The upcoming Baz Luhrmann musical drama “The Get Down” based in The Bronx in the 1970s was spotted filming this week in a different borough — using a historic, 1950-era Redbird subway car in Kew Gardens that once housed a Queens tourism center.
“The Get Down” — which follows a group of teens as they navigate a city in transition — dispatched crews Wednesday to shoot inside one of the last remaining Redbird cars that currently sits in front of Queens Borough Hall.
The iconic trains were built in the late 1950s and 60s and were painted a deep red to — unsuccessfully — combat graffiti in the 1970s and '80s, Rob MacKay, director of the Queens Tourism Council told DNAinfo.
The fleet was retired in 2001 and 2003, with the last car riding on Nov. 3, 2003, experts said.
This particular car, which ran on the 7 train line and is now situated near Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens, was redecorated and sprayed with temporary graffiti to give it a 1970s feel, film crews told DNAinfo New York.
In Wednesday's shoot, the characters are using the train to practice their graffiti tagging skills.
The Redbird had served as the Queens tourist information center from 2008 until shuttering in July 2015 because hardly anyone ever visited, officials said.
"It had on average 12 visitors a day, the majority of whom were not tourists but rather Queens residents on jury duty," stated a spokesperson for Queens Borough President Melinda Katz back in July.
The first six episodes of "The Get Down" are expected to debut on Aug. 12 on Netflix.
