RED HOOK — A giant "RED HOOK" sign that once welcomed those entering the neighborhood at Van Brunt Street and Hamilton Avenue will soon be reinstalled, an official for tenant Tesla Motors said Friday.
Spelling out "Red Hook" in block letters, the sign had become a fixture in the neighborhood after years of being lit up with red lights on the former Golten Marine building at 160 Van Brunt St.
But once redevelopment of the building began, the sign and its lights were covered up by scaffolding, and eventually removed.
Last month, Tesla Motors opened its new showroom and service center in the building and has now agreed to return the neon-lit sign to Red Hook.
"The sign should be reinstalled in the next couple weeks," Tesla spokeswoman Alexis Georgeson said in an email Friday.
Locals, as well as a dedicated Twitter account, have been calling on the electric car company to bring back the sign. PortSide NewYork, a maritime organization based on a tanker docked in Atlantic Basin, tweeted Thursday night that Tesla had "listened & heard."
Dear #RedHook @TeslaMotors told us today that they installed new "Red Hook" lights on corner of bldg saying "we listened & heard"
— PortSide NewYork (@PortSideNewYork) April 1, 2016
