“Sopranos” prequel shoots in Ridgewood

An vintage vehicle parks in Ridgewood. Photos courtesy of Illiterate Scholar.

By David Brand and Jonathan Sperling

More than a decade after “The Sopranos” filmed a scene on the streets of Ridgewood, a crew returned to the old neighborhood to shoot part of the prequel.

The feature film “The Many Saints of Newark” will recount the origin story of mob boss Tony Soprano, the emotionally complex patriarch of a New Jersey crime family. The film was co-written by “The Sopranos” creator David Chase. The legendary show celebrated its 20th Anniversary earlier this year.

Reddit user Illiterate Scholar posted photos of the film shoot on the r/nyc subreddit on Wednesday morning and shared them with the Eagle. The crew took over Gates Avenue between Fresh Pond Road and 60th Place.

“The Many Saints of Newark” — a prequel to “The Sopranos” — films on Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood.

“Newark” is just the latest mob movie to film in Ridgewood. Last year, legendary director Martin Scorcese reunited with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci to film scenes from “The Irishman” along Woodward and Catalpa Avenues. The film, which premiers later this year, tells the story of the murder of mobbed-up union leader Jimmy Hoffa.

“I love movie trivia and just having all of these movies being filmed in my neighbor just makes it that much better,” Illiterate Scholar told the Eagle. “If people are worried about mob movies tainting the image of Ridgewood, most movies just use the location to fill in as some other city/country. I doubt people watching it will immediately think this is what Ridgewood is like, or that it's filled with mobsters.”

“The Irishman” crew sent several stores back in time, decking them out with old-school signs and awnings. One vacant shop at the corner of Catalpa and Woodward Avenues transformed into a mid-century bodega completely stocked with vintage snacks and packages.