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New York City Hall is the chief administrative building of the City & County of New York.

History[]

Primary Canon[]

Ghostbusters[]

In 1984, the Ghostbusters were brought to City Hall to speak before Mayor Lenny and several other government officials about the impending Gozer Incident. They were gathered in front of a map of New York City with several points pinned. The Mayor stressed the city was blowing up, and no one was giving him any answers. The Police Commissioner bit and informed him bridges and roads were being blocked. The Mayor's Aide entered the office and told the Mayor the Ghostbusters were coming. The Ghostbusters and officers filed in. The Mayor switched gears to the Ghostbusters and asked where "Peck" was. Walter Peck introduced himself and declared he was prepared to make a full report: the Ghostbusters were consummate snowball artists, used sensitive nerve gases to induce hallucinations to make people think they were seeing ghosts so they call them, who conveniently show up to deal with the problem with a fake electronic light show. Ray Stantz stated everything was fine with their system until the power grid was shut off by dickless. Peck quickly blurted out they caused the explosion. The Mayor asked them if that was true. Peter Venkman admitted it was true that Peck had no dick. Peck lunged at Peter. The police officers stepped in and kept them apart. They told everyone to break it up. Peck relented. Peter retorted that was what he heard. The Mayor shouted they were in City Hall then turned to the Fire Commissioner, referred to him by his first name of John, and asked him what was happening. John, the Fire Commissioner sat down on the couch then admitted it was no light show they saw in the morning. He stated he had seen every kind of combustion known to man, but he had no idea what to make of current events. The Police Commissioner told Peck the walls in the 53rd precinct were bleeding then asked him to explain that. Peck had nothing.

The Archbishop entered the office and bid everyone good afternoon. The Mayor was elated and addressed him as "Your Eminence." He got out of his chair and kissed the Archbishop's ring. The Mayor and the Archbishop were on a first name basis. He referred to the Mayor as Lenny and asked him how he was. The Mayor gave the Archbishop a friendly slap on the cheek. The Mayor referred to the Archbishop as Mike and told him he was looking good. The Mayor admitted they were in a real fix and asked him what he thought they should do. The Archbishop stated that officially, the Church was not taking any position on the religious implications of the phenomena occurring then revealed his personal opinion, it was a sign from God. He teased not to quote him on that. Peter quipped that was a smart move. The Archbishop went to sit. The Mayor refused to call a press conference and tell everyone to start praying. The Fire Commissioner and the other official next to him sat back down. The Mayor sat down. Winston Zeddemore stepped forward and introduced himself. Winston prefaced that he only worked for the Ghostbusters for a couple of weeks but ghosts were real because he saw shit that would turn him white. The Fire Commissioner face palmed. Winston walked back to his spot. Peter stepped forward. Peter invited the Mayor to believe "Mr. Pecker." Peck clarified his last name was "Pack." Peter continued and stated his other choice was to accept the fact that the city was headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. The Mayor asked what he meant by "biblical." Ray clarified he was taking about "Old Testament biblical" and "real wrath-of-God-type" stuff. Peter agreed. Ray threw out some examples: fire and brimstone coming from the skies and rivers and seas boiling. Egon Spengler added 40 years of darkness, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Winston added thhe dead rising from the grave. The Mayor stood. Peter stressed there would be human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, then mass hysteria. The Mayor exclaimed that was enough and he got the point. He asked what if they were wrong. Peter promised if nothing happened, they would go to jail peacefully and quietly and they would enjoy it. Peter started his pitch. He pointed out if he was right, and they could stop the end of the world, the Mayor will be credited with saving the lives of millions of registered voters. The Mayor understood the implications and smiled. The Archbishop also smiled and nodded in approval. Peck came forward and voiced his concern with seriously considering listening to them. The Mayor thought. Peter smiled smugly and signaled with his eyes. The Mayor sided with the Ghostbusters and had Walter Peck removed. Peter waved goodbye to Peck. Peck promised he would get back at him. The Mayor's aide and an officer walked him to the door. Peter promised to get him a nice fruit basket and joked he was going to miss him. Ray stood straight and nodded. Peck relented and left. The Mayor turned around from the map and looked at the Ghostbusters. He asked them what they needed from him.

The National Guard roared in unison as they loaded up in their military vehicles parked on the sidewalk up to the corner by a USA Today stand. One of the guardsmen yelled at the others to get the lead out. Reporters at the barricades yelled out questions. Police ran to their motorcycles. Agents spoke into walkie-talkies. A reporter and camera man got out in front of the building. The Ghostbusters waited inside Ecto-1. Peter leaned out of the front passenger seat, and barked, "Come on, let's run some red lights!" The Ghostbusters departed from the hall's loading dock with a police escort and the National Guard. The Ecto-1's siren wailed. The streets were cleared of all traffic, but the sidewalks are jam packed with people waving signs and cheered. The National Guard began to depart.

