dreamed its dreams —

From Marx Brothers’ gags to Bird’s sunny street,

Where Goodfellas filmed and Sesame friends meet.

The backlot’s closed, but the front’s in view —

Dear hunter, the gate is waiting for you.

Photo by Dinker022089 via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0