Jersey City has served as the background location for films such as “The Godfather” (Liberty State Park area) and “Quiz Show” (the old Jersey City Medical Center), as well as TV shows including “Cops” (various locations).
But the new NBC series “Mercy” has put Jersey City front and center.
The show is about the personal and professional lives of three female nurses working in Jersey City’s fictional Mercy Hospital. It debuted on Sept. 23 and airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. And it has utilized a number of sites across the city, mainly downtown.
“Our characters come from working-class, relatable backgrounds and we wanted the setting to reflect that.” – Liz Heldens
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The nurses’ favorite hangout is the real-life Lucky 7 Tavern on Coles and Second Street. Exteriors of the watering hole have been spotted in different scenes. The interior scenes are filmed in the Park Tavern located on West Side Avenue off Communipaw Avenue.
Other scenes have been shot at Basic Food and Beverage on Eighth Street and at the back of Public School 5 on Fourth Street (between Newark Avenue and Colgate Street). The staff has also asked the Reporter newspaper group for copies of the Jersey City Reporter and Jersey City Magazine to use in an upcoming episode.
However, many of the hospital scenes are shot on a soundstage in Secaucus.
More than just background
Liz Heldens, the creator and executive producer of “Mercy,” said last week that Jersey City was chosen as a site for the fictional Mercy Hospital since it “seemed like a natural choice.” She said she wanted a setting that was out of reach of Manhattan, but still very much in its own place with its own identity.
“Our characters come from working-class, relatable backgrounds and we wanted the setting to reflect that,” Heldens said. “The storylines are very much bound up with a sense of place. Setting the show in Jersey City lets our characters straddle two worlds: the gritty, real world of their day-to-day lives and the more elusive world just out of reach across the Hudson.”
Heldens said the experience of finding locations and filming in Jersey City was “accommodating and great” and led Heldens to the conclusion that Jersey City was a “great match” for the show.
The feedback that Heldens and other members of the production company have gotten from people they worked with about the first episode has been “very positive.”
Bar none, it seemed entertaining
Michael Garcia is one of the owners of the Lucky 7 Tavern. He has been on site for the scenes shot for “Mercy.”
Garcia was approached by location scouts for the production in February. By March, the cameras were rolling. There were also shoots in April and September.
“It was a great experience,” Garcia said. “They have been professional and I don’t have any problems.”
Garcia also saw a number of actors and production staff patronizing Lucky 7 after production wrapped or on an off-day.
However, the folks sitting in front of their TVs were not originally supposed to see the bright neon sign of Lucky 7.
“The production had plans originally for Lucky 7 to be known on the show as Delaney’s, a typical, generic Irish bar,” Garcia said. “They were creating neon signs that were supposed to say ‘Delaney’s’ but instead, ironically, they were made to read Lucky 7.”
There will also be a Lucky 7 presence in a future episode, with the tavern’s softball team appearing in a scene showing a game.
As to what he thought about the debut episode, which was shown in Lucky 7 on its first night:
“To be honest, I couldn’t hear much because it was loud and there was talking, with some screaming when people saw Lucky 7 on screen,” Garcia said. “But it seemed pretty entertaining.”
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.