I agree, Bway, and I think it would improve the southeast side of Cypress Avenue, between Madison Street and Putnam Avenue, to have more stores fronting on it, instead of the present huge blank back brick wall of the Ridgewood Theatre, and a few storefronts squeezed in near the corner with Putnam Avenue.
No, John, I don’t. I wonder why not, though, given its proximity to SFP on North 6th Street between Bedford and Driggs Avenues, and its location on the 14th Street Canarsie Line between the Myrtle and Bedford Avenue stations. I’ll let you tell me the closest L line station to Most Holy Trinity.
I was at SFP from September 1969 to June 1973.
Due to testosterone poisoning, we tended to be most aware of the girls' schools like St. Nick’s and Angela Hall, the dances therewith, and the provisions therefore, like the “sin bin” and the “balling alley”.
John Dereszewski, I’m glad you have no problem with my modest borrowings from your testimony. I’m also glad you found my comments on my personal experiences of the Ridgewood to be absolutely priceless. That’s why I invited attention to this Ridgewood Theatre page of Cinema Treasures in my testimony.
Poor SFP associate ? Perhaps poor financially but not poor intellectually. I’ll try not to take it personally.
Retail along Cypress Avenue : frontage is least along Myrtle Avenue, second largest on Cypress Avenue, largest on Madison Street. Other than that, I have no insights into possible redevelopment.
Thanks for the Woody Allen, Tsar Czar, reference. I love Allen’s films. I’m a bit reminded of the old joke about the law firm of Cohen Cohen and Cohen.
Thanks for the compliment, John, and for the link to the NY Times article. I appreciate that, because I never got to the news-stand Friday or Saturday to pick up a copy in person.
I hope you didn’t mind my using some of your wording in my testimony without crediting you.
The Times article also mentions our Michael Perlman.
You’re most welcome to my efforts on both counts, Lost Memory. My pleasure.
Yes, it would be good if the retail entrance was on Cypress Avenue and the theater entrance remained on Myrtle Avenue, as it would benefit and help preserve the mostly intact inner lobby.
Here is the written testimony I submitted to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commision on Friday March 27 2009 :
Chairperson Tierney and members of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, I am pleased to offer the following testimony in support of the designation of the historic Ridgewood Theatre as a New York City landmark, as a follow-up to my in-person verbal testimony this past Tuesday March 24th 2009.
My name is Peter Koch. I am a current resident of Dobbs Ferry NY who grew up in Bushwick and Ridgewood. I lived in Ridgewood from my birth in mid-November 1955 until my father and I sold our Ridgewood home at the end of May 1999, 83 % of my life to date. I am a civil engineer by degree and work experience, but am also an avid amateur urban archaeologist. I am extremely nostalgic about my home neighborhood of Ridgewood. About Halloween 1977, the last of Ridgewood’s other movie showplaces, the palatial RKO Madison, closed its doors for good during a period of profound urban decay following the looting, burning and destruction of Bushwick caused by the July 1977 NYC blackout. The Madison now stands as a much-defaced shadow of its former glory. Yet the Ridgewood survived and continued to serve this community until only one year ago. Hopefully, the Commission’s actions will not only preserve this wonderful edifice but encourage the realization of a future cinematic and theatrical history for the Ridgewood.
The fact that the Commission has moved so positively and expeditiously in calendaring this item is commendable and underlines its commitment to historic preservation that is neither Manhattan-based nor of “high†social status. Such actions only enhance the Commission’s role as a truly City-wide guardian of New York’s many historic treasures.
The Ridgewood Theatre was a second home to me, from the first film I remember seeing there, “Morgan The Pirateâ€, starring Steve Reeves, in the summer of 1961, as a boy of five, to the last film I saw there, “The Bourne Ulitmatumâ€, on the last Saturday of August 2007, with two friends I had made on the Cinema Treasure fansite, six and a half months before it closed on Sunday March 9th 2008. Between those two times my family, friends and I saw hundreds of films there. Time and space do not permit me to elaborate on the cultural and entertainment value and importance of the Ridgewood Theatre to me and my friends and family, but one can get an idea from reading the many posts on the Ridgewood Theatre page on the Cinema Treasures fansite. It is one of the longest, if not THE longest, pages on that fan site. Admittedly, many posts are off-topic and are not movie-related, but ALL posts have served to bring and hold together the cyber-community of former and current Ridgewood residents. The number and enthusiasm of these many posts is evidence of both the strength of the Ridgewood cyber-community and the importance of the Ridgewood Theatre itself to that community.
