Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters' New York firehouse faces closure

It is a case of fact following fiction - the New York City firehouse featured in iconic 80s movie Ghostbusters is facing closure because of budget cuts.



The Ladder Co 8 fire station in TriBeCa, which served as Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd's headquarters in the 1984 film, is among 20 stations set to close.



But ironically in the film, the team of ghost capturers made the firehouse their base after it had been closed by the city.



Facing closure: The TriBeCa firehouse that played a starring role in Ghostbusters is one of 20 New York fire stations to be shut down

Iconic: The station was used as the base of the Ghostbusters and where they stored their car Ecto-1 in the film

Firefighters are outraged at the plans to shut the station, which is New York’s second oldest, and insist the stations earmarked for closure are necessary to help save lives.

Authorities said the station cuts are needed as part of a bid to fill a $600 million budget shortfall.



The firehouse on the Avenue of the Americas became a pilgrimage site for Ghostbusters fans after it was used for exterior shots of the ghost-busting base.



Location: The firehouse was the base of the Ghostbusters, played by Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis, in the 1984 film

In the film, the station is where the Ghostbusters slept, had their Containment Unit and stored the Ghostbusters car, Ecto-1.



The interior shots were filmed in a decommissioned firehouse in Los Angeles.

Firefighters’ unions and local politicians are opposed to the plan closures.



Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said: ‘Today [Mayor] Mike Bloomberg wilfully abdicated responsibility for protecting the safety of New Yorkers with his proposal to close 20 fire companies.’



Set: 55 Central Park West as seen in the 1984 movie

City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose district includes the firehouse, said: ‘To even think about closing two fire companies in lower Manhattan, the number one terror target in our country, is unconscionable.’



Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who chairs the Fire Safety Committee, said: ‘If the city moves forward with any of these closures, people who could have been saved will die.’



The firehouse is one of a number of New York locations used in the spooky film, which is set in the city.



A block of apartments at Central Park West became known as the ‘Ghostbusters Building’ after it was used as the location of the home of the character Dana, who was played by Sigourney Weaver.



