Studios Avoiding N.Y.C. Until Unions Give In : Movies: Production companies are demanding concessions. No major films have been started since the labor contract expired.

The movie crews seemed to be everywhere this summer, but now the streets of New York are strangely quiet--the result of an unofficial boycott by producers seeking concessions from the trade unions.

Studio executives agree there’s no place like the Big Apple for urban grit and grandeur. But they say the high costs of shooting here have forced them to look for stand-in locations.

“New York is unique. New York is special,” said Joel Grossman, vice president for labor relations at Columbia Pictures. “We want to shoot in New York. But not at any price.”

Feature film production generated $187 million in spending in New York last year, said Jaynne Keyes, director of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting.

This past summer was the city’s biggest ever for feature films, from the Bronx County courthouse, where “Bonfire of the Vanities” ignited sparks of protest, to the Brooklyn Bridge, closed for six nights to accommodate the new Bruce Willis thriller, “Hudson Hawk.”

But aside from some small, independent productions and Woody Allen’s new movie, Keyes said no major studio has come to the city to shoot a film since contracts with the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees expired Oct. 30.

Instead, “New York” movies are going elsewhere. The upcoming “Rage in Harlem” with Gregory Hines and Robin Givens is filming in Cincinnati. “29th Street” is being shot in North Carolina.

Winter is traditionally a slow period because of the weather. “But if this . . . is continuing in the spring when everyone is preparing their new films, then I’m going to get very worried,” Keyes said.

Negotiations with Local 52, which represents about 2,000 grips, electricians, sound and video technicians and others, broke down Oct. 24. Negotiations with Local 644, representing about 1,500 camera operators, broke down Dec. 4.

Both unions have filed charges of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board. Local 52 covers the city and Long Island. Local 644’s jurisdiction stretches across the East Coast.

Producers want the two locals to agree to the same concessions they got from unions on the West Coast two years ago.

Those include the right to work any eight hours out of 24, and any five days out of seven, before overtime starts. Current rules require crews be paid at double-time for all night and weekend shifts--the only times much location work can be done.

Local 644 business representative Lou D’Agostino said he might accept the changes in return for the much better health plan the West Coast unions get, but the studios have refused.

“They want us to give up approximately 30% to 40% of our pay, and get nothing in return, in an industry that’s probably one of the most profitable in the United States,” D’Agostino said.

The average Local 644 member makes about $28,000 a year, he said.

In the past, producers from the major studios have continued to work in New York under terms of the old contracts while talks continued, making any changes retroactive. But this time studio executives, who bargain jointly for the sake of convenience, walked away from the bargaining table, taking the work with them.

“This is a different ballgame,” Grossman said. “The unions have said very clearly that this time they’re not prepared to agree to these concessions.”

No studio wants their multimillion-dollar movie to be held up by a strike, he said.

“If they do not agree to our concessions and New York is not a competitive place to shoot films, then the studios won’t come here to shoot,” Grossman said. “That’s not a threat, it’s just a business reality.”