In my humble opinion, it simply makes no sense for there to be no functioning Ridgewood Theatre in Ridgewood. With the loss of the Oasis, Madison, Parthenon, Grandview, Irving, Wyckoff, Acme, Glenwood and Arion Theatres, and most recently the Elmwood in Elmhurst, not to mention the Bushwick movie palaces of the RKO Bushwick, and Loews Gates and Colonial Theatres, now a school and churches respectively, there is no other theatre besides the Ridgewood within a 3 ½ mile radius of itself. The closest is the new Atlas Park Cinema at Cooper Avenue and 80th Street in Glendale 3 ½ miles to the east northeast. Then there are only the Midway Theatre and Brandon Cinemas in Forest Hills 4 miles to the northeast, the Linden Boulevard Multiplex five miles to the southeast, the cinemas of downtown Brooklyn 4 miles due west on Myrtle Avenue, and the cinemas of Jackson Heights 4 miles to the north. None are within walking distance of Ridgewood. It simply makes no sense for the diverse, bustling, gentrifying and growing community of Ridgewood to be without a cinema within walking distance of most of its residents. The Ridgewood Theatre is located near the western end of the Myrtle Avenue “miracle mile†of shopping, and conveniently only a few blocks from the bus and subway hub of Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues and Palmetto Street which features stations of the M and L lines, and the B-26, B-13, B-52. B-54, Q-55 and Q-58 MTA buses.
When one turns to the Ridgewood’s historic and social role in its host community and the extraordinary impact it had has upon Ridgewood’s past and current residents, the case for designation becomes even more profound. From the date it helped usher in the Christmas season of 1916, the Ridgewood has played a central role in the community’s cultural, entertainment and economic life. This remained the case despite major changes in the community’s ethnic and economic make up, as the Ridgewood adapted itself to meet differing needs and preferences. This is a key reason why the Ridgewood was able to maintain itself â€" until last year – as the longest continuously operated movie theater, not only in NYC but in the USA as well.
While I realize that only the exterior of the Ridgewood is currently being considered for designation, I also believe that the approval of this action will create strong incentives for the voluntary preservation of additional portions of the old theater, particular the distinguished and largely intact inner lobby. In addition, landmarks preservation might also encourage the future cinematic and/or theatrical utilization of at least a portion of this theater, as mentioned by Mario Saggese, a co-owner of the Ridgewood Theatre, at the March 24th 2009 hearing.
To quote Michael Perlman, my fellow advocate of the Ridgewood Theatre’s preservation : “Theaters are the ‘ultimate public institutions’ which bridge the generations, as they foster community growth and pride, harbor countless memories, and often exhibit the work of our country’s most skillful architects. Commissioned architects hoped to leave a long-lasting impression of grandeur, confidence, serenity, and comfort; a bold step away from the pressures of society. When sacrificed in the name of progress, their loss is most heartfelt. Local theaters with an unfortunate fate include the Oasis, Parthenon, Irving, and RKO Madison Theatre (retail), but the Ridgewood Theatre can be economically viable if preserved and adaptively reused for theater-related purposes. It would contribute to an up and coming neighborhood and a diverse borough, and would boost jobs.â€
A job boost is sorely needed in our current economy, and the re-opening of the Ridgewood Theatre, as part retail and part cinema, would be, to use the current terminology, an ideal “stimulus†to the economy of Ridgewood.
After the RKO Madison Theatre stopped showing films around Halloween 1977, on the last Saturday of February 1978, I walked past the Madison Theatre and sadly saw the derelict hulk it had become. On its front was a sign that read :
THIS IS HOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STARTS TO DECAY ! IF THIS BOTHERS YOU, CALL (phone # for community action)
I never did, but, fourteen months later, in early April 1979, after the RKO Madison had been burned by an internal fire, I stood sadly on the sidewalk once again, looking into the charred remains within. An elderly man joined me and remarked wistfully and sadly “what a beautiful show house that once wasâ€. Truer words were never spoken.
