YankeeMike, Do you mean the Loew’s Oriental on 86th Street which closed in May of 1995? Sony Theatres also sold that property off when they closed it for good.
I would rather see the 72nd Street East be run by Clearview, than be closed forever. It probably comes down to who will offer AMC/Loews more money for the properties they are divesting in NYC. Regal has pretty deep pockets & Clearview’s parent company Rainbow Media is in the process of being spun off from Cablevision.
The Ewalk would be a real feather in Cleaview’s cap if they do get it, isn’t the newest theatre they have the Chelsea? Also has Clearview added any more theatres in NYC since the initial Loews Cineplex purchase, other that the New York Twin? I know quite a few Clearview’s have since closed.
There may be copies filed with the NYC Department of Buildings office in Brooklyn. I know the architecture firm Urbitran was picked to do the plans for the new Marboro. Urbitran also was the firm drafted to do the plans for the expansion and renovation of the United Artists Sheepshead Bay Stadium 14 in back 2002.
No buyer just yet, the asking price is about 12.5 million, in comparison the Kingsway sold for 5 million in 2001 and the Fortway was just sold for about 4.5 million earlier this year. Is the Marboro property really that much more valuable?
If AMC is forced to divest itself of the Ewalk and Regal does take it over the LED blade sign which currently spells “LOEWS” might be changed to spell “REGAL”, and it will fit as both names are exactly five letters long.
Regal Entertainment Group was in the process of building a new theater on this site, (building permits were filed, and architectural plans were drawn up) when prospective buyers showed up at their door waving millions of dollars for this property.
They then decided its better to take the money and run, and as a result the UA Marboro property is currently being sold off, the dollar signs in their eyes were far greater than providing this community with a decent place to see a movie.
Regal Entertainment Group (Regal, U.A., Edwards) is legendary for running their older theatres straight into the ground.
Here is their viewpoint as stated in the 2002 Regal Entertainment Group Annual Report: “Our strong cash flow from efficient operations combined with the limited need to make maintenance expenditures and a conservative capital structure, provide us with significant flexibility to pursue and execute our future growth opportunities.â€
Frankly, I’m surprised this place managed to survive as long as it did after the UA-Regal-Edwards merger back in 2002.
The Fortway was triplexed in 1979 and Fiveplexed in 1981. Cineplex Odeon did a big renovation when they took over, with the purple walls in the theatres, blue, purple and black carpeting and the blue velvet seats, plus new poster cases everywhere. All these items were very similar to the Worldwide Plaza as I seem to remember. This renovation of the Fortway took place in the late eighties when Garth was spending money on theatres like there was no tomorrow. I guess thats what got Cineplex Odeon into trouble.
I could see one disadvantage to this theatre from a projectionists viewpoint, the projection booths for all of the theatres were separated from each other. It must have been quite a job to get all the projectors going at the begining of all the shows.
The February 13th 1995 Issue of New York Magazine rated the Sony Theatres Oriental “The Best in Brooklyn”, here is what they had to say about the screen (size, whiteness): “The landmark theatre has been hacked into three theatres, all with semi-grand screens; the largest is 37' x 17'”.
And here is the assesment about the seats (comfort, legroom, views): “Old and creaky, but you have an excellent chance of scoring some extra legroom in one of the upper cinemas (in what used to be the theatre’s balcony), and the raking is spendidly steep”.
Thanks for the info CocoBoy, it must have been nice to have gone bowling before or after watching your movie at the Fortway. In the Real Estate listing the mention underground parking, I guess that will be where the Bowling Alley once was.
Golden was a two-partner business that started the dollar theatre policy in Brooklyn with the Oceana, Graham, Granada, Rugby and the Highway. They also owned the Alpine, Olympia and the Fortway, additionally they also operated the Quad in Greenwich Village for a while. Eventually one of the partners died of cancer and the small theatres in the chain were either closed or sold off.
Theaterat: The Fortway’s last day was actually on Sunday June 19th, when I went there on June 21 all of the theatre signage was removed. All we have now is the Alpine and with the merger who knows how long that will be around for?
