I’m here, Lost Memory. Thanks for posting the ad for “Frenzy”. I saw “Frenzy” at the Ridgewood with my parents in late June or early July 1972 with my parents, on a double bill with “Play Misty For Me”. Great double feature !
The latter film was Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut.
Seeing the excellent “Frenzy” at the Ridgewood cancelled out the disappointment I had felt after seeing Hitchcock’s preceding film “Topaz” at the RKO Madison in March 1970.
“The Ridgewood is still advertised as being in Brooklyn.”
Probably because Ridgewood postal zone 27 was still in the Brooklyn post office. My Ridgewood home address at the time was still “Brooklyn N Y 11227”.
I walked past the Ridgewood Theatre last Friday July 24 2009 on my monthly trip to Ridgewood. Still closed. No sign of renevation or other activity within. The only change from my visit last month (June 2009) was a poster from the 1991 film “Backdraft” propped up inside the lobby.
I saw the film “Rocky” here in late July 1977 for 99 cents, with a few co-workers of mine, on my first job, a summer job, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
I get my 30 year plaque or pin from the Corps of Engineers tomorrow.
Please post a link to ther New York Times Real Estate article if you can.
I walked past the Ridgewood Theatre about 11:15 a.m. last Friday and had a look at it.
There is now no phone number on the marquee. I saw no new penetrations of, or construction of storefronts within, the brick walls on Cypress Avenue and Madison Street. The front mesh gate was down. Two of he doors to the outer lobby were open. I looked inside.
The doors to the two first floor cinemas were open, and there were names of films above each one, probably left from when it last functioned as a theater on March 8 2008. I should have written them down, but did not. The name over the door to Cinema 1 to the left was something like
THE P ARITANS
I do not recall the film name above the door to Cinema 2 to the right.
Jose_M, I look down your old block of Halsey St. every month when I pop out of the subway at Wyckoff and Halsey to bank at Ridgewood Savings Bank. My cousin Joseph was baptized at St. Martin of Tours Church and my parents used to live two doors down from the church on Weirfield Street, across Weirfield St. from Irving Square (Halsey) Park.
Regarding the Ridgewood Theatre, I walked by it at about 11:45 a.m. EDT Friday May 22 2009. The front mesh gate was still down, but two doors to the outer lobby were open. The phone number
917 578 7701
was still on the marquee. Otherwise, no change since my last visit on Friday April 24 2009. I did not walk around to see what was going on, if anything, with the Cypress Avenue and Madison Street sides of the building.
When I last passed by the Ridgewood Theatre this past Friday April 24 2009 I noticed that the message that was on the marquee in March 2008, shortly after it had closed on March 9, 2008, is once again back up on the marquee :
FOR LEASE 917 578 7701
I have not yet called this number to see what’s up.
The marquee shown in the 1967 photo collapsed in the blizzard of February 9-10, 1969. I remember it well, was living nearby when it happened, and have written and posted about it many times. One of my e-mails about it was printed in the “Old Timer / Our Neighborhood” column of the Times Newsweekly shortly after the Ridgewood Theatre’s 90th anniversary in December 2006.
Thanks for the 1986 photos, LM. Beautiful still, but what a waste of all those years that the RKO Bushwick sat derelict and unused. The closeups of the window details are majestic, though, like the Palace of Green Porcelain, a vast future museum in H.G. Wells' classic novel “The Time Machine”.
A shot of the southwest corner of the RKO Bushwick, at the northeast corner of Howard Avenue and Madison Street, would well convey its impressive bulk. There’s a shot of the Bushwick like that in Matthew Melnick, “Lost Brooklyn Trips” :
Thanks so much for that beautiful image, Lost Memory. I had forgotten about that dark blue bell curve-shaped marquee support on the roof until I saw it again just now in your image. Thanks again !
No, LM, I have heard nothing about the Ridgewood’s landmark status. I recommend you contact Michael Perlman (Native Forest Hiller) about that.
I’m here, Lost Memory. Thanks for posting the ad for “Frenzy”. I saw “Frenzy” at the Ridgewood with my parents in late June or early July 1972 with my parents, on a double bill with “Play Misty For Me”. Great double feature !
The latter film was Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut.
Seeing the excellent “Frenzy” at the Ridgewood cancelled out the disappointment I had felt after seeing Hitchcock’s preceding film “Topaz” at the RKO Madison in March 1970.
“The Ridgewood is still advertised as being in Brooklyn.”
Probably because Ridgewood postal zone 27 was still in the Brooklyn post office. My Ridgewood home address at the time was still “Brooklyn N Y 11227”.
I walked past the Ridgewood Theatre last Friday July 24 2009 on my monthly trip to Ridgewood. Still closed. No sign of renevation or other activity within. The only change from my visit last month (June 2009) was a poster from the 1991 film “Backdraft” propped up inside the lobby.
