Everything you need to know about ‘East New York’ -- the new drama from the creators of 'NYPD Blue'

An intense, high-stakes drama about police officers that’s also timely in terms of today’s policing issues? If that sounds like your cup of tea then you may want to add CTV’s incoming drama East New York to your viewing schedule this fall. The series is one of several new entries to the 2022 fall schedule, and from what we’ve seen so far this is a show that’s going to make you rethink everything you thought you knew about police procedurals.

Read on to learn more about the anticipated series before East New York makes its big debut.

What is East New York about?

Our entry point to East New York is a character named Regina Haywood, the newly promoted deputy inspector of East New York. The working-class neighbourhood is at the eastern edge of Brooklyn, where crime, social upheaval and gentrification are ongoing issues. Haywood knows she has one shot at making real change, but the diverse group of officers and detectives she’s tasked with overseeing may not exactly see eye-to-eye with her methods.

“People who want their crimes of the week will have a crime every week,” explains Amanda Warren, who plays Haywood, to Etalk. “But this is also more about the relationships and the dynamic of those relationships within the community. It’s a bit more character-driven than the conventional procedural space.”

Who stars in East New York?

Warren was recruited specifically for the part of Regina Haywood, no audition required. She was filming Gossip Girl and getting ready to shoot The Burial with Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones when she found out about it.

“This character was more fleshed out than what I had seen in recent stories and scripts,” she says. “I was interested in the possibilities of where she could go as a person.”

She’s not the only character to look forward to meeting, however. Ruben Santiago Hudson plays Marvin Sandeford, a guy with extensive experience who never wanted to be anything other than a street cop. Richard Kind plays Capt. Stan Yenko, a lonely and insecure boss who hides his true personality.

Meanwhile, Olivia Luccardi plays Brandy Quinlan, a patrol officer who ran away from an abusive home and lived on the streets growing up. And Lavel Schley plays a patrol officer trainee from an upper middle-class background who was never supposed to become a cop.

Last but not least, Jimmy Smits also stars on the show as Chief John Suarez, a guy who naturally has a commanding presence and strong moral compass. 

Why is East New York so timely?

With recent calls to defund the police and many conversations about breaking racist systemic barriers, this show seems to come at a pretty key time.

“The timing of it all accelerated us getting to where we were in getting to have the opportunity to make the pilot and produce the pilot,” says Warren. “Then the rest was on us in execution, and how accountable we found ourselves in serving the story. Like we've really had to lean into it. But as far as current events, getting us to production level of making the pilot, absolutely, it was essential to getting us to where we were. And now we have a series.”

Where does East New York film?

Unlike some other series, East New York isn’t shot in another city pretending to be New York—it films very close to East New York in order to capture to true essence of the community and the people who actually live there.

“We are really setting and laying our bricks right in the moments and in the space where it happens,” Warren explains. “It's currently also being gentrified. So we are playing with what's happening in the neighbourhoods we're portraying in real time and that's what we're feeding off of; it will very much be another lead character in the story.”

When does East New York debut?

The series debuts as part of CTV’s fall schedule in 2022. An exact premiere date has yet to be announced.

Is there an East New York trailer?

There sure is, have a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOdyEcVDJ8Q

Where can I stream and watch East New York?

East New York debuts October 2 and airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app on Android and iOS. You can also stream episodes on-demand the next day on CTV.ca and on the CTV app on Android and iOS.