The Brooklyn Public Library has a picture of the Fortway from 1942, unfortunately it does not come up online, I guess I will have to trek over to Grand Army Plaza for a photocopy.
Where was the bowling alley exactly? All I seem to remember is before the CVS Pharmacy, it was an Associated Supermarket.
And they got to run it until the 1998 merger with Loews Theatres. This also means Loews Cineplex ran the Fortway Theatre the last seven years of it’s Life.
The Kingsway was originally part of the Century Circuit, which included the following Brooklyn Theatres: Avalon, Patio, Midwood, Mayfair, Marine, Albermarle, Farragut, Nostrand, Rialto, Elm, College, Triangle, Vouge, Parkside & Quentin.
Thanks br91975, the last Golden Theatres that I remember were the Benson & Oceana. I know the Benson closed in 1988, but can’t seem to put a year on when exactly the Oceana closed.
The UA Marboro was at one time part of the Randforce Theatres Circuit, which also included the Savoy, Walker, Duffield, Clinton, Ridgewood, Colonial, Beverly & Culver Theatres.
The Loew’s Circuit transferred control of the Alpine to Golden Theatre Management circa 1985, Does anyone know when Cineplex Odeon took over to run the Alpine?
It always was better to see a flick here than the Alpine. I wonder if it did good business, the final year they only had evening showtimes on weekdays.
Does anyone here remember the Alpine Ice Cream Parlor around the corner from the Alpine Theatre on Bay Ridge Avenue? The sign is still there along with the entrance, but the windows and doors are covered up with paint.
It could be a another chain such as CineMark, Carmike or National Amusements come in and scoop up the properties as well.
Do you think the Loews name will survive this merger?
YankeeMike, Do you mean the Loew’s Oriental on 86th Street which closed in May of 1995? Sony Theatres also sold that property off when they closed it for good.
Mikeoaklandpark,
I would rather see the 72nd Street East be run by Clearview, than be closed forever. It probably comes down to who will offer AMC/Loews more money for the properties they are divesting in NYC. Regal has pretty deep pockets & Clearview’s parent company Rainbow Media is in the process of being spun off from Cablevision.
The Ewalk would be a real feather in Cleaview’s cap if they do get it, isn’t the newest theatre they have the Chelsea? Also has Clearview added any more theatres in NYC since the initial Loews Cineplex purchase, other that the New York Twin? I know quite a few Clearview’s have since closed.
There may be copies filed with the NYC Department of Buildings office in Brooklyn. I know the architecture firm Urbitran was picked to do the plans for the new Marboro. Urbitran also was the firm drafted to do the plans for the expansion and renovation of the United Artists Sheepshead Bay Stadium 14 in back 2002.
No buyer just yet, the asking price is about 12.5 million, in comparison the Kingsway sold for 5 million in 2001 and the Fortway was just sold for about 4.5 million earlier this year. Is the Marboro property really that much more valuable?
If AMC is forced to divest itself of the Ewalk and Regal does take it over the LED blade sign which currently spells “LOEWS” might be changed to spell “REGAL”, and it will fit as both names are exactly five letters long.
Regal Entertainment Group was in the process of building a new theater on this site, (building permits were filed, and architectural plans were drawn up) when prospective buyers showed up at their door waving millions of dollars for this property.
They then decided its better to take the money and run, and as a result the UA Marboro property is currently being sold off, the dollar signs in their eyes were far greater than providing this community with a decent place to see a movie.
Regal Entertainment Group (Regal, U.A., Edwards) is legendary for running their older theatres straight into the ground.
Here is their viewpoint as stated in the 2002 Regal Entertainment Group Annual Report: “Our strong cash flow from efficient operations combined with the limited need to make maintenance expenditures and a conservative capital structure, provide us with significant flexibility to pursue and execute our future growth opportunities.â€
Frankly, I’m surprised this place managed to survive as long as it did after the UA-Regal-Edwards merger back in 2002.
No curtains were working as far as I could see, but plenty of neon and not any pink marble, like most of the Manhattan Cineplex’s had.
