Last week, new orange No Parking signs went up on the west end of Main Street, stating that there was No Parking from Monday-Tuesday, October 19th-20th from 8pm-7pm (yes, the signs read pm-pm). By Sunday evening, a few businesses and individuals reached out to A Little Beacon Blog asking for the reason for the No Parking. One business wondered if they should even be open. If it was going to be a film production, there might be no foot traffic if the sidewalk and road were blocked for filming. But if it was for something different, then foot traffic may not be impacted.

Monday morning first thing, ALBB emailed City Administrator Ben Swanson to ask for the reason of the No Parking, but received no response. Nothing was posted to the City of Beacon’s website page or the Police page with information. By 5:30pm, the City of Beacon posted a message: “The City of Beacon will be hosting a film production on Tuesday, October 20th, along Main Street between Cross Street and Digger Phelps Court.” They went into more detail, which has been republished below.

For reference, Cross Street is near Hudson Beacon Glass, and Digger Phelps Court is just past M+T Bank. In between are stores like Beetle and Fred, Gather, Flora Good Times, Beacon Bread Company, and others.

According to people familiar with the situation, the film production is the 3rd season of the Netflix production The Four Seasons, starring Tina Fey, Will Forte, and Colman Domingo. On Monday, members of the crew were decorating parts of Main Street with harvest corn husks, gorgeous pumpkins, small-town feel banners in orange, and in some cases, skeletons. Walking down Main Street felt in quite festive.

But will stores be open inside of the No Parking film zone? Not sure. Location coordinators have been in touch with some businesses, according to sources, but ALBB has not confirmed if any businesses are being compensated by the film production; if businesses will be negatively financially impacted by the filming; or if storefront signage will be in the scene that businesses can leverage later for their marketing.

The Four Seasons has filmed in Beacon before. There was a casting call for extras from Beacon and Newburgh as of a few days ago, and filming has happened in Newburgh according to City News. The inconvenience of a film production can be felt by many, but the benefit can also be felt by aspiring filmmakers, art department hopefuls, and retail businesses and the City at large who do wish for cameos in a show or film to be part of their legacy.

Parking Restrictions From the City of Beacon And Loop Reroute

From the City of Beacon, as per their Facebook page:

“Police signage for parking restrictions has been posted along that corridor, as well as on impacted side streets during the hours of production.

“Sidewalks and the roadway itself will have intermittent closures, so there may be some delay if you are driving or walking in the area. City Police will be on site to allow vehicles through, as able.

“Loop Bus service will continue as normal but may briefly reroute to avoid any intermittent closures in the evening hours.

“Parking, bus service, and sidewalk/road use will resume as normal beginning at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow evening, and for the remainder of the week. Thank you.”