Wally Maletta (who managed this theater as well as the Rivoli on Broadway and others) was kind enough to share the following photos of the former RKO 59th Street Twin:
Each theater in the twin had a balcony and its own separate lobby. The mirrored door you see on the left in the lobby photo led to the projection room (which was at the rear of the orchestra seating). On the other side of this door (and out of frame) was another short set of stairs leading down and into the orchestra section. No sure if there was also a 2nd set of stairs leading up to the balcony. Behind the counter was a door that led to the adjacent twin lobby.
As has been alluded to in the comments and intro above, Wally told me that one side of the theater did go XXX porn for a while and was dubbed the 59th Street East. Perhaps Wally can post some of his own recollections here as well to fill in the gaps and offer a timeline (at least while he was running the place).
I passed this theater last Thursday evening. Still looks the same as it did in the photos I posted above that I took in February. There is now a “for rent” sign on the side panels of the marquee. There are no gates on the building at all, the doors are merely locked and one can peer through the large windows that front Sunrise Hwy and see the candy counter in full view. As I said previously, it looks as if it were closed during off business hours just waiting for the manager to show up and open the box office.
How about helicopter? Perhaps there is a heli-pad on the Fair’s roof. Or, you can just drop down on a line from the hovering copter right in front of the theater’s marquee. Now, THERE’S an entrance!
hdtv267… I believe I have seen Osborne introducing movies on TMC from an ornate old movie palace a few times. I don’t recall that he discussed the theater in any detail (or introduced a movie that had premeired at that theater, for instance), but I know it’s been done before. I’d love to see that concept expanded upon, however, with Osborne travelling out of L.A. to tape those sort of introductions.
Anyway… the A&E segments were really great, but I agree with Luis V that there was disappointingly little from the Loew’s 175th Street. I’m glad they placed a lot of emphasis on the Jersey and Kings, however, raising awareness for the desperate need to restore the latter by celebrating the former’s wonderful work in progress. Kudos to Ross and all the CT regulars (such as Warren Harris, Orlando Lopes and Bruce Freidman). I definitely came away wanting to see so much more!
I never knew that Ross was affiliated with the AMMI until I saw this show. That is a terrific museum and I encourage anyone in the NY area to make the trip into Queens for a visit if for no other reason than to check out the wonderfully detailed cut-away scale model of the Roxy Theater’s magnificent interior. That alone is worth the price of admission.
I passed by this complex just the other morning while travelling south on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd (formerly 7th Ave). At first I assumed the building on the southeast corner of 138th was a former theater due to the familiar pitch of the roof line… but then, as I drove past the old marquee, I noticed the two buildings were seperated by an alley (although, there might have been a connecting tunnel down the alley). Both structures (which take up the full block front along ACPjr Blvd between 137th and 138th) appear to be in severly derelict condition. I’d love to get up there one day and just walk around with my camera like Ken Roe did a few years back. The architecture on the northern end of Manhattan is spectacular and so much of it remains untouched – unlike in the more “desireable areas” below 125th Street (a line that keeps moving to the north, by the way) where such properties are seen only for their redevelopment value.
There is a church on the same side of the street further down a bit around 131st Street. I’m not entirely sure of it, but judging from the facade, it appears this might have been a former theater. Any ideas?
Here’s the direct link to the NY Times article. Not sure if that link will work for you if you don’t have an account (whch is free, by the way). Unfortunately, only the current photo accompanies the online article. The print version included a vintage shot of the theater as well. I’ll see if I can get a good scan and post it here.
Another advantage of the Junction Blvd stop would be your option to hop a bus up to Astoria Blvd. You would have to hoof it down 90th Street. But, I assume that as a Manhattan resident, you’re probably not that intimidated by the idea an 8-block walk.
JCX… my suggestion of using the 90th Street/Elmhurst Ave station would put you physically closer to the Fair by about 4 blocks, however, Warren is wise to refer you to the Junction Blvd stop because you would be able to get there via an express train. The local stops on the 7 line are quite numerous in Queens, spaced as they are only every 5 blocks or so. You would certainly save considerable time by taking an express train from the city, even with the additional 4 block walk. However, if for some reason you find yourelf on a local, definitely use the 90th Street station as the Fair is right off 90th street once you get to Astoria Blvd.
The closest subway stop would be for the #7 train (actually an elevated line) on Roosevelt Ave and 90th Street. I think the stop is called 90th Street/Elmhurst Ave and leaves you about 8 or 9 blocks south of Astoria Blvd. You can catch the #7 from either Times Square, 5th Ave and 42nd or Grand Central Station. Once you get off the train, head up 90th Street until you come to Astoria Blvd and then hang a right. The theater will be just down the block on your right.
