The Carter (New Jack City)

Every empire needs a fortress, and Nino Brown built his out of one of Harlem's grandest apartment houses. In New Jack City (1991), the Cash Money Brothers don't just sell crack — they seize an entire building, "The Carter," and turn it into a vertically integrated drug empire with its own security, its own economy, and its own doomed logic. The building on screen is real, it's still standing, and it has one of the most distinguished architectural pedigrees in New York: it's the Graham Court Apartments, and The New York Times once called it Harlem's equivalent of the Dakota.

The Scene

New Jack City, directed by Mario Van Peebles, opens in Harlem in 1986 as crack cocaine arrives and Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) sees the future before anyone else. His move is audacious: with Gee Money (Allen Payne) and enforcer Duh Duh Duh Man (Bill Nunn), he takes over the Carter — driving out tenants, terrorizing rivals, and converting a grand old residential building into the headquarters of the CMB, the Cash Money Brothers.

The Carter's on-screen presence leans hard on the real building's bones: the massive arched entryway on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and the grand courtyard give Nino's operation an imperial, almost feudal quality — a king holding court behind stone walls. The production filmed on location in New York City between April and June 1990, and the Graham Court's old-New-York grandeur is exactly what makes the Carter feel less like a crack house and more like a fallen palace.

The Backstory

The Graham Court Apartments, 1925 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard between West 116th and 117th Streets, were commissioned by William Waldorf Astor and designed by Clinton & Russell — the firm behind the Apthorp and the Belnord — and built from 1899 to 1901 as part of the great Harlem real-estate boom. Eight stories in the Italian Renaissance palazzo style, with a monumental arched entrance and a landscaped interior courtyard, it was conceived as the finest and largest apartment house in Harlem.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated it a city landmark in 1984, calling it "one of the signal achievements in the history of the apartment house in New York City." It survived Harlem's hardest decades and its renaissances alike — which is precisely why it reads so powerfully as the Carter: a palace that the movie's characters conquer, corrupt, and ultimately lose.

As for the film: New Jack City premiered at Sundance in January 1991, opened nationally that March, and became the highest-grossing independent film of the year — about $47.6 million on an $8 million budget.

What to Look For

Stand on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) at 116th Street and look for the arch — the monumental entryway is the building's signature and the Carter's most recognizable feature on film. The facade runs the full block between 116th and 117th Streets, all pure 1901 ambition. The interior courtyard is private, so admire the exterior from the sidewalk.

Getting There

Graham Court Apartments, 1925 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue), between West 116th and 117th Streets, Harlem, NY 10026.

Subway: take the 2 or 3 train to 116th Street — the station is right at the building — or the B/C to 116th Street. This is a private residential building: admire from the public sidewalk only.

Trivia

• New Jack City was Mario Van Peebles' feature directorial debut — he also stars as Detective Stone, the cop who recruits Ice-T's character.
• The film gave Ice-T one of his first major acting roles and featured a young Chris Rock in a harrowing, career-making turn as Pookie, the addict turned informant.
• The screenplay was written by Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper — the same Barry Michael Cooper who later co-wrote Above the Rim, closing his "Harlem Trilogy" after New Jack City and Sugar Hill.
• Wesley Snipes' Nino Brown — all tailored suits and chilling calm — became one of the defining screen villains of the early '90s.

The Hunt Clue

On Seventh Avenue the arch stands tall,

Where Nino Brown once ruled the hall.

Graham Court's the name — a landmark's call —

Find the Carter at one-one-six, that's all.

The palace fell, the legend grew —

Dear hunter, the arch is waiting for you.