Last week, I was scouting in the Middle Village/Glendale area of Queens when I realized I was close to an address I’d been meaning to check out. Only thing was, as I pulled up to the house, I couldn’t remember why I’d written it down.
Over the years, I’ve saved up a number of Google Maps bookmarks of New York sites I should stop by if I ever happen to be scouting in a particular neighborhood. But what was so special about the non-descript house at 89-70 Cooper Avenue?
And then it hit me like Edith Bunker hitting the high notes in “Those Were The Days…”
89-70 Cooper Avenue was Archie Bunker’s house, featured in the opening credits of All In The Family.
The footage was shot in the early seventies, and it’s neat to see the similarities over 40 years later. I love that the flag pole has survived. Also, note how the little tree on the left has become a much larger tree today.
Archie often identified his address as 704 Hauser Street in Astoria, but the Queens of All in the Family was clearly an amalgam of several different neighborhoods. And in a way, Cooper Ave was the perfect choice, with its lot-to-lot rows of cookie cutter housing that could pretty much be Anywhere, Queens.
Funny that the show never mentioned Archie’s view off the front stoop: a graveyard across the street!
In the later spin-off Archie Bunker’s Place, Archie opens a bar, featured in the opening credits after some neat exterior shots of 1970s Northern Blvd. But where was it?
No one seems to know. The shot cuts away from the busy streets just before it’s pictured, so this could very well be on a soundstage in California. Then again, I’ve read some claiming online that the building did exist, but was torn down.
Either way, good to know that a little bit of Archie Bunker can still be found in Queens.
-SCOUT
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