Fans of my original blog, Movie Locations and More, know that in addition to my love of movies, I have an equal love for Madonna. I started combining both of those loves searching out and visiting different video locations. While I covered most of the Los Angeles ones, I started work on finding some in the New York area. For Papa Don't Preach, the main location of the house and train station had been found by fans previously, but I was set on finding a few more of course! Special thanks to set-jetter Brian Koppel at Reel To Real Movie and TV Locations for taking these pictures for the site.
The first image of the video is the late 80's New York skyline. Needless to say, it has changed quite a bit since that time...
Next up is the front yard of the house, seen in flashback. The house is located at 35 Edgar Terrace in Staten Island, New York. We'll return to this location at the end of the video....
Okay, this was the tough one to find... the mechanic shop where Madonna visits her boyfriend played by Alex McArthur. The repair shop is located at 511 Bay Street in Staten Island. As there is absolutely nothing to go on to find this location, read more on how I located this spot in the next paragraph....
Although some fans claim the mechanic shop was somewhere on Victory Boulevard or other areas, I decided to use the main clue in the reverse shot where Madonna walks up into the shot. You can clearly see a post office in the background. The good thing about government buildings is they rarely go away or change locations. So some quick research and I found the post office at the corner of Bay Street and Sands Street that matched up, missing location found!
Next, we're off to scenes that were shot in and around Staten Island. Madonna is walking at the beginning on Richmond Terrace, just a bit west of the ferry drop off. The picture is between Wall Street and Hamilton Avenue; a lot of construction going on at the time there! The entrance to the station is on Prospect Street between Sands and Cross Streets.
And finally back to the house, better viewed in this last scene of Madonna walking up the street and to the front door. Again, the house is located at 35 Edgar Terrace in Staten Island. Thanks again to Brian Koppel for grabbing these great pics!
UPDATE: Thanks to eagle-eye Madonna fan, Kevin Petrie, he found a couple new location from the video. The incredibly scary stairs with no railing was part of the Bank Street Bridge at the New Brighton station. While the stairs are long gone (but can be seen in a historical photo), there is an identifiable building in the background that still exists. This is approximately at the corner of Richmond Terrace and Jersey Street. Later in the video, Madonna is seen walking along the tracks that is now Richmond Terrace, about a half-mile to the west of the stairs location.
