You are reading

Watch: Video of Suspects Installing Controversial Signage at Shuttered Sunnyside Theater

Image provided by John Ciafone

Feb. 3, 2021 By Christian Murray

Three people altered the marquee sign at the shuttered Sunnyside movie theater early Sunday morning and the landlord has released a video to the Queens Post of the perpetrators.

The prominent Queens Boulevard sign was changed by three suspects who were taking aim at John Ciafone, the owner of the building.

“Death by Speculation, Starring Limpdick Landlord,” the marquee sign reads, which went up at the vacant Center Cinemas, located at 42-17 Queens Blvd.

The video shows three people—equipped with a ladder and yellow safety vests–changing the sign at around 4 a.m. Sunday morning.

Ciafone was alerted to the signage on Sunday afternoon and was taken aback.

“These people are cowards,” Ciafone said. “They did it early in the morning when no one could see.”

He speculated that the perpetrators were part of an activist group. “They are socialists—no, make that communists—who are against development.”

The marquee sign was changed at a shuttered Sunnyside movie theater this weekend (Queens Post)

Ciafone has been subject to criticism since he bought the property off Dime Savings Bank in 2012 and decided that he wanted to develop the property.

To that end, he did not renew the lease of Center Cinemas, which closed in January 2015.

The closure of the old theater was controversial. Residents put together a petition and held a rally outside the theater as they tried to keep it open.

The property was also occupied by PJ Horgan’s Pub and a local dentist when Ciafone bought it. The operators of both were informed their lease would not be renewed and shut about six years ago.

Today, the storefronts remain vacant and the property is undeveloped.

Ciafone, who still plans to develop the site, said the incident Sunday was “mind-boggling,” and said the act was criminal.

“This was very organized, professionally done. They even had the special lettering designed for cinema,” Ciafone said. “You don’t get those letters from Home Depot.”

“I take this seriously and I am going to prosecute. People should not be defacing other people’s property.”

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Ozone Park man indicted for kidnapping and assault of 11-year-old girl in Forest Park: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted an Ozone Park man for abducting an 11-year-old girl in Forest Park and sexually assaulting her before the victim’s father intervened in May.

Teddy Moussignac, 44, of 102nd Street, was arraigned Friday in Queens Supreme Court on a seven-count indictment charging him with kidnapping, assault, two counts of sexual assault in the first degree, and other related crimes.

Western Queens lawmakers back DOT’s 31st Street bike lane redesign

June 13, 2025 By Shane O’Brien

State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas and Council Member Tiffany Cabán issued a joint statement voicing strong support for the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) proposed redesign of 31st Street in Astoria, which includes the installation of eight-foot-wide protected bike lanes beneath the elevated N/W subway tracks.

Long-haired gunman sought after man shot in leg on Sutphin Boulevard in Jamaica: NYPD

Police from the 113th Precinct in Jamaica are looking for a nefarious-looking gunman who shot a man in front of an apartment building at 121-02 Sutphin Blvd. on the night of Tuesday, June 10.

The 29-year-old victim was in front of the building at around 7 p.m. when a stranger discharged a firearm, striking him in the right leg, police said Thursday. The victim traveled by private means to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was listed in stable condition. The gunman fled the location on foot southbound on Sutphin Boulevard toward Rockaway Boulevard.