Broadway Stages Moves to Privatize Part of Monitor Street for Film Backlot

Local film production company Broadway Stages has filed an application to de-map part of Monitor Street, Crain’s reports.

Broadway Stages hopes to permanently close two blocks of Monitor Street, between Greenpoint Avenue and Norman Avenue, in order to use it as an outdoor backlot. Those blocks are already located in the middle of the Broadway Stages filming complex.

It’s an unusual move, but not entirely unheard of — Crain’s reports that Kaufman Astoria Studios privatized a street in 2013. Kaufman Astoria de-mapped 36th Street between 34th and 35th avenues, which proved unpopular with some Queens residents (at the time, Hyperallergic even documented an Instagram account dedicated to photos of people flipping off the studio sign).

Now the application must go through a lengthy approval process, which City Council must sign off on. Local elected officials have already expressed some trepidation over the project — even pointing out the irony of the situation.

“After pouring tens of thousands of dollars into opposing the safety redesign of McGuinness Boulevard just a few blocks away, it’s ironic that Broadway Stages now wants to privatize a city street,” Assemblymember Emily Gallagher told the publication.