HBO Transforms Washington Heights Into 1970s Times Square

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — There's no mistaking Times Square for Washington Heights these days. But to recreate the grittier, seedier and dirtier Times Square of the 1970s, HBO's production crew for its new show "The Deuce" gave one Uptown street a face lift.

A stretch of Amsterdam Avenue between West 163rd and West 165th streets was transformed into the Times Square of old for filming on the new show, which debuted Sunday night, according to a New York Post report. The Washington Heights street met the strict specifications of HBO production designer Beth Mickle, who scouted 30 different locations across the city's five boroughs.

"[The street] has six lanes, with parking lanes, the same width as 42nd Street," Mickle told the New York Post. "The sidewalks uptown were almost a perfect match: 20 feet for the real 42nd Street, 19 feet on Amsterdam Avenue. The entire street was “almost the same exact scale."

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Amsterdam Avenue's lack of newly designed storefronts, trees and scaffolding also attracted the HBO crew, which saw the street as a "blank slate," the Post reported.

"The Deuce," co-created by David Simon of "The Wire" and starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, debuted on HBO Sept. 10. The drama is set in the seedy world of 1970s New York City, specifically Midtown Manhattan. "The Deuce" – 42nd street's old nickname – follows a cast of characters who hope to strike it rich in the United States' budding pornography industry. Check out some of Patch's previous coverage of the new show.

Read the full New York Post article here.

Photo by Paul Schiraldi courtesy HBO