Gem Theatre
3355 Fulton Street,
Brooklyn,
NY
11208
3355 Fulton Street,
Brooklyn,
NY
11208
1 person
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Showing 1 - 25 of 54 comments
My grandparents lived on Campus Pl., right behind The Gem. The bank used to be The Hamburg Savings Bank.
Is the building the bank using the old theater?
The Complete Street Guide to Brooklyn, 1939 World’s Fair Edition, lists the Adelphi Theater at 3355 Fulton Street.
Karl B, good to have you back ! I was hoping you would be. I hope you are well. You could certainly help in these Gem and Embassy Theater discussions !
For some reason I cannot open the link to the picture that you provide. I worked for the bank in 1955 when it was known as the Hamburg Savings Bank. the bank had the theatre and two store fronts razed to double the size of the bank building, and create a drive in banking window. The Gem was located in the middle of the block, just about half way between Crescent and Hemlock Sts. If the parking lot is still there that is where most of the Gem stood.
I can see your confusion. The tax lots and addresses were
merged over time so when people research this they often
get thrown off. If you visit my website you can see a lot
of shots of the area over time. Unfortunately a shot of
the Gem has eluded me so far.
I thought it was where that lot was, but in the description above it says, “Use: Bank” and that’s what confused me. Then it should be changed above to “Closed/Demolished” if it was in fact where that parking lot is.
Sorry, but that is not a photo of the Gem Theater. The Gem
was torn down to make room for the expansion of that bank building
and a parking lot/drive thru. The Adelphi/Gem sat where that
parking lot is now.
As Onni confirmed, the Adelphi
was renovated and a CO dated July 25, 1932 was issued after
the renovation.
Here’s a photo of the Gem Theater. I assume it’s the bank building on the corner:
View link
Thank you, onni, for revealing your age, and for contributing to a theater page that I started. I hope Karl B returns to this site, and that you, being several years older, and apparently quite knowledgable, are able to answer some of his questions, and clear up some mysteries.
Thanks for coming here.
The correct spelling is “competitor”, and thanks for asking. Poor spelling is one of my bete-noirs, bugbears, and pet peeves.
Please check out Tapeshare’s Cypress Hills – East New York site, the link to which is several posts above this one.
I am familiar with this neighborhood because my father’s parents and sister lived at 169 Chestnut Street from sometime between 1956 and 1960, to summer 1968, when they moved to Woodhaven.
I can tell you that the Gem was an upgrade of the old Adelphi. The Adelphi had fallen into disrepair so the facade and interior was replaced. The building itself was not replaced but it was an extensive job.It was near to maybe next to the Hamburg Savings Bank. How do I know? Because I am 77 yrs old & walked by the Adelphi-Gem many times in the 1930’s.But I can also add that the Gem never was much of a compeditor (spelling?) to the Embassy.
I was responding to some earlier posts by cjdv and Lost Memory
that mentioned 3335 Fulton. I used the Brooklyn Economic Development
Corp. site to pinpoint the address and your memory is quite good.
It is west of Crescent on the north side of Fulton. The data suggests it was unlikely to have ever been a movie house. Subsequently I did confirm the existence of the Adelphi in the same
location as the Gem Theater. The only question now is if it was simply converted or the building itself completely replaced.
Hi Tapeshare, I don’t know whether it was a typo or not, but I notice in your post of 12/20 you specifically mention 3335 Fulton St. This address was in the next block west, and if I recall correctly, it was at the foot of the el stairs to the Crescent St station. In the 1950’s this building was a cut rate store with two railroad flats above it. Friends of my parents rented one of the flats. It’s ironic that the woman of the family worked part time at the Gem box office. I seem to recall that this was an unusual building in that it had an el pillar right in the entranceway to the store. It has been a long time since I have been in the area and perhaps I remember the address incorrectly. I do know that I worked in a candy store in the evenings which I think was located at 3331 Fulton St. I seem to remember a bar and grill being located at 3333 Fulton St.
Well I received a hi-resolution scan of the 1925 photo and
sitting in the site of the Gem Theater, lo and behold…a
building with the marquee “Adelphi” in front of it. Perhaps
one of our “Gem” historians can recognize if it was subsequently
renovated or torn down completely. It’s now posted in “Zone 4"
of my site.
http://www.tapeshare.com/Zone4.html
Thanks, tapeshare. I forwarded the link to your ENY – Cypress Hills site to Karl B privately a few weeks ago.
First of all I invite Karl, Peter, and “Lost Memory” to my website dedicated to East New York and Cypress Hills. You will find many
images there of the places you have discussed.
http://www.tapeshare.com/ENY.html
Of course everyone is welcome. On my site is a picture of the
Northeast corner of Fulton and Crescent in 1925. There was a hotel
there that was damaged in a fire; the bank replaced it and the CO
was issued in 1931. The image is small so I have ordered a copy
from the New York Digital archives as the buildings just east of it
are in the photo but too small to identify.
