Merchants and businesses located in Tarrytown’s downtown commercial district overwhelmingly support the filming of movies around their area . The results of a survey, “Filming in Tarrytown,” released last month, showed that 24 answered “Yes,” while only four replied “No,” to the question, “Do you think the village should allow movies filmed in the Main Street/Broadway vicinity?”

The survey grew out of rumbles that occurred earlier this year during the filming of “Henry’s Crime,” starring Keanu Reeves and James Caan. Some merchants argued production vehicles and crew’s cars parked in the vicinity kept potential customers from parking and frequenting their stores. Many others, some of whom were compensated for location scenes shot on their premises, were highly supportive of the filming. Other results of the survey indicated that most merchants believed there was a general benefit from moving filming.

“It’s good for the greater economy and businesses in Tarrytown,” one merchant commented in the survey.

“We need to look at how filming effects all businesses, not just the downtown merchants,” another responded..

However, when asked about their “general satisfaction,” with the filming, the results were split, running from “Very satisfied,” to Very dissatisfied.” Most felt that crews should not be allowed to park on Main Street and Broadway, while others believed the police should monitor that restriction more closely. A large majority agreed that fees collected by the village from the production company should go toward downtown improvements.

But one person disagreed, writing that, “It is the village’s revenue, let’s not get in their pockets.”

Thirteen of the 28 respondents agreed “only the merchants financially impacted” should be compensated by the film company, while nine believed that all merchants should receive some funding.” One wrote that “because when one suffers they all do...If people have to avoid one store they end up not shopping in town.” A slim majority approved of the idea that compensation should be a “flat rate to be determined.”

However, one merchant commented that, “Merchants should have the opportunity to negotiate their fees with the film company directly. Not all businesses are affected the same way by the films and therefore should not be subjected to the same fee or a predetermined amount by the village or any other entity.

The village’s Merchant Council plans to meet Thursday, July 8 to discuss the survey’s results. —Robert Kimmel