Residents Get A Rude Awakening

A mistake while filming CSI: New York left some locals feeling restless.

On August 29, the crew of New York was filming a traffic jam scene in Downtown Los Angeles. The shoot, which took place during the middle of the night, included 30-40 cars parked on Broadway. A member of the production team thought that the scene would be more realistic if the cars all honked their horns at the same time--at 4:30 a.m.

Residents were understandably upset when this occurred. Two days later, Location Manager Timothy Hillman issued a written apology to those who were inconvenienced by the honking. "Due to an unfortunate string of events," he said in the letter, "the cooler heads that would have prevailed in such a situation were unavailable to stop this from happening. Once we realized what was going on we halted the honking, but by then the damage was done."

Hillman went on to say that "CSI:NY spends a lot of time filming in the downtown area and we make very conscious efforts to abide by the guidelines of the ever-changing residential/commercial landscape and revitalization of the area. We realize that we are visitors to the area and we wish to show the neighbors the respect they deserve so that we may be welcomed back." He also thanked the residents for allowing them to film in the neighborhood. He ended by saying that the filming process can be a disruptive inconvenience but that there was a positive side to it as well. "[I]t is also important to know that, because we had your assistance, 150 people were directly employed and approximately 75 other businesses received work from us either directly or indirectly, adding to the economy of Southern California and, more specifically, Los Angeles County."

The apology letter can be read in its entirety at BlogDowntown.

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