Silvercup Studios

Silvercup bakery

For many decades of the 20th century, Long Island City was a center for commercial bakeries. During the 1920s building boom on Long Island, the Gordon Baking Company of Detroit made plans to open a factory at 42-25 21st Street to produce its Silvercup brand of bread. After the award of a $1 million contract for its construction in 1929, the building was completed the following year. At its peak, the facility reportedly provided about one third of the bread consumed in the metropolitan area of New York, and supplied New York City's schools. It closed in 1975 as a result of an industrial dispute with the Teamsters union. The neon advertising sign on the roof, which dates from around 1961–62, was visible across the East River in Manhattan.

Film studios

During its early years the facility was used mostly for the filming of music videos and commercials, although occasionally scenes for motion pictures were shot there, including Highlander and Garbo Talks. Norman Leigh, well known among New York City filmmakers for his electrical/gaffing work on the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy, oversaw the studio during its first few years.

Over the years, use of the studio's space has shifted toward the production of television series.

Silvercup was the primary shooting facility for ABC's Hope & Faith, and HBO's Sex and the City and The Sopranos. The finale of the 1986 film Highlander took place at Silvercup with an action sequence on its famous rooftop signage. Other film and television productions that have made use of the studio include: