This theater had to be located at the Flushing Ave station of the Broadway Elevated on the north side of Broadway across the street from Woodhull Hospital.
Perhaps, but I want to see written proof that the Ridgewood Folly theater was on Woodward Ave at Woodbine St before believing it for certain. To much time, both productive and nonsense, has been spent on this theater to loose the information in this thread, and when I see in print on a reputible website or book, etc that the Ridgewood Folly and the Grand View (please not to be confused with the “Grandview Theater” also in Ridgewood and totally unrelated to either of these theaters) are one in the same. I have not seen this yet. We have photographic proof that the Ridgewood Folly existed with that name, and that photo is linked at the beginning of this thread from the quite reputible Times Newsweekly newspaper.
No hasty decisions invoving this theater or page should be made without absolute reputible proof. And while I do know you have added greatly to this site “Tom”, and you are knowlegdeble, you are the same person that added this theater as a “spoof” (and yes it was a real theater) and other times posted ridiculous posts about making out with Mae West in the RKO Madison’s balcony among other nonsense under scores of aliases, so I am not going to take your word for this without proof, and I would assume the webmasters of this site wouldn’t either.
Tom (or whatever your name is), your aliases have been known for months already, all 50 of them. Do I really have to post the whole list? I knew you were “Otto” long before this incident. You have been everything from FastEddie to Sally G (all versions of her) to SG Coglin to MagicLantern to Don Novak to SG Cogan to EdWood to SI Carmine to Edwin Yost to MovieCritic to KodakDude to Astanayx to Krull to RidgewoodBill to John Franz to SG Cogan to S-G Cogan to Sally. And the list goes on and on, and I have my suspiscions about some other names too, some of which may be “regulars†here, but I will not mention names.
And that’s fine, I don’t care, as long as you are productive on the site. But don’t think you are fooling anyone. We may not always respond, but ever since the “Sally†incident I have been on to all the aliases. I admit you got me then, but that was the only time since.
Yes. Longislandmovies is correct.
Actually, I also miss the Lace Mill. Unfortunately it’s water under the bridge, but before they allowed it to rot and deteriorate to what it became, it would have been so nice if they had used it for something like condos or loft apartments. So many apartment complexes were built in the 70’s and 80’s. If they had forgone some of them, and used the lace mill instead, they would have saved a historic building, and saved some of the land where the other complexes were built.
Unfortunately, Swezey’s would have went under even had they not moved. The move was a last ditched effort to try and save an ailing business. The were struggling for years before alread. They had hoped the move would save them, but unfortunately it didn’t. They were struggling for years, and the addition of Kohl’s to the area was the final nail. That was a chain that had similar merchandise to Swezey’s. It’s unfortunate, but the writing on the wall for the end of the era started long before they moved to the Lace Mills site.
Actually yes, please email it to me. I know I saved it somewhere on my computer, but forgot what I filed it under, so can’t find it.
I haven’t checked if it is on this site yet, if not, and if anyone knows anything about it, maybe it should be added.
Interesting Cassabel, I will have to check that out.
Bob, I didn’t remember this until you mentioned it, but I also remember seeing the Drive-In screen from the LIE in the 70’s!! I remember always looking for it when I would pass in the back seat.
I saw a movie in this theater for the first time the other day, and actually, it was better than I thought it would be. The lobby and hall was clean, as was the auditorium. The screen was small, but not any smaller than other theaters I have seen. The auditoriums are bare utilitarian – cement block walls painted black.
Now that I am used to the newer multiplexes, I found the seats extremely small in this theater – probably the smallest seats I have ever been in in a theater.
Since the entrance was on 165th street, the address of 9211 165th St should be used for this theaters address
Yes, that would be better than “Jamaica and 165th” as it says now. However, the Jamaica Ave address could also be used (the new entrance through what was once a store on Jamaica Ave which became the permanent and only entrance once RKO took over). So this theater really has two addresses (even though the building never moved). Hmmm, I wonder what happens when you have two addresess for the same theater, if they use the last address the theater used or the original.
Matthew, great site! I think some of us already found your site, because some of your theater photos are already linked to in some of the various theater’s sections on this site (like the Loew’s Gates Theater – Pilgrim Church, and the RKO Bushwick, now a high school).
Like you said, it appears you have been to a lot of the Brooklyn theater sites already!
Actually, also, your abandoned church photos at Wilson and Jefferson really got my interest, I even went to check that location out this past summer, and they there is a huge apartment building now being built on that site!
As with a lot of your photos, like many of the abandoned building/tenaments photos, a lot of your photos can actually be a before and after type of thing, since many of them have changed in the last 2-5 years. Some have been leveled, some have been refurbished. A few still remain. Actually, the RKO Bushwcick Theater has been completely transformed, as well as the immediate surroundings! You wouldn’t recognize it if you haven’t been there in a year or two. The building looks great, major chains like McDonalds have built nearby (what’s next – Starbucks??) The neighborhood is coming back slowly but surely. Even your photo at the Kosciuszko train station has changed since you took your photo there. The platforms have been all refurbished with new walls, ceilings, railings, and even glass stained windows!
jseven, since you appear to be a member of the Pilgrim Church (the former Loew’s Gates Theater), do you have any photos of the interior of the building? Or even historic ones, I (and I am sure many others) would love to see them.
I have walked around the theater (church) some months ago, and it seems so well maintained on the exterior. I would love to see the interior. I only know of one photo (drawing actually) of the interior available on the web, and that is the one that is linked above: http://pages.zdnet.com/kinema/id128.html
I also posted a link to the theater above (recent exterior shot from the sidestreet).
I believe that when your church first organized, they originally used the RKO Bushwick Theater when it first closed to movies, but then moved into the Loew’s Gates when it became available.
I would really love to see recent interior photos if you have any or know of any.
The only other option that may also work if they don’t decide to renovate the theater to compete, may be to do as the Jackson Heights Triplex did, and cater to the either the growing Polish or Hispanic population in Ridgewood. Again, the status quo won’t work once the Atlas Multiplex opens in nearby Glendale. It’s either renovate and keep the nearby residents of Ridgewood, Maspeth, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Greenpoint, East New York, Glendale, etc residents from going a littler further to Glendale and the brand new Altlas multiplex, keep going with the semi-rundown and definitely dated auditoriums they have now, but cater to some ethnic population and find a niche, or turn off the lights and the projection rooms forever.
As I said in another post under a different theater, the new Altlas Multiplex may spell the end of the Ridgewood Theatre. It’s long continuous run may finally come to an end. The Ridgewood is the sole surving theatre in that area of Queens and Brooklyn, there isn’t another theater for miles. (I believe the Forest Hills theaters are the closest), and those are certainly not “around the corner”. However, with a modern multiplex “almost” in walking distance from Ridgewood, the Ridgewood Theatre will fel the pull. The mangagement may be forced to either renovate the theater or “turn off the lights” without beginning a reel of film. Either way the status quo won’t do it. The Ridgewood Theatre has come upon a critical fork in the road that will decide it’s future, or non-future, and this fork will probably be as important as it’s life-saving decision to be cut up into a multiplex was in the early 1980’s.
Perhaps, but Glendale is not “that” close to Forest Hills…close enough, but I don’t think they would have to compete with each other that much.
Personally, I think the the Ridgewood Theatre is in trouble when the Atlas opens.
Last I heard, they were pulling seats out of the Commodore (so that doesn’t sound good), but who knows, there may be the highly unlikely event that they were renovating and “replacing” those seats….doubtful, but miracles do happen.
Hehe. To confuse things further, the Queens postal zones are divided up into large districts, so Ridgewood, Queen’s 11385 zip code is served out of the Flushing District (as are all the zips beginning with “113”). Jamaica is another large district, and there are others. It’s just the way mail is broken up in Queens, by the larger districts rather than by individual zip codes. This is done throughout Queens, noo matter where……although it’s just a little more to add confusion into the whole thing.
The one thing that is absolutely, undoubtedly accurate is that the Ridgewood Theater sits physically in Queens, and always did. The “Flushing” postal zip code thing is just an added confusion to make the confusion even more confusing!
Was this theater located along the J subway line’s Fulton St El, or was it east of Crescent St, after the point where the J line el swings over to Jamaica Ave?
I’m surprised they would play them at both theaters at all, even if not at the same time. It would seem to make more sense to play entirely different movies. Even if it weren’t at the same time, whichever theater played it first would have had most in the neighborhood that wanted to see it come already, so by the time it got to the second theater, it wouldn’t be all that patronized.
They would have played “Patton” at both the Ridgewood and the RKO Madison? I knew they were in competition with each other, but it seems foolish to me that they would play the same movie at both theaters.
Cool, I was just reading the “old” messages from the original listing (before I duplicated it), and Warren mentions the exact same book that I “discovered” this theater in.
If at the bookstore, check out the book, it’s a cool photo of the theater.
This theater had to be located at the Flushing Ave station of the Broadway Elevated on the north side of Broadway across the street from Woodhull Hospital.
