(Photos: Frank Mastropolo)
This week Lower East Side hipsters may fret that the neighborhood’s invasion of piercing salons and beard-trimming shops has come to an end. Storefronts on Orchard and Broome Streets sport signs reminiscent of 1970s Little Italy. Signs for E. Rossi’s Italy Music & Book Co., Vitale Funeral Home, Hester Discount Hardware and others have popped up, seeming to herald a comeback for the mom-and-pop shops the man-bun crowd has shunned.
But don’t worry, the shops will be gone soon. The signs are props for the filming of The Irishman, the upcoming Netflix film that examines the disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa in 1975. The flick stars mob drama heavyweights Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Harvey Keitel and Joe Pesci. It reunites De Niro and Keitel with Martin Scorsese, who directed the pair in another LES drama, 1973’s Mean Streets.
Based on the 2003 book I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt, The Irishman marks Scorsese’s long-awaited return to the gangster genre. Shooting began here in August and will continue through December, just in time for SantaCon to arrive.
