My question for Vito and Bill is why would the console be out on the auditorium floor? Just for the photo-op? Did they wire it to function out there before installing it again up in the booth? Or is the operator in the image merely pretending to fiddle with the knobs?
Hey Vito… Click here to see Bill’s photo. This image is actually uploaded in the photo tab above, so you’d be able to find it by browsing there as well.
Wow. This theater didn’t even make it 20 years. That image on IDBD seems to have been taken during the latter stages of the 49th Street Theatre’s construction.
Funny, how if you swing the street view for a closer head-on look, the image seems to jump back in time a couple of years to when the Pearl Hotel was stil under construction! Seems to me that the hotel’s broad and flat entrance canopy is not unlike the one that was situated on the 49th Street Theatre. Most likely an architectural tip of the cap to the theatre district itself, rather than a nod to the particular playhouse that once occupied this lot some 72 years ago.
I can’t find any updates online regarding the opening of the new Performing Arts Center here. I passed by this morning, once again, and the site appears just about the same as it was on January 12th, when I took the most recent round of photos. Can’t really say what the progress is on the interior, but there’s still a lot of work required to finish the exterior, for sure. The entire facade on Post Avenue is still exposed down to the bare wood frame, and the new structure on the south-side of the audtorium is still clad in exposed insulation panels. I can’t imagine this is still on pace for a grand opening within the next 4 – 6 weeks.
Rob. Check the top of the ad. While the 42nd Street Lyric is not listed among the neighborhood houses showing the flick at the bottom of the ad, there is an announcement at the top of the ad for a live appearance by Smokey Robinson at this Lyric Theatre.
By the way, here’s a look at what the Sleepy’s looked like just a few years ago in 2007. Seems they streamlined the facade a bit further since then, judging from the current street view, removing the peak from the center of the parapet wall.
Rob… Warren didn’t really pass anything along to me. When I found an image of his that I though I might like to hold on to, I’d ask his permission to copy it into my photobucket account, but that was about the extent of our image-sharing relationship. Warren would often rotate images in and out of his own photobucket account, due largely to storage-space issues, I think. Many of his links are now broken due merely to his having removed the images from his scrapbook to make space for others.
If anyone is familiar with the area, the site of this theater is now a parking lot adjacent to the Sleepy’s showroom on Sunrise Highway. The Sleepy’s building looks quite similar to the old Strand building, in fact, and for a time I thought it might have been an adaptive re-use of the old building… but if you look at the vintage pic, you can see a piece of the Sleepy’s building at the far left of the image.
Hey Bway… Looking at your alternate street view showing the wrap around detail still left from the upper facade of the building, looks like I was wrong in my April, 2011, post when I thought that perhaps the eagle sculpture still stands at the apex of the curved cornice. It appears from your street view that the platform on which the eagle once stood may still be intact behind the new signage, but the eagle itself is gone (and, likely, long gone).
I should add that it’s basically the same story and set of pics regurgitated on three different sites, but figured I’d make them more convenient to access, anyway.
Nice series of pictures you posted, nyyhec. You’re comment as to how this theater was originally operated as the Harlem Strand, should be repeated in this thread so that the site administrators know to add the AKA to this page.
In this photo, you can see how the vertical spelling out GRAND could have easily been converted from its original STRAND display, simply by replacing the first two characters at the top of the sign. Thanks for posting!
SWC… many thanks for the photos. I think they serve a vital purpose in the name of theater preservation and historical appreciation. I also applaud Matt Lambros' terrific work on his blog After The Final Curtain, but he casts a much wider net than you do – traveling around the country as he does to photograph his many subjects.
Your detailed photographic journal of the Keith’s is a wonderful accomplishment – particularly considering the physical conditions that exist within its dilapidated shell. I think it’s very important that every surviving detail of this architectural gem be documented and catalogued, while they still remain. In the best case scenario, this series of images would spur a true restoration of the Keith’s and return to its highest and best utility. And in the worst case, we would at least be left with vivid reminders of what was lost.
As for posting them in the comment section… Sure, this might bend the rules a bit, but as long as the images don’t distort the presentation of the page (as some clumsily embedded pics can do), I see no harm nor foul.
Here’s the activated link. Nice set of images there, NYCer… thanks for the find! Looks like all the plaster work from about half-way up the proscenium down to the floor has been stripped out of the auditorium. But it does appear that everything from that point up is still in there, though sadly deteriorated. Too bad there are no shots of the balcony. Must have been a very handsome theater in it’s prime.
