Excerpt from the NY Times review dated April 26, 1941:
The Rialto is following tradition this week in celebrating a quarter of a century of purveying movies to the public with a new screen-and-squeal item, “The Black Cat,” a comedy thriller suggested by a Poe short story…
OCEAN TOWNSHIP: The town’s movie theater will definitely be reopening…but exactly when is anybody’s guess.
Cine Grand Middlebrook, a movie theater located at 1502 Route 35 in Ocean Township, is currently closed for renovations and has been since February.
After months of seeing no work being done at the site and no updates from the theater’s Facebook page, a post was made yesterday.
“We are aware that this project has taken longer than hoped for,” the post states. “However, we find it in the best interests of both ourselves and the customers to handle it meticulously.”
The post states that the theater will be reopening “sooner” than people think and that the owners do have a set opening date.
After initially trying to remain open during the renovation process, the decision was made to close, renovate, and then re-open the newly-renovated theatre.
The exact details of the renovations are not clear but a response to a Facebook comment stated that they will include, “significantly more lobby space, vastly improved lighting and seating and a very unique ambiance.”
“We are not redecorating, we are truly remodeling this old thing,” the response states.
Cine Grand, a Netherlands-based international movie theater chain, began leasing the theater in 2014, after Bow Tie Cinemas allowed its lease to expire.
This building, recently housing offices, was badly damaged in a nearby gas explosion. According to the Chicago Tribune:
“Among buildings damaged by the blast was a historic century Opera House that now houses offices; it was among three buildings condemned because they are beyond repair, Canton police chief Rick Nichols said.”
Headline: Luxury multiplex will dress up drab 62nd Street corner
Author: Steve Cuozzo
Text: It’s a Hollywood ending for the B-movie corner of First Avenue and East 62nd Street.
Mexico City-based Cinemex, the world’s sixth-largest movie theater chain, will launch a luxury multiplex at Edison Properties’ 400 E. 62nd St., also known as 1124 First Ave., The Post has learned. It will be the first in the city for Cinemex, which has nearly 300 theaters in Mexico.
The just-signed, 50,000 square-foot lease on six floors is on the site of a former Clearview multiplex, which closed in 2013. The space on the Upper East Side’s southeastern fringe has been vacant ever since. With no stores at the southeast corner of First Avenue and 62nd Street — only a Manhattan Mini Storage outpost — the sidewalk can be lonely even in the daytime.
But that’s about to change — construction of the new multiplex is to begin soon.
We reported last February that Cinemex was among movie theater operators interested in the lower levels of 28 Liberty St., the downtown skyscraper previously known as Chase Plaza. The company has been scouting other Manhattan locations as well.
Terms of the East Side deal were not immediately available. CBRE senior VP Michael Kadosh and associate Jesse Wolff represented the landlord and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Jeffrey Roseman and Marc Frankel repped Cinemex.
The new Cinemex is expected to provide a luxury movie-going experience complete with reserved, plush seats and high-end food service. CBRE’s Kadosh said, “With reserved seating and dining, Cinemex means the days of waiting on a long line to get into a movie on the Upper East Side are over.”
News of the opening may hearten film-lovers who still enjoy seeing new releases in a full-scale theater. The city has lost numerous screens in the past few years, including Midtown’s legendary Ziegfeld, which closed earlier this year.
Well, do you want to fill the house with class or fill the seats with ass? “Smokey” was the number two picture of the year, (after “Star Wars”) and starred the number one box office actor, so I guess someone used their head for once. More bookings like this and maybe the house would have lasted longer than only two years more …
According to the NY Times review dated July 25, 1986, Maximum Overdrive opened in Manhattan at the Criterion, Broadway and 45th Street; Movieland Eighth Street, at University Place; 86th Street Twin, at Lexington Avenue; and Olympia Quad, Broadway at 107th Street.
It took about 90 seconds to find this information. Now my question: why did you need to know?
Here is the full link, and here is the article (for when the link eventually goes down) There are also a lot of picture of the area, and the renditions of the proposals…
JERSEY CITY — The neighborhood behind the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square would be set for a radical transformation under zoning changes up for final adoption by the City Council tomorrow.
The changes would allow the Harwood family to construct residential high-rises and arts facilities on a roughly 2-acre area the family owns that runs along the PATH tracks. The area is now home now to parking lots and a garage.
The city hopes the changes will lead to the creation of a cultural arts district connecting the neighborhood west of the Loew’s to Journal Square. The Harwoods would be allowed to build taller high-rises than zoning allows in exchange for creating spaces for theaters, art galleries and studios, museums, libraries and more.
