Park Slope's Legendary Grand Prospect Hall Nixes NRA Event After P.S. 321 PTA Declares Boycott
After an uproar in Coney Island, the NRA hoped to hold its fundraiser in Park Slope but that event was also cancelled Monday following an outcry from outraged local parents.
The weekend flea market at P.S. 321 in Park Slope in 2015. Photo by Mary Hautman
Well that was fast.
A planned NRA fundraiser will not go forward in Park Slope after an outcry from local parents convinced the owner of the venue, beloved neighborhood institution Grand Prospect Hall, to cancel the event.
A Facebook friend passed on this letter from the parent teacher association at Park Slope’s coveted P.S. 321 Monday afternoon. Grand Prospect Hall in Park Slope was planning to host the NRA fundraiser a Coney Island venue had already rejected after protests. The date was set for April 12. The PTA of P.S. 321 threatened to move its auction it has held at Grand Prospect Hall every year for the past five years if Grand Prospect Hall decided to go ahead with the NRA event.
Here is the letter:
Dear Parents,
We found out today that the Grand Prospect Hall is hosting an event for the NRA on April 12th. After learning about this, I conferred with the Auction Team and PTA Presidents and Liz Phillips, and we decided unanimously that we could not go forward with our PS321 Auction at this venue if they do not agree to cancel the NRA event. We would like to ask you to consider writing an email to the owners to express your desire for them to reconsider hosting the NRA event. We have held our auction at the Grand Prospect Hall for the past five years, and will not be able to continue to support their business if they choose to take money from the National Rifle Association.
At 10 p.m. Monday night on NY1, Grand Prospect Hall owner Michael Halkias announced he had cancelled the NRA fundraiser.
“I want our community here in Park Slope to be happy,” he said. “And I want thank everybody for being able to communicate with Prospect Hall what their pain is, so I relieve them from their pain.”
The glitzy turn-of-the-last-century venue is well known for hosting weddings, bar mitzvahs, its double grand sweeping staircases, and its advertising slogan “We’ll make your dreams come true.”
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