A bustling Brooklyn subway station is about to get a real “Thriller” of an entrance.
The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership local development corporation says it brokered a deal to enliven an entrance to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station with an artistic tribute to Michael Jackson, highlighting the famous Martin Scorsese-directed “Bad” video shot there in 1987.
“We see this as a great opportunity to potentially establish Hoyt-Schermenrhorn’s role in American pop culture and as a tourist destination to attract people to a part of Downtown Brooklyn already rapidly growing,” said Joe Chan, president of the partnership.
The project is in the planning stages. DBP has yet to choose an artist or decide on the style of art to replace what is now the blank façade of an office building at 45 Hoyt St.
“The art could be the size of a huge mural and possibly rely on lights and projection at nighttime,” said Chan.
The partnership got involved in September when the MTA, as the Post first reported, told City Councilwoman Letitia James to “Beat It” after she proposed re-naming the station and hanging a plaque there in honor of the Gloved One, who died June 25
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has no subway stations in its system named or co-named after individuals, mostly because it could confuse riders, agency officials said.
However, developer Bruce Ratner cut a deal to pay the MTA $200,000 a year over 20 years to add the name of his planned Barclays Center NBA arena to the Atlantic Avenue transit hub in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
The DBP tribute won’t require MTA approval because it’ll be displayed on private land owned by real estate giant Benenson Capital leading to the station’s entrance. The firm would have final say on the art chosen.
While James “still can’t believe the cash-strapped MTA won’t take advantage” of a “potential money maker,” she’s happy that the King of Pop is getting his borough tribute.
“After the Post story came out, I received hundreds of e-mails and letters from people all over the world telling me not to give up because they want to travel to Brooklyn to honor Michael Jackson,” she said. “The story took on a life of its own.”
The acclaimed 16-minute Scorsese-Jackson “Bad” video is more of a short film and also features a young Wesley Snipes in one of his early acting roles before he became a Hollywood star.
In it, Jackson plays a boy named Daryl who returns from private school to his “gangsta”-ridden neighborhood and takes friends — led by Snipes’ character — to the subway station to show he’s still “Bad.”
All of the music scenes were filmed at the station, which serves the A, C and G lines.
A bustling Brooklyn subway station is about to get a real “Thriller” of an entrance.