appearances from both established stars and the upand
coming New Hollywood generation, balancing out
roles for Gardner, Miles, Burgess Meredith (amusingly
avuncular as Old Scratch himself), Jose Ferrer, Jerry
Orbach, and Eli Wallach with early screen appearances
by Christopher Walken, Chris Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum,
Beverly D’Angelo, and Tom Berringer, in a blink-andyou’ll
miss-him walk-on role.
Past that, the star of the film is 10 Montague itself, which
takes its big-screen place among such great spooky New
York locations as The Dakota (Rosemary’s Baby, 1967)
and 55 Central Park West (Ghostbusters, 1984), with
creaking stairs, shadowy landings, and swinging chandeliers
galore — all still intact and in place to this day.
Wolfson recalls that for the shoot, the entire building, fully
occupied by renters, was emptied of furniture after each
room was photographed extensively so that movers knew
precisely where to return every object. “I bought a BMW
with what they paid me,” he said. “But I had to ask them
to leave after they violated their agreement not to use my
apartment as a waiting room for staff.”
The building went co-op in 1986 and again appeals to
a creative cross-section of New York; current tenants
include architects, interior designers, artists, and musicians.
A recent arrival says of the place: “I couldn’t believe
my eyes when I stumbled across the listing. It’s such a
unique and beautiful space — the high ceilings, architectural
detail, endless bookshelves, fireplace, giant bay
window. And to have all that looking out over the New
York Harbor seemed too good to be true.”
Co-op board chair Andrew Zeif says his introduction to 10
Montague came through his wife, who saw a listing. “The
elegant proportions, amazing garden, virtually original
interiors were too much to pass up. There’s an incredible
esprit de corps in the building; it’s a wonderful group of
lovely and caring neighbors. You have proximity to the
Promenade, one of the most wonderful urban jaunts anywhere.
And then the preservation and viewshed conditions
ensure sight lines and respect for timeless design. We’ve
become big believers in living in landmarked areas.”
The Promenade has faced a potential threat from plans
to rebuild this section of the BQE, but Wolfson, who has
lived in the house for over a half a century, believes the
special qualities of the house will endure. “I can’t think
of a more lovely location in the entire city.” — Additional
historical research by Susan De Vries.
A detail of a door and elaborate hardware surrounding a keyhole.
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