A giant strawberry, old phone booths, bowling trophies and a suit of armor are some of the items that can be found in Prop N Spoon.
In the 50,000-square-foot Long Island City showroom and warehouse, set designers and decorators make film and television magic.
"We both rent props, decor, furniture for the movie, television, entertainment Industry, and we also have a manufacturing side that does movie, television, events, museum display exhibits," said Harlan Silverstein, the owner of Prop N Spoon.
What You Need To Know
- Prop N Spoon is a business in Queens that rents props, furniture and home decor to the film and television industry
- They have lost between 70% and 80% of their prop and furniture rental business due to the halt of production from ongoing strikes
- The company also has a fabrication division, which is keeping it afloat by manufacturing items for events
- The company has a 50,000-square-foot Long Island City showroom and warehouse
There has not been as much action at the showroom with film and television writers and actors on the picket lines.
Silverstein says they have lost between 70% and 80% of their prop and furniture rental business without film and television production.
"We're just now coming out of the whole pandemic and trying to recover from that, and this hits us, so it's difficult it's very challenging," Silverstein said.
Silverstein noted that despite less business, he still has to pay bills, insurance, rent and 38 employees at their two locations.
Dave Wilson runs a similar business called Bridge Furniture and Props in East Williamsburg. He says his company is just holding on, and all of the services that support the industry are suffering and want to get back to work.
"There's an entire industry of caterers and crew and drivers. Anybody who we would consider to be 'below the line' is being very negatively impacted by the strikes, and everybody wants to get back to work. That's our number one concern," Wilson said.
But Prop N Spoon is staying afloat through the fabrication side of the company, which supplies items for events, trying to make up for losses on its prop rental side.
"It's not the pandemic, where it's the entire world and everyone is there to help. We're like a niche industry and there's not a lot of financial support, which is really what we need to get through this," Silverstein said.