Three Scenes From The Place Beyond the Pines in Schenectady and Scotia, New York

The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper was filmed in and around Schenectady in 2011.  While watching the trailer, three of the film's locations were easy to identify, as they are major landmarks in this area.






Gosling's character decides
to rob two banks in the
Schenectady area:

Trustco Bank at the corners
State Street & Brandywine
 Avenue in Schenectady.

First National Bank of Scotia

on Mohawk Avenue in

Scotia.

I nervously took pictures of the banks, because of an earlier experience with Eric.  In the early 1980s, he was out of work with a broken leg.  One day, I left Eric and his Canon SLR camera in the parking lot of the former Mohawk Mall while I went inside to pick up new glasses at Empire Vision.  (While laid up, he took pictures of everything...) When I returned to the car, Eric told me that a guard from Fleet Bank in the mall came out to the car and told him to stop taking pictures of the bank.  

Fleet Bank was in the backdrop of the pictures Eric took... of women wearing shorts or nice looking skirts.  While laid up, Eric created an album of local leg art.  That day in the parking lot, he was adding a chapter to his epic work.  This particular trip to Mohawk Mall became a memorable experience, for both of us...  And it's the reason why I was nervous while taking pictures of banks.

After robbing Trustco Bank,
police chase Gosling's character
through Vale Cemetery.

The chase winds through

the cemetery.

Gosling dumps his motorcycle

& limps off into the woods.

The April 12, 2013 Times Union article on the set locations of The Place Beyond the Pines lists these three and other set locations.  This was an interesting day for me.  It was exciting to walk around and take pictures where an independent film crew worked.  And, is was fun to reminisce about Eric's experience with the bank guard at Mohawk Mall, all those years ago.