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The Seward Street Subway Station[1] was the location of the second ghost in the 2016 movie.

History[]

Before the Seward Street Subway Station was built, the property above ground was the site the first institution in New York to execute prisoners by electric chair, a prison on the Upper East Side. However, when electrocution proved ineffective, the prison staff simply shot the prisoner.[2] Long after the prison was demolished and the subway station was built, the property experienced weird recurring electrical problems. In the present, Patty Tolan was hired by the Mass Transit Authority and worked a booth at the subway station.

A man walked down the steps to the Seward Street Subway Station. Patty Tolan sat inside a MTA booth and tried to strike a conversation with people as they walked by. But no one talked to her. She tried "good morning," then asked a man how he was doing and if he had a MetroCard, then complimented someone's jacket. She claimed she had the same jacket but realized the person had a sweater. Rowan North walked up to her booth. She looked forward and was startled but continued laughing with a smile. She asked him how he was doing. Rowan told her they would always ignore her because they were walking sewage, concerned only with their own trivial matters. Patty was at a loss. Rowan promised when the Fourth Cataclysm began, laborers, such as herself, would be among the last led to the butchery. He advised her to make the most of her extra time. Patty remarked he was just a bundle of joy and told him to have a good day with his crazy ass. She wondered what train he was taking. Patty watched the security monitors and saw Rowan going on the tracks. She sighed and reached for a flashlight. Patty stepped down onto the tracks with a Streamlight E-Spot Firebox Flashlight Lantern. She mumbled there was a perfectly nice bathroom upstairs at Starbucks if he had to go so bad. A glass bottle clinked. Patty turned to look. Rowan ran across undetected by her. A Hyper-Ionization Device like the one in Aldridge Mansion sparked atop a panel. Patty looked at it then saw a figure up ahead. Patty yelled at him that only subway workers were allowed in the area. The device unleashed huge sparks and exploded into pieces. The man she saw was really a ghost. Rowan peered out from his hiding place. The ghost growled then turned its head at Patty. Patty was naturally confused. Rowan found it exquisite. Patty told it she was cool. The ghost floated closer to her. She dropped the flashlight lantern and ran off.

Later, Patty found the Conductors of the Metaphysical Examination and told them about the ghost. She led them through the Seward Street Subway Station and talked about how its history was tied to New York's first prison to execute criminals by the electric chair. The lights flickered off and on. Patty asked them if they saw that. Erin and Abby confirmed they saw it. Holtzmann leaned on her Proton Box cart. A spray can rattled near them then sprayed. Patty realized the Graffiti Artist was back and tagging a wall despite her past warning. Abby asked if he was down in the station all the time. Patty quipped he thought it was his art studio. He clarified his studio was in SoHo and the station was more a gallery to him. Abby interjected and asked him if he ever saw a Class 4, semi-anchored entity anywhere in the vicinity. He asked if she was talking about a boat. Annoyed, Patty asked her to speak English. Abby insisted she was being specifically clear. Erin rephrased the question and asked him if he saw a ghost. Abby admitted that was clearer. He confirmed he saw a ghost to Patty's amazement. Erin asked him to describe it. The Graffiti Artist held out his hand to stop her then started spraying. Patty wasn't pleased. Abby got out a small notebook to take notes. Abby wanted him to continue so she could record the visual. Patty insisted she couldn't or she would get fired. Abby wanted the visual. Erin added it was very helpful. Patty retorted he wasn't helpful for her. She instructed him to look at her and stop. He looked at her but sprayed one more time. She told him to stop. He sprayed again. Patty stated she didn't want graffiti on her wall. He asked her to confirm she didn't it on the wall anymore. She repeated herself. He told himself "no ghost" and promised to fix it. He sprayed with another can and declared "no ghosts allowed." Patty grabbed the spray can out of his hand and told him to leave. He headed out the revolving exit nearby and told her goodbye. Patty groaned. It wasn't art to her and she didn't like them encouraging him. She yelled at them to follow her to the tunnel. Holtzmann paused and took a picture of the graffiti art with her phone. It was a generic white ghost in a No logo. Holtzmann thought it was a good logo. She reminded the others she couldn't load the Proton Box off the platform by herself and it was both untested and highly unstable.