The Fortway was triplexed in 1979 and Fiveplexed in 1981. Cineplex Odeon did a big renovation when they took over, with the purple walls in the theatres, blue, purple and black carpeting and the blue velvet seats, plus new poster cases everywhere. All these items were very similar to the Worldwide Plaza as I seem to remember. This renovation of the Fortway took place in the late eighties when Garth was spending money on theatres like there was no tomorrow. I guess thats what got Cineplex Odeon into trouble.
I could see one disadvantage to this theatre from a projectionists viewpoint, the projection booths for all of the theatres were separated from each other. It must have been quite a job to get all the projectors going at the begining of all the shows.
The February 13th 1995 Issue of New York Magazine rated the Sony Theatres Oriental “The Best in Brooklyn”, here is what they had to say about the screen (size, whiteness): “The landmark theatre has been hacked into three theatres, all with semi-grand screens; the largest is 37' x 17'”.
And here is the assesment about the seats (comfort, legroom, views): “Old and creaky, but you have an excellent chance of scoring some extra legroom in one of the upper cinemas (in what used to be the theatre’s balcony), and the raking is spendidly steep”.
Thanks for the info CocoBoy, it must have been nice to have gone bowling before or after watching your movie at the Fortway. In the Real Estate listing the mention underground parking, I guess that will be where the Bowling Alley once was.
Golden was a two-partner business that started the dollar theatre policy in Brooklyn with the Oceana, Graham, Granada, Rugby and the Highway. They also owned the Alpine, Olympia and the Fortway, additionally they also operated the Quad in Greenwich Village for a while. Eventually one of the partners died of cancer and the small theatres in the chain were either closed or sold off.
Theaterat: The Fortway’s last day was actually on Sunday June 19th, when I went there on June 21 all of the theatre signage was removed. All we have now is the Alpine and with the merger who knows how long that will be around for?
The Brooklyn Public Library has a picture of the Fortway from 1942, unfortunately it does not come up online, I guess I will have to trek over to Grand Army Plaza for a photocopy.
Where was the bowling alley exactly? All I seem to remember is before the CVS Pharmacy, it was an Associated Supermarket.
And they got to run it until the 1998 merger with Loews Theatres. This also means Loews Cineplex ran the Fortway Theatre the last seven years of it’s Life.
The Kingsway was originally part of the Century Circuit, which included the following Brooklyn Theatres: Avalon, Patio, Midwood, Mayfair, Marine, Albermarle, Farragut, Nostrand, Rialto, Elm, College, Triangle, Vouge, Parkside & Quentin.
Thanks br91975, the last Golden Theatres that I remember were the Benson & Oceana. I know the Benson closed in 1988, but can’t seem to put a year on when exactly the Oceana closed.
The UA Marboro was at one time part of the Randforce Theatres Circuit, which also included the Savoy, Walker, Duffield, Clinton, Ridgewood, Colonial, Beverly & Culver Theatres.
The Fortway in the 70’s & 80’s was run by Golden Theatre Management, Does anyone know when Cinplex Odeon took over the Fortway?
I know Cineplex took over the RKO Century Circuit in September 1986, which gave them control over the now closed Kenmore & Kingsway Theatres.
Also this was one of the few theatres to be equipped for 70mm films in Brooklyn along with the RKO Century Kingsway.
The Loew’s Circuit transferred control of the Alpine to Golden Theatre Management circa 1985, Does anyone know when Cineplex Odeon took over to run the Alpine?
It always was better to see a flick here than the Alpine. I wonder if it did good business, the final year they only had evening showtimes on weekdays.
Was it run by Cineplex Odeon at that time? It looks like it’s been closed for a while.
I emailed Loews Cineplex Entertainment about what exactly had happened to the Fortway Theatre, this is the responce I had gotten back from them:
“Unfortunately, we have returned the theatre back to its landlord. In
the long term, this plan will make our circuit stronger and more profitable.”
Does anyone here remember the Alpine Ice Cream Parlor around the corner from the Alpine Theatre on Bay Ridge Avenue? The sign is still there along with the entrance, but the windows and doors are covered up with paint.