Lighting up Pitkin Avenue with a Movie Night to kick off Summer

On Friday, June 27 at 8:30pm, the Brownsville Community Justice Center, Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District ("the BID"), and Rooftop Films hosted a movie night on Pitkin Avenue as a part of the BID's Summer Plazas series. The movie was Pitkin Avenue’s first public event held in the evening in recent memory. The event was also a historic occasion, as it was the first movie screening on Pitkin Avenue since the closing of the Historic Loews Theatre in the late 1960s. The old theater building still stands just 2 blocks from our movie screening.

The movie ("Are We There Yet?" starring Ice Cube and Nia Long) drew a good crowd of children, teens and families who filled the streets with life hours after the last store had closed. The Justice Center frequently sponsors and supports community events as a part of it's campaign "Brownsville Stronger Together" which aims to change the narrative of Brownsville and build a stronger community by challenging norms that promote anti-social behavior.

The Brownsville Community Justice Center teamed up with the Pitkin Avenue BID to pull off this event.

Justice Center youth did face painting and other activities for youth during the Summer Plazas.

The Loew's Pitkin Theater at the corner of Pitkin Avenue and Legion Street was shuttered since the 60s and has only recently been converted to a charter school with ground floor retail.

"The successes of our Summer Plazas in recent years, leading to a more positive reflection on the neighborhood of Brownsville both from within and from outside the community has led naturally to this event as a next step in our mission to improve the neighborhood. We are now looking to extend the hours of activity on Pitkin Avenue, which is Brownsville’s Main Street, and in so doing create and maintain an expectation of safety, activity and an overall feeling of invitation on our Avenue and surrounding streets.” Daniel Murphy, Executive Director of the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District

Children sat up front on yoga mats while parents sat in the BID's plaza chairs.

“The Brownsville Community Justice Center is proud to help sponsor the first ever Pitkin Plaza summer movie. Summer evenings in Brownsville are beautiful but when the stores close and it starts getting dark, Pitkin can feel really desolate. In terms of public safety, there’s no substitute for other people being out. We’re just excited to be out on Pitkin at night, bring the community together and have a fun time.” Viviana Gordon, Director of Operations, Brownsville Community Justice Center

Faces of anticipation. Will Ice Cube be able to woo the woman of his dreams by taking her children on the roadtrip of a lifetime?