New York’s Brand New Tourist Attraction: The “Joker” Stairs

By Bryan Davis and Telvin Poledore

Following the box office success of DC Films’ “Joker,” tourists have flocked to the “Joker Stairs,” on 1165 Shakespeare Ave in the Bronx. 

The staircase is featured in the movie as protagonist Arthur Fleck, played by Joaquin Phoenix, dances down them. The dance among the staircase itself only takes about a minute of screen time, but it surely made an impression on moviegoers. 

The residents of the neighborhood are fed up that the stairs have become a tourist spot. Many tourists are taking selfies on the stairs or dressing up in full make-up and costume as the Joker and posing for photos. Residents have reportedly tossed garbage at them to shoo them away. 

“I just see the stairs on 167th. Stairs that people avoid climbing due to the violence and drugs,” said BMCC alum Jessika Cruz, a lifelong Bronx resident. “Visiting the stairs and taking a picture of it seems minuscule; it has a greater impact on the community. They’ve never been part of the worry that we have of gentrification,” Cruz said.

For residents like Cruz, the stairs bring on the fear of being one step closer to gentrification. 

“For those that understand or see that there’s an immense correlation between what’s happening of these stairs and gentrification, there is entirely a connection. Real estate agencies see this as an opportunity to this exposure to newcomers as a place to live, especially it being unnecessarily landmarked as ‘Joker Stairs,’” Cruz said.

Others said that this phenomenon is nothing new:

“I certainly understand the frustrations of those who live in the Bronx. When I was in Georgia, I had gone on a tour bus of all the places where they filmed famous movie scenes in Atlanta,” said New Yorker Hayden Luumus. “This isn’t some new thing as people have always found a way to capitalize and make money from film locations. It feels some new matter cause this is taking place in an area that normally hasn’t been utilized that much by filmmakers,” he continued.

Some tourists flocked to the Bronx steps out of curiosity after viewing the movie.

“I watched “Joker” and it’s a tourist spot, a tourist attraction, and I was curious to go here,” said Marisa Barrera, who was visiting from the Philippines.

 “I feel like this whole Bronx stairs thing will go back to equilibrium by mid-January at the latest,” said Luumus.