A kick in the gut of NYC

L&O has been a kind of "Actors' Theater New York" for Broadway and off-Broadway. Not to mention the huge production infrastructure the show supports at a time when Toronto is more often used to depict New York City than is NYC. Now it's been canceled.

By one estimate, more than 8,000 people in the city are employed, directly and indirectly, by the series and its two spinoffs. The franchise has been especially important to the many Broadway and Off Broadway actors who make appearances on the shows.

Many will stay employed by the two spinoffs. Still, the end of the original show — often called “the mothership” internally — “will be a devastating blow to the New York City production community,” Mr. Berner said.

Mr. Berner was standing outside a Broadway theater when he was reached on his cellphone Thursday evening. “I guarantee you, every name in the playbill will have appeared on ‘Law & Order,’ one of the three shows,” he said.

Spotting a “Law & Order” shoot on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn is almost a rite of passage for New Yorkers.

The New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called “Law & Order” a New York City institution in a statement Friday afternoon.