The Film Society of Lincoln Center is screening a classic Upper West Side film, The Panic in Needle Park, on Monday night and director Jerry Schatzberg will be there to discuss the film afterward. Needle Park was the nickname of Verdi Square and Sherman Square (around 72nd street) during the 1970’s, when heroin addicts would hang out in the area. Al Pacino stars in the film, which came out in 1971.
The movie starts at 6:15 p.m. and tickets cost $13, or $9 for students and seniors.
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if only the westside was like that now the one. presenter would not have moved in.
I am a born and bread upper west sider
A recent documentary on casting directors reported that Francis Coppola showed this film to Paramount executives to convince them Al Pacino should be cast in the Godfather. Pacino is dynamic, and the 1970 UWS setting shows a lot of neon, diner menu ads and grime. Very few of the most-seen buildings from around Verdi and Sherman Square remain; one can glimpse a fish store that may have been Citarella, and there is a clear shot of the current Chase bank at Bway/70th, with a neon HOTEL sign attached to it in this movie. The building that seemed to be at the northwest corner of Bway/72nd bore a large neon Rexall sign.