“Shades of Blue” at Calvary

Last night I was typing an e-mail to a friend. This e-mail included mention of Calvary Cemetery. Just as I finished typing those two words I looked up at the television and saw Ray Liotta standing at Calvary Cemetery in Queens. He appeared in a commercial promoting “Shades of Blue,” a new series on NBC starring Liotta and Jennifer Lopez.

Things like this happen and I do not believe they signal any kind of supernatural portent, but the chances of such a mercurial coincidence as this occurring seem infinitesimal. Calvary is a location that rarely appears on television, and the image I saw appeared for just one second. It was during that one second, after typing the words “Calvary Cemetery”, that I just happened to look over.

I am in the early stages of working with a film crew on a documentary that might involve Calvary Cemetery, or New York City cemeteries in general. Thus the fact that I typed those words is not surprising or strange, as the subject of Calvary is in my mind more than it might otherwise be. It was the appearance of the cemetery right at the moment I typed its name that boggled me.

I was additionally surprised to see it because Calvary, in the past at least, had strict rules forbidding filming on its property. It appears those rules are being relaxed, raising the unpleasant specter of my favorite place for solitude becoming a go-to filming location and tourist attraction.

It remains to be seen how central a role Calvary plays in “Shades of Blue”, and whether this new series will somehow elevate its profile in the public eye. Other TV shows have filmed there. “Person of Interest” has filmed a few scenes at Calvary, and though I do not specifically keep an eye out for such things I seem to remember seeing passing mention other NYC crime type TV series shooting segments there in years past.

Curious about this Ray Liotta image I made a quick trek to Calvary today, if only to convince myself with bulletproof certainty that Liotta really was standing where I thought he was. It would be in Section 9, near the old administration building and not far from the entrance gate on Greenpoint Avenue.

That is exactly where it was. I did not align my shot perfectly to match the image from the commercial but this is definitely the spot. Here again is the original image from the “Shade of Blue” commercial, followed by my image from today. Just for the hell of it I Photoshopped Ray Liotta into my picture.