The A train is New York City’s longest subway line. For just the standard fare of $2.75, it will take you more than 31 miles from Inwood to Far Rockaway, passing through three boroughs and 36 regular stops (65 at night).

In particular, I’ve always been curious to see how the city changes along the route, so I brought my camera and took a single picture outside each regular stop along the way. Got your Metrocard? Hurry, get on now, it’s coming…

INWOOD – 207^th STREET

DYCKMAN ST

190^th STREET

181^st STREET

175^th STREET

168^th STREET

145^th STREET

125^th STREET

59^th STREET – COLUMBUS CIRCLE

42^nd STREET – PORT AUTHORITY

34^th STREET – PENN STATION

14^th STREET

WEST 4^th STREET – WASHINGTON SQUARE

CANAL STREET

CHAMBERS STREET

FULTON STREET

HIGH STREET

JAY STREET

HOYT SCHERMERHORN

NOSTRAND AVENUE

UTICA AVENUE

BROADWAY JUNCTION

EUCLID AVENUE

GRANT AVENUE

80^th STREET

88^th STREET

ROCKAWAY BOULEVARD

AQUEDUCT RACETRACK – NORTH CONDUIT AVENUE

HOWARD BEACH – JFK AIRPORT

You know what? Rather than skip to the next stop, why don’t we hope aboard here at Howard Beach and ride to the next station together. Be sure to look out the window – it’s my favorite subway view in the city…

BROAD CHANNEL

BEACH 67^th STREET

BEACH 60^th STREET

BEACH 44^th STREET

BEACH 36^th STREET

BEACH 25^th STREET

FAR ROCKAWAY – MOTT AVENUE

What a wonderful city. Going to miss it.

-SCOUT

While Staten Island often fights for recognition amongst the boroughs that don’t require a ferry for access, it nonetheless features some of the most interesting and unique filming locations anywhere in the city. Below, five choice locales to prove why Staten Island should be your go-to for any production.

1) Camp Pouch

If you’re looking to shoot a picturesque lake in upstate New York, save yourself the hours of driving and instead head to Camp Pouch on Staten Island.

A literal oasis, Camp Pouch features over 140 acres of woodland centered on the pristine Lake Orbach, which is large enough to have its own private island.

In addition to acres of forest, you’ll also find a number of cabins and lean-tos…

…which, for my money, are just begging for the right horror movie to set up shop.

A peak inside: bunks and a fireplace…

…and nearby, a classic wood-paneled scoutmaster’s office.

For years, we would hear rumors of the millions and millions of dollars being offered to the owners by developers looking to erect untold numbers of condos on the property, and most of us just assumed it was a matter of time before it would all disappear beneath a bulldozer. Miraculously, in 2013, an agreement was reached with the state to purchase most of the land, ensuring its continued existence as an escape for over 25,000 scouts each year.

2) Seaview Hospital

Probably the most frustrating type of location to be asked to scout is the classic abandoned building. It’s not that they don’t exist – there are quite a number within New York’s 25-mile filming radius. Sadly, nearly all of them are far too unsafe for a film crew to enter, usually due to asbestos, lead paint, structural damage, and so on. Thankfully, we have Staten Island’s Seaview Hospital.

Built in the early 1900s as a tuberculosis sanatorium, Seaview Hospital consists of 37 hospital buildings sprawled over 98 acres, the majority of which are abandoned. Most are too dangerous to enter into, but one in particular is free from the usual OSHA culprits, and has been used as a filming location on several occasions.

Honestly, you’re not going to find a more haunting environment than its shadow-lined corridors…

…which lead to extremely photogenic wards branching off in opposite wings:

Ancient hospital equipment is strewn everywhere…

In particular, I love the old nurse’s station:

And while you could never film there, is that not a gorgeous canopy of foliage lurking out back?

For an interesting horror movie shot principally at Seaview, be sure to check out Jacob’s Ladder.

3) Historic Richmond Town

Some time ago, I was working on a movie that was looking to shoot a number of period scenes in a small town setting. I figured we’d have to go somewhere in Westchester, or maybe Rockland County. My boss told me to go to Staten Island.

Historic Richmond Town is a living history village featuring a number of historic buildings spanning the 17th-20th centuries, including the oldest elementary school in the country (built 1695).

There are a variety of styles to choose from…

…and using the right angles, you can play it for just about any time period you’re going for.

The village centers on the former courthouse of Richmond County, which offers a wonderful period courthouse setting:

Located near the center of the island, you’ve seen Historic Richmond Town in a number of movies and TV shows over the years, including several appearances on Boardwalk Empire.

4) The Boat Graveyard

At some point in every scout’s career, he or she will be asked to find a post-apocalyptic wasteland somewhere in the five boroughs. I can’t think of a better option than the boat graveyard on Staten Island.

The most interesting way to approach it is through an actual cemetery – the Blazing Star Burial Ground on Arthur Kill Road, which dates to the 1750s…

Pass through the reeds at the rear of the cemetery…

…and you’ll emerge in a bizarre netherworld where sailing vessels go to die:

The area is owned by the Donjon salvage company, and with over 400 interred boats, it has become one of the largest collections of historic ships in the United States.

You can find pretty much everything, from rotting barges to decaying tugboats.

A very haunting location that has turned up in a number of productions. Perhaps someday, the adjacent human cemetery will get its moment in the spotlight too. A favorite grave…

Check out that creepy skull:

5) Snug Harbor

Snug Harbor might as well be New York City’s unofficial backlot set. Originally founded as a free retirement home for aged seamen in 1833, the site has been used as a stand-in for a ridiculous number of locations over the years. To give you a few examples of its wide range, you could use it as a college campus…

A museum…

A hospital complex (or creepy asylum)…

A Ming-era Chinese garden…

A smalltown church…

A row of frat houses…

A New England seaside mansion…

Honestly, with Snug Harbor, the only limit is your imagination.