This is before my time, once upon a time. I therefore cannot comment, but thanks for your post.
I saw the film “Rocky” here in late July 1977 for 99 cents, with a few co-workers of mine, on my first job, a summer job, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
I get my 30 year plaque or pin from the Corps of Engineers tomorrow.
Good posting to you, too, John. You’re welcome to the spelling correction. Thanks for the link to the NY Times article.
I am clueless about the Echo Theatre.
Thanks, John D.
I think you meant the Pythian Temple.
Please post a link to ther New York Times Real Estate article if you can.
I walked past the Ridgewood Theatre about 11:15 a.m. last Friday and had a look at it.
There is now no phone number on the marquee. I saw no new penetrations of, or construction of storefronts within, the brick walls on Cypress Avenue and Madison Street. The front mesh gate was down. Two of he doors to the outer lobby were open. I looked inside.
The doors to the two first floor cinemas were open, and there were names of films above each one, probably left from when it last functioned as a theater on March 8 2008. I should have written them down, but did not. The name over the door to Cinema 1 to the left was something like
THE P ARITANS
I do not recall the film name above the door to Cinema 2 to the right.
Bway, have you posted this news of Bushwick Buddies yet ?
This is all great news, John D, which I thank you for sharing. I will have a look myself, hopefully inside, when I’m in Ridgewood this Friday morning.
None that I’m aware of, LM.
I don’t know, John, but I’ll be walking by there next Friday, June 19th, and will report here what I’ve seen, as I always do.
Jose_M, I look down your old block of Halsey St. every month when I pop out of the subway at Wyckoff and Halsey to bank at Ridgewood Savings Bank. My cousin Joseph was baptized at St. Martin of Tours Church and my parents used to live two doors down from the church on Weirfield Street, across Weirfield St. from Irving Square (Halsey) Park.
I remember them very well, Jose_M, and welcome to Cinema Treasures !
You may be interested in checking out and joining Bushwick Buddies at :
http://www.bushwickbuddies.com
for some more great neighborhood chat.
Regarding the Ridgewood Theatre, I walked by it at about 11:45 a.m. EDT Friday May 22 2009. The front mesh gate was still down, but two doors to the outer lobby were open. The phone number
917 578 7701
was still on the marquee. Otherwise, no change since my last visit on Friday April 24 2009. I did not walk around to see what was going on, if anything, with the Cypress Avenue and Madison Street sides of the building.
Thanks for the good news, Fred. I testified at that March 24 2009 hearing.
You and me both, Bway. We shall see.
When I last passed by the Ridgewood Theatre this past Friday April 24 2009 I noticed that the message that was on the marquee in March 2008, shortly after it had closed on March 9, 2008, is once again back up on the marquee :
FOR LEASE 917 578 7701
I have not yet called this number to see what’s up.
The marquee shown in the 1967 photo collapsed in the blizzard of February 9-10, 1969. I remember it well, was living nearby when it happened, and have written and posted about it many times. One of my e-mails about it was printed in the “Old Timer / Our Neighborhood” column of the Times Newsweekly shortly after the Ridgewood Theatre’s 90th anniversary in December 2006.
Good comments, Bway. Thanks !
joe zizzo, I meant CT, not BB (Bushwick Buddies) although you’d probably enjoy being there, too. Freudian slip :
http://www.bushwickbuddies.com/
Thanks for the 1986 photos, LM. Beautiful still, but what a waste of all those years that the RKO Bushwick sat derelict and unused. The closeups of the window details are majestic, though, like the Palace of Green Porcelain, a vast future museum in H.G. Wells' classic novel “The Time Machine”.
A shot of the southwest corner of the RKO Bushwick, at the northeast corner of Howard Avenue and Madison Street, would well convey its impressive bulk. There’s a shot of the Bushwick like that in Matthew Melnick, “Lost Brooklyn Trips” :
http://www.lostbrooklyn.org
Melnick’s shots of derelict buildings in Brooklyn make it look (to me) like an abandoned city of the dead.
Thanks for joining us here on BB, joe zizzo. Welcome ! And thanks for sharing your treasured memories with us. I hope to read more from you !
Again, Lost Memory, thanks. How did you find these images ?
So would have I, John D.
Beauitful ! Thanks, Lost Memory !
Re : RKO Bushwick : Will do, Lost Memory. Thanks.
I had wondered about the date of the removal of the Ridgewood’s vertical sign.
Excuse me. The support was for the vertical sign, not the marquee. The marquee collapsed as a result of the blizzard of February 9-10 1969.
Photos can indeed help jog one’s memory. Thanks again.
Thanks so much for that beautiful image, Lost Memory. I had forgotten about that dark blue bell curve-shaped marquee support on the roof until I saw it again just now in your image. Thanks again !