NRA Fundraiser Headed To Park Slope's Grand Prospect Hall

PARK SLOPE, NY — A Brooklyn gun-rights group will move their fundraiser for the National Rifle Association in Park Slope's Grand Prospect Hall after their original Coney Island venue canceled due to backlash.

The Grand Prospect Hall agreed to open the doors of their 263 Prospect Ave. banquet hall to the Brooklyn's Friends of NRA's annual fundraiser, the New York Daily News reported. The event was original scheduled to be held in Coney Island's Garigulo's Restaurant, but the spot canceled after an outcry from advocates and officials following the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

"Guns are not a bad thing," Grand Prospect owner Michael Hallkias told the News. "They can be a bad thing, like anything, you know?"

The Brooklyn's Friends of NRA page updated their flyer for the April 12 event, but kept the Park Slope's venue name a secret and advertised it as a "Facility located in Brooklyn."

Vincent Sallustro, who's listed as the point of contact for the event, directed questions to an NRA spokesman who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Advocates previously blasted the Brooklyn group for promising a gun raffle so soon after the school shooting in Florida, which sparked a nationwide walkout of students last week to call for stricter gun control. The backlash also lead to a Staten Island venue canceling a similar event in the borough.

While Hallkias told the Daily News the event will no longer have the controversial gun raffle, the updated Brooklyn's Friends of NRA flyer still advertises several guns available for raffle to sponsors who drop more than $750.

The move immediately faced backlash from elected officials who took to Twitter to voice their displeasure about the banquet hall welcoming the event.

"The Grand Prospect Hall proclaims 'that we make your dreams come true' well nightmares are dreams too and hosting a fundraiser for the @NRA is a nightmare," Assemblyman Robert Carroll wrote on Twitter.

"The @NRA is no friend of #Brooklyn and its residents who want safe places to raise healthy children and families," Borough President Eric Adams wrote on Twitter.

Yelp users took to the site to leave one-star reviews of the venue over hosting the fundraiser and promised not to book the spot for events in the future.

"I can't imagine too many happy brides and Sweet Sixteen girls when they show up to take photos outside the Grand Prospect Hall and are confronted with angry protesters carrying the photos of teens massacred in Parkland or babies murdered in Sandy Hook," Yelp user Mallory M. wrote.

"I'm getting married in September, and I know the Grand Prospect Hall won't be the place that makes my dreams come true. These folks, if they go through with the fundraiser, have blood on their hands."

Image: Google Maps