Plaza Theatre
103-12 Roosevelt Avenue,
Corona,
NY
11368
103-12 Roosevelt Avenue,
Corona,
NY
11368
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 79 comments
Hey guys was in the neighborhood the other night and saw that the Plaza had closed its doors. On the marquee reads a message saying office space available. I saw a lot of double bills here for twenty some odd years while I lived in Elmhurst. Sorry to see it go, it was a cheap price and good afternoon killer on my days off.
This has to be the most asinine butchering of a theater I’ve ever read about. Walgreens Cinema.
I suppose the balcony will now be stripped of its ornamentation and converted to office space as yet another gilded theater is completely lost to history. I never saw a movie here, despite having lived in the neighborhood and played in Linden Park just behind the building as a young boy. I remember that “The Towering Inferno” played here in the mid ‘70’s with Spanish subtitles. I think it might have still been a single screener at that time. In my memory, the marquee was big and boxy with the word “PLAZA” in red neon-lit block letters.
Someone could make the upstairs 4 screens.
The Plaza is closed and most likely for good now. The people operating since last December were losing money hand over fist. The plans to make the Plaza a multiplex cinema fell through with the lack of money. The pervious owners (who have the Jackson Triplex and Ridgewood Theatre) also wanted to multiplex the Plaza before they closed it. EL VACILON I believe was the last movie.I have not called the Plaza number lately but the nose when you call is most likely the fax machine.
I know when I called it trying to talk to someone a few days after the show times started to not appear in the paper that is what I heard.
Number is (718)424-8444.
Does anyone know if the Plaza is currently being converted – or should I say reconverted? – into a multi-screen cinema or did the people who ran it since it reopened last year pull out altogether?
That marquee has to be the stupidist thing I have ever seen, it looks like the Walgreens Cinema.
The Plaza was a very beautiful theatre in its heyday. Every year the ninth grade class from J H S 16 would have its graduation exercises there and all the girls wore movie star type prom gowns I graduated 9th grade in 1957. It was a very regal theatre, all carpeted with beautiful staircase. There were loge seats along the sides of the balcony but it was more expensive and no one ever sat there. I saw Gone With the wind there. What wonderful memories this site brought back to me. Thanks
As of Sep 23rd Flightplan is showing.
Domino may start on October 14 but they might hold out for Doom on October 21.
Get Rich or Die Tryin' should open on November 9, 2005.
As for Doom or Domino that depends how long Plaza will have have to hold the film. Plaza only wants short runs of aboyt 2 or 3 weeks at the most and studios like longer 4 or 6 week runs so it will depend on what they can work out.
Please note that all features and release dates are tentative and subject to change.
Are they still showing double features in the one available Walgreens Cinemas?
Sometimes, when it was a twin, the Post would list the showtimes, and it appeared that each of the two theaters had single features, yet if you called the theater or noticed a weird gap in the showtimes, you would know they were showing double bills.
I can’t reach anybody there by phone. HELP!
Are they still showing double features in the one available Walgreens Cinemas?
Sometimes, when it was a twin, the Post would list the showtimes, and it appeared that each of the two theaters had single features, yet if you called the theater or noticed a weird gap in the showtimes, you would know they were showing double bills.
I can’t reach anybody there by phone. HELP!
At least we know what’s opening at the Plaza next Friday; unfortunately, that listing appeared in THIS Friday’s NY Post movie clock, which noted the Ewan McGregor-Scarlett Johansson flick ‘The Island’ as showing there today (and tonight) – bit of an error…
The portions I saw, Robert, were actually in good-to-excellent shape; I was expecting something far less beforehand, but I was pleasantly surprised – and a bit saddened, too, at the same time, imagining what the space must have looked like before the orchestra was sealed off, its floor was leveled, and Walgreen’s moved in. I didn’t have a chance to check out the auditorium – I had just enough time before heading off to Shea for the Mets' game and picked up that vibe I wouldn’t have been allowed to take much more of a look without buying a ticket. I will go there again, just to get a chance to soak in the atmosphere and do a bit more exploring, when they book another film I’m interested in seeing. (I already caught ‘War of the Worlds’ the night before in the city and, as entertaining as it was overall – except for that ending – I really don’t have a strong desire to see it again.) My suspicion, as per FoxTheatres' post this past May 2nd, is that it’s indeed inevitable the balcony will be divided into multiple auditoriums (with a smaller one on the ground level, although I saw no evidence of any construction work – prep or otherwise – being or having been done); I could tell the owners are taking an absolute bath financially and the only realistic hope they have of at least breaking even is to go the ‘plex route. There was also no crowd buzz, no sense of excitement, and, in turn, few ticket buyers – pretty astonishing when you consider it was the opening weekend for a major Hollywood blockbuster and a hot summer afternoon.
