'Ugly' Nitehawk Sign Approved Despite Community Opposition

PARK SLOPE, NY — A marquee sign above Park Slope's new Nitehawk Cinema has been approved by the city, despite local community board members saying the hated it.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve Nitehawk's plan to spruce up the front of the old Pavilion Theater building at 188 Prospect Park West building Tuesday. The plan includes the hated red-and-black sign, a spokeswoman for the agency said.

Aside from the sign, the plans also seal a masonry opening on the front of the building, add new poster boxes and doors and repaint the fire escape on the side.

The proposed sign was hated by Community Board 6 members who called on the city to force the theater to change it at a meeting last week.

"That's so ugly," one board member called out during the vote on the plans.

The board, which serves as an advisory committee, nearly unanimously voted to approve the revamp plans but only if Nitehawk designs a new sign and repaints the fire escape to its original color of black.

Despite the board's objections, the LPC decided that the proposed design is similar to other signs found at movie theaters and doesn't overwhelm the building, the spokeswoman said.

A spokeswoman for the theater did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nitehawk took over the deteriorating Pavilion Theater in 2016, which was slated to become a condo development, to turn it into their second location in the borough after their Williamsburg spot.

The new dine-in theater will have seven-screen and 650 seats when they open in the spring.

Image: Think! Architecture