# Help finding a 1970s nyc tv clip - barely remember and haunted by it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430 "2020-02-03T16:02:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/1 "2020-02-03T16:02:29Z")
Faint memory of watching this in the early seventies when I was pretty young. The TV station would sign on. 5 or 6 AM then. Before kiddie fare would come on. Instrumental music would play while park gates open and one or two people go jogging. Park gates would close. Was this central park? Dunno. TV Station. Dunno. Anyone remember this or know what it was? This was when we only had channels 2-13 and a couple UHF. My searches with nyc/park/gates/jogger are flooded with central park jogger and The Gates items. Thanks for any help finding? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/2 "2020-02-03T20:26:05Z")
have you tried a YouTube deep dive? Lots of old tv staion promos, sign-offs, and sign-ons. Most of them are from the big affiliates - NYC, Chicago, etc. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/3 "2020-02-03T22:01:30Z")
I vaguely remember that, too. Grew up in southern CT in the 70s. We got the NYC channels 2, 4, 5. 7, 9, 11 &13. Remember a kind of mellow, unobtrusive. repetitive, rhythmic music without singing, the people jogging by & the gate closing behind them. This is gonna drive me nuts now! šŸ˜‚ ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/4 "2020-02-04T02:06:55Z")
> [@nofloyd](#): > > My searches with nyc/park/gates/jogger are flooded with central park jogger and The Gates items. Central Park doesnā€™t have gates. Grammercy Park (which is actually privately owned) does, though. Does that trigger any memories? Otherwise, canā€™t help you, sorry. I donā€™t remember ever having seen anything like this. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/5 "2020-02-04T02:34:53Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > have you tried a YouTube deep dive? Can you explain what that is or post a link? > [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Central Park doesnā€™t have gates. Itā€™s got lots of them. Hereā€™s a well known example: > **[The History of the Vanderbilt Gate - Coldwell Banker Warburg](http://cbwarburg.com/nabes/the-history-of-the-vanderbilt-gate/)** > > One of Central Parkā€™s grandest entrances, the ornate Vanderbilt Gate at the Conservatory Garden, has borne witness to the rapid rise and fall of not only the Vanderbilt family dynasty, but of the entire Gilded Age.... More Hereā€™s a small set of gates I just took a screenshot of via Google Maps on 5th near 84th: > **[222 hosted at ImgBB](https://ibb.co/djsFt59)** > > Image 222 hosted in ImgBB ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/6 "2020-02-04T03:01:07Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > > [@Dorjan](#): > > > > have you tried a YouTube deep dive? > > Can you explain what that is or post a link? [Hereā€™s](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F2E0336019C844E) a good place to start. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/7 "2020-02-04T13:29:21Z")
> [@mo50](#): > > I vaguely remember that, too. Grew up in southern CT in the 70s. We got the NYC channels 2, 4, 5. 7, 9, 11 &13. Remember a kind of mellow, unobtrusive. repetitive, rhythmic music without singing, the people jogging by & the gate closing behind them. This is gonna drive me nuts now! šŸ˜‚ I feel that the music was something very ā€˜New Yorkā€™ - like I used to know the tune it used well, canā€™t remember it now. Did find a few signon dives on youtube, no luck yet. Yeah, didnā€™t know about gates in Central Park, Iā€™ll search with Gramercy Park - but I think itā€™s too small - at least as a child I saw a big park. My husband mentioned a cemetery in Brooklyn thatā€™s park like, blanked on the name. Likely channel? I was waiting for Davy & Goliath, and Wonderama most likely. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/8 "2020-02-04T13:32:52Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Can you explain what that is or post a link? > Itā€™s got lots of them. Hereā€™s a well known example: > > [The History of the Vanderbilt Gate - Coldwell Banker Warburg : Coldwell Banker Warburg](http://www.warburgrealty.com/nabes/the-history-of-the-vanderbilt-gate/) > > Hereā€™s a small set of gates I just took a screenshot of via Google Maps on 5th near 84th: > > [222 hosted at ImgBB ā€” ImgBB](https://ibb.co/djsFt59) Had a look at it. My memory is that the gates were on a road, and not connected at the top. Two gates swung wide, and then closed. Gravel vs paved, not sure. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/9 "2020-02-04T21:13:47Z")
Wanna say if it was before Wonderama it wouldā€™ve meant it was on Channel 5, which was independent (I think) back then, I could be way off though. The gate was tall with stone sides at least in my memory, & slowly closed on itā€™s own, seemingly automatically. Mustā€™ve just been when jogging was starting to become a thing. Van Cortlandt Park, maybe? Donā€™t know if there are big gates there or not, but it was a wooded setting in the clip I think, which might match. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/10 "2020-02-04T21:36:53Z")