Abby took readings with the P.K.E. Meter. Patty informed them they had a limited window for when the next train arrived and warned them against touching the third rail unless they could handle 750 volts. Green Ectoplasm dripped down onto Erin's left shoulder. Patty admitted she should have given them coveralls because the tunnel was unsanitary. Abby realized one don't usually think about the amount of urine smell. Patty confirmed that was pretty much how it was gonna be and it wasn't going to freshen up at all. Abby found scorch marks left by the Hyper-Ionization Device. Patty confirmed that was where she saw the "weird sparking thing." Holtzmann asked what it was. Patty remarked if she knew what it was, she wouldn't have called it "a weird sparking thing." Holtzmann liked how mouthy she was. Erin picked up a piece of the device and observed fission scorch. Abby didn't believe her then realized she was right. She guessed she smelled both electrical discharge and isotopic decay. Abby agreed. They smelled it again and both nodded. Abby called Holtzmann over for her opinion. She sniffed it. Patty reminded them they only had a couple of minutes left. Electricity cackled and the P.K.E. Meter spun rapidly. Holtzmann saw something. Erin thought she was messing with them. Holtzmann denied it. Erin and Abby saw it. The Electrocuted Ghost was back. Abby asked Patty for some illumination on the ghost. She complied. It looked scarier. Holtzmann walked back to the Proton Box. Patty was insistent that was the ghost she saw. Abby noticed it was even more ionized than Gertrude Aldridge and turned on her Sony 4K Camcorder to get the ghost on film. Holtzmann was already powering up the Proton Box and typed on a keypad. Abby declared they were talking the ghost back to the lab.

Holtzmann cautioned the technology was in its early stages. At 4:21 pm, Holtzmann handed a bulky particle thrower to Erin. Holtzmann told her the thrower was going to shoot a proton stream at the ghost and instructed her to wait for her go ahead. Erin inquired why she was operating the untested nuclear laser. Holtzmann noted she had the longest arms. A train horn blew nearby. Patty advised them to hurry up. Holtzmann remembered she forgot the most important part and placed a collar around Erin's neck for a little bit of grounding so she didn't die immediately. Holtzmann asked Erin if she knew her iron level. She did not. Holtzmann told her it was fine. Abby chuckled. Patty asked them if they caught a ghost before. Holtzmann gave her the green light to aim and fire. The proton stream fired but stopped way short of the ghost and drooped into the ground. Abby suggested more power. Holtzmann tried again. Erin fired off a sustained stream and wrangled the ghost but it was still coming at them. Erin asked if the stream could get any stronger. The ghost growled and thrashed at them as the stream entangled it but it continued to close in on Erin. The ghost pawed at her. Erin gasped and fell on her back. Patty alerted them the train was coming and it was time to leave. Abby asked Erin to lure it back on the platform. The Proton Box fell on its side. They pulled Erin to the platform. The train closed in. Patty realized that was the express train, which meant it wasn't stopping at the station. Holtzmann remembered and quickly removed the collar. The train rammed the box and the ghost and drenched most of them in Ectoplasm. The train horn blew. The ghost found itself inside the train. Patty concluded he was headed to Queens but he was going to be the third scariest thing on that train. Abby was pleased the power surge really held him. Abby tried wiping some of the Ectoplasm off Erin's face. She rubbed her hands then held her hands apart. Holtzmann was excited. She had a clear idea how how to add more power and make the technology more mobile. Erin remarked she almost got killed. Holtzmann thought it was so awesome. Abby agreed.

Noted Places[]

  • Booth
  • Platform
  • Tunnel

Former Employees[]

Trivia[]