I will also track down the 1939 tax photos for that block; its not
always easy as this address and tax lot appears to have shifted. The
1931 CO that “Lost Memory” mentions lists the address as “3353-63"
Fulton, 70 feet east of Crescent.
I don’t think 3335 Fulton was a theater address- it is a 20 by
100 foot lot, developed in 1920 for mixed use. Seems like a storefront apartment, not likely to be a theater.
Karl mentions a few places east of the Gem. I have a 1945 photo of
the block just east of the Gem (how aggravating is that?)and the business are: 3363 George Rusch Deli, then a Barber shop, 3367 is
the Cypress Fish Market, then Murphy Florist, then King Drugs
on the corner.
My only contribution to the Adelphi mystery is to follow up on
the Adelphi connection- there was a place at the turn of the century
identified as the “Adelphi Oval”, corner of Fulton and Crescent.
Presumably part of the school then, I have not been able to
dig up anything on it.
So I’ll do some digging, anyone from that area is welcome to enjoy
the site, and happy holidays to all
I was born in 1936 and lived right around the corner from the Gem Theatre. My earliest memories of the theatre date to approximately 1941. I attended hundreds of movies and shows at the theatre during the 1940’s and early 1950’s. The theatre fronted on Fulton St. The theatre was one story high, and if I recall correctly, had a boiler room in a basement at the west end or rear of the theatre. The emergency exits opened directly onto Fulton St. The most eastern emergency exit was at the front of the theatre in line with the screen. In other words the theatre auditorium faced east with the south or right wall facing Fulton St. The eastern emergency exit was approximately three feet below the street level indicating that the theatre floor sloped from west to east. It is my belief that there was no basement under this lowest portion or east end of the theatre.
The Hamburg Savings Bank of 3345 Fulton St bought the theatre circa 1954 and demolished it in 1955 along with two stores located west of the theatre. The bank was completely renovated, and doubled in size. Most of the area of the old theatre became a parking lot and a drive in window for the bank. I believe this still exists today although I have not been in the area in 25 years. This may explain the disappearance of the 3355 address. The only name I was ever aware of for this theatre was the name Gem.
Anyone on here got a 1931 or 1932 Film Daily Yearbook to confirm when the Gem Theatre is first listed?
I have to admit from the evidence we have already, that this is becoming a bit of a mystery, especially regarding the Adelphi Theatre.
Is it possible that the private automobile/storage garage could have been located on the ground floor and the Adelphi upstairs? Another option could be the Adelphi located at the rear of the garage, with entrance to it via a passage alongside the building?
The American Motion Picture Directory 1914 – 1915 lists the Adelphi Theatre operating at 3355 Fulton Street.
Listings for the Adelphi Theatre in Film Daily Yearbook editions that I have are:– 1926=582 seats, 1927=600 seats, 1930=520 seats, all at the 3355 Fulton Street address.
I think you mean the Willard, which see on this site (it has its own page) now the Cordon Bleu catering hall. I think there was also a smaller theater on the south side of Jamaica Avenue west of Woodhaven Blvd. that npw may be, or is used by, a school.
Hello PKoch. Yes that was definitely a typo. It seems clear to me from these postings that so much has changed in the neighborhoods where these theaters once stood. And it hasn’t always been a change for the better.
I am looking for information on a theater that might have stood on the corner of Jamaica and 90th Street. It is now a catering hall.
Hello PKoch. Yes that was definitely a typo. It seems clear to me from these postings that so much has changed in the neighborhoods where these theaters once stood. And it hasn’t always been a change for the better.
I am looking for information on a theater that might have stood on the corner of Jamaica and 90th Street. It is now a catering hall.
Hello, cypress, good to meet you. I had a friend named Bettinger who used to live with his family at 16 Grant Avenue, like yourself, between Jamaica and Etna. Thanks for the news about the B-18 bus.
There seems to be a typo in your message. I assume you mean that the B-13 bus absorbed much of the route serviced by the now-defunct B-18.
I “grew up with” (rode frequently on) the B-18 but never rode the B-13. Karl B, on the other hand, about twenty years before me, took the B-13 between Hamburg Savings Banks in Ridgewood and Cypress Hills but recalls never having been aware of the B-18 bus.
The B-18 ran very infrequently, about twice an hour. The posting of schedules at NYC bus stops in the latter 1980’s was probably a help to its passengers.
I presently live in Cypress Hills. I live on Grant Avenue between Jamaica and Etna. I often take the J train to get to Broadyway Junction to transfer to the A/C/L trains. The B18 bus was scrapped last year. The B13 bus absorbed much of the route serviced by the now-defunct B13.