Unless the station archived it, that clip is likely lost to time. Anything as ephemeral as a TV station ID prior to the advent of Betamax and VHS in 75-76 is almost impossible to find. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/11 "2020-02-04T21:45:18Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > Can you explain what that is or post a link? > > Itā€™s got lots of them. Hereā€™s a well known example: > > [The History of the Vanderbilt Gate - Coldwell Banker Warburg : Coldwell Banker Warburg](http://www.warburgrealty.com/nabes/the-history-of-the-vanderbilt-gate/) > > Hereā€™s a small set of gates I just took a screenshot of via Google Maps on 5th near 84th: > > [222 hosted at ImgBB ā€” ImgBB](https://ibb.co/djsFt59) Youā€™re right, of course. I wasnā€™t thinking of internal gates, but rather gates at entrances. And that small set ā€“ itā€™s atypical (thatā€™s right by the Museum), but I should have remembered it. I went to high school a block from that very gate, and entered the park there on many, many days after school to hang out. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/12 "2020-02-04T21:46:19Z")
> [@nofloyd](#): > > I My husband mentioned a cemetery in Brooklyn thatā€™s park like, blanked on the name. Greenwood? It has \*big \*gates at the main entrance. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/13 "2020-02-04T22:16:06Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Youā€™re right, of course. I wasnā€™t thinking of internal gates, but rather gates at entrances. > > And that small set ā€“ itā€™s atypical (thatā€™s right by the Museum), but I should have remembered it. I went to high school a block from that very gate, and entered the park there on many, many days after school to hang out. Theyā€™re both at entrances. Hereā€™s a view from the street of Vanderbilt Gate: > **[23 hosted at ImgBB](https://ibb.co/mHrqsZV)** > > Image 23 hosted in ImgBB Hereā€™s another small set of gates at 5th near 85th: > **[24 hosted at ImgBB](https://ibb.co/mGHzPJy)** > > Image 24 hosted in ImgBB ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2020, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/14 "2020-02-04T22:46:03Z")
^ I meant to post a different set for the second link. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2020, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/15 "2020-02-05T09:48:05Z")
> [@nofloyd](#): > > {ā€¦} Likely channel? I was waiting for Davy & Goliath, and Wonderama most likely. Yeah, Wonderama was 5 - WNEW. Davey & Goliath aired simultaneously on three stations: 7 - WABC, 9 - WOR, and 11 - WPIX. Uncle Floyd was UHF stations 68 and 60, WBTB which later became WTVG, then WWHT, as the ownership changed. šŸ˜‰ CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/16 "2020-02-06T15:35:23Z")
Thats the one I was thinking of, at least. Thanks for solving the mystery! ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/17 "2020-02-06T15:37:27Z")
Thats the one I was thinking of, at least, thanks for solving the mystery! (Sorry, meant the first one with the kids running.) ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/18 "2020-02-06T18:05:53Z")
! Well that must be it thank you so much !!! Itā€™s not quite as I remembered but I doubt they made two of these segments. Would have sworn two gates opened to the side and not up and down, but I know how memories are not as solid as we think. Being so young, my memory became older people jogging, larger gates and roads, more expansive. [Who else wanted to go through the old Forest gate and path in the Hobbit] I was coming back to say I looked at some of the station break compilations on youtube. What a time trip, clearly I watched a lot of WPIX - remembered nearly everything. As fascinating than the tv shows. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/19 "2020-02-08T22:54:07Z")
Wow, that jogged my memory. I donā€™t remember seeing the whole intro ( didnā€™t see much "late movies at that preteen time of my life ) but I do remember hearing a part it used as ā€œbumper musicā€ coming out of commercial breaks for movies shown, usually on sundays. The short snippet can be heard from the 26 to 32, and the 39 to 44 second mark on that youtube video. Still remember it today, as it made me feel melancholy due to the fact that we ate dinner after the movie, and being sunday, the dreaded school day monday came next. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430/20 "2020-02-09T08:57:32Z")
Hasnā€™t been mentioned, Iā€™m almost certain, those gates are at The Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park, very northern Manhattan. (If you really want to see it at a fun time try the end of September when the annual Medieval Festival is going on!) CMC fnord! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-finding-a-1970s-nyc-tv-clip-barely-remember-and-haunted-by-it/847430.md?page=2)