Possibly to pre-empt freaked out phone calls to 911, the production folks from the Will Smith film I Am Legend have alerted not only residents and businesses downtown and near the Brooklyn Bridge, but the major papers to to tell everyone not to freak out if they see Black Hawk helicopters, tanks, military activity, hundreds if not thousands of people, and lots of lights near the Brooklyn Bridge. Because it's just filming, not an actual invasion of zombies looking for an Oscar. While it'll be a pain in the ass, we prefer this to the crappy fake NYC backlots in Hollywood. Then again, we pray there are no actual emergencies to tend to while filming is tying things up - like another mercaptan smell that needs to be investigated.
I Am Legend will be filming around the Brooklyn Bridge for the next week. Though the city's Department of Transportation says all should go well, when Newsday asked what the filming "will do to the already nightmarish traffic" and an NYPD official said, "Good luck."
Of course, many people are already familiar with chaos from I Am Legend filming around town, whether it's zombies or straw and apocalyptic detritus. Here are some of our favorite I Am Legend pictures: Top photograph of cab hanging over Grand Central overpass by marianne.oleary, a burnt out car by New York Daily Photo and the Garibaldi statue lit up by film by Bill Shatto.
And send us ones you take of this week's filming by sending them to photos(at)gothamist(dot)com or tagging them on Flickr with "gothamist."