Yes, I wasn’t really being all that serious about it, DFC. I probably should have done a better job at making my sarcasm more obvious. I can’t believe her fans would allow her to get away with such obscene ticket prices! $754 for the best seats. $354 for the next tier! Perhaps there is some charity involved in the proceeds, but when you’re as rich as she is and when you play for your fans as infrequently as she does, you’d think she would just make her own charitable donations and just price tickets so that people could afford the rare opportunity to enjoy her in concert! Fortunately for my wallet, I’m not among her zealous fans.
She might win me over with a nice contribution towards the Loew’s Kings cause, however.
B'klynJim… This is not the theater you are remembering, but a pale and cheap replacement. The Loew’s State you are referring to has its own page on CT which can be found here. That is the original and architecturally ornate Loew’s State that opened in 1921 featuring a program of vaudeville and feature films and eventually becoming one Broadway’s great roadshow palaces. You’ll find a lot of interesting history and color in the comments posted on that page.
The 4-plex theater referred to on this page was built into the basement retail space of the office tower that replaced the old theater and building (where Loew’s had its corporate headquarters for many years), which were demolished in 1987.
Perhaps the BP and Councilmember’s offices can convince Barbra Streisand to turn over some of the profits from her upcoming show at Madison Square Garden (top tickets going for $750 by the way) towards the theater’s restoration. I’ve always heard her pay great lip service to what was the movie palace of her youth. I wonder how she’d respond if anyone with a real plan for restoration and functionality approached her for financial backing.
A haunting and intriquing photo, by the way. I’m very much looking forward to the “Wonder Theater” segments on this week’s “Breakfast with the Arts” program.
The Carole King album is called “Fantasy”. The shape of the old H&H building (on the very same block as the HoJo’s) is still recognizable, but any architectural ornamentation has been shorn away or concealed by signage. It houses a two-story discount store currently.
The Howard Johnson’s on the northwest corner of 46th and Broadway closed last year and is being replaced by a new structure that will house some sort of mega-retail space. This was the last remaining HoJo’s in NYC (there used to be three in the Times Square area alone including one directly across the street) and the old building also included a former caberet/dance hall space above that operated for years as the Gaiety Burlesk (an all male porn establishment) that has a listing here on CT.
You can find a blurb and recent photo of the building in mid-demolition here. If you scroll down there is also a notice and a couple of photos about the restaurant’s last night in business as well as a link to more details and images from that evening.
Anyway… maybe I’m not old enough, but I don’t rememeber one by Radio City. There was one adjacent to the Rivoli on 49th and B'way. And I recall one near Grand Central Terminal.
Did you notice that they also installed reflectors at the apex of the canopy’s projection over the sidewalk? They face in either direction down the block so that trucks pulling in or backing in to park can navigate around the projection and avoid smashing into the structure. There does appear to be a few dings around that big cursive “F” that graces the marquee.
I’ll have to run by there one evening to see what the new neon looks like when fired up! And they certainly haven’t switched from porn, Mikeoaklandpark… In the main auditorium (the original theater) they had been running ‘70’s and '80’s grind house fare via video projection, while maintaining porn in the smaller separate screening rooms that had been carved from adjacent retail space. According to Alto, they have been mixing in the latest home video releases with the grind house fodder in the main auditorium.
I’m not sure what the deal is with that. Why bother? Was it in response to the Guiliani zoning laws that restricted businesses from operating 100% porn within a certain distance from schools, churches and residential areas? I can’t imagine any other reason. Who’d shell out the $15 admission just to sit in a musty old theater watching kung fu flicks on a video projector? No insult intended if that’s your gig!
In the view to the East you can clearly see where the auditorium walls taper in towards the screen and identify the sets of exit doors I photographed the other morning. It also appears (particularly in that last view to the West) that this image is even older than the one Lost posted on June 5th as the marquee appears to be the original and the lot on the next block where that new building now stands hasn’t even been prepped for construction. I imagine that sometime between this image and the one Lost linked to, the marquee might have been struck by a truck or bus and damaged to the point where it was in danger of collapse.
By the way… I find with local.live that sometimes when you open the link up, you have to zoom in and drag the image around a bit to center on your target property. The link doesn’t always open exactly as the image you created the link for.
