Image via Complex Original
It's a film-critic to cliché to say that a movie's setting is just as important as its stars, but whoever made the observation first had probably just seen Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee's tale of simmering racial conflict uses the boiling heat of a Bed-Stuy summer as a mirror, with violence escalating as the thermostat climbs. The fact that Lee used one actual city block to shoot almost all of the scenes just adds to the film's verisimilitude: it feels real, because it is.
A quarter century later, Stuyvesant Ave. remains a monument to the time and a reminder that things aren't as different today as some would like to believe. In celebration of the film's 25th anniversary, Complex asked photographer Liz Barclay to return to the block on another sweltering summer day. Click the thumbnails to see images of the street then and now—how much (or little) the neighborhood has changed may surprise you.
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Mother Sister's Stoop
Location: 167 Stuyvesant Ave.
Key scene: Da Mayor visits mother sister.
Mother Sister's stoop serves as the lcoation to one of the more endearing subplots of the film. As Da Mayor tries in vain to woo her, we learn about their past and get a window into everyday life on the block. Today the steps look nearly identical and building's brownstone facade is largely unchanged.
Yes Jesus Last Baptist Church
Location: 184 Stuyvesant Ave.
Key scene: Smiley sells photos of Malcom X.
In the film, Smiley peddles photos of Malcom X with the church looming behind him. It's hint by Lee that there are other cultural icons now, just as important as the ones worshipped inside the church. For the filming, Yes Jesus Last Baptist Church was an artificial facade built over the top of a red brick building. Today, the apartments inside have been renovated, but the location is still easily recognizable.
"Bed-Stuy — Do Or Die" Mural
Location: 164 Stuyvesant Ave.
Key scene: The neighborhood crew poses.
The flags on the "Bed-Stuy — Do Or Die" mural reflect the neighborhood's varied racial makeup, while the slogan makes is clear that life in Bed-Stuy always has high stakes. The mural was painted specifically for the film above a vacant lot, but today is obstructed by newly-built housing. The last remnants can be seen slowly fading on the wall.
Mookie's House
Location: 173 Stuyvesant Ave.
Key scene: Jade urges Mookie to move out.
The scenes inside Mookie's house (or, more accurately, his sister Jade's) were filmed inside a real Brownstone that still stands today. The location doesn't play a big role in the film, other than a reminder that Jade wants Mookie to move out ASAP. The location, however, is virtually unchanged.
FM 108 We Love Radio
Location: 174 Stuyvesant Ave.
Key scene: "Waaaake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
Mister Señor Love Daddy serves as both the neighborhood's DJ and its conscious. Samuel L. Jackson made the part instantly iconic from the first line, when he gets the neighborhood out of bed on the hottest day of the year. The We Love Radio building itself was a custom set attached to 174 Stuyvesant. Though the DJ booth may have been a prop, you can still recognize the building by its unique molding.
Fruit and Vegetable Delight
Location: Stuyvesant and Lexington (northwest corner)
Key scene: Radio Raheem buys batteries.
Fruit and Vegetable Delight (a.k.a. The Korean Grocery) serves as a stand in Brooklyn's ubiquitous neighborhood bodegas. Unfortunately, however, it can't be visited today. The store was built on a vacant lot specifically for the film. While the address is still there, all that remains are parked cars and trees.
Sal's Famous Pizza
Location: Stuyvesant and Lexington (southwest corner)
Key scene: Mookie throws a trashcan through the window.
Sal's becomes a symbol for the racial conflict in the neighborhood, as tensions erupt following Radio Raheem's death. Like Fruit and Vegetable Deligiht, Sal's Famous PIzza was never real; it was built on another lot specifically for the film's production. Above the lot, another mural—this one of Brooklyn local Mike Tyson—can be seen fading on the wall.
Stuyvesant Avenue
Location: Stuyvesant Ave.
Key scene: The whole film.
Though we've highlighted individual locations along Stuyvesant Ave., it's really the whole street itself that makes the film possible. From Radio Raheem's death to the ultimate destruction of Sal's, almost everything happens out in the open. Seeing the street now, the Bed-Stuy brownstones are mostly unchanged. Thee Brooklyn neighborhood that Lee wrote his love letter to is still there for anyone to see. Many of the residents who saw the movie filmed on their block still live in the same homes. Like Lee recently said, "we been here."