Metro Twin

They should turn the West Newton in Mass into an alamo drafthouse, haha. Thats cool though, now East Coasters get a chance to see what this is about.

Nice…..I always wanted to check out the Alamo Drafthouse chain….

Here is a direct link, and below is the text of the press release (for when the link goes bad!)

Austin, TX—– Thursday, April 5, 2012—– Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is pleased to unveil its plans for its first location in New York. The five-screen Manhattan-area theater will be owned and operated by Alamo Drafthouse and located on the Upper West Side, occupying the former Metro Theater at 2626 Broadway.

“My often-stated top priority for the Alamo Drafthouse has been to open a venue in New York,” said Alamo founder and CEO Tim League. “When we discovered the availability of the historic Metro theater, we immediately knew we had found the perfect location for our new Manhattan home.”

The venue will feature five screens of new releases, repertory programming and the Alamo’s unique signature programming. Like all Alamo Drafthouse theaters, the Alamo Drafthouse at the Metro will provide food and drink service to your seat and will uphold its famously strict no-talking policy. The new theater is currently scheduled to open in 2013.

Alamo Drafthouse is now accepting applications for managers, kitchen staff, creative programmers, bartenders and waiters for the upcoming Manhattan theater. Employment applications can be downloaded at www.drafthouse.com/about/employment

For developments on Alamo Drafthouse at the Metro, follow us on Twitter @drafthouse and Facebook.com/AlamoDrafthouse.

I had previously linked them, but today I’ve added to the photo section my half dozen photos of the ornate auditorium when still open, before gutted.

This is great news!

Well, the owner of the Metro has finally found a new tenant though he is not saying who it is. Sadly, it appears that the interior has been gutted for use as retail. The exterior and marquee are protected.

The long vacant Art Deco Metro Theater at 2626 Broadway, between 99th and 100th streets, is set to be reborn as a retail destination, after owner Albert Bialek filed an application with the city’s Department of Buildings in late December 2011 for a $900,000 renovation that will convert the interior of the 79-year-old theater, DNAinfo reported. A retail tenant has already signed on to lease the space, which has been empty for six years, though the identity of the store was not immediately available. ”It’s something that everyone in the neighborhood will love, I think,” Bialek said.

Last year, Bialek, president of real estate consulting firm Albert Bialek Associates, gained control of the Metro, an Upper West Side landmark, from leaseholder John Souto. Souto had a 49-year lease on the property, which had formerly served as a pornography house, art-house movie theatre and two national cinema chains.

There is some wrong information about this theatre above.

It went from being the Midtown 99th Street porno house to the Metro Cinema in late 1982, a Talbot run repertory house.

It was restored and became the Metro Twin in 1986 while still one of Talbot’s New Yorker theatres, but having already gone mainstream first-run for several years with occasional quirky titles.

In 1987 Cineplex Odeon took over, re-did the lobby in faux marble, and re-opened with similar programming.

For those of you following Peter Elson, it is interesting to note that his grandfather was Herbert J. Krapp architect of many of the legitimate Broadway Theaters. See a plaque in the Majestic Theater designating Mr. Krapp as the Architect of Broadway.

Yesterday I watched Harry Hurwitz’s 1971 movie in a 35mm revival at the Newport Film Festival, The Projectionist. It is a fictional story about a projectionist at what appears to be the Midtown Theatre. We see the exterior and marquee in several shots, and a theatre interior (same place used????) several times. There are also some stunning scenes of an array of lighted marquees on then-glorious 42nd Street. The movie is available on DVD and I have not found any other comments here referring to that film.

The Metro has a new tenant – Urban Outfitters – and the building itself has a new asking price, $11.5 million, down from a “speculative” $20 million, according to today’s NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/seven/01062009/business/deal_for_1540_bway_147352.htm; see second item down).

Howard—Yes, and Ross said “..Manhattan movie theaters without landmark status, unlike the Metro, were often demolished because the land was more valuable to developers.” He went on to say, he would rather see classic cinemas as movie theaters. The Art Deco facade has landmark protection. So sue me, I’m an optomist if I hope something can be salvaged.

An headline in today’s (07/09/08) New York Times “A Landmark Theater In Need of Sequal.” Vacant for the last three years, it’s speculated that it might sell for $15 million. Anyone interested? I remember trecking there around late 50’s – early 60s for good old Joan Crawford Warner pix.

Thanks for sharing that, ken mc. Don’t you love how cavalier the real estate broker remarks that “nothing was saved” regarding the beautiful art deco detailing and statuary that once adorned the interior? One wonders if he’s just oblivious to their intrinsic value or if he managed to stash some of it away for his own collection – as a hunter might mount the head of a steer he’s killed.