WORCESTER — Thanks to the creative people at “The Walking Dead: Dead City,” Worcester has a subway entrance that, appropriately enough, leads to nowhere.
The corner of Walnut and Main streets downtown has been transformed to Broadway and 72nd Street in Manhattan, with the sign for intersecting Walnut Street replaced with a Broadway sign.
Worcester also has a new pizza shop downtown, Joey B’s New York Style Pizzeria. And like the city’s beloved Woosta Pizza, both are closed — the former due to “wavering foot traffic and increasing property expenses,” while the other due to hordes of hungry “walkers” and the zombie apocalypse.
Taking temporary residence at the Whiskey Lounge, the building façade for Joey B’s boasts free delivery and proudly declares that “pizza is our specialty.” Signs also recommend Joey B’s chicken wings, hot plates and heroes, appetizers and cold drinks.
The reworking of Main Street in downtown is part of filming in Worcester for the latest entry of AMC’s lucrative and long-running “The Walking Dead” franchise.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Lauren Cohan (zombie survivors Negan and Maggie Greene Rhee, respectively) were expected to pop up on Main Street Thursday, the second day of shooting in Worcester. Cameras were expected to roll into the night.
Wednesday, the first day of shooting, Cohan and Gauis Charles (who plays Perlie Armstrong) shot mostly on the roof and inside 8 Norwich St.
An actor arrives at 316 Main St. for filming on Thursday.
Jen Carter, one of the hosts of the “XLO Morning Show” on WXLO 104.5 FM, and Mackenzie Goodwin, the producer for the popular morning radio show, were thrilled by the city’s Manhattan makeover.
“It’s so cool,” Carter said as they watch the pizzeria sign being placed over the Whiskey one. “Actually, you really feel like you’re in downtown New York City.”
“Yeah,” Goodwin added. “I don’t have to go on vacation anymore. Manhattan’s right here.”
Although they were both disappointed that the city’s new pizzeria was only a façade, the two women gave high marks to the city and its latest film venture.
“It’s just exciting that movies are being made in downtown Worcester,” Carter said.
“Worcester’s a growing city,” she added. “This is amazing.”
Next door at the pretend pizzeria is signage for the “Manhattan Power Co.” A plaque hanging on the building indicates the company is a member of the New York State Association of Electrical Contractors and Dealers Incorporated.
A door that leads you to the Midtown Substation appears to be the focus of Thursday afternoon’s interior film shoot.
In addition to the signage, there are piles of fallen leaves strategically placed around the doorways and subway entrance that weren’t there the night before, as well as NYC graffiti tags, posters and flyers promoting happenings in New York, and plastered newspaper on the windows that include the New York Post and The Daily News from the early 2000s.
Just think, only 12 hours earlier before this New York City makeover, a renegade “walker” (“zombie”) was spotted flailing its lifeless arms and chomping at its own reflection at 8 Norwich St.
Bouncing between a mini-fleet of vehicles that included a New York Post delivery truck, a yellow cab, a NYC police cruiser and a pimped-out Cadillac, used by the spinoff’s show super baddie “The Croat,” that looked like a cross between a vehicle that came from “The Road Warrior” and “Escape from New York,” the shirtless zombie spots something that looks familiar in the glass.
An NYPD cruiser added to the New York City feel on Main Street.