I don’t want the Ridgewood Theatre to suffer that sad fate of the RKO Madison Theatre if I can help it.
For these reasons, I congratulate the Commission for scheduling this item for consideration and strongly urge that you promptly act to make the landmarks designation of the Ridgewood Theatre a reality.
My written testimony will focus on why it makes no sense for Ridgewood to be without a Ridgewood Theatre, when it can so easily be re-opened and restored to function as a theatre, and how I do not wish the Ridgewood Theater to suffer the fate of the RKO Madison Theatre, if I can help it.
Michael Perlman and I and others testified in person at the Ridgewood Theatre landmarking public hearing this past Tuesday March 24th 2009. Also in attendance was NY Times reporter Anne Barnard. Her story is due to appear in the Metro Section (Metro Journal) of this coming Saturday’s (March 28th) New York Times.
I will post my written testimony about the Ridgewood Theatre here once I have written it and e-mailed it to the appropriate NYC landmarking personnel as directed by Michael Perlman in his post above.
Bob F, Murray The K’s last name was Kaufman. Mine is not. Lost Memory and I have chatted about “Murray The K’s Swingin' Soiree Is Now In Session !” back in 2004. He was kind enough then to post the link to a sound byte of same. Perhaps he will do so once again.
Indeed they will, Panzer65.
Indeed we can, John D.
I agree, Bway, and I think it would improve the southeast side of Cypress Avenue, between Madison Street and Putnam Avenue, to have more stores fronting on it, instead of the present huge blank back brick wall of the Ridgewood Theatre, and a few storefronts squeezed in near the corner with Putnam Avenue.
Thanks, Lost Memory.
I “grew up” on the B-18 bus, so to speak.
Thanks for the info, John D.
Thanks, John D., for the answers to my questions, and also for the additional information, especially the theaters.
The Graham went porno in its final years as a cinema ?
Was the Graham Avenue bus the B-18 ? If not, what was the route number ?
No, John, I don’t. I wonder why not, though, given its proximity to SFP on North 6th Street between Bedford and Driggs Avenues, and its location on the 14th Street Canarsie Line between the Myrtle and Bedford Avenue stations. I’ll let you tell me the closest L line station to Most Holy Trinity.
I was at SFP from September 1969 to June 1973.
Due to testosterone poisoning, we tended to be most aware of the girls' schools like St. Nick’s and Angela Hall, the dances therewith, and the provisions therefore, like the “sin bin” and the “balling alley”.
John D., what happened to your alma mater, Most Holy Trinity H.S. ?
John Dereszewski, I’m glad you have no problem with my modest borrowings from your testimony. I’m also glad you found my comments on my personal experiences of the Ridgewood to be absolutely priceless. That’s why I invited attention to this Ridgewood Theatre page of Cinema Treasures in my testimony.
Poor SFP associate ? Perhaps poor financially but not poor intellectually. I’ll try not to take it personally.
Retail along Cypress Avenue : frontage is least along Myrtle Avenue, second largest on Cypress Avenue, largest on Madison Street. Other than that, I have no insights into possible redevelopment.
Thanks for the Woody Allen, Tsar Czar, reference. I love Allen’s films. I’m a bit reminded of the old joke about the law firm of Cohen Cohen and Cohen.
Talk soon indeed.
You’re welcome, LuisV. I am, indeed, both PKoch and PeterK.
Thanks for the compliment, John, and for the link to the NY Times article. I appreciate that, because I never got to the news-stand Friday or Saturday to pick up a copy in person.
I hope you didn’t mind my using some of your wording in my testimony without crediting you.
The Times article also mentions our Michael Perlman.
You’re most welcome to my efforts on both counts, Lost Memory. My pleasure.
Yes, it would be good if the retail entrance was on Cypress Avenue and the theater entrance remained on Myrtle Avenue, as it would benefit and help preserve the mostly intact inner lobby.
Here is the written testimony I submitted to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commision on Friday March 27 2009 :
Chairperson Tierney and members of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, I am pleased to offer the following testimony in support of the designation of the historic Ridgewood Theatre as a New York City landmark, as a follow-up to my in-person verbal testimony this past Tuesday March 24th 2009.