Ghostbusters II[]

In late of 1989, the new Ghostbusters commercial happened to play on the Sony television set in Jack Hardemeyer's office. He buried his head in his crossed arms. On New Years Eve of 1989, a conference room in City Hall was filled with various officials and department heads tasked with trying to mitigate the hysteria caused by the Psychomagnotheric Slime. The Fire Commissioner exclaimed Battery Park was swamped and the fire department got more than three thousand calls since midnight last night. The Police Commissioner told an official the police department had every man in uniform on the streets and he was still short-handed. He added there were even meter maids chasing ghosts all over Midtown Manhattan. The Public Works Official handed Jack Hardemeyer a file and stated there was a shell around the Manhattan Museum of Art and they could not make a dent in it. Jack asked if he tried dynamite yet. The Public Works Official stated they tried everything.

Mayor Lenny entered the room, passing by a mob of reporters. After the doors closed, he asked everyone what the hell was going on. He exclaimed it was pandemonium out there. Jack assured him they were working on it. Mayor Lenny was not placated by the response and predicted he was going down in history as the mayor who let New York get sucked down into the tenth level of hell. He admitted they had no choice and it was time to call the Ghostbusters. Jack believed there had to be another way. Mayor Lenny revealed he spent an hour last night in his bedroom talking to Fiorello La Guardia and he had been dead for 40 years. He asked where the Ghostbusters were. Jack told him they were not available. Mayor Lenny asked for clarification for "they're not available." Jack finally admitted he had them committed to at the Parkview Psychiatric Hospital. Mayor Lenny was not pleased. Jack claimed to be protecting his interests because they were threatening to go to the press. Mayor Lenny followed Jack around the chairs. Jack cowered in fear. Mayor Lenny told him he could stop protecting his interests and gave him three minutes to clear out of City Hall because he was fired. Jack brought up the upcoming election.

Mayor Lenny turned to Harry and ordered him to remove Jack from City Hall and ordered someone to get him the Ghostbusters. Harry stood up and ushered Jack out. The reporters were still outside the door. Jack pleaded with Harry. A Mayor's Aide beckoned Mayor Lenny to the window. He walked over to the window. The aide had idea what he was looking at and asked the Mayor if he ever saw something like that before. The sky swirled and changed before their eyes into an eclipse and a supernaturally induced darkness blanketed the city. The Mayor repeated his order to get the Ghostbusters.

Secondary Canon[]

After Gozer was defeated in 1984, Rebecca Morales went to City Hall to interview for her official book about the Ghostbusters. She spoke to Deputy Mayor Daniel Nash in his office. He repeated what he told her publisher, the official position of the Mayor's Office was that the Ghostbusters were involved in some kind of event and in light of the aftermath of said event, they reserved the right to investigate things more thoroughly before committing to further comment. Nash added he didn't care what the Archbishop said.

A couple days before the appearance of Idulnas, the Mayor and several city officials held a meeting with Walter Peck at City Hall. In order to keep the Ghostbusters in check for the best interest of the city, the Paranormal Contracts Oversight Commission was reinstated. Its temporary office was to be established in the Department of Public Safety.

In mid-June, Peck was summoned to the Mayor's office to discuss the Ghostbusters' trip out of state. The Mayor was irate at the prospect of the guys being gone during summer, the height of a tourism influx, but Peck revealed the city would be making a handsome commission from all jobs incurred. In the fall, Peter had an unscheduled appointment with Peck to discuss the Ghost Smashers. In May of the next year, Peck met with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Ms. Stone to discuss the surge of ghost-related complaints, the missing Ghostbusters, and the new Ghostbusters.

City Hall praised Walter Peck for having so many Ghostbusters on hand to deal with the supernatural activity surrounding Tiamat's presence... even though he had nothing to do with it. A few days into the dimensional bleed incident, a press conference was held at City Hall. The Mayor and Peck downplayed any impending doom and the dangers of the spatial anomalies like the two Statues of Liberty. Peck assured the press that the Ghostbusters were already handling the greater-than-normal influx of ghosts from the phenomenon and dealing with the situation.