Perhaps, but I want to see written proof that the Ridgewood Folly theater was on Woodward Ave at Woodbine St before believing it for certain. To much time, both productive and nonsense, has been spent on this theater to loose the information in this thread, and when I see in print on a reputible website or book, etc that the Ridgewood Folly and the Grand View (please not to be confused with the “Grandview Theater” also in Ridgewood and totally unrelated to either of these theaters) are one in the same. I have not seen this yet. We have photographic proof that the Ridgewood Folly existed with that name, and that photo is linked at the beginning of this thread from the quite reputible Times Newsweekly newspaper.
No hasty decisions invoving this theater or page should be made without absolute reputible proof. And while I do know you have added greatly to this site “Tom”, and you are knowlegdeble, you are the same person that added this theater as a “spoof” (and yes it was a real theater) and other times posted ridiculous posts about making out with Mae West in the RKO Madison’s balcony among other nonsense under scores of aliases, so I am not going to take your word for this without proof, and I would assume the webmasters of this site wouldn’t either.
Tom (or whatever your name is), your aliases have been known for months already, all 50 of them. Do I really have to post the whole list? I knew you were “Otto” long before this incident. You have been everything from FastEddie to Sally G (all versions of her) to SG Coglin to MagicLantern to Don Novak to SG Cogan to EdWood to SI Carmine to Edwin Yost to MovieCritic to KodakDude to Astanayx to Krull to RidgewoodBill to John Franz to SG Cogan to S-G Cogan to Sally. And the list goes on and on, and I have my suspiscions about some other names too, some of which may be “regulars†here, but I will not mention names.
And that’s fine, I don’t care, as long as you are productive on the site. But don’t think you are fooling anyone. We may not always respond, but ever since the “Sally†incident I have been on to all the aliases. I admit you got me then, but that was the only time since.
Yes. Longislandmovies is correct.
Actually, I also miss the Lace Mill. Unfortunately it’s water under the bridge, but before they allowed it to rot and deteriorate to what it became, it would have been so nice if they had used it for something like condos or loft apartments. So many apartment complexes were built in the 70’s and 80’s. If they had forgone some of them, and used the lace mill instead, they would have saved a historic building, and saved some of the land where the other complexes were built.
Unfortunately, Swezey’s would have went under even had they not moved. The move was a last ditched effort to try and save an ailing business. The were struggling for years before alread. They had hoped the move would save them, but unfortunately it didn’t. They were struggling for years, and the addition of Kohl’s to the area was the final nail. That was a chain that had similar merchandise to Swezey’s. It’s unfortunate, but the writing on the wall for the end of the era started long before they moved to the Lace Mills site.
Well I only ask “Mr Burger” because you always mention her when talking about the RKO Madison’s balcony.
Actually yes, please email it to me. I know I saved it somewhere on my computer, but forgot what I filed it under, so can’t find it.
I haven’t checked if it is on this site yet, if not, and if anyone knows anything about it, maybe it should be added.
Interesting Cassabel, I will have to check that out.
Bob, I didn’t remember this until you mentioned it, but I also remember seeing the Drive-In screen from the LIE in the 70’s!! I remember always looking for it when I would pass in the back seat.
I wonder if Mae West ever performed there.
I saw a movie in this theater for the first time the other day, and actually, it was better than I thought it would be. The lobby and hall was clean, as was the auditorium. The screen was small, but not any smaller than other theaters I have seen. The auditoriums are bare utilitarian – cement block walls painted black.
Now that I am used to the newer multiplexes, I found the seats extremely small in this theater – probably the smallest seats I have ever been in in a theater.
Since the entrance was on 165th street, the address of 9211 165th St should be used for this theaters address
Yes, that would be better than “Jamaica and 165th” as it says now. However, the Jamaica Ave address could also be used (the new entrance through what was once a store on Jamaica Ave which became the permanent and only entrance once RKO took over). So this theater really has two addresses (even though the building never moved). Hmmm, I wonder what happens when you have two addresess for the same theater, if they use the last address the theater used or the original.
Matthew, great site! I think some of us already found your site, because some of your theater photos are already linked to in some of the various theater’s sections on this site (like the Loew’s Gates Theater – Pilgrim Church, and the RKO Bushwick, now a high school).
Like you said, it appears you have been to a lot of the Brooklyn theater sites already!
Actually, also, your abandoned church photos at Wilson and Jefferson really got my interest, I even went to check that location out this past summer, and they there is a huge apartment building now being built on that site!
