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Over the marquee’s neon red glare there is no proof that our flag is still there.

The American flag on top of the marquee of The Pavilion, the movie theatre on Prospect Park West, is not being displayed properly, and some neighbors, including a former Marine and a retired fireman, feel that the theatre’s display of the Stars and Stripes is disrespecting our country and our troops.

For a couple of weeks now, the flag has been wrapped around its pole, touching the top surface of the marquee and is not taken down at night, three violations of the US Flag Code etiquette.

Jim Rallis, a neighborhood resident and a retired captain of the FDNY’s Ladder Company 122, notified Patch that the flag, which is on the section of Prospect Park West that was recently co-named “Julian Brennan Way,” a Park Slope resident and Marine who died while serving the US in Afghanistan, is being flown improperly.

He said that he has gone to the theatre five times in the past two weeks to speak with the manager in order to get it fixed, but to no avail. According to Rallis, the manager said the flag is not flying properly because the flagpole is broken.

“The laziness of the management of the Pavilion is an embarrassment,” Rallis said. “That they will not open a window and take in the US Flag and show it's proper respect while we have brave men and woman still overseas fighting and protecting our freedom….Where is the respect?” 

A manager at The Pavilion refused to give Patch a comment on Friday about the flag. However, she did say they have received complaints about how they are displaying our country’s banner.

“We are not talking about this,” the manager stated.

But Rallis is by far not the only one concerned about how the flag is being disrespected, especially on Julian Brennan Way and steps from Bartel-Prichard Square, a memorial for two young Brooklynites who died in combat during World War I.

Joe, a 48-year-old Kensington resident who did not want to give his last name, was walking past the cinema with his son when he noticed the condition of the flag.

“I think it is a travesty, I really do,” Joe said.

Then his son, James, who is 8 and goes to Immaculate Heart of Mary in Fort Hamilton, said the flag was not being displayed with respect.

“The American flag should never touch the ground or be displayed in a disrespectful manner,” the boy said while he was standing under the marquee on Friday.

And the kid is right. According to the US Flag Code, which was established on Flag Day, June 14, 1923, “The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.”

Also, it custom to display the flag only from “sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open.” But the flag at The Pavilion is outside during the night. However, the code states, “…The flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.”

But there is no light illuminating the flag.

“Anyone who knows the history of the American flag knows this is a disgrace to America’s history,” Joe said. “This flag, considering the proximity to Julian Brennan Way, does not serve his memory well.”

A spokesman for the office of the Borough President, Marty Markowitz, said that they do not tolerate misuse of the American flag.

“Our office takes seriously the proper display of the American flag,” the spokesman said. “Our office is looking into the complaint of this location.”

Up a couple blocks, at Farrell’s Bar on 16th Street, a former Marine and 44-year Windsor Terrace resident, Charlie O’Donnell, said he has seen The Pavilion’s flag in bad condition for far too long.

“I am upset! They have had more than enough time to fix it—the flag has been in disarray for at least two months,” O’Donnell said. “They bring the marquee up to date, just spend ten minutes and bring it down.”

A co-owner of the bar, Jim Houlihan, also believes the flag is being treated with disrespect.

“They are showing no respect for the American flag, they should take it down or display it properly,” Houlihan said. “There are too many guys dying for this country for there to be a flag like that one.”


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