Norman Lear's New York: A visit to the 'All in the Family' house and 'Jeffersons' apartment building

Two of Norman Lear's iconic sitcoms were famously set in New York. We start in Glendale, Queens, and then 'move on up' to the East Side. While we're at it, let's visit the 'Diff'rent Strokes' tower.

Those were the days!

Norman Lear’s death last week at 101 was heartbreaking. You figured that, just maybe, he’d somehow elude mortality’s greedy grip, continue producing groundbreaking comedy shows, and wisely weigh in on the state of the world.

I enjoyed seeing Mr. Lear at an event at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, in 2016. It was a special place to see him because the sitcom that would most define him, “All in the Family,” was said to be set in Astoria.

Archie Bunker House, Glendale, Queens

But the famed house shown in the show’s credits is elsewhere in Queens, in the neighborhood of Glendale, at 89-70 Cooper Ave.

I last made a pilgrimage to visit the house in 2010, and it remains recognizable as the fictional 704 Hauser St., the home of Archie and Edith Bunker. (That address was also the title of a short-lived spin-off series to “All in the Family” starring another Norman Lear mainstay, John Amos. The concept? A Black family moves into the Bunker home after Archie sells it.)

The Archie Bunker house on the right (Rolando Pujol/2010)

Above and below are photos I took of Archie’s place back in 2010, and I must say it’s a real treat to see in person. 

There’s lots more to do in Glendale, by the by. Harry Houdini’s grave is not far away, as is one of the coolest old-school German restaurants in New York, Zum Stammtisch.

But you know you’re trotting out here to catch a glimpse of Archie and Edith’s house, as any good Retrologist should!

Note that it’s a private home, so be mindful of that while taking your photos. Surely, they are used to the attention, but still …

‘The Jeffersons’ Apartment Building, Upper East Side

Our Norman Lear tour continues on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Let’s stop at the building where George and Weezy moved on up, Park Lane Towers at 185 E. 85th St.

How it looked in the 1975 opening:

How it looked in 2010:

And in 2021, with modifications to the balconies:

During the opening credits, above, we see the exterior of Park Lane Towers, and even a moving van pulling up, as well as the Checker Cab carrying George and Weezy, below, entering the driveway.

For years, viewers understandably thought they also were getting a close-up view of the building’s front doors when George and Louise are dropped off by the cab, and Mr. J (as Bentley called him) does his signature cocky strut into the lobby below. I say "thought” because it appears that portion of the opening was filmed in Santa Monica, California, as the New York Times explains in this excellent appreciation of Park Lane Towers.  

These opening credits were presumably filmed in 1974, as the show premiered on Jan. 18, 1975, and last appeared on CBS prime time in June 1985.

Throughout that long run of 253 episodes, viewers got a look at Park Lane Towers every week — and every day when the show entered syndication starting in the early 1980s. (In New York, the show aired weeknights at 7 p.m. on WPIX-TV Channel 11 for much of the 1980s, as this screen grab below attests. I worked at WPIX for many years and dug up these old one-inch videotape masters from that 1980s run, below!)

The building's facade remains largely unchanged almost 50 years after those opening credits were filmed. (There have been modifications to the balcony in the past decade.)

See an old WPIX subway ad that used this photo here.

George and Louise Jefferson moved to the Upper East Side from Astoria, Queens, where they were neighbors of Archie Bunker. Archie, a cab driver, was no fan of the Jeffersons, and, ironically, the Jeffersons were dropped off at their “deluxe apartment in the sky” in a cab that Archie himself could have driven. (But most assuredly did not!)

George made his fortune in the dry-cleaning business, and on the sitcom, there is a Jefferson Cleaners right downstairs, but a survey of the neighborhood finds nobody taking advantage of the Jefferson connection. (By George, NYC is home to a Jefferson Cleaners … out in Jamaica, Queens! Last outpost of the chain? Hahaha.)

Park Lane Towers (see my video of it above) is in Yorkville, a longtime German redoubt that saw an explosion of high-rise development in the post-war years after the Second and Third Avenue elevated trains were removed. Park Lane Towers is one of those buildings.

Norman Lear Extra: The ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ building

The “Diff'rent Strokes” building circa 1978, as seen in the opening credit …

Lear, through his Tandem Productions, also played a key role in bringing “Diff’rent Strokes” to life.

The show’s open features the tower you see here, which seems like your typical, monolithic 1970s-era luxury Upper East Side high-rise. And, sprouting from the intersection of Park Avenue and 79th Street, 900 Park Avenue is all those things. 

And 900 Park Avenue today ….

But the connoisseur of 1980s sitcoms will recognize this as the home of the wealthy Phillip Drummond, his adopted sons Arnold and Willis, his daughter Kimberly, and various maids over the years. (And, let’s not forget, eventually Mr. Drummond’s wife and her son, that little scamp we all remember as Sam.)

The courtyard in 1978, with Mr. Drummond’s limo pulling up …

In the show’s opening, we see Drummond being chauffeured around Manhattan in a limousine, picking up Arnold and Willis at a basketball court, and then returning to this tower.

And the 900 Park Avenue driveway today …

Drummond’s limo pulls up to the front door, and little Arnold gets out, cranes his neck, and admires the monolith he’s about to call home.

An extra treat for true fans of the show: Notice the facade has no balconies (see my video below). So where did Kimberly collect the acid-rain water that turned her hair green? 

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