Sugar Hill was awash today in 1960s details for the upcoming TV series "Godfather of Harlem," starring Forest Whitaker as infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson.
The Epix show has been filming all over Harlem for the past few months, and the production just moved to St. Nicholas Avenue between 146th and 148th Streets in the atmospheric Sugar Hill Historic District.
A shop on the corner of West 147th Street was transformed into 22 West, an iconic Harlem soul food restaurant that once stood at 22 West 135th Street. Malcolm X, a regular, used to call it his "home away from home."
A vintage flyer on the eatery's wall advertised a James Brown concert at the Apollo Theater on October 3, a possible reference to the singer's real-life concert on October 24, 1963, when he recorded "Live at the Apollo."
Colorful old cars and buses lined the avenue, including a retired New York City Transit bus with a sign revealing the M11 route hasn't changed much in 50 years; the last stop was in the West Village, just as it is today.
"Godfather of Harlem" is set to premiere sometime later this year.