The plans also call for improvements to Concourse West, the walkway commonly called the Loew’s alley that offers a direct if narrow connection between the Marion neighborhood and Journal Square. The zoning changes would require developers to incorporate retail space within the concourse and adjacent plaza at the foot of Magnolia Avenue.
The proposed changes to Journal Square zoning come as the area has become a target for real-estate developers. The first high-rise of a three-tower project called Journal Squared is nearly complete, while plans for a two-tower development across the street from the Loew’s were approved by the city in August, as were plans for a 72-story skyscraper on the site of the old Jersey Journal building.
The parking lots and garage targeted by the zoning changes up for approval tomorrow night have been owned by the Harwood family for nearly a century. Brett Harwood said the Journal Square development boom convinced the family to revamp their properties.
“As Journal Square has finally started to come into its own, and you can see the results of that all around, we think that there’s a higher and better use,” Harwood told The Jersey Journal.
The zoning changes would allow for two residential high-rises, one near the foot of Magnolia Avenue and the other near the foot of Pavonia Avenue. The city would allow the developers to exceed the 37-story maximum on each in exchange for the construction of cultural arts facilities in the high-rises and in two additional low-rise buildings. A fifth low-rise building would be allowed to house restaurants, cafes and other retail stores.
The city also envisions an amphitheater, dog run and playgrounds on a site near Van Reipen Avenue.
If approved by the council tomorrow, the zoning changes offer a template to the Harwoods. There are no plans yet, Harwood said, adding that unlimited height restrictions would not lead to soaring skyscrapers.
“Nobody should have expectations that we’re going to build another World Trade Center,” he said. “It wouldn’t be economical, it wouldn’t appropriate.”
The council meets tomorrow at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St.
Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
Pic of the first attraction “Start Cheering” posted in photos. This picture had opened at the Rialto in Times Square on March 16, 1938. The NY Times said “Unsinkably buoyed by the comical intensity of Jimmy Durante, "Start Cheering,” at the Rialto, turns out to be one of the funniest of the year’s admittedly minor productions…
I think the overview paragraphs need an updating…
So, is this place start of the art, or a fading dump?
I wonder how business is, now that the Alamo Drafhouse has opened down the road a bit…
Any news? It’s been about 20 months since the announcement…
Orlando, you’re one of the few voices here that I trust, so this does seem like very promising news.
I wonder what was to become of the theater already in that shopping center, i.e., AIT’s Mayfair which apparently lasted until 1984.
hdtv267 is not the annoying one here, although his responding to every asinine post can get a little tiring.
This is not a blog about current attractions, ticket sales, etc. Please find somewhere else to discuss those matters…
Excerpt from the NY Times review dated April 26, 1941:
The Rialto is following tradition this week in celebrating a quarter of a century of purveying movies to the public with a new screen-and-squeal item, “The Black Cat,” a comedy thriller suggested by a Poe short story…
Robert, you are a true “cinema treasure.” Thanks for some inside lowdown on one of our favorite houses.
How about the “Now Open” ad posted on photos page 11…?
Here’s the text of the WordOnTheShore article posted by fred1 on October 17, 2016:
OCEAN TOWNSHIP: The town’s movie theater will definitely be reopening…but exactly when is anybody’s guess.
Cine Grand Middlebrook, a movie theater located at 1502 Route 35 in Ocean Township, is currently closed for renovations and has been since February.
After months of seeing no work being done at the site and no updates from the theater’s Facebook page, a post was made yesterday.
“We are aware that this project has taken longer than hoped for,” the post states. “However, we find it in the best interests of both ourselves and the customers to handle it meticulously.”
The post states that the theater will be reopening “sooner” than people think and that the owners do have a set opening date.
After initially trying to remain open during the renovation process, the decision was made to close, renovate, and then re-open the newly-renovated theatre.
The exact details of the renovations are not clear but a response to a Facebook comment stated that they will include, “significantly more lobby space, vastly improved lighting and seating and a very unique ambiance.”
“We are not redecorating, we are truly remodeling this old thing,” the response states.
Cine Grand, a Netherlands-based international movie theater chain, began leasing the theater in 2014, after Bow Tie Cinemas allowed its lease to expire.
This building, recently housing offices, was badly damaged in a nearby gas explosion. According to the Chicago Tribune:
“Among buildings damaged by the blast was a historic century Opera House that now houses offices; it was among three buildings condemned because they are beyond repair, Canton police chief Rick Nichols said.”
