The Ghostbusters Firehouse Is Still a Working One

The building that served as Ghostbusters headquarters is not a movie set. Hook and Ladder Company 8 has worked out of 14 North Moore Street in Tribeca since 1903, and the crew still answers alarms there today.

A Firehouse Built in 1903

The Beaux-Arts firehouse was designed by Alexander H. Stevens, the city's superintendent of buildings, and Ladder 8 moved in from 153 Franklin Street the year it was finished.

It was originally built twice as wide, with two vehicle doors. The building lost part of its width when Varick Street was widened.

Only the Outside Was Filmed

The 1984 film made the firehouse the Ghostbusters headquarters, and the original film shot only the exterior there. Its interior scenes were filmed in Los Angeles, including at a decommissioned LA firehouse, Fire Station No. 23.

The building has appeared on screen elsewhere too, in Hitch, Seinfeld and How I Met Your Mother.

On the List to Close

In 2011 the city planned to close 20 fire companies to save money, and Hook and Ladder 8 was one of the 20. The community rallied around the firehouse, with advocates including actor and former FDNY firefighter Steve Buscemi.

The company was not only saved. It received a $6 million renovation that was completed in 2018 and included upgrades from the basement to the roof and a women's locker room.

Is This a Real Firehouse?

Visitors keep coming, and many cannot believe the place is real. Firefighter Nick Vitucci told NYC Tourism in March 2024: "About 20 people a day ask me if it's a firehouse as I'm standing there in my uniform with a 35-ton rig behind us."

When a reporter visited, the alarm rang three times. The firefighters were down the stairs, suited up and on the rig before the visitors realized what had happened.

What Visitors Find Inside

There are no official tours. As the firehouse puts it, "We leave the front door open so people come in." If the door is open and visitors ask nicely, a firefighter might show them around the ground floor and may ask them to leave if there is a call.

A light-up sign from Ghostbusters II is on display inside. The crew sells its own ghost patch for $5 cash.

Each year the firehouse holds Ghostbusters Day on the Saturday closest to June 8. One firefighter told NYC Tourism the 2023 crowd was well over a thousand people, and the whole street was shut down.

The ghost on the patch is the fun part. The rig behind it is the point, and it still goes out whenever the bell rings.