Queens Neighbors: Controlled Explosion For TV Drama Damaged Homes
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Residents of Glendale, Queens were complaining Wednesday night that a planned explosion for a TV drama show damaged their homes.
As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, the neighborhood around Doran Avenue is usually quiet. But residents said on Tuesday afternoon, it was anything but.
"I thought it was like a bomb or something," one resident said.
"I thought somebody crashed into my house," another said.
Dozens of Doran Avenue residents said they had their homes rocked by a controlled, planned car explosion during the filming of the NBC drama "The Black List." A massive orange fireball shot into the sky, following a cloud of thick, black smoke.
And now, some say the explosion damaged their homes.
"I had a contractor in my home when this happened and he was the one that said, 'This is so not good for your foundation,'" one woman said.
"Today I go downstairs and I check, and water running," another said. "I don't know where it come from; wasn't before."
Resident Virgilio Mignardi said two cracks appeared in his stairwell after the explosion.
"It had to have happened yesterday, because I know they weren't there before at all," Mignardi said.
Residents said the production company passed out fliers alerting them of the explosion, but they said they were never told just how big the explosion would be.
"Nobody expected it to be what it was, and when it happened, it really shook everyone," one resident said.
"The magnitude was incredible," another said.
"When I heard the explosion, it reminded me back of being on 9/11," added Mignardi.
The city said permission was given for the TV shoot, and also for the simulated explosion.
CBS2 reached out to the production company listed on the fliers – Woodridge Productions Inc. – but did not hear back.
A representative of the show, produced by NBC Universal and Sony, said: "It's a privilege to shoot in New York City, and we always try to respect and protect the communities where we film. As always, our team followed all the proper procedures, and safety is our first priority."
But residents said the explosion was "uncalled for," and hoped it was the finale for such film shoots.