Silvercup Studios and Citicorp Building from Queensboro Bridge

Silvercup Studios is one of the largest

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television production A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

facilities in New York City. The studio is located in Long Island City,

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, with another facility in the Port Morris neighborhood of

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

. The studio complex has been operating since 1983 in the former Silvercup Bakery building. It was founded by brothers Alan and Stuart Suna.

History

Silvercup bakery

For many decades of the 20th century, Long Island City was a center for commercial bakeries. During the 1920s building boom on Long Island, the Gordon Baking Company of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

made plans to open a factory at 42-25 21st Street to produce its Silvercup brand of bread. After the award of a $1 million contract for its construction in 1929, the building was completed the following year. At its peak, the facility reportedly provided about one third of the bread consumed in the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

of New York, and supplied

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's schools. It closed in 1975 as a result of an industrial dispute with the

Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) is a trade union, labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of the Team Drivers International Union and the Teamsters National Union, the union now represents a di ...

union. The neon advertising sign on the roof, which dates from around 1961–62, was visible across the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Film studios

During its early years the facility was used mostly for the filming of music videos and commercials, although occasionally scenes for motion pictures were shot there, including '' Highlander'' and '' Garbo Talks''. Norman Leigh, well known among New York City filmmakers for his electrical/gaffing work on the 1969 film '' Midnight Cowboy'', oversaw the studio during its first few years. Over the years, use of the studio's space has shifted toward the production of television series.

Productions

Silvercup was the primary shooting facility for ABC's '' Hope & Faith'', and HBO's ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'' and ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. The finale of the 1986 film Highlander took place in-universe at Silvercup with an action sequence on its famous rooftop signage. Other film and television productions that have made use of the studio include: * '' Buonasera Raffaella'' * ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'' * '' Analyze That'' * '' Big Daddy'' * '' Big Lake'' * ''

Birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

'' * '' Black Rain'' * '' Daredevil: Born Again'' * '' Dark Water'' * '' The Deuce'' * '' The Devil Wears Prada'' * '' Elementary'' * '' Fosse/Verdon'' * '' Fringe'' * '' Gangs of New York'' * '' Garbo Talks'' * ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'' * '' Hide and Seek'' * '' Highlander'' * '' The Impostors'' * ''

Jonny Zero ''Jonny Zero'' is an American television action-crime drama series, created and written by R. Scott Gemmill and executive produced by John Wells, that premiered on Fox on January 14, 2005. The series principally stars Franky G as Jonny Calvo ...

'' * '' Julie & Julia'' * '' Just My Luck'' * '' King of New York'' * '' Krush Groove'' * '' The Last Dragon'' * '' Little Children'' * '' Little Nicky'' * ''

Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...

'' * '' Manifest'' * '' Meet the Parents'' * '' Mickey Blue Eyes'' * '' The Michael J. Fox Show'' * '' Mr. Robot'' * '' The Mysteries of Laura'' * '' No Reservations'' * '' Person of Interest'' * '' Private Parts'' * '' Q2, Resource Television'' * '' Quantico'' * '' Righteous Kill'' * '' The Savages'' * ''

'' * '' Stuart Little 2'' * '' The Snoop Sisters'' * '' Two Weeks Notice'' * ''

'' * ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 28, 2006, to April 14, 2010. It is based on the Colombian telenovela ''Yo soy Betty, la fea' ...

'' * '' Uptown Girls'' * '' What Happens in Vegas'' * '' White Collar''

References

External links

* {{Coord, 40, 45, 4, N, 73, 56, 38, W, type:landmark, display=title 1983 establishments in New York City Film studios in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Queens, New York Entertainment companies based in New York City Entertainment companies established in 1983 Film production companies of the United States Long Island City Port Morris, Bronx Television studios in the United States