Main Street Cinemas

72-66 Main Street,
Kew Gardens Hills, NY 11367

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Showing 26 - 45 of 45 comments

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on November 28, 2006 at 1:47 pm

Thanks, Lost. So it’s technically theater’s 3 and 4 up in the old loge area – which I presume based on the identical capacity of those theaters at 72 persons each. The site is acting up again, as evidenced by your C/O comment being attributed to Warren on an entirely different theater page, not to mention Warren’s triple listing above in this page. Anyhow… If the other 4 auditoriums are located on the ground floor, then the disparity in their seating capacities would indicate something other than an even dividing up of the old auditorium space. Anyone familiar with the layout?

Warren… I was at this theater as a single many years ago. I was also at the Utopia Theater a few times during the early ‘80’s. One of these theaters definitely had a proper balcony, because I remember sitting up there to watch the Mel Brooks version of “To Be or Not to Be” in 1983 or thereabouts. I used to get the two theaters confused in my memory, but I’m pretty sure I raised the question on the Utopia page and learned that it was THAT theater that did not have a proper balcony and that the Main Street did.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on November 28, 2006 at 6:28 am

The only C/O information on NYC’s Building Department site is the one issued in 1985 for the twinning of the Main Street Theater. Apparently, the theater was divided down the middle with each theater retaining it’s own balcony seating. Each theater is listed as having a capacity of 216 people on the ground floor and 72 in the balcony, for a total of 288 seats each. I imagine that the current theaters 5 and 6 are merely those balcony sections sealed off from the 1st floor, with the twin orchestra theaters each split in half to make current theaters 1, 2, 3 and 4. Unless, did they gut the 1st level and completely re-configure the space for the four current auditoriums there?

rcdt55b
rcdt55b on August 27, 2006 at 8:57 am

5 and 6 are upstairs

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on August 27, 2006 at 8:41 am

dOES ANYONE KNOW THE SEATING CAPACITIES AND WHICH SCREENS ARE UPSTAIRS

ronalexander
ronalexander on June 18, 2006 at 3:16 pm

I grew up around the corner and down the block from the Main Street Cinema in the 1950s. I went to Saturday morning kids' double features for 25 cents and saw Japanese horror films like Godzilla. Brings back old memories!
Ron Alexander

ronalexander
ronalexander on June 18, 2006 at 3:16 pm

I grew up around the corner and down the block from the Main Street Cinema in the 1950s. I went to Saturday morning kids' double features for 25 cents and saw Japanese horror films like Godzilla. Brings back old memories!
Ron Alexander

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on June 12, 2006 at 5:24 pm

Lesser is a film buying firm, they don’t own the theatre. They just book the films

NativeForestHiller
NativeForestHiller on April 9, 2006 at 7:14 pm

I believe the architect was NY’s-own, Joseph Unger, the same who built the Trylon Theater; a true landmark. It’s a shame that the side of the often gets vandalized. Does anyone know if the facade is concealed with a later facade? It looks rather bland.

cinemaguy220
cinemaguy220 on January 15, 2006 at 5:45 pm

Prices are cheap, but it’s not a good atmosphere. I went there once when the roof was leaking so much that they had to block off some rows in the theater and move customers from them — during the movie!

bobosan
bobosan on August 26, 2005 at 12:32 am

Wow, I can’t believe the Main Street is still open and operating! I remember seeing “The St. Valentine Day Massacre” here in the mid-60s! So many theaters have disappeared from the area that it’s good to know this one is still around.

br91975
br91975 on February 2, 2005 at 7:34 pm

The correct address of the Main Street Cinemas is 72-66 Main Street. All Queens street address numbers are hyphenated, the first number representing the block within that street the building resides within (i.e., the 72nd block of Main Street), the second number representing its address within that block (think of each block as its own street). Hope that helps…

deleted user
[Deleted] on February 2, 2005 at 6:59 pm

Charles is correct. I also show 7266 Main St as the address for Main Street Cinemas.

RobertR
RobertR on December 17, 2004 at 11:00 am

Warren
You are correct since Interboro it was the Main Street Playhouse, then Main Street Twin and when it was quaded it became the Main Street Cinema, which it has been ever since. The manager here for many years was named Flo Deane, she worked for many years at the Lefferts before she came here.

RobertR
RobertR on December 17, 2004 at 8:03 am

The downstairs restrooms need to be replaced so bad, the mens room is vile.

rcdt55b
rcdt55b on December 5, 2004 at 8:21 pm

It is a cash cow. A bad smelling one though.

Mitch45
Mitch45 on July 20, 2004 at 1:09 pm

It doesn’t, believe me. In fact, the theater has become a little run down, because of the crowded conditions and the vast amount of foot traffic in and out of the theater. I imagine its a cash cow, though!

stukgh
stukgh on July 8, 2004 at 2:01 pm

The Main was my neighborhood movie house, 1955 – 1964, though I was only reached moviegoing age in 1960. It was where I began my lifelong love of movies. On Saturdays in 1962, and probably 1963, there would be special childrens' double-feature matinees, often including a science fiction or “monster” feature. The movies were usually several years old, which was perfect, because all of us kids were avid fans of the “Famous Monsters” magazine. The magazine carried appreciations of both old and new releases, and we were only too delighted to get a chance to see the movies we had read about, on a big screen and in color. This included some fine Japanese scifi — The Mysterians, The H Man, Gigantis. Also fondly remembered is The Blob, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Atlantis the Lost Continent.
Other kid-memories of the Main:
— In those years it showed the same main features as The Parsons, but a week later, and usually with a different second feature.

—It had an unusual aroma, different from any of the hundreds of different theaters I’ve been to over the years — unusually vivid popcorn, mixed with a pungent air-conditioner smell and — what — mildew? It blended into a pleasant, almost magical scent and if someone opened the door as I walked past the theater, the aroma would make me dizzy with desire to see a movie (a rare treat, stingily parcelled out by my stingy parents).

— Mounted on the auditorium walls were, I think, torch-like lighting sconces.

I can’t imagine the Main as a six-plex! I don’t suppose it has the magical movie smell either.

trapdoor
trapdoor on June 30, 2004 at 8:37 pm

The main street theater was a delightful little local movie house.
I remember seeing dozens of movies hear throughout the 70’s.
Im amazed that they were able to sixplex.The theaters must belike
shoeboxes!

Mitch45
Mitch45 on June 2, 2004 at 12:18 pm

The theater is located in Kew Gardens Hills, where I grew up. Its a landmark in the community, although it is not an official City landmark. Its famous for always having shown family-friendly fare. The theater used to have something called the Disney Film Festival every summer in the 1970’s, during which Disney films would be shown. I saw a lot of Disney films there, including Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Gus and Follow Me Boys. I distinctly remember watching movies from the balcony during the ‘70s.

The theater remained a single screen facility until sometime during the 1980’s, when competition from the widespread availability of VCR’s and video stores became serious. It was then twinned and then quaded. The theater was closed and fell into a state of disrepair in the early ‘90s and everyone thought that it would be converted into a social hall of sorts for the community, which by that time had been heavily Orthodox Jewish (which it still is). However, the theater was sold, renovated and reopened as a six plex. The upstairs theaters used to be the balcony when the theater was a single, so the screens and seating areas are quite small, almost like a private viewing room.

Today, the Main Street theater is thriving. My mom still lives in the area and whenever I visit her, I drive past the theater. They are showing first run movies and the theater is also apparently available for private screenings for birthday parties. Whenever a hit movie opens there, there are lines down the block. The Main Street should be around for quite some time to come.

fred1
fred1 on February 24, 2004 at 11:12 am

the upstair theaters are very small and cramp