Finally captured and some images the other morning that I’ve uploaded to document progress on the renovations. Post Avenue structure is now completely down to studs and beam framing. Also looks as if the marquee has been taken away (can’t tell behind the construction shedding if the frame is still there – I imagine it would be needed to support a new marquee). The new addition on the south side of the auditorium is now clad in insulation panels, but much clearing of debris and some excavation is still ongoing at the property.
Seems to me that completion by March of this year will be a tall order for the contractor to meet! That’s only 2 short months away!
I’m proudly one of those who are nostalgic… not because I loved the grime and crime, but because I happened to spend a number of years among those deranged audiences (my buddies and were entertained by the ongoing commentary) watching those genre flicks. I stopped going when the theaters started smelling of urine!
Saps, I stand corrected. Was thinking general election, not to mention the more earth-shattering events that took place on 9/11 that year.
That’s interesting information, Al. Is there title (or two) on the subject that you’d recommend? I’d love to read a well written and thorough accounting of the area’s redevelopment. Thanks, in advance.
Ha. He was very good at making it seem as if he had a hand in everything! I always had the impression that he was instrumental in the ousting of all porn-related businesses in the area (and, indeed, city-wide), if not actually a part of the contractual negotiations and planning decisions.
But I suppose you’re right. If he came into office in ‘94 and 42nd Street was already pretty much a ghost town by then, he probably had very little to do with it at all other than, as you say, Al, stay out of the way. The New Victory opened in '95 and the Disney deal at the New Amsterdam was a State deal, wasn’t it? Most of the wanton demolition of the big old Broadway cinemas began under Koch’s watch and rolled into Dinkins’ lone term. Not sure what the politics were at the time and to what extent either administration was involved in those transactions.
My question for Vito and Bill is why would the console be out on the auditorium floor? Just for the photo-op? Did they wire it to function out there before installing it again up in the booth? Or is the operator in the image merely pretending to fiddle with the knobs?
Hey Vito… Click here to see Bill’s photo. This image is actually uploaded in the photo tab above, so you’d be able to find it by browsing there as well.
Wow. This theater didn’t even make it 20 years. That image on IDBD seems to have been taken during the latter stages of the 49th Street Theatre’s construction.
Funny, how if you swing the street view for a closer head-on look, the image seems to jump back in time a couple of years to when the Pearl Hotel was stil under construction! Seems to me that the hotel’s broad and flat entrance canopy is not unlike the one that was situated on the 49th Street Theatre. Most likely an architectural tip of the cap to the theatre district itself, rather than a nod to the particular playhouse that once occupied this lot some 72 years ago.
I can’t find any updates online regarding the opening of the new Performing Arts Center here. I passed by this morning, once again, and the site appears just about the same as it was on January 12th, when I took the most recent round of photos. Can’t really say what the progress is on the interior, but there’s still a lot of work required to finish the exterior, for sure. The entire facade on Post Avenue is still exposed down to the bare wood frame, and the new structure on the south-side of the audtorium is still clad in exposed insulation panels. I can’t imagine this is still on pace for a grand opening within the next 4 – 6 weeks.
Rob. Check the top of the ad. While the 42nd Street Lyric is not listed among the neighborhood houses showing the flick at the bottom of the ad, there is an announcement at the top of the ad for a live appearance by Smokey Robinson at this Lyric Theatre.
By the way, here’s a look at what the Sleepy’s looked like just a few years ago in 2007. Seems they streamlined the facade a bit further since then, judging from the current street view, removing the peak from the center of the parapet wall.
Rob… Warren didn’t really pass anything along to me. When I found an image of his that I though I might like to hold on to, I’d ask his permission to copy it into my photobucket account, but that was about the extent of our image-sharing relationship. Warren would often rotate images in and out of his own photobucket account, due largely to storage-space issues, I think. Many of his links are now broken due merely to his having removed the images from his scrapbook to make space for others.
If anyone is familiar with the area, the site of this theater is now a parking lot adjacent to the Sleepy’s showroom on Sunrise Highway. The Sleepy’s building looks quite similar to the old Strand building, in fact, and for a time I thought it might have been an adaptive re-use of the old building… but if you look at the vintage pic, you can see a piece of the Sleepy’s building at the far left of the image.