Here is the text of the NY Post article:
Headline: Luxury multiplex will dress up drab 62nd Street corner
Author: Steve Cuozzo
Text: It’s a Hollywood ending for the B-movie corner of First Avenue and East 62nd Street.
Mexico City-based Cinemex, the world’s sixth-largest movie theater chain, will launch a luxury multiplex at Edison Properties’ 400 E. 62nd St., also known as 1124 First Ave., The Post has learned. It will be the first in the city for Cinemex, which has nearly 300 theaters in Mexico.
The just-signed, 50,000 square-foot lease on six floors is on the site of a former Clearview multiplex, which closed in 2013. The space on the Upper East Side’s southeastern fringe has been vacant ever since. With no stores at the southeast corner of First Avenue and 62nd Street — only a Manhattan Mini Storage outpost — the sidewalk can be lonely even in the daytime.
But that’s about to change — construction of the new multiplex is to begin soon.
We reported last February that Cinemex was among movie theater operators interested in the lower levels of 28 Liberty St., the downtown skyscraper previously known as Chase Plaza. The company has been scouting other Manhattan locations as well.
Terms of the East Side deal were not immediately available. CBRE senior VP Michael Kadosh and associate Jesse Wolff represented the landlord and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Jeffrey Roseman and Marc Frankel repped Cinemex.
The new Cinemex is expected to provide a luxury movie-going experience complete with reserved, plush seats and high-end food service. CBRE’s Kadosh said, “With reserved seating and dining, Cinemex means the days of waiting on a long line to get into a movie on the Upper East Side are over.”
News of the opening may hearten film-lovers who still enjoy seeing new releases in a full-scale theater. The city has lost numerous screens in the past few years, including Midtown’s legendary Ziegfeld, which closed earlier this year.
Cinemex will be this location at First and 62nd;
Cinepolis is the Chelsea on West 23rd Street
Well, do you want to fill the house with class or fill the seats with ass? “Smokey” was the number two picture of the year, (after “Star Wars”) and starred the number one box office actor, so I guess someone used their head for once. More bookings like this and maybe the house would have lasted longer than only two years more …
According to the NY Times review dated July 25, 1986, Maximum Overdrive opened in Manhattan at the Criterion, Broadway and 45th Street; Movieland Eighth Street, at University Place; 86th Street Twin, at Lexington Avenue; and Olympia Quad, Broadway at 107th Street.
It took about 90 seconds to find this information. Now my question: why did you need to know?
Construction well under way, two photos posted…
Here’s the direct link to the RKO Albee, now gone almost 40 years.
Here is the full link, and here is the article (for when the link eventually goes down) There are also a lot of picture of the area, and the renditions of the proposals…
JERSEY CITY — The neighborhood behind the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Journal Square would be set for a radical transformation under zoning changes up for final adoption by the City Council tomorrow.
The changes would allow the Harwood family to construct residential high-rises and arts facilities on a roughly 2-acre area the family owns that runs along the PATH tracks. The area is now home now to parking lots and a garage.
The city hopes the changes will lead to the creation of a cultural arts district connecting the neighborhood west of the Loew’s to Journal Square. The Harwoods would be allowed to build taller high-rises than zoning allows in exchange for creating spaces for theaters, art galleries and studios, museums, libraries and more.
The plans also call for improvements to Concourse West, the walkway commonly called the Loew’s alley that offers a direct if narrow connection between the Marion neighborhood and Journal Square. The zoning changes would require developers to incorporate retail space within the concourse and adjacent plaza at the foot of Magnolia Avenue.
The proposed changes to Journal Square zoning come as the area has become a target for real-estate developers. The first high-rise of a three-tower project called Journal Squared is nearly complete, while plans for a two-tower development across the street from the Loew’s were approved by the city in August, as were plans for a 72-story skyscraper on the site of the old Jersey Journal building.
The parking lots and garage targeted by the zoning changes up for approval tomorrow night have been owned by the Harwood family for nearly a century. Brett Harwood said the Journal Square development boom convinced the family to revamp their properties.
“As Journal Square has finally started to come into its own, and you can see the results of that all around, we think that there’s a higher and better use,” Harwood told The Jersey Journal.
The zoning changes would allow for two residential high-rises, one near the foot of Magnolia Avenue and the other near the foot of Pavonia Avenue. The city would allow the developers to exceed the 37-story maximum on each in exchange for the construction of cultural arts facilities in