  • Paul Feig wanted to film the subway scenes in an old defunct subway tunnel found during scouting in Boston but the production crew refused because of the logistics. Production Designer Jefferson Sage recreated the look of the tunnel on a set with some green screen extensions.[3]
  • The Seward Street Subway Station entrance was filmed at the subway entrance at 2701 Broadway in Manhattan for the 1 train. The Aangan restaurant can be seen in the background.
  • Seward Street Subway Station was built on a sound stage on one of the Norwood sets.[4][5]
    • The 125-foot set included the tunnel, the platform, and Patty's booth.
    • Originally the production team scouted T platforms and tunnels in Boston, but they realized that shooting there would be nearly impossible.
  • The station set was built with real subway surplus parts, including the rails and fittings.[6]
  • Part of the set was built with subway parts bought from the Philadelphia Transit Authority.[7]
  • The design of Patty's MTA booth is based on one found during scouting in New York.[8]
  • Rowan's last words to Patty before he jumped onto the tracks seems to echo a famous quote of Maximillian Robespierre from the French Revolution.
  • There is a Starbucks located above the station.[9]
  • The Graffiti Artist considers the Seward Street Subway Station to be his art gallery.[10]
  • On page 18 of Ghostbusters 101 #6, the fourth image is from the 2016 movie, Chapter 6, when Abby and Patty dragged Erin from the Seward Street Subway Station tracks while she had the Electrocuted Ghost confined by the Proton Box thrower. Ray Stantz appeared in place of Erin.

Appearances[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]

References[]

  1. Rowan North (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 5 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:29:03-00:29:05). Sony Pictures. Rowan North says: "Seward Street subway station? Check."
  2. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 6 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:37:36-00:37:50). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "You know, up above us was the old New York prison. It's the first place in New York that they electrocuted people. I'm telling you, it used to take so long that they'd just be like, "Shoot him. We using too much electricity." That's why I knew something weird was going on down here, man."
  3. Paul Feig (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Writer & Director Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:38:27-00:39:05). Sony Pictures. Paul Feig says: "We original--oh, were you with us when we scouted--we scouted an actual old shut down subway tunnel in Boston. Remember that? It was this crazy off shoot line and we walked all the way down it with all these flashlights. It was crazy. It was an old timey thing and so I was like, 'We're gonna shoot down here' and everyone was 'You're crazy. Like you're gonna make 'em fall down, we got all this stuff going on, we gotta rig this. It's not gonna happen.' But it looks so real. So Jeff went and kind of recreated that look on the set and built this thing but it was some green screen extension on it that we will talk about on the technical thing."
  4. Architectural Digest: Go Inside the Filming Locations and Set Designs of Ghostbusters
  5. Semlyen, Nick (2016). Empire Magazine Issue 324 June 2016, p. 64. Bauer Media Group, Harborough, Leicester, United Kingdom, ISBN 1234567890.
  6. Jefferson Sage (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Filmmaker Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:27:56-00:28:03). Sony Pictures. Jefferson Sage says: "We were able to get subway surplus parts, including the rails, the fittings, all that different stuff."
  7. Greene, James, Jr., (2022). A Convenient Parallel Dimension: How Ghostbusters Slimed Us Forever, p. 216. Lyons Press, Essex, CT USA, ISBN 9781493048243. Jefferson Sage says: "So we built this enormous set, it was 180 feet long ... and we had a shipment of subway parts brought in from Philadelphia that we bought off the Philadelphia Transit Authority that they thought was junk."
  8. Jefferson Sage (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition - Filmmaker Commentary (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:27:20-00:27:28). Sony Pictures. Jefferson Sage says: "But, uh, what I remember about this is we designed her booth, uh, after the one we saw when we scouted together in New York."
  9. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 4 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:27:41-00:27:47). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "You want to use the bathroom, there's a perfectly nice bathroom upstairs at Starbucks."
  10. Graffiti Artist (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 6 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:38:07-00:38:09). Sony Pictures. Graffiti Artist says: "My studio is in SoHo. This is more of a gallery."
  11. Abby Yates (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 7 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:43:39-00:43:41). Sony Pictures. Abby Yates says: "I'm pretty sure none of it is supposed to be in the subway, though."
  12. Erin Gilbert (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 7 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:43:51-00:43:54). Sony Pictures. Erin Gilbert says: "What's that weird thing that guy said to the lady from the subway?"
  13. Jillian Holtzmann (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 7 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:47:43-00:47:47). Sony Pictures. Jillian Holtzmann says: "Based on the results of the subway field test... The one where you were almost killed, remember?"
  14. Patty Tolan (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 12 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 1:18:41-1:18:43). Sony Pictures. Patty Tolan says: "Uh, at the subway, right here."

Gallery[]

From Film and Trailers[]

Behind the Scenes and Interviews[]

Secondary Canon[]

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