Google Maps, aside from giving directions, really loves its Easter eggs, and over the past few years we’ve seen every kind of hidden treat from the Doctor’s TARDIS to the ability to use The Legend of Zelda‘s Link in street mode. Now you can explore the wizarding world with not the wave of your wand, but the click of your mouse.
The latest Google Maps Easter egg discovery came, coincidentally enough, through another Google Maps Easter egg. While writing about Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum on 177A Bleecker St., I noticed another establishment just one street over. It read, “The Blind Pig | Fantastic Beasts.”
The Blind Pig is the speakeasy Newt Scamander, Tina and Queenie Goldstein, and Jacob Kowalski visit during Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, located at 124 Macdougal St. in New York.
It seems this neighborhood is a franchise-crossing magical hideaway. Fortunately for Stephen Strange, this welcoming watering hole is just around the corner.
Google Maps
Open 24 hours, the “witch-friendly subterranean speakeasy” is open to witches and wizards alike—but only “if they know the secret knock,” whereas No-Majs like Jacob aren’t allowed. We imagine once the owners of the Blind Pig find out they’ve been exposed on Google Maps, it won’t go over well.
Google Maps
When you choose street view, you’re transported to the secret entrance that they use to enter the speakeasy, and clicking through will lead you to the bar where they chat with Gnarlak, a clever goblin played by Ron Perlman.
Google Maps
Google Maps
Curious, I looked up the Woolworth Building, which serves as the location of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA) during Fantastic Beasts, and sure enough, it has its own marker.
Located just around the corner from City Hall, it’s accessible for witches and wizards to explore. Here, we’re shown street views of two of the rooms at MACUSA. We get a look at Tina’s cramped and open office space, located in a dimly lit room within MACUSA. She also has a sign that reads, “You don’t have to be MAGIC to work here. Actually, YOU DO!” behind her desk.
Google Maps
Google Maps
The other room gives us a look at the main hall we’ve seen in the trailers. MACUSA’s Magical Exposure Threat Level clock is visible and currently marked at “Severe Unexplained Activity,” which is only slightly less dire than EMERGENCY.
Google Maps
Google Maps
With only a few weeks until Fantastic Beasts is released, we’ll have plenty of time to explore the more treats that could pop up on our maps.
Update 12:33pm CT, Nov. 1: Google revealed the maps and other tie-ins including turning your Android into a wand, a new VR experience, and stickers in a blog post Tuesday. Aside from touring MACUSA and the Blind Pig, Google also lets you explore Tina and Queenie Goldstein’s apartment on W. 26th St. and the Steen National Bank, where Newt and Jacob first meet, on W. 14th St.
Google Maps