Also, another note on the hallway – the left wall is of the white painted plaster variety, except for a gold/brown painted melange along the bottom half. It’s a nice enough touch, but the fact that it’s not of more elaborate material (marble, quality tile, etc.) only serves to remind of the tragedy of the orchestra portion being lost from the remainder of the theatre – and the current owners' limited budget… but, still, it IS a functioning theatre and with so many outer-borough theatres closing in recent years, the fact it’s open for business at all is a blessing.
It just dawned on me do you think they re-opened the Plaza this way to keep the CO current? Many places do that before plexing. Remember after the Murray Hill collapse they re-opened it again as a single for 2 months then closed it to quad it.
It sounds like a hovel, what was the auditorium like?
I had an opportunity to check out most of what remains of the Plaza ‘Twin’ this past Saturday. The first sense one gets is what a tragedy it was that the orchestra was separated for retail; the portion of the building still being used for cinema space is huge and I could only imagine, based upon that, just how considerable it must have been.
The entrance and the altered marquee gives one the odd, divided sense of the treasure the Plaza still is, even in its truncated form, but also that it’s become something of an afterthought.
The hallway leading to the Plaza’s lobby is literally lined on both facing walls with movie posters (or one-sheets) of coming attractions, films which had recent engagements at the Plaza, or films out of release which never screened at the Plaza; none are in display cases but merely affixed with tacks, Scotch tape, or some other adhesive. Above the entrance to the lobby is at least a portion of a banner display ad for the film ‘Be Cool’.
As one enters the lobby, the box office is to the left and is very unglamorous; it reminded me of a windowed receptionist’s office one might find within a doctor’s office. Straight ahead is the stairway leading to the balcony (or the one, currently existing auditorium), upon which a woman was sitting on one of the steps; her presence made me reluctant to take photos. Above her and above everything on the ground level was a very high ceiling and what a ceiling… wow! It’s a medium-to-dark blue with a hanging light fixture; the immense nature of it (and primarily the ceiling itself and what I saw of the balcony) gave me a sense of how much of a ‘cinema treasure’ this theatre still is in its truncated form, and what a treasure it must have been, even as a twin and before Walgreen’s moved in.
As far as I can recall. At one time it showed spanish movies around the late 60’s early 70’s , then going to spanish movies on one screen and inglish movies with spanish subtitles on the other until spanish movies faded in the mid 80’s when then they continue to show inglish movies with spanish subtitles. Had lost track of it for a while until recently.
I started going to this theatre since 1999. It was the best theater for screens. I know it has been actively running since 1983, when they had 1990: Bronx Warriors in one theater and totally Spanish films in the other. I grew up in Bayside between 1969 and 1980, and as many times I rode the 7 train, I never saw the Plaza until one day I was standing up and saw it. Never new theater existed.
My question is did this theater show American double features in the 70’s, or was it all Spanish. Thanks.
Mirror Projection is used when a theatre/hall is so small there is no room for a projection booth. They put a projector upstairs most likely next the the “big theatres” projector and play it to mirrors.
The mirror than projectors the image to the downstairs mirror on to the screen. This is what alot of drive-ins use also
Thanks for all that info, FoxTheatres – makes sense, at least in how you described it. Too bad they didn’t have another investor with deeper pockets who could have ensured the preservation of the entire downstairs space. I’ll try to make a point of checking out the space in person. (Just out of curiosity to you – or anyone else who can answer this: what is ‘mirror projection’ and why would a theatre owner – or, perhaps more specifically, the owner of the Plaza – opt to use it?)
The Plaza when it was reopened back in December of 2004 with Meet Fockers was a single screener. The large downstairs area is used for retail. However plans were for the Plaza to be a quad. A small theater downstairs, yes downstairs. They had plans to use mirror projection for the theatre. The seating was between 35 and 50 seats! That is a right 35 and 50 seats. The upstairs balcony was to be cut into three smaller theaters. After the downstairs theatre was opened they were going to close the upstairs to cut the balcony into three, giving The Plaza a total of four screens. The trouble was first only having 35 to 50 seats for customers while they cut the balcony up. The Plaza is losing money and they would have killed the Plaza by doing this. They are working on trying to get the downstairs ready and try to close the upstairs for what they said “A Few Days†to put a wall up and put together at least one upstairs theatre and work on the other two at night after they close and in the daytime before they opens at 3:00. They make it sound easier than it is but that way they would have two and not just one theatre. This is why they are trying to keep Plaza Twin in the paper and not Plaza Theatre. Although they want to be Plaza Four and they answer the phone Plaza Theatre. Confused?
Warren? The small portion that remains would you know what part of the building it’s at and if it anyway that it can be acced or glanced at through a peep whole or somthing I used to go to this theatre as a twin and I liked the moldings and the details of the downstairs cinema.
Movieman007
What was the purpose of this? Why did they give up the orchestra?
One more question – does the Plaza still have any kind of marquee? An earlier post on this page mentioned it was being entirely used for Walgreens signage.