Residents fear for Vitagraph smokestack, last remnant of silent film studio
Midwood residents fear the last remnant of an historical film era may soon be demolished.
“The legendary Vitagraph smokestack is in danger of being torn down!” said Ellen Levitt, a lifelong Brooklynite and Midwood resident since 1971.
The smokestack, at East 15th Street and Locust Avenue, is an artifact from the historic Vitagraph Studios, a silent film company founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897. It is now shrouded in scaffolding after permits were filed to erect a heavy duty sidewalk shed and pipe scaffold at the location.