‘Coming to America’
The story: Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) leaves his homeland of Zamunda with his assistant Semmi (Arsenio Hall) in search of his queen. The two head, aptly enough, to Queens, where, posing as an exchange student, Akeem romances Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley).
Iconic settings: In search of meager housing, Akeem and Semmi find a squalid tenement in an unidentified Queens slum. Akeem heads to a basketball game at Madison Square Garden with Lisa, her boyfriend Darryl (Eriq La Salle) and Lisa’s sister (Allison Dean), only to be recognized by one of his countrymen. When the jig is up, Akeem’s royal parents (James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair) head to New York and summon Akeem to the royal suite at the Waldorf Astoria. What’s there now: That Queens slum the pair lived in was actually in Williamsburg. The building that’s home to their apartment still stands at 390 South Fifth St. (interiors were shot on a soundstage), now painted yellow. Madison Square Garden’s still standing, of course, as is the Waldorf Astoria, now closed for renovations.
Fun fact: The fictional run-down nabe where Akeem and Semmi live was even more dicey than it appeared.
“Once [the drug dealers] learned we had nothing to do with the police, they were friendly and made sure we had no problems because they didn’t want the police around,” recalls production assistant Quincy Gunderson.