Here’s a link to Warren’s vintage image of the Strand. I wish it were a larger image.
I actually went right for the photo there, too. Original link was just for the thumbnail image.
Here it is.
You put the “here it is” in square brackets [ ] and put the link itself in parentheses immediately following the close bracket (with no space).
Hey Bway… Looking at your alternate street view showing the wrap around detail still left from the upper facade of the building, looks like I was wrong in my April, 2011, post when I thought that perhaps the eagle sculpture still stands at the apex of the curved cornice. It appears from your street view that the platform on which the eagle once stood may still be intact behind the new signage, but the eagle itself is gone (and, likely, long gone).
I should add that it’s basically the same story and set of pics regurgitated on three different sites, but figured I’d make them more convenient to access, anyway.
Here are activated versions of some of those links from the last few days:
Death of a bodega
Another look inside
Huffington article
Jrock, if you ever decide to upload those images here, I’m sure they would be greatly appreciated!
Nice series of pictures you posted, nyyhec. You’re comment as to how this theater was originally operated as the Harlem Strand, should be repeated in this thread so that the site administrators know to add the AKA to this page.
In this photo, you can see how the vertical spelling out GRAND could have easily been converted from its original STRAND display, simply by replacing the first two characters at the top of the sign. Thanks for posting!
You can see that the vertical sign was built to spell out STRAND, but when the theater was forced to change names, the top 2 characters were replaced.
SWC… many thanks for the photos. I think they serve a vital purpose in the name of theater preservation and historical appreciation. I also applaud Matt Lambros' terrific work on his blog After The Final Curtain, but he casts a much wider net than you do – traveling around the country as he does to photograph his many subjects.
Your detailed photographic journal of the Keith’s is a wonderful accomplishment – particularly considering the physical conditions that exist within its dilapidated shell. I think it’s very important that every surviving detail of this architectural gem be documented and catalogued, while they still remain. In the best case scenario, this series of images would spur a true restoration of the Keith’s and return to its highest and best utility. And in the worst case, we would at least be left with vivid reminders of what was lost.
As for posting them in the comment section… Sure, this might bend the rules a bit, but as long as the images don’t distort the presentation of the page (as some clumsily embedded pics can do), I see no harm nor foul.
Or, here’s an activated version of the link.
Here’s the activated link. Nice set of images there, NYCer… thanks for the find! Looks like all the plaster work from about half-way up the proscenium down to the floor has been stripped out of the auditorium. But it does appear that everything from that point up is still in there, though sadly deteriorated. Too bad there are no shots of the balcony. Must have been a very handsome theater in it’s prime.
Finally captured and some images the other morning that I’ve uploaded to document progress on the renovations. Post Avenue structure is now completely down to studs and beam framing. Also looks as if the marquee has been taken away (can’t tell behind the construction shedding if the frame is still there – I imagine it would be needed to support a new marquee). The new addition on the south side of the auditorium is now clad in insulation panels, but much clearing of debris and some excavation is still ongoing at the property.
Seems to me that completion by March of this year will be a tall order for the contractor to meet! That’s only 2 short months away!
Hey saps… Finally got those images up of the marquee lit up nice and bright at night.
I’m proudly one of those who are nostalgic… not because I loved the grime and crime, but because I happened to spend a number of years among those deranged audiences (my buddies and were entertained by the ongoing commentary) watching those genre flicks. I stopped going when the theaters started smelling of urine!
Saps, I stand corrected. Was thinking general election, not to mention the more earth-shattering events that took place on 9/11 that year.
That’s interesting information, Al. Is there title (or two) on the subject that you’d recommend? I’d love to read a well written and thorough accounting of the area’s redevelopment. Thanks, in advance.
Ha. He was very good at making it seem as if he had a hand in everything! I always had the impression that he was instrumental in the ousting of all porn-related businesses in the area (and, indeed, city-wide), if not actually a part of the contractual negotiations and planning decisions.
But I suppose you’re right. If he came into office in ‘94 and 42nd Street was already pretty much a ghost town by then, he probably had very little to do with it at all other than, as you say, Al, stay out of the way. The New Victory opened in '95 and the Disney deal at the New Amsterdam was a State deal, wasn’t it? Most of the wanton demolition of the big old Broadway cinemas began under Koch’s watch and rolled into Dinkins’ lone term. Not sure what the politics were at the time and to what extent either administration was involved in those transactions.