Look Up: 55 Central Park West, The Haunted Building from "Ghostbusters"

With the 85th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade coming up this week, all eyes will already be looking up along Central Park West. But if you happen to be around 64th street, then between passings of Kermit, Buzz Lightyear and Spider-Man take a peek at the building that housed the temple to Gozer. Though the movie took some liberties, including stretching the building to make it look taller, 55 Central Park West looks today pretty much as it did in the original 1984 release of Ghostbusters.

Designed by the firm of Schwartz and Gross, this building is considered one of the pivotal structures of the Central Park West Historic District. The duo is also responsible for many of the other buildings along Central Park West, and particularly for setting the Art Deco style as the prevailing trend for this block.

The brick façade is notable for its shifting colors, starting with a deep purple at the base that lightens to a pale yellow as the building ascends, before transitioning to white on the upper terraces. This, as well as the decorative elements framing the terrace setbacks, accentuates the building's verticality, making it seem like it's blasting off from the ground.

Unfortunately, the construction on the roof blocks most of the view. Still, one can glance at the short white tower rising from center roof that was replaced in Ghostbusters with the Temple (though in some shots it was left as is). Sadly, come Thursday, we won’t be seeing our favorite giant character, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.