My name is Peter Koch. I am a current resident of Dobbs Ferry NY who grew up in Bushwick and Ridgewood. I lived in Ridgewood from my birth in mid-November 1955 until my father and I sold our Ridgewood home at the end of May 1999, 83 % of my life to date. I am a civil engineer by degree and work experience, but am also an avid amateur urban archaeologist. I am extremely nostalgic about my home neighborhood of Ridgewood. About Halloween 1977, the last of Ridgewood’s other movie showplaces, the palatial RKO Madison, closed its doors for good during a period of profound urban decay following the looting, burning and destruction of Bushwick caused by the July 1977 NYC blackout. The Madison now stands as a much-defaced shadow of its former glory. Yet the Ridgewood survived and continued to serve this community until only one year ago. Hopefully, the Commission’s actions will not only preserve this wonderful edifice but encourage the realization of a future cinematic and theatrical history for the Ridgewood.
The fact that the Commission has moved so positively and expeditiously in calendaring this item is commendable and underlines its commitment to historic preservation that is neither Manhattan-based nor of “high†social status. Such actions only enhance the Commission’s role as a truly City-wide guardian of New York’s many historic treasures.
The Ridgewood Theatre was a second home to me, from the first film I remember seeing there, “Morgan The Pirateâ€, starring Steve Reeves, in the summer of 1961, as a boy of five, to the last film I saw there, “The Bourne Ulitmatumâ€, on the last Saturday of August 2007, with two friends I had made on the Cinema Treasure fansite, six and a half months before it closed on Sunday March 9th 2008. Between those two times my family, friends and I saw hundreds of films there. Time and space do not permit me to elaborate on the cultural and entertainment value and importance of the Ridgewood Theatre to me and my friends and family, but one can get an idea from reading the many posts on the Ridgewood Theatre page on the Cinema Treasures fansite. It is one of the longest, if not THE longest, pages on that fan site. Admittedly, many posts are off-topic and are not movie-related, but ALL posts have served to bring and hold together the cyber-community of former and current Ridgewood residents. The number and enthusiasm of these many posts is evidence of both the strength of the Ridgewood cyber-community and the importance of the Ridgewood Theatre itself to that community.
In my humble opinion, it simply makes no sense for there to be no functioning Ridgewood Theatre in Ridgewood. With the loss of the Oasis, Madison, Parthenon, Grandview, Irving, Wyckoff, Acme, Glenwood and Arion Theatres, and most recently the Elmwood in Elmhurst, not to mention the Bushwick movie palaces of the RKO Bushwick, and Loews Gates and Colonial Theatres, now a school and churches respectively, there is no other theatre besides the Ridgewood within a 3 ½ mile radius of itself. The closest is the new Atlas Park Cinema at Cooper Avenue and 80th Street in Glendale 3 ½ miles to the east northeast. Then there are only the Midway Theatre and Brandon Cinemas in Forest Hills 4 miles to the northeast, the Linden Boulevard Multiplex five miles to the southeast, the cinemas of downtown Brooklyn 4 miles due west on Myrtle Avenue, and the cinemas of Jackson Heights 4 miles to the north. None are within walking distance of Ridgewood. It simply makes no sense for the diverse, bustling, gentrifying and growing community of Ridgewood to be without a cinema within walking distance of most of its residents. The Ridgewood Theatre is located near the western end of the Myrtle Avenue “miracle mile†of shopping, and conveniently only a few blocks from the bus and subway hub of Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues and Palmetto Street which features stations of the M and L lines, and the B-26, B-13, B-52. B-54, Q-55 and Q-58 MTA buses.
When one turns to the Ridgewood’s historic and social role in its host community and the extraordinary impact it had has upon Ridgewood’s past and current residents, the case for designation becomes even more profound. From the date it helped usher in the Christmas season of 1916, the Ridgewood has played a central role in the community’s cultural, entertainment and economic life. This remained the case despite major changes in the community’s ethnic and economic make up, as the Ridgewood adapted itself to meet differing needs and preferences. This is a key reason why the Ridgewood was able to maintain itself â€" until last year – as the longest continuously operated movie theater, not only in NYC but in the USA as well.