One final perk of shooting on Staten Island? Drive in in the morning, head back to the city at night – in either case, you’re always going in the opposite direction of rush hour traffic.

-SCOUT

This three-story structure, nestled in between the towering brick pre-war apartments that line the block.

There was almost an abandoned feel to it, with flaking paint giving way to the brick underneath…

On the second floor, a row of arched windows with panes blacked out by soot and grime:

On the third floor, the remains of this very strange door/hatch…

A closer look. Note the plant life growing from the building:

And beside it, this unusual skylight:

Finally, if you look really closely, you’ll even find a few miniature dragons set into the facade:

Yet from the ground floor, it seems almost like nothing more than a loading dock:

As it turns out, this is the last remaining stable from a time when West 55th Street would have been lined with private carriage houses, built by Fifth Avenue’s wealthiest residents to serve their transportation needs.

The stable at 154 West 55th Street was built in 1888 by Charles T. Barney, a wealthy banker who would later become president of the Knickerbocker Trust Company. Barney already had several stables across the street, and had had success in renting out the upper floors as studio space for artists. Known as The Holbein Studios, they were at times home to such artists as John Singer Sargent, impressionist painter Childe Hassam, and portrait artist Cecilia Beaux.

The stable at 154 West 55th Street was the last to be built, and the only one designed specifically with artists in mind. The second floor apartment was reserved for the coachman, while the skylit third floor was divided into four studios.

As time passed, the other stables were torn down to make way for apartment buildings. Miraculously though, 154 West 55th Street managed to survive into the late-1920s, when it was converted into a movie theater. By the 1970s, it was operating as the 55th Street Playhouse, showing art house movies and retrospectives. Andy Warhol in particular had numerous runs here over the years.

Then, in the late 1980s, the stable-turned-studio-turned-movie-theater found itself in danger of demolition to accommodate a truck entrance for the new hotel going up on West 54th Street. Though it had been suggested as a candidate for landmark protection, it had never received the designation (and still hasn’t).

Ultimately, the developers decided to just gut the first floor for use as a truck entrance, leaving the rest intact. As I mentioned, these pictures were taken some time ago; the property has since been given a fresh coat of paint and looks in somewhat better shape.

But I’m still wondering: what the heck is this strange arched doorway on the third floor…

…and what’s in those two upper floors today?

-SCOUT

The granite behemoth at 242 West 31st:

When you first see it, you might assume it to be just an old bank building, or perhaps a post office.

But look a little closer, and you’ll start to notice a few things that are decidedly…off.

For one, the windows, mysteriously covered in iron bars, are all blacked out.

Some are cracked…

…and one in particular has a DANGER – HIGH VOLTAGE sign affixed to it:

Meanwhile, the main doorway is clearly industrial, with several warning signs.

Finally, this strange metal box extends from its eastern side:

I decided to finally look into it, and was amazed to learn that this is the last remaining structure from the original Pennsylvania Station.

Known as the Penn Station Service Building, it actually predates old Penn Station by two years. Built in 1908 and designed by Charles McKim and William Symmes Richardson, it provided coal-generated electricity for trains, along with heat, refrigeration and a variety of other functions.

When Penn Station was finally torn down in 1963, the Service Building was still in use, and no consideration was given to its demise.

As time passed, much of its functionality was transferred off-site, and as of 2008, the building was largely vacant save for an operations control room, according to this article by the Municipal Art Society of New York.

These pictures were taking in recent years (no date listed) as part of an Historic American Buildings Survey, and reveal much of the now abandoned portions of the Service Building…

…including equipment that hasn’t been used for decades…

…delving deep into the bowels of Manhattan:

While I was looking around, I noticed numerous workmen entering and exiting the building. According to the MASNY article, the station is on track to be renovated for use in the new Moynihan Station project.

While the loss of Penn Station will always remain New York City’s greatest architectural tragedy…

…I guess it’s nice to know that at least one ghost of the past continues to haunt midtown.

-SCOUT

PS – According to this NY Times Streetscapes article on the building, you can actually see the structure in photographs of Penn Station’s construction. I couldn’t find any – if you’re able to, please let me know!

As I was driving around, I was suddenly reminded of the best construction fencing I think I’ve ever seen in New York. It was a number of years ago, and I even took pictures to run on Scouting NY, but for some odd reason, never got around to it.

This was an art installation by Maya Barkai at 99 Church Street, depicting 99 different walk signs from around the globe.

Seriously, how great is this? There’s something so fascinating about how the piece depicts a common icon shared by cultures worldwide, and at the same time highlights how varied and unique each is:

In particular, I love when additional objects make the sign, such as the horse in London…

…or a bicycle in Salzburg. I also love how she kept the specific overlay pattern and lighting scheme for each:

One recurring thought I had every time I’d walk past the site: can you tell the pace of a city by its walk sign? What would happen if you put them in order on a scale ranging from laid back to frenetic purely by depiction? Would your arrangement match your assessment of the cities?

Another thought: so so many walking men…

…so, so few walking women (there were a couple).

I began to look forward to studying the Walking Men every time I’d pass through lower Manhattan. Sadly, the fence was removed sometime last year, only to be replaced by the same boring, ubiquitous green fence.

I hate to run pictures of something so old, but it suddenly occurred to me that with all the construction going on today, New York is essentially filled with blank canvases. There’s clearly no shortage of artists looking to express their work. Can’t someone get on this to flood the city with more work like Maya’s?

I mean, is POST NO BILLS really the best we can do?

-SCOUT