That beautiful Art Moderne structure that housed the H&H on W. 57th has been the center of preservationist controversy for a while, now, Klass. In yet another failure on the part of the LPC to conserve our popular architectural heritage, I believe all efforts to have the place designated have been thwarted and the current tenant (Shelly’s Steakhouse, I believe) was being forced to relocate so that the strutcture could be razed to make way for a new residential tower – what else? I think the H&H closed in the ‘70’s and the place became a bookstore. I remember going there once or twice with my Grandfather (a huge patron of the automat). I remember it also as the short-lived Motown Cafe when 57th Street was rife with theme restaurants. Now that the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood have relocated to Times Square, only Jekyll and Hyde’s remains on 6th Ave off 57th.
This building is in much better shape than the former St. Albans Theater just a couple of miles to the west on Linden Blvd (also presently a church). Comparing these shots to the ones posted by Lost Memory on June 5th, looks like they completely overhauled the marquee, which was nearly collapsing onto the sidewalk. Some of those police barricades are still on site, leaning up against the theater’s side wall on 219th Street. I peaked through the front doors and could see that the ticket lobby is being used for storage of construction materials. The room appears more or less intact, with big display cases on either side wall and a noticeable slope up to the inner doors that lead to the foyer.
Looks like the foyer runs straight back along the building’s eastern wall with the auditorium running to the left, parallel to Linden Blvd behind the store fronts that now seem to be put to ancillary use by the church that occupies (and presumably owns) the building. The rear screen wall runs against the western lot line on 219th Street and there appears to be some exit doors on either side. I’m not sure if the photo marked “Exit Doors?” above actually shows us such a set of doors. They look like they could be, but perhaps they always led to the office space above. There are roll top gates located on either side of what would appear to be the screen wall (see the “rear corner screen wall” shot and also just to the left in the “exit doors” shot).
Lost… the photos you linked to have to be at least a year old. You can see at the far left of the first photo I posted that there is a completed structure on the next block where there was just some construction shedding in the older shot.
Not sure I’d call it conclusive, but I’d say the auditorium runs parallel to Linden. By the way, that pair of semi-attached houses shown under construction behind the theater in the aerial views are now complete and occupied.
I didn’t take a photo looking from the west down Linden to approximate the angle in Warren’s photo – only because the foliage on the trees that now line Linden blocked the rooftop sign and facade from that angle. Perhaps I’ll get back there after the leaves fall in Autumn. I did note that the Linden Blvd facades, including that lot and smaller structure with the “tire sale” in the 1954 shot, are more or less as they were when the older shot was taken.
Looks like the theater might have had a true corner entrance, Warren, perhaps with an open passage on either side of that corner column into the outer vetstibule from both Linden or 190th. The one slender display case remains on that corner column facing Linden as seen in the sixth photo down, but you can clearly see where other advertising space was filled in with stucco. You can also clearly see that the building is not in great shape with signs of various patch jobs pretty evident. I’m not sure, but I think the auditorium probably runs parallel to Linden behind the store fronts with the 190th Street facade representing the back wall of the lobby/foyer. That would mean that the ivy-covered structure seen down the alley in the “Rear view on 190th Street” shot would be the auditorium’s left side wall.
You are indeed thinking of the former Loew’s Columbus Circle, which was located in the basement of the Gulf and Western building where Broadway and Central Park West diverge. It was later named the Paramount (which was owned by G&W at the time) and run for a long time by Cinema 5. Here’s a link to the CT page for the theater where you’ll find more info and some recollections by CT members. Warren posted a 1979 photo of the theater’s circular above-ground entrance pavillion that was located in the triangular plaza to the south of the G&W building. If you were to pass the spot today, you would find a Unisphere (similar to, but smaller than, the one famously located in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens) now standing where the theater’s entrance once did.
Wally Maletta (who managed this theater as well as the Rivoli on Broadway and others) was kind enough to share the following photos of the former RKO 59th Street Twin:
Split view of auditorium
Lobby view
Each theater in the twin had a balcony and its own separate lobby. The mirrored door you see on the left in the lobby photo led to the projection room (which was at the rear of the orchestra seating). On the other side of this door (and out of frame) was another short set of stairs leading down and into the orchestra section. No sure if there was also a 2nd set of stairs leading up to the balcony. Behind the counter was a door that led to the adjacent twin lobby.
As has been alluded to in the comments and intro above, Wally told me that one side of the theater did go XXX porn for a while and was dubbed the 59th Street East. Perhaps Wally can post some of his own recollections here as well to fill in the gaps and offer a timeline (at least while he was running the place).
