Meserole Theatre
723 Manhattan Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11222
723 Manhattan Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11222
11 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 214 comments
Babyboomer, I really owe you a response, and I’m sorry that I have taken too long to do so.
I hope your father is doing well. I was fascinated to learn that he remembered the Public Palace Theater, which closed at the end of the silent era. This was the only first hand remembrance of the place that I have come across. (The other evidence is old building records.) There is a small page in Cinema Treasures about the Public Palace – with a recent picture of the place – that I am sure you and your dad would be interested to see.
By the way, I am actually an alumnus of St. Stan’s and do remember when it was one of many Catholic schools in Greenpoint.
Talk soon – and give my best to your dad.
John…..I just got off the phone with Dad and sorry to say but he doesn’t remember any Post Office by the Garden theatre.He really enjoyed the members of this site bringing back memories and hearing the names of the old movies houses such as the Public Palace which he remembered.
Going off topic here he told me a story which I would like to pass along.It seems St.Stans school when he was young closed down for 1 week in February to conserve fuel. Now St. Stans is the last one to being running a school and all the other parishes schools in Greenpoint are closed due to expences.
Thanks again for the memories…….BabyBoomer
(I grew up in Woodhaven Queens)
John….As I said the name Cinema Warsaw was determined through my research and not Dads memory. Not knowing what the locations history was in the past(it opened in 1914)and seeing a possibility of a movie front on the Flicker web site picture inclusion might be the safest direction to take.
I’ll be talking to Dad tonight and will let you know more.
By the way, if a “Driggs Theater” did exist at or near the Graham Ave. intersection, the address would have been in the 200-220 Driggs Ave. range. Identifying a precise site will, however, be difficult since, in the late 1950’s, much of this area was demolished to make way for what is now McGuinnes Blvd.
I don’t think Cinema Warsaw fills the bill here. The building hosting it was and continues to be the Polish National Hall. During my days in Greenpoint, and I only moved to Forest Hills in 2001, this was exclusively a concert, theater and party venue. Cinema did not play a role at all. “Cinema Warsaw” was only established here recently, and films are only shown on a very periodic basis. Currently, the Polish National Hall is far better known as a venue for cutting edge rock concerts. There is even a debate on Cinema Warsaw’s CT page over whether or not it should be listed here. (In a close call, I favor inclusion.)
So, if an old “Driggs Theater” did exist, it either has not yet been identified in Cinema Treasures or it may have been the previously mentioned Public Palace, which, by the way, was once also known as the Sacks Theater.
I look forward to hearing from you – and your father – very soon.
John…….Upon further research(his leaving open names had me wondering now)I’ve come up with the Cinema Warsaw located on 261 Driggs (between Eckford and Leonard)which is one block away from where dad said it would be.When you google Cinema Warsaw you get a current picture that says it once was the Polish National Hall.You could definatly see the possibility for the front of a movie house however.I believe you can find Cinema Warsaw on this site also.
I’ll ask Pop about that Post Office tomorrow when we talk to him…………..Take Care… Babyboomer
Baby Boomer, thank you for your terrific comments. Your father clearly has a wonderful memory.
I definitely remember the Chopin when it was the American – it now hosts a Starbucks coffee house! The Eagle was most “recently” known as the Midway. It closed around 1950, was then used as a factory and is now a vacant lot. (Under the Midway, it has a page on this site.)The old Nassau is indeed the current Princess Manor. It closed in the 1950’s. The movie theater that now hosts the Met Foodstore at Driggs and Russell used to be the Winthrop, or as we used to call it, the Winnie. I was there on its last day of operation in 1959!
Your father’s reference to the “Driggs” theater near the corner of Driggs and Graham is especially interesting. While there is no current documentation of a theater situated right on the corner in Cinema Treasures, a movie house caled the Public Palace did exist – until the late 1920’s – up the block on Graham between Engert Ave. and Broome St. Perhaps this is what your father had in mind. If not, you might have identified yet another “forgotten theater” that needs further investigation. (Please check out the Public Palace page, which has a current picture, on CT.)
One last – and somewhat off-topic – question. Does your father remember a post office being located next – or at least near to – the Garden Theater, the movie house once situated across the street from the Meserole?
Great talking to you.
I just got done talking to my father in law who is 92 years old,lived his entire life in Greenpoint and is still very sharp.
