on what he shouted to the painters. Brownstoner wrote that "the Halkias' never met gilding and ostentation that they didn't like". Michael also attempted to clean the facade several times, but ultimately decided to paint it in 1998. He recovered the original murals after a chance encounter while waiting in line at a bank in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, when a stranger mentioned that he had had purchased them. In 1983, Borough President Howard Golden proclaimed March 10 to be an annual "Grand Prospect Hall Day" in Brooklyn. Starting in 1986, the Halkiases gained a measure of local fame for producing and starring in cheaply shot commercials for the hall which aired regularly on local television. The ads contained various shots of the interior spaces, showing events held there, set to orchestral music, with a sales pitch from the Halkiases typically including a phrase which became associated with them: "We make your dreams come true!" The tagline, according to Brooklyn Paper, is "instantly recognizable to any New Yorker who owned a television set." The commercials have been parodied on both Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Saturday Night Live. Kimmel paired the Halkiases with Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, spoofing the commercials. Kimmel was quoted in The New York Times saying "If you live in New York, and if you've ever owned a television, you've probably seen these commercials," joking that they "are wonderful, but they've been running the same ones for 125 years." In 1999, Grand Prospect Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The listing describes the hall as "probably the largest and best-preserved example of its type, the Victorian assembly hall set within a great ethnic community facility, remaining in the country". However, NRHP status does not restrict what non-federal owners can do with a property. At the time, the building was not granted official city landmark status from the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which would grant protections from redevelopment. In 2001, the Halkiases reopened the original bar on the first floor after restoring it. The Halkiases proposed new construction on the property in 2011: an eleven-story building including a hotel and large parking garage. Local residents objected to the development on the grounds the new building would block sunlight. The Halkiases distributed flyers to convince people it was out of necessity, to continue focusing on nicer events rather than open