BY BEN BRACHFELD
Gutted!
The iconic Grand Prospect
Hall has been completely demolished,
bringing down with
it the dreams of countless
Brooklynites as new residential
units are set to go up in its
place.
The Victorian-style banquet
hall on Prospect Avenue
in Park Slope was built in
1892 and stood for 130 years.
It played host to the luxurious
shindigs of Brooklyn’s upper
crust in the early 20th century
before being reborn decades
later, as a garish and ornate
banquet hall made famous by
its new owners, Michael and
Alice Halkias, for ubiquitous
television commercials where
the couple promised to “make
your dreams come true.”
COURIER L 16 IFE, MARCH 4-10, 2022
Countless Brooklynites
had their weddings, bar mitzvahs,
quinceaneras, proms,
or other seminal events at the
hall.
Jim Glaser, an artist who
lives across the Prospect
Expressway from the hall,
tweeted pictures on Wednesday
showing the building’s
iconic facade having been demolished.
On Friday, he sent
pictures to Brooklyn Paper
showing the entire building
had been completely demolished.
In its place, the developer
Angelo Rigas has fi led permits
to construct a fi ve-story building
containing 147 residential
units.
The building had been
File photo
closed throughout the pandemic
after Michael Halkias
died from COVID-19 in 2020;
last year, Alice Halkias sold
the Hall to Rigas for $22.5 million
as part of a larger real estate
deal encompassing much
of the block it sits on.
Brooklyn Paper fi rst reported
last August that Rigas
intended to demolish the
structure. Afterwards, local
activists mounted a campaign
to get the building designated
as a city landmark, which
would likely have prevented
its demolition. The building
was listed on the National
Register of Historic Places
but was not a city landmark.
While the Landmarks Preservation
Commission deliberated,
Rigas quickly gutted the
building’s historic interior.
Despite gaining the support
of then-Mayor Bill de Blasio,
the city ultimately denied
the building its landmark status,
owing to changes to its
facade throughout the 20th
century and the then-recent
demolition of its interior. Rigas
fi led permits with the city
earlier this month to build a
5-story apartment building
on the site, and despite calls
to preserve the historic facade,
demolition began soon
after.
Glaser and other activists
hope that the developer
will be amenable to preserving
an event space in the new
building, but efforts to foster
a dialogue with him have so
far been unsuccessful. Rigas’
proposed building does not
require a rezoning, meaning
little if any community input
is needed for his plans to proceed.
“Standing on my roof two
blocks away, on this fi ttingly
bleak day, I paused to refl
ect how Prospect Hall was
home to such rich history
and deeply personal memories
of so many,” Glaser said
via email. “As a native New
Yorker, today I feel like we
have all lost a family member.
Rest In Peace, Grand Prospect
Hall — 1892-2022.”
‘Fittingly
bleak day’
Grand Prospect Hall is
offi cially no more
40 STAY INFORMED!
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