While I realize that only the exterior of the Ridgewood is currently being considered for designation, I also believe that the approval of this action will create strong incentives for the voluntary preservation of additional portions of the old theater, particular the distinguished and largely intact inner lobby. In addition, landmarks preservation might also encourage the future cinematic and/or theatrical utilization of at least a portion of this theater, as mentioned by Mario Saggese, a co-owner of the Ridgewood Theatre, at the March 24th 2009 hearing.
To quote Michael Perlman, my fellow advocate of the Ridgewood Theatre’s preservation : “Theaters are the ‘ultimate public institutions’ which bridge the generations, as they foster community growth and pride, harbor countless memories, and often exhibit the work of our country’s most skillful architects. Commissioned architects hoped to leave a long-lasting impression of grandeur, confidence, serenity, and comfort; a bold step away from the pressures of society. When sacrificed in the name of progress, their loss is most heartfelt. Local theaters with an unfortunate fate include the Oasis, Parthenon, Irving, and RKO Madison Theatre (retail), but the Ridgewood Theatre can be economically viable if preserved and adaptively reused for theater-related purposes. It would contribute to an up and coming neighborhood and a diverse borough, and would boost jobs.â€
A job boost is sorely needed in our current economy, and the re-opening of the Ridgewood Theatre, as part retail and part cinema, would be, to use the current terminology, an ideal “stimulus†to the economy of Ridgewood.
After the RKO Madison Theatre stopped showing films around Halloween 1977, on the last Saturday of February 1978, I walked past the Madison Theatre and sadly saw the derelict hulk it had become. On its front was a sign that read :
THIS IS HOW YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD STARTS TO DECAY ! IF THIS BOTHERS YOU, CALL (phone # for community action)
I never did, but, fourteen months later, in early April 1979, after the RKO Madison had been burned by an internal fire, I stood sadly on the sidewalk once again, looking into the charred remains within. An elderly man joined me and remarked wistfully and sadly “what a beautiful show house that once wasâ€. Truer words were never spoken.
I don’t want the Ridgewood Theatre to suffer that sad fate of the RKO Madison Theatre if I can help it.
For these reasons, I congratulate the Commission for scheduling this item for consideration and strongly urge that you promptly act to make the landmarks designation of the Ridgewood Theatre a reality.
Thank you for your attention.
You’re welcome, Bway, I will keep you posted (literally). I agree with what you’ve said in your post above.
My written testimony will focus on why it makes no sense for Ridgewood to be without a Ridgewood Theatre, when it can so easily be re-opened and restored to function as a theatre, and how I do not wish the Ridgewood Theater to suffer the fate of the RKO Madison Theatre, if I can help it.
Michael Perlman and I and others testified in person at the Ridgewood Theatre landmarking public hearing this past Tuesday March 24th 2009. Also in attendance was NY Times reporter Anne Barnard. Her story is due to appear in the Metro Section (Metro Journal) of this coming Saturday’s (March 28th) New York Times.
I will post my written testimony about the Ridgewood Theatre here once I have written it and e-mailed it to the appropriate NYC landmarking personnel as directed by Michael Perlman in his post above.
John, I understand your point about conveying what the Ridgewood Theatre really means to Ridgewood, and I will proceed accordingly.
Thanks, John D. I will pattern my own testimony after yours. Hope to see you at the Municipal Building next Tuesday.
I will, John D. Thanks for your support and encouragement.
Good thoughts and observations, LuisV and ECR. Thanks.
Yes, ECR, shoot your hard drive. Let’s go back to metal styli in cuneiform on clay tablets delivered by camel.
I use my name, but compress my last name to a single capital letter.
That doesn’t give Warren or any CT member the right to abuse me or anyone else on CT.
What point was that, Bob F ?
Thanks, George, I’m glad you agree.
Bob F, Murray The K’s last name was Kaufman. Mine is not. Lost Memory and I have chatted about “Murray The K’s Swingin' Soiree Is Now In Session !” back in 2004. He was kind enough then to post the link to a sound byte of same. Perhaps he will do so once again.
None whatsoever.