'Sopranos' building is demolished
Pieces of the structure in Kearny, N.J., are for sale on eBay.
KEARNY, N.J. - They whacked the pig.
That's how Manny Costeria put it as he described the razing of the building that housed Satriale's, the fictional pork store where the gang often met in the HBO series
The Sopranos.
Eight months ago, James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano drove his white SUV out of the parking lot of Satriale's for the last time, as HBO wrapped up the final season.
Last month, Costeira, who owned the building, demolished the structure, which featured a life-size pig on the roof.
Nine condo units will replace the former storefront. The project is called "The Soprano," and prices range from $325,000 to $385,000. Construction is expected to start in the spring and would be finished in about a year.
Costeira said he can't sign any contracts because he hasn't received permits. He said he had commitments for at least three units and a waiting list for the rest.
The show, now in reruns, was filmed mostly on a New York City sound stage, but many scenes were shot in the Garden State to provide a real Jersey feel. Several sites, including the fake pork store, were shot in Kearny across the Passaic River from Newark and about nine miles west of Manhattan.
Now that Satriale's has been demolished, Costeira has been using the Internet to hawk chunks of cast stone from the facade. He said he's already sold about 1,000 pieces in two sizes, for $25 and $50, to fans as far away as Ireland and New Zealand.
The smaller 2-inch-square chunks are mounted on a black wooden block with an "authentic porkstore" name plate. A "certificate" accompanies the larger, 5-inch-square chunks, promising that the material came from the building that once stood as "the familiar location of the fictional Satriale's pork store.
"It's quite a little gag gift," Costeira said. "For a real
Sopranos
fan, it's a real piece of the show. It's a piece of television history."