Thanks to Joaquin Phoenix’s dance moves in Joker, the stairs connecting Shakespeare and Anderson Avenues in the Highbridge neighborhood of the Bronx are the most famous set of steps in New York City right now. They have their own Instagram hashtag with over 700 tagged photos, and were also added to Google Maps as a “religious site” (the designation has since been removed).
All the attention has frustrated some residents of Highbridge.
“We hope it ends soon because we don’t need this,” said Jonathan Francis, a 29-year-old who has lived in the neighborhood his entire life. “We feel disrespected.”
Francis said his neighbors now have trouble using the stairs to get to work and school and that some have stopped using them out of fear of appearing in photos.
A flyer posted next to the stairs.
Posters warning sightseers have been taped to lampposts and walls along the staircase. “It is disrespectful to treat our community and residents as a photo opportunity,” the fliers read.
The Office of The Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. stated on Twitter that they hope any visitors to the Bronx “decide to spend money while they’re here in our local businesses and vendors.”
People pose for photos on the "Joker Stairs."
But according to Brayan Feliz, 28, artist and designer, the tourists aren’t sticking around. Feliz said he saw people get out of Ubers, take photos of the stairs, and get back in their cars.
Feliz grew up a few blocks away from the Joker staircase, and while he said he didn’t want to paint tourists as villains, he did have a message for any potential visitors.
“Understand that it is not just selfies and hashtags,” said Feliz. “Understand that people live in those places and that just you taking a picture is gonna have an impact in that community.”
Even some tourists acknowledged the impact of the stairs’ popularity. Samantha Vargas, 25, a teacher, came from Jersey City to see the film location. She said that she understood how the constant foot traffic could upset residents.
“You’re just trying to walk up the stairs and everyone’s just taking a picture for their Instagram,” said Vargas. “I could see it being really annoying.”
A woman poses on the "Joker stairs" in the Bronx.
State Assemblymember Latoya Joyner, whose district includes Highbridge, said that in the past she has heard complaints from constituents about how dirty the stairs are, and that perhaps all the new attention will help force a change.
“It’s more now about how do we keep the areas clean and attractive for the residents that actually do live there and are there on a daily basis and have to walk up and down these steps,” Joyner said.
The conflict between those who use the stairs and those who come to take photos could be plainly seen on a recent Saturday.
“Pick a side,” one resident shouted as tourists posed in the middle of the stairs.
Steven Gomez, 28, a student, has lived in an apartment next to the stairway his whole life. He said the stairs are the same as they’ve always been and can’t understand why people care so much about the movie location.
“I don’t see what the hype is about,” said Gomez. “You wanna come all the way from downtown to take pictures of some stairs?”
