the ghostbusters building is located at 55 central park west in new york.
where is the ghostbusters building in new york?
55 central park west
the building holds significance in american popular culture as it was prominently featured in the 1984 comedy "ghostbusters". in the film, "550 central park west" was the residence of the ghostbusters' first client, cellist dana barrett (sigourney weaver). they later learn it was designed and constructed by insane architect and surgeon ivo shandor, who founded and led a secret society in 1920, the cult of gozer. consisting of over a thousand followers, the cult was dedicated to the worship of gozer the gozerian, an ancient, ultra-powerful, apocalyptic entity first worshipped by the hittites, the mesopotamians and the sumerians. the members of the gozerian cult were the original occupants of the apartment building, which shandor had devised as a modern-day ziggurat. they performed bizarre rituals on the roof as early as 1920 (the actual building, however, was not built until 1929), seeking to summon gozer the destructor and end the world. since ghostbusters first hit theaters, 55 central park west has been known as the "ghostbusters building" or - as it was referred to by ray stantz (dan aykroyd) – "spook central"; it was portrayed much taller and with the rooftop temple, via the eight floors that were added to exterior shots of it via matte painting by production designer/art director john decuir. the gozerian temple consisted of its massive, ornate shrine, altars, obelisks and the iconic terror dog statues depicting demigods zuul the gatekeeper and vinz clortho the keymaster.
55 central park west
according to the director commentary on the "ghostbusters" dvd, the movie's cultural impact was felt almost immediately. the building that was dana barrett's apartment building in "ghostbusters" has, since the release of the film, been known as the ghostbusters building, and along with the hook and ladder firehouse, has become a real world new york city tourist attraction. in may 2010, the group improv everywhere, at the invitation of the new york public library, staged a "ghostbusters"-themed "mission" in the same reading room used in the film. the video game "burnout paradise" pays homage to the franchise with a car titled the 'manhattan spirit', which is based on the ecto-1.
ghostbusters (franchise)