On the Brooklyn waterfront for the past 70 years, the iconic Watchtower sign has stood on top of the former Jehovah’s Witnesses building in Brooklyn Heights. Now, as the owners of the former Witness HQ move upstate to Warwick, New York, they take the Watchtower sign with them. Removal happened this morning, reports the New York Post.
When crossing into Brooklyn via the Brooklyn Bridge, this red letters stood over becoming a familiar fixture to locals. At 15 feet tall, the removal of the letters leaves the space feeling much larger and emptier, making the bare site something to get used to as the letters move upstate.
Installed 40 years ago by the Witnesses, a sign has been atop the 30 Columbia Heights building for more than 70 years. The building was sold to Columbia Heights Associates in 2016, a group of developers who will be converting the building into a massive, multi-building office and retail space called Panorama. To continue the building’s long standing tradition, the empty Watchtower sign space will be occupied once more, though for Panorama’s own branding.
For now we say goodbye to a New York City icon as we patiently await the sign’s successor.
Watch the sign come down in this video from the New York Post below.