As with a lot of your photos, like many of the abandoned building/tenaments photos, a lot of your photos can actually be a before and after type of thing, since many of them have changed in the last 2-5 years. Some have been leveled, some have been refurbished. A few still remain. Actually, the RKO Bushwcick Theater has been completely transformed, as well as the immediate surroundings! You wouldn’t recognize it if you haven’t been there in a year or two. The building looks great, major chains like McDonalds have built nearby (what’s next – Starbucks??) The neighborhood is coming back slowly but surely. Even your photo at the Kosciuszko train station has changed since you took your photo there. The platforms have been all refurbished with new walls, ceilings, railings, and even glass stained windows!
Anyway, great photos. Keep up the good work!
The prices have gone way up in Williamsburg. The area is gentrifying.
jseven, since you appear to be a member of the Pilgrim Church (the former Loew’s Gates Theater), do you have any photos of the interior of the building? Or even historic ones, I (and I am sure many others) would love to see them.
I have walked around the theater (church) some months ago, and it seems so well maintained on the exterior. I would love to see the interior. I only know of one photo (drawing actually) of the interior available on the web, and that is the one that is linked above:
http://pages.zdnet.com/kinema/id128.html
I also posted a link to the theater above (recent exterior shot from the sidestreet).
I believe that when your church first organized, they originally used the RKO Bushwick Theater when it first closed to movies, but then moved into the Loew’s Gates when it became available.
I would really love to see recent interior photos if you have any or know of any.
The only other option that may also work if they don’t decide to renovate the theater to compete, may be to do as the Jackson Heights Triplex did, and cater to the either the growing Polish or Hispanic population in Ridgewood. Again, the status quo won’t work once the Atlas Multiplex opens in nearby Glendale. It’s either renovate and keep the nearby residents of Ridgewood, Maspeth, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Greenpoint, East New York, Glendale, etc residents from going a littler further to Glendale and the brand new Altlas multiplex, keep going with the semi-rundown and definitely dated auditoriums they have now, but cater to some ethnic population and find a niche, or turn off the lights and the projection rooms forever.
As I said in another post under a different theater, the new Altlas Multiplex may spell the end of the Ridgewood Theatre. It’s long continuous run may finally come to an end. The Ridgewood is the sole surving theatre in that area of Queens and Brooklyn, there isn’t another theater for miles. (I believe the Forest Hills theaters are the closest), and those are certainly not “around the corner”. However, with a modern multiplex “almost” in walking distance from Ridgewood, the Ridgewood Theatre will fel the pull. The mangagement may be forced to either renovate the theater or “turn off the lights” without beginning a reel of film. Either way the status quo won’t do it. The Ridgewood Theatre has come upon a critical fork in the road that will decide it’s future, or non-future, and this fork will probably be as important as it’s life-saving decision to be cut up into a multiplex was in the early 1980’s.
Perhaps, but Glendale is not “that” close to Forest Hills…close enough, but I don’t think they would have to compete with each other that much.
Personally, I think the the Ridgewood Theatre is in trouble when the Atlas opens.
Last I heard, they were pulling seats out of the Commodore (so that doesn’t sound good), but who knows, there may be the highly unlikely event that they were renovating and “replacing” those seats….doubtful, but miracles do happen.
Hehe. To confuse things further, the Queens postal zones are divided up into large districts, so Ridgewood, Queen’s 11385 zip code is served out of the Flushing District (as are all the zips beginning with “113”). Jamaica is another large district, and there are others. It’s just the way mail is broken up in Queens, by the larger districts rather than by individual zip codes. This is done throughout Queens, noo matter where……although it’s just a little more to add confusion into the whole thing.
The one thing that is absolutely, undoubtedly accurate is that the Ridgewood Theater sits physically in Queens, and always did. The “Flushing” postal zip code thing is just an added confusion to make the confusion even more confusing!
Yes, but I don’t believe they are projected movies. I’m not sure though.
Was this theater located along the J subway line’s Fulton St El, or was it east of Crescent St, after the point where the J line el swings over to Jamaica Ave?
I’m surprised they would play them at both theaters at all, even if not at the same time. It would seem to make more sense to play entirely different movies. Even if it weren’t at the same time, whichever theater played it first would have had most in the neighborhood that wanted to see it come already, so by the time it got to the second theater, it wouldn’t be all that patronized.
They would have played “Patton” at both the Ridgewood and the RKO Madison? I knew they were in competition with each other, but it seems foolish to me that they would play the same movie at both theaters.
Quote Lostmemory:
Okay, the other two Star theaters have addresses
Of course there’s also the Starr theater in Brooklyn with two r’s that is also now demolished:
/theaters/8018/
Cool, I was just reading the “old” messages from the original listing (before I duplicated it), and Warren mentions the exact same book that I “discovered” this theater in.
If at the bookstore, check out the book, it’s a cool photo of the theater.