(Photo: SunnysidePost)
April 11, 2014 By Christian Murray
The Sunnyside Center Cinemas sign, which has dotted the Queens Blvd landscape for as many as 60 years, was taken down last night after a building inspector ordered that it be removed.
The sign, according to a variety of unconfirmed reports, was hit by a truck yesterday. One man claimed last night that he witnessed a truck back into it. He said the truck then left the scene.
Rudy Prashad, the theater owner, said he was devastated that it had to come down. He said he isn’t sure what he is going to replace it with, although he said was toying with the idea of introducing a digital sign.
He said that his lease ends this year and that his landlord has not informed him whether his lease will be renewed. Prashad said that if he is able to renew the lease he will in a better position to invest in getting a quality sign.
In the meantime, the theater has reopened. It was closed all day yesterday.
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26 Comments
I’D LOVE FOR IT TO BECOME AN ART HOUSE THEATRE!!! Such a great idea!! I’ll happily program a Cassavettes season for free if someone helps me distributes leaflets in Salt & Fat! And for the older generation, I’m happy to rein in my ego and put on a Bruce Willis retrospective as well.
Sunnysideposthatesme14,
Sunnyside hates you. And clearly vice versa. Move to Ditmas Park already.
Sincerely,
Everyone
i watched rocky iv here. and lethal weapon 2. and robocop. and wall street.
How the hell can you sit here and say “sad”…the theater was a dump, all it was good for was bringing a side piece chick that wasn’t deserving of a Astoria Kaufman movie ticket!
Knock-out half the block and open up a Trader Joes!
Sunnysider, I’ve been to plenty of the local restaurants, they are Overpriced for the quality of food they offer. The only specials worth going to are the lunch specials and even that is often pathetic with the restaurants pushing their limited lunch menu selections.
So I’ll say it again, this theater doesn’t bring people looking to spend money in the neighborhood, it attracts cheap people, people who don’t care about quality or worse yet…their cinematic experience.
If you want to bring in people you have to change that theater into what this neighborhood is desperately trying to become, a hipster joint. Those are the people who are going to be ok spending money on those mediocre restaurants just because that’s what they do…
@sunnysidepostshatesme!!! How many of the local resteraunts have you been to??? Would u like those resteraunts to feed you for free??? Overpriced?there are lots of places on queens blvd, greenpoint avenue and Skillman avenue that offer great specials everyday. Chill !!!
LANDLORD HARASSMENT….ITS SO OBVIOUS!
@Ari Thoughtd on organized community efforts to deal wit these guys?
@JOR…The bike shop is a nuisance that the owners of the new cafe are going to have problems with daily….the elevator repair ( 48-15 43rd ave) is an absolute disgrace..ironically it too is next door to a cafe..junkyards belong in industrial areas not on streets where mothers walk their children to school!!!!
The theater only brings in families looking to save by taking their kids who don’t know the difference between bootleg quality and digital projection. Once the movie is over Sunnyside doesn’t offer affordable eats…unless its’ Wendy’s, Burger King or McDonalds. So they leave…
This theater is crap…the only thing you hipsters can do to save it is turn it into another Sunshine Cinemas. Play artsy fartsy indie films and jack up the prices…then hit up the over priced surrounding restaurants and have your in depth discussions about how profound Lars Van Trier’s latest overrated cinematic turd is.
@Nobody
Maybe he does “next to nothing” because he has no idea if he’ll even have a lease in a year.
I like the theater. But it seems the BID and our elected officials have all kinds of plans for this town they are not telling anyone about. I’ve heard the whole Boulevard and Greenpoint Ave area are slated for seven story glass towers with chain stores and offices. It will still be a small town, but not our small town. It will belong to people with more money who push us out like cockroaches under their feet. Make no mistake. They are feeding us pablum to keep us quiet and all the while cutting our feet out from under us.
Smiling faces tell lies.
why should the BID get behind a business owner who does next-to-nothing to maintain their place of business?
the BID’s energy is better spent attracting businesses that care about the neighborhood enough to clean graffiti off their signage and keep their floors (which are mostly just a giant, indiana jones-like rug of cockroaches) from getting so disgustingly sticky.
Ditto what Melissa said.
Open Letter to members of the Community Board, Chamber of Commerce and the BID:
This theater happens to be one of the few establishments that actually brings visitors en mass to this community and without it we’re just another nabe full of pharmacies, mobile phone stores and banks which is nothing special. Do us all a favor and please do your jobs and get someone on the phone to keep this iconic theater that has served us so well over the years in the neighborhood where it belongs. Otherwise you’ll prove to us what a useless lot you all really are and shouldn’t be surprised at the negative comments bemoaning the quality of the current board’s capabilities and intentions…umm not to mention area businesses will certainly feel the pinch as well. All on you now.
Take the 60 grand the city wastes on the chamber of commerce and put up a new marquee for this guy.
This would never happen in Britain!
i don’t see the theater lasting any longer. the prices are cheap, but the theater has been in rough shape for a while now.
I hope the movie theater gets renewed and they fix the sign and inside. he is a nice man and SunnySide needs the theater . good for all ages
@Art Actually,the electric bike guy a block away on Queens Blvd has already claimed the sign and is cannibalizing it on the sidewalk.
sad!
Why not repair it, and then put it back, it’s a part of the blvd that i’ll miss greatly.
Wouldn’t surprise me if the sign ended up on the sidewalk in front of the elevator repair shop at 48-15 43rd ave….just another piece of scrap to add to the collection that’s sprawled all over the place..How charming having a junk yard right herevin cozy old Sunnyside. .
Rest in peace Iconic Sign.
Every shop around that theater has cameras. There’s no footage?
Bummer.