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Its a scene that carries real cinematic power, which means it was almost instantaneouslyturned into a meme.
Now, visitors have found the real steps, and theyve started showing up in droves.
Instagram makes flaneursof us all.
In person, locals seemed equally amused by the sudden influx of visitors.
People were running away from this shit, a passerby named Fernando noted.
Nobody paid attention to this thing before.
For years, Fernando only used them to work out.
Its amazing, he said of their transformation into a tourist attraction.
Its actually nice to see all these people doing this.
Many reports about the steps call those flocking to the location Jokerfans.
That is not entirely correct.
Neither had a pair of college students from Bangkok.
The meme blew it up, said one of the Woodside boys.
Eventually, I snapped it for them, a gaggle of teens torn between looking happy and looking cool.
He explained that I should hold the button down to fire off shots in machine-gun bursts.
None of the first few dozen photos were quite right, so we went again.
I didnt get it from Spirit Halloween or anything, she explained.
I actually happened to find it all at the mall.
Shed seenJokerthree times, and was looking forward to going again.
Weve never experienced an origin story recreated through a realistic lens.
I thought it was really fascinating.
But it was going slowly: Everyone who showed up wanted to take a photo with her.
He hadnt seen the movie, either.
I just need to let the rush go through, he said.
Im retired Monday, Thursday, Friday, doesnt matter to me.
He remembered the steps from his time on the beat.
In the 70s and 80s, you wouldnt walk through there.
The drug dealers would stand in the middle, and theyd watch you go up.
If you didnt know somebody, theyd stop you.
Hoboken was the same way, Maya said.
At the opposite end, a man named Michael was carrying groceries past the top of the steps.
He stopped to take in the scene.
Its strange, he said.
Ive been living here all my life.
Theyre just stairs to me.
His friend noted the number of broken bottles that were still littering the site.
They agreed the city should come in and clean up, just like they did whenJokerwas filming.
Michael pointed out that Halloween was just around the corner.
Theres gonna be a whole bunch of people dressed up as the Joker posted up taking photos.
#__ , #jokerstairs "" , , 1165 .
Google Maps , - " “.
And a few newcomers seemed to be slightly self-conscious about visiting a neighborhood they would ordinarily avoid.
#jokerstairs#beautifulmess
A post shared by @coco_wymonOct 19, 2019 at 3:14am PDT