I passed this theater last Thursday evening. Still looks the same as it did in the photos I posted above that I took in February. There is now a “for rent” sign on the side panels of the marquee. There are no gates on the building at all, the doors are merely locked and one can peer through the large windows that front Sunrise Hwy and see the candy counter in full view. As I said previously, it looks as if it were closed during off business hours just waiting for the manager to show up and open the box office.
Thank you, KenRoe.
How about helicopter? Perhaps there is a heli-pad on the Fair’s roof. Or, you can just drop down on a line from the hovering copter right in front of the theater’s marquee. Now, THERE’S an entrance!
hdtv267… I believe I have seen Osborne introducing movies on TMC from an ornate old movie palace a few times. I don’t recall that he discussed the theater in any detail (or introduced a movie that had premeired at that theater, for instance), but I know it’s been done before. I’d love to see that concept expanded upon, however, with Osborne travelling out of L.A. to tape those sort of introductions.
Anyway… the A&E segments were really great, but I agree with Luis V that there was disappointingly little from the Loew’s 175th Street. I’m glad they placed a lot of emphasis on the Jersey and Kings, however, raising awareness for the desperate need to restore the latter by celebrating the former’s wonderful work in progress. Kudos to Ross and all the CT regulars (such as Warren Harris, Orlando Lopes and Bruce Freidman). I definitely came away wanting to see so much more!
I never knew that Ross was affiliated with the AMMI until I saw this show. That is a terrific museum and I encourage anyone in the NY area to make the trip into Queens for a visit if for no other reason than to check out the wonderfully detailed cut-away scale model of the Roxy Theater’s magnificent interior. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Of course, Jeffrey! We must have lost our heads.
I passed by this complex just the other morning while travelling south on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd (formerly 7th Ave). At first I assumed the building on the southeast corner of 138th was a former theater due to the familiar pitch of the roof line… but then, as I drove past the old marquee, I noticed the two buildings were seperated by an alley (although, there might have been a connecting tunnel down the alley). Both structures (which take up the full block front along ACPjr Blvd between 137th and 138th) appear to be in severly derelict condition. I’d love to get up there one day and just walk around with my camera like Ken Roe did a few years back. The architecture on the northern end of Manhattan is spectacular and so much of it remains untouched – unlike in the more “desireable areas” below 125th Street (a line that keeps moving to the north, by the way) where such properties are seen only for their redevelopment value.
There is a church on the same side of the street further down a bit around 131st Street. I’m not entirely sure of it, but judging from the facade, it appears this might have been a former theater. Any ideas?
Here’s the direct link to the NY Times article. Not sure if that link will work for you if you don’t have an account (whch is free, by the way). Unfortunately, only the current photo accompanies the online article. The print version included a vintage shot of the theater as well. I’ll see if I can get a good scan and post it here.
Another advantage of the Junction Blvd stop would be your option to hop a bus up to Astoria Blvd. You would have to hoof it down 90th Street. But, I assume that as a Manhattan resident, you’re probably not that intimidated by the idea an 8-block walk.
JCX… my suggestion of using the 90th Street/Elmhurst Ave station would put you physically closer to the Fair by about 4 blocks, however, Warren is wise to refer you to the Junction Blvd stop because you would be able to get there via an express train. The local stops on the 7 line are quite numerous in Queens, spaced as they are only every 5 blocks or so. You would certainly save considerable time by taking an express train from the city, even with the additional 4 block walk. However, if for some reason you find yourelf on a local, definitely use the 90th Street station as the Fair is right off 90th street once you get to Astoria Blvd.
The closest subway stop would be for the #7 train (actually an elevated line) on Roosevelt Ave and 90th Street. I think the stop is called 90th Street/Elmhurst Ave and leaves you about 8 or 9 blocks south of Astoria Blvd. You can catch the #7 from either Times Square, 5th Ave and 42nd or Grand Central Station. Once you get off the train, head up 90th Street until you come to Astoria Blvd and then hang a right. The theater will be just down the block on your right.
Yes, I wasn’t really being all that serious about it, DFC. I probably should have done a better job at making my sarcasm more obvious. I can’t believe her fans would allow her to get away with such obscene ticket prices! $754 for the best seats. $354 for the next tier! Perhaps there is some charity involved in the proceeds, but when you’re as rich as she is and when you play for your fans as infrequently as she does, you’d think she would just make her own charitable donations and just price tickets so that people could afford the rare opportunity to enjoy her in concert! Fortunately for my wallet, I’m not among her zealous fans.