He remembers the Meserole being called the Fox before it became the Meserole as mentioned in one of the prior post. He also remembers a theatre directly across from the Meserole(between Meserole and Norman Ave.) but can’t remember the name of it.Reading John D’s post it probably was the one known as the “Garden”. And he confirms the Chopin was formally known as the American.
He remembers a theatre named the “Eagle” which was on Manhattan Ave.and Eagle Street.He mentioned that the site of the Princess Manor was a theatre called the “Nassau” theatre.
Heading toward St. Stans church he remembers a movie house named the “Driggs” on the corner of Graham Ave, and Driggs Ave.And there was a movie theatre on the corner of Driggs Ave.and Russell St.which is now the Met food store. again the name escapes him.
While the Huffington Post article is wonderful – and reminds me that this is where I had my first date – it makes one small error. The Meserole was never called the Garden Theatre. That theater was situuated across the street and just down the block. It did not survive the end of the silent era – probably because of the Meserole’s competition – and became a bar/catering hall. It is now an Indian restaurant.
The Garden has a brief though interesting page on CT that is worth a look.
Very cool before and after shots posted by CWalczak.
A recent photo essay about this theater appeared in the Huffington Post; the pictures illustrate its history and show the traces of the theater that remain after its conversion to a drugstore: View link
Here’s the google street view image of the Meserole, to compare to the link Lost posted. Sad it’s not a theater, but one of the classiest retail conversions I can think of.
View link
That was excactly my point Warren…it’s a strange sight because of the lack of cars. Obviously it was a different era.
Warren, you are absolutely right about the lack of cars in depression era Greenpoint. When my father was growing up during the 1930’s, he told me how automobile free the streets were when he and his friends played punch and stick ball. In fact, many horse drawn carts were still making deliveries at that time. (So I guess they had to duck horse manure instead of parked vehicles!) Also, since such a high percentage of the people who had jobs worked in the neighborhood, an automobile was a superfluous item even for those who could afford one.
By the way, did you catch the tiny “Norman Avenue” street sign in the foreground. You would probably need a pair of binoculars to read it unless you were right on top of it! And the partially obscured Anderson’s furniture sign, located on the building just south of the Meserole, depicted a store, housed in that building, that only closed its dors within the past decade. (I bought my first furniture sets there.) That building was recently converted into luxury condos, giving the one-time movie palace an upscale neighbor.
One of the amazing things about this photo is the lack of cars, this is such a busy location today. The block does look very similar to what it looks like today (building-wise), for the most part.
Warren, thanks so much for this picture. It seems to have been taken in 1931, after the Garden movie house had closed across the street but before Fox went bankrupt. Most of the buildings pictured here are still intact, although some of the larger buildings on the next block appear to have been replaced by decidedly smaller structures. (I would love to see an enlarged copy of this photo!)
So do I, anniegirl, and have done so extensively, here on CT, on the pages of the many theatres I have known and loved.
Dear Peter.K
So do I. but I love to reminiece about the good ole days…anniegirl
Yes, anniegirl, I have more than enough of the Meserole and many other NYC theaters inside me to last several lifetimes !
Dear Bway and Peter K
Buildings change but our memories will always be there and as for the Meserole the behind-the-scene’s are still intact, how wonderful is that…anniegirl
Thanks, Bway, for this info. Yes, ironic indeed, now that the Meserole is a drug store, and the Bushwick, a school.
Many of the marquees we are so familiar with blocked architectual features of the theaters they were on, as most were not original. The original marquees were often very light, and thin, and didn’t house all the information the “classic” marquees we know did. This is a great example, and also think of the RKO Bushwick that had very decorative cement work above the doors, that by the 30’s was covered up by the big marquee it had. Ironically, covered most of the theater’s life. They are of course once again exposed now that the Bushwick is a school now, and marquee long gone.
That’s good to know, Bway. Thanks.
Based on the films named on the marquee, I think the later pic was taken in 1965 or 1966. Odd how the marquee obscures the Roman arch motif of the front of the building itself.
Annie, thank goodness the Meserole survives intact. While it’s no longer a theater, it’s interior is very much intact. It’s one of the best conversions to retail I have ever seen… It’s a drug store now, but it’s so intact, that they even project slides of sales onto the old screen area!
Great pix, Bway. Thanks.