‘Queens get the De Niro’: Astoria film studio backed by famed actor nears completion
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The final beam of Wildflower Studio’s structure was installed on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. Eagle photo by Jacob Kaye
By Jacob Kaye
It was a movie script almost-ending.
Mayor Eric Adams, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, construction workers and officials with several development firms gathered in an industrial corner of Astoria on Thursday to celebrate the topping off of Wildflower Studios, a film production studio backed by New York-native Robert De Niro and his son, Raphael De Niro.
The frame of the studio, which is located next door to the historic Steinway & Sons piano factory on 19th Street, was officially completed Thursday with the installation of its final beam.
On Thursday, the mayor and borough president celebrated what is now the third movie studio in the area, joining Silvercup Studios in Long Island City and Kaufman Astoria Studios in Astoria.
“We're going to attract all of the film industry,” Adams said. “To hell with California.”
The $600 million Astoria studio village will feature 11 sound stages and additional production space. It is expected to open to film and television production later this year.
“We often have this slogan – ‘Queens get the money,’ but today it’s ‘Queens get the De Niro,’” Richards said.
The studio, which De Niro helped finance, was first pitched to the local community board in 2019. Wildflower purchased the lot from Steinway & Sons for around $70 million in February 2020 – the piano factory will remain an occupant in about half of the building.
Foundation work on the project first began in 2020. About a year later, the project was formally approved by Queens Community Board 1 in a near-unanimous vote.
The studio village will be outfitted with a carpentry studio, dressing rooms, offices and a commissary.
Located near Luyster Creek, a small body of water off the East River across from Rikers Island, studio officials also committed to building up the area’s waterfront with a park, which will be 20 feet wide and be open to the public.
“We have a little bit of an affinity for this part of Queens… we’re excited to be doing this project given what the city has gone through over the past 18 months; we think timing couldn't be better in terms of job creation,” Raphael De Niro told the community board in 2021.
Wildflower Studios will feature 11 sound stages and public access to the Astoria waterfront. Rendering via Wildflower Studios
Despite receiving broad support from local officials, Wildflower found itself in hot water last year when it was revealed that they had overwhelmingly been using non-union labor for the building of the studio.
In a non-binding agreement with the borough president, Richards said the developers agreed to “seek union labor and have already begun to work towards these goals and should continue to follow through with the agreements as they make further progress.”
In June 2022, State Senator Jessica Ramos, who represented the area prior to redistricting, rallied outside of the construction site alongside members of Laborers Local 79, Steamfitters Local 638, and Sheet Metal Local 28 after being told that around 20 percent of those working on the site were union members.
“Robert De Niro, you’re either a union man or you’re not,” Ramos said at the rally. “This is a project that will show us how much he loves New York. This is the project that will show us whether he's truly your union man.”
Following the summer rally, the developers increased union labor on the job to 50 percent, according to sources with knowledge of the project.
Wildflower Studios did not respond to requests for comment.
Though no mention was made of Ramos’ rally and several others that followed, Richards and Adams both highlighted the developers’ commitment to union labor during their remarks on Thursday.
In addition to hiring union workers for the build, the Wildflower also committed to employing 1,000 to 1,200 predominantly union employees per day once the studio is fully operational.
“These are good union jobs, you're going to see people being employed here,” Adams said.
Mayor Eric Adams and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards joined officials with Wildflower Studios for the topping off ceremony for the film production space backed by actor Robert De Niro on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
The studio is part of what city officials see as a larger growth of the film and television industry in the five boroughs.
Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital recently purchased both Silvercup and Kaufman Studios.
Steiner Studios, which currently operates out of a warehouse space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, also recently expanded into Sunset Park.
Throughout New York, over 130 production facilities have opened or began construction in the past five years, according to reporting by Design Dispatch.
Prior to the creation of Hollywood, Queens once served as a major hub for film production.
Astoria Studios – which later became Kaufman Astoria Studios – first opened in the borough in 1920. The studio, which was operated by what is now Paramount Pictures, was home to a number of actors, including the Marx Brothers.
When the film industry moved west, Astoria Studios struggled, and was briefly shut down and used as a site for the U.S. Army to make films during World War II.
The Army held on to the building until the 1970s and around a decade later, it was transferred to the city, which leased it to developer George Kaufman.
The studio has grown significantly over the past several decades and in recent years became a partner in Innovation QNS, a massive five-block residential and commercial development surrounding the studio. Innovation QNS was approved by the City Council after a contentious review process in December.
