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filming in front of WSH

Washington Square Park in the Movies!

February 09, 20242 min read

I'm sure you all know that our beautiful backyard, Washington Square Park, has been featured in scores of films throughout the years. In fact, IMDB lists 118 film or television show episodes that were shot at least partly in the park, in every decade since the 1960s.

Here are some of our favorites:

I Am Legend is a 2007 film that starred Will Smith, as the sole survivor of a plague, quarantined in a large townhouse here in Washington Square. Nice digs for sure, but his only companion is a German shepherd and there's no Chef Yoel Cruz to dish up meals, so, uh, we'd pass.

In Ghostbusters II, New Year's Eve 1984 sees a sudden outburst of increased supernatural activity as the slime rises above the ground and onto the surface of the city, including a demon a demon that invades our fair Village green. Who you gonna call???

Okay, so the park is not truly featured in 1989's When Harry Met Sally, sort of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. But we don't care, because, well, WHMS was a warm, funny movie and we could watch it hundreds of times. (FYI, you can spot the arch when Sally drops Harry off in the city after a long, squabble-filled drive from Chicago.)

1993's Searching for Bobby Fischer more than makes up for the short-shrift given the park in WHMS. In it, a young chess prodigy is coached by one of the speed chess pros that frequent the park, even today.

And finally, our favorite. Paul and Corie are a young, newly-married couple that move into a 5-floor walk-up in the Village in Neil Simon's 1967 hit film Barefoot in the Park. The title comes to life in the film when a drunken Paul skips work and runs shoeless and barefoot through the park.

We want to go barefoot in the park every time we watch it. Every. Single. Time.

Image via Lya_Cattel/iStock

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