When we arrived in New York City for a brief visit on July 24 2024 while en route to Vermont, we quickly ditched our bags and cases in the Hard Rock Hotel at Times Square and headed downtown on the subway to Tribeca, hunting out the iconic ‘haunt-quarters’ of the Ghostbusters - the HOOK & LADDER COMPANY'S #8 FIREHOUSE.
In summer 2017, our first visit to the FDNY firehouse was long before the release of the movies Ghostbusters Afterlife and Frozen Empire, when the core franchise had been dormant since 1989’s Ghostbusters 2, so there was us and nobody else on the street (read about it HERE).
Furthermore, the firehouse exterior didn’t look like it did in the old movies - it was covered in scaffolding and black mesh, while the frontage was blocked by traffic barricades and reflective traffic drums.
Since then the firehouse, which dates from 1903 and was originally twice the size, had undergone a $6.5 million dollar restoration project and was looking great for it. It even had the illuminated Ghostbusters sign hanging out front!
The building was now being given a lot of attention: Ghostheads were photographing the firehouse in the summer sunshine, posing for selfies and chatting with the friendly NYFD firefighters. It was great to see, particularly in this the original movie’s 40th anniversary year.
In that first Ghostbusters movie, the firehouse interior was a blend of a Hollywood set and a disused fire station in Downtown Los Angeles. Inside now, there was no sign of Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Winston Zeddemore or Janine Melnitz.
Instead, parked up, there was a gleaming fire truck and one of the walls was adorned with Ghostbusters novelties: a giant Ghostbusters 2 sign, a few other props and collectibles, patches from GhostCorps fan clubs around the world, but of more interest to us: Hook & Ladder merchandise for sale.
Another visitor purchased a t-shirt, which looked great, but we bought a Hook & Ladder 8 patch for only $5.00. The patch was similar to the two painted ‘NO GHOSTS’ Hook & Ladder logos on the sidewalk which we noticed had been redesigned and re-painted since our 2017 visit.
The guys at Hook & Ladder 8 have our respect for the way they have embraced the visiting Ghostbuster fans from around the world. It can’t be easy operating a working firehouse with tourists popping up, but as Ghostbuster fans we are grateful they let us visit.
📌 HOOK & LADDER COMPANY 8, 14 N. Moore St., Tribeca, New York, NY 10013
🚇 NEAREST SUBWAY: Canal Street
See all our New York City photographs in a special album on our Facebook page >>> P&K USA
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