1992 was a stellar year in more-than-one way: George Bush vomited on the Japanese prime minister’s lap, Kristi Yamaguchi won an Olympic gold medal in women’s figure skating, the 49th Golden Globes happened (the year Thelma and Louise won Best Screenplay), “Guys & Dolls” opened at Martin Beck Theater in NYC to go on for 1,143 performances and the Mall of America opened its doors. Like I said, BIG year.
But something else happened in 1992. Something far more socially relevant and deliciously sinister that shed light on a real and thriving problem in the greater New York area. This movie did for -the saner of any two- roommates whatPhiladelphia did for spotlighting the AIDS epidemic. It showed us what ugly looks like. Single White Female, I dare say, was the single most important cinematic experience of a generation. Yes, a whole generation. Sorry, Titanic.Â
What could -what I consider to be- an exceptionally well filmed documentary and the short lived T.V. scare fest 666 Park have in common? Hint: Only ONE was destroyed by a lady named Sandy.
Give up?
They were both filmed here:
This terrifying building sits on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and just BEGS to be the center of horrifying T.V. and cinema. The Ansonia does for the Upper West Side what Omarosa did for The Apprentice – it adds much needed sass, drama, and style to an already thriving neighborhood (or, in Omarosa’s case, show. Love you, girl! xoxo).
The Ansonia is located at 2109 Broadway, between West 73rd and West 74th Streets. The Ansonia was home to most incredible amenity that has ever been offered in any building, in any state, and in any country – a farm on the roof. This clucker of a perk included about “500 chickens, many ducks, about six goats and a small bear”. You heard it here first, people. The building had a resident bear!
The Upper West Side IS interesting after all.  Every day, a bellhop delivered free fresh eggs to all the tenants, and any surplus was sold cheaply to the public in the basement arcade. The Department of Health ended up shutting down the farmers feature but it is still legend in our hearts. In 1992 the Ansonia was converted to a condominium apartment building with 430 apartments. By 2007, most of the rent-controlled tenants had moved out, and the small apartments were sold to buyers who purchased clusters of small apartments and threw them together to recreate the grand apartments of the building’s glory days, with carefully restored Beaux-Arts details.
The Ansonia was also featured in 2001’s Don’t Say a Word
2006’s My Super Ex Girlfriend
2003’s Uptown Girls (RIP B.M.!)
The Ansonia is also referenced in “How I Met Your Mother” in episode 22 of the fifth season “Robots vs Wrestlers” as “The Alberta” building where the gang was crashing a snooty party. Ted describes it as “the most beautiful building in New York!”
