By Lizzie Schiffman Tufano and Shamus Toomey
DNAinfo Chicago
It's a price that would make Max Bialystock proud.
Legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks recounted his time growing up in Williamsburg during an appearance at the Chicago Theatre Sunday, telling the audience that his family paid just $16-a-month around the early 1930s for a tenement apartment on South Third Street.
Brooks, 89, said his family eventually "saved up" an extra $2 a month to move to the front unit with a street view at 365 South Third St., where he lived with his mother and three brothers, because his mom wanted to "see the world" from her windows.
For those scoring at home, a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom unit at the same address is currently listed for $4,500 a month.
Brooks' comments came during a Q&A session that followed a screening of his 1974 hit "Blazing Saddles."
Growing up, when Brooks told people he lived in Williamsburg, "they'd say, 'Virginia?' And I wouldn't correct them," because of the neighborhood's poor reputation at the time, the director said.