She might win me over with a nice contribution towards the Loew’s Kings cause, however.
B'klynJim… This is not the theater you are remembering, but a pale and cheap replacement. The Loew’s State you are referring to has its own page on CT which can be found here. That is the original and architecturally ornate Loew’s State that opened in 1921 featuring a program of vaudeville and feature films and eventually becoming one Broadway’s great roadshow palaces. You’ll find a lot of interesting history and color in the comments posted on that page.
The 4-plex theater referred to on this page was built into the basement retail space of the office tower that replaced the old theater and building (where Loew’s had its corporate headquarters for many years), which were demolished in 1987.
Perhaps the BP and Councilmember’s offices can convince Barbra Streisand to turn over some of the profits from her upcoming show at Madison Square Garden (top tickets going for $750 by the way) towards the theater’s restoration. I’ve always heard her pay great lip service to what was the movie palace of her youth. I wonder how she’d respond if anyone with a real plan for restoration and functionality approached her for financial backing.
A haunting and intriquing photo, by the way. I’m very much looking forward to the “Wonder Theater” segments on this week’s “Breakfast with the Arts” program.
The Carole King album is called “Fantasy”. The shape of the old H&H building (on the very same block as the HoJo’s) is still recognizable, but any architectural ornamentation has been shorn away or concealed by signage. It houses a two-story discount store currently.
The Howard Johnson’s on the northwest corner of 46th and Broadway closed last year and is being replaced by a new structure that will house some sort of mega-retail space. This was the last remaining HoJo’s in NYC (there used to be three in the Times Square area alone including one directly across the street) and the old building also included a former caberet/dance hall space above that operated for years as the Gaiety Burlesk (an all male porn establishment) that has a listing here on CT.
You can find a blurb and recent photo of the building in mid-demolition here. If you scroll down there is also a notice and a couple of photos about the restaurant’s last night in business as well as a link to more details and images from that evening.
Here’s a 2004 shot of the HoJo’s still in operation.
Anyway… maybe I’m not old enough, but I don’t rememeber one by Radio City. There was one adjacent to the Rivoli on 49th and B'way. And I recall one near Grand Central Terminal.
Did you notice that they also installed reflectors at the apex of the canopy’s projection over the sidewalk? They face in either direction down the block so that trucks pulling in or backing in to park can navigate around the projection and avoid smashing into the structure. There does appear to be a few dings around that big cursive “F” that graces the marquee.
I must quickly point out that I purloined that photo from a posting that CT member Warren made some time ago on the theater’s page here.
Took some photos earlier this month of the freshly painted marquee:
Marquee and entrance
Profile marquee
Marquee close-up
Fair Scarecrow?
Freshly coated canopy
Compare that last shot with the following close-up view at the peeling paint under the canopy from just a few months ago:
Feb. 2006 under canopy
I’ll have to run by there one evening to see what the new neon looks like when fired up! And they certainly haven’t switched from porn, Mikeoaklandpark… In the main auditorium (the original theater) they had been running ‘70’s and '80’s grind house fare via video projection, while maintaining porn in the smaller separate screening rooms that had been carved from adjacent retail space. According to Alto, they have been mixing in the latest home video releases with the grind house fodder in the main auditorium.
I’m not sure what the deal is with that. Why bother? Was it in response to the Guiliani zoning laws that restricted businesses from operating 100% porn within a certain distance from schools, churches and residential areas? I can’t imagine any other reason. Who’d shell out the $15 admission just to sit in a musty old theater watching kung fu flicks on a video projector? No insult intended if that’s your gig!
Once again, aerial shots from local.live.com help to give us some orientation:
View to the North
View to the South
View to the East
View to the West
In the view to the East you can clearly see where the auditorium walls taper in towards the screen and identify the sets of exit doors I photographed the other morning. It also appears (particularly in that last view to the West) that this image is even older than the one Lost posted on June 5th as the marquee appears to be the original and the lot on the next block where that new building now stands hasn’t even been prepped for construction. I imagine that sometime between this image and the one Lost linked to, the marquee might have been struck by a truck or bus and damaged to the point where it was in danger of collapse.
By the way… I find with local.live that sometimes when you open the link up, you have to zoom in and drag the image around a bit to center on your target property. The link doesn’t always open exactly as the image you created the link for.