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters (1984) Trivia[]

  • Filming was done at the actual New York City Hall for two days.[1][2]
  • The blue banner "Furnishing the Streets: 1902-1922, September 22-November 30, 1983" was kept up on the exterior of City Hall during filming in fall 1983 but is an anachronism in-universe.
  • The Mayor's office scene was shot in City Council President Carol Bellamy's office on the other side of the building where the actual Mayor's office was. Both were identical in design.[3][4]
    • In the Ghostbusters commentary track, Joe Medjuck misremembered the office used as Elizabeth Holtzman's.[5]
  • Filming at the City Hall was not a usual occurrence.[6]
  • In a variation of the Mayor's office scene, Ray called Walter Peck 'wee wienie winkie' and Bill Murray broke up completely - a rare occurrence he almost never does.[7]
  • In reality the City Hall loading dock doesn't exist. The location used was a building across the street from the real City Hall.[8]

Ghostbusters II Trivia[]

  • Four weeks before Ghostbusters II was released in theaters, ILM was unable to complete the scene involving ghosts pouring out of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. As a replacement for this scene, a new scene was shot - Mayor Lenny tells his staff about a discussion he had with the ghost of Fiorello La Guardia.[9]
  • The scene with Jack Hardemeyer seeing the new Ghostbusters commercial while in his office was filmed on Stage 15 at Burbank Studios on April 4, 1989.[10]
  • The conference room scene was filmed on April 27, 1989.[11][12]

IDW Comics Trivia[]

  • In Ghostbusters #9, page one, panel two, obscured by the Mayor's word balloons on the left side, is the painting "Gainsborough's Blue Boy," in reference to Ghostbusters II, when Janosz Poha compared Vigo to it.
  • On page 6 of Ghostbusters 101 #3, in panel 1, the ticker at the bottom of the screen mentions City Hall.

Appearances[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]


References[]

  1. Joe Medjuck (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:14:28-1:14:32). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "This is actually the City Hall yes. "
  2. Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:14:37-1:14:44). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "We were given amazing access actually by the filming group in New York. "
  3. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 154 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The production unit filmed for two days in and around New York's City Hall, during which time the office of City Council president Carol Bellamy was graciously made available as a stand-in for the actual mayor's office cited in the script."
  4. Joe Medjuck (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 01:14:58-01:14:59). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "It's a twin to it, which is the other side of the building."
  5. Joe Medjuck (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 1:14:54-1:15:02). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Joe Medjuck says: "This was I believe Elizabeth Holtzman's office if my memory serves me. It's a twin to it on the other side of the building. "
  6. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 154 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "They usually don't allow film crews to shoot at City Hall, and they probably never will again. As careful and courteous as you try to be, it is still very disruptive."
  7. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 156 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "There were several variations of that scene on the set. During one take, Danny called Peck 'wee wienie winkle' and Bill Murray broke up completely - which is something he almost never does on camera."
  8. Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 158 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "In the film, the action cuts from the mayor's office to the rear of City Hall - actually a building across the street, since the real City Hall had no loading dock."
  9. Cross the Streams Episode 40, 30:40 to 32:56, 5/20/14 David Margulies says: "And then once the filming started, there was a big shot when they started filming, of what is now the Museum of the American Indian. It was the old Custom House. It's just below Bowling Green in Manhattan. It's a fantastic building and all of the George Lucas people were around, whatever they were called. Industrial... Light & Magic. Right. All of them looked like painters. They were all college graduates who were art students. So they looked like Paris in the 20s. They were planning that people were going to go--ghosts were going to come through the building. Which was one of those massive stone buildings built in the 19th century, I mean amazing, you couldn't bring it down, you know, and I arrived there in this wonderful, cozy limo and, you know, they had maybe a thousand extras. It was an amazing scene. But then four weeks before it was released, it was being released to the summer, uh, it was a summer blockbuster, um, they found that Industrial Light & Magic could not make the ghosts convincingly go through the walls of the building. They were a month away so I got a call and we went out and shot a scene that was a substitute where I had a-I was talking to Fiorello La Guardia or something but it was by that time on Ghostbusters II, it was clear the atmosphere had soured."
  10. Spook Central "Ghostbusters II Call Sheets" retrieved 5/16/2023
  11. Spook Central "Ghostbusters II Call Sheets" retrieved 5/16/2023
  12. Ghostbusters HQ "Unsung Heroes: Ghostbusters II's Pastrami Sandwich Guy" 5/16/2023
  13. Peter Venkman (2011). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters: Infestation Issue #2" (2011) (Comic p.21). Peter says: "So who wants to call City Hall with the good news?"
  14. Eldon Bromo (2014). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #14" (2014) (Comic p.17). Bromo says: "A source at City Hall tells us a state of emergency has not been declared, but the Mayor is conferring with the CDC on the matter --*"
  15. Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.74). Paragraph reads: "When the cockroach population increased exponentially and began to cause disruption in the Bronx---at one point the insects were seen hailing off a hot dog cart---we were called in by City Hall to intervene."


Gallery[]

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Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]

Non Canon[]

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