Netflix
While the namesake superheroes of the Netflix series “Jessica Jones” and “Daredevil” reside, work, and fight all sorts of crime and badassery in midtown Manhattan, the defender of justice in the pay channel’s new “Luke Cage” hangs in a different neighborhood.
The Marvel character with the unbreakable skin, superhuman strength, and lousy attitude calls the historically black neighborhood of Harlem home—a portion of the city that has undergone its own superhuman ascension over the past few decades, especially in high-end real estate. The series goes out of its way to illustrate the neighborhood’s magnificent brownstones, many of which date to the late 1800s.
Despite Harlem’s emergence as one of Manhattan’s hottest neighborhoods, “Luke Cage” is one of the first series ever to be set there.
Micki Garcia, a Harlem Realtor® for 15 years, is grateful for new spotlight on the area, which she calls one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the city.
“The series brings forth a perpetual nostalgic undertone that attracts buyers,” she says. “There is no other place that has such rich architectural history, with ample tree-lined streets and brownstones, all ranging from 14 to 25 feet wide.”
Garcia says “Luke Cage” conveys Harlem’s atmosphere and references its current social, political, and economic issues.
“Harlem is one of the last affordable neighborhoods in Manhattan. It’s well-connected to transportation and has many parks, restaurants, culture, and a strong sense of community that very few areas have,” she says. “There’s also a lot of development going on in the residential and commercial space, which adds to the cachet.”
The show’s creator and executive producer, Cheo Hadari Coker, says he treats Harlem as a character in the series.
“I didn’t want to speak Harlem and say Harlem and not see Harlem,” says Coker. “We wanted to capture the colors and rhythms of the streets. It is so beautiful and unique up there. That is why the neighborhood is gentrifying, because of the architecture of the brownstones. More and more people everywhere see the value of it. As a result, you see this kind of change over there, from old to new, a theme which we also deal with in the show.”
The most prominent brownstone used for the series is the home of bad-to-the-bone Mariah (played by Alfre Woodard), on 112th Street, says production designer Loren Brooks.
“We built the interior onstage, but we picked that block because it felt like a classic Harlem residential street with the beautiful brownstones,” Brooks says. “And we liked the exterior stairs, since the character is a politician, and that created a natural place for Mariah to stand and address a crowd.”
Netflix
“We also shot in an amazingly beautiful brownstone on 120th Street that was in great disrepair,” Brooks continues. “But it still had original molding and fireplaces, five floors, and a grand stairway. In its day, it must have been stunning.”
Mike Colter stars as Cage, the wrongfully convicted ex-con who ends up with superpowers after—wouldn’t you know it?—a nightmare jail experiment.
“I loved shooting in Harlem. It was kind of like going home again—I lived there for five years,” says Colter. “I was literally across the street, a few blocks away from where we shot outside the barber shop on Lenox Avenue.”
Colter acknowledges that Harlem has changed since he lived there.
“I feel like the Harlem we are projecting in the series is more like the Harlem that I lived in 10 years ago,” he says. “[What we show] is not quite as gentrified. You won’t see any Whole Foods. It has a little more of an edge. … We wanted to have some of that nostalgia, that unique culture that Harlem gives you.”
Best of all, people living in the neighborhood have had a positive attitude about the series shooting there.
“We felt the love from the community,” Colter says.
Now that “Luke Cage” is one of the most popular new series on Netflix, making a second season all but assured, Matt Bajek, a Realtor for Michel Madie Real Estate, hopes more New York home buyers will focus on Harlem.
“More and more, people are becoming increasingly savvy of the desirable lifestyle Harlem has to offer,” he says. “The area is a thriving, diverse, and wonderful market, where many home investments have shown big profits. And there are still bargains to be had.”
The post Will Marvel’s ‘Luke Cage’ Series Give Harlem a Brand New Superpowered Boost? appeared first on Real Estate News and Advice - realtor.com.
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