That beautiful Art Moderne structure that housed the H&H on W. 57th has been the center of preservationist controversy for a while, now, Klass. In yet another failure on the part of the LPC to conserve our popular architectural heritage, I believe all efforts to have the place designated have been thwarted and the current tenant (Shelly’s Steakhouse, I believe) was being forced to relocate so that the strutcture could be razed to make way for a new residential tower – what else? I think the H&H closed in the ‘70’s and the place became a bookstore. I remember going there once or twice with my Grandfather (a huge patron of the automat). I remember it also as the short-lived Motown Cafe when 57th Street was rife with theme restaurants. Now that the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood have relocated to Times Square, only Jekyll and Hyde’s remains on 6th Ave off 57th.
Took the following shots yesterday morning:
Facade from an eastern angle
Refurbished marquee and entrance
Marquee close-up
Entrance vestibule
Vestibule floor tile-work
Canopy view from west side of block
Exit doors?
Rear corner screen wall
Long shot corner of 219th and Linden Blvd
Facade from across street
Alt angle facade view
This building is in much better shape than the former St. Albans Theater just a couple of miles to the west on Linden Blvd (also presently a church). Comparing these shots to the ones posted by Lost Memory on June 5th, looks like they completely overhauled the marquee, which was nearly collapsing onto the sidewalk. Some of those police barricades are still on site, leaning up against the theater’s side wall on 219th Street. I peaked through the front doors and could see that the ticket lobby is being used for storage of construction materials. The room appears more or less intact, with big display cases on either side wall and a noticeable slope up to the inner doors that lead to the foyer.
Looks like the foyer runs straight back along the building’s eastern wall with the auditorium running to the left, parallel to Linden Blvd behind the store fronts that now seem to be put to ancillary use by the church that occupies (and presumably owns) the building. The rear screen wall runs against the western lot line on 219th Street and there appears to be some exit doors on either side. I’m not sure if the photo marked “Exit Doors?” above actually shows us such a set of doors. They look like they could be, but perhaps they always led to the office space above. There are roll top gates located on either side of what would appear to be the screen wall (see the “rear corner screen wall” shot and also just to the left in the “exit doors” shot).
Lost… the photos you linked to have to be at least a year old. You can see at the far left of the first photo I posted that there is a completed structure on the next block where there was just some construction shedding in the older shot.
Here are some aerial views from the local.live website:
View to the North
View to the South
View to the East
View to the West
Not sure I’d call it conclusive, but I’d say the auditorium runs parallel to Linden. By the way, that pair of semi-attached houses shown under construction behind the theater in the aerial views are now complete and occupied.
As promised, I got over to Linden Blvd yesterday mornign with my camera and took the following shots of the former theater:
Corner of Linden and 190th
A closer view of corner entrance and facade
Alternate closer view
190th Street entrance
Linden Blvd gated entrance
Corner display case
190th Street looking towards Linden
Rear view on 190th Street
190th Street facade detail
Long shot from rear
View from the east on Linden Blvd
I didn’t take a photo looking from the west down Linden to approximate the angle in Warren’s photo – only because the foliage on the trees that now line Linden blocked the rooftop sign and facade from that angle. Perhaps I’ll get back there after the leaves fall in Autumn. I did note that the Linden Blvd facades, including that lot and smaller structure with the “tire sale” in the 1954 shot, are more or less as they were when the older shot was taken.
Looks like the theater might have had a true corner entrance, Warren, perhaps with an open passage on either side of that corner column into the outer vetstibule from both Linden or 190th. The one slender display case remains on that corner column facing Linden as seen in the sixth photo down, but you can clearly see where other advertising space was filled in with stucco. You can also clearly see that the building is not in great shape with signs of various patch jobs pretty evident. I’m not sure, but I think the auditorium probably runs parallel to Linden behind the store fronts with the 190th Street facade representing the back wall of the lobby/foyer. That would mean that the ivy-covered structure seen down the alley in the “Rear view on 190th Street” shot would be the auditorium’s left side wall.
You are indeed thinking of the former Loew’s Columbus Circle, which was located in the basement of the Gulf and Western building where Broadway and Central Park West diverge. It was later named the Paramount (which was owned by G&W at the time) and run for a long time by Cinema 5. Here’s a link to the CT page for the theater where you’ll find more info and some recollections by CT members. Warren posted a 1979 photo of the theater’s circular above-ground entrance pavillion that was located in the triangular plaza to the south of the G&W building. If you were to pass the spot today, you would find a Unisphere (similar to, but smaller than, the one famously located in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens) now standing where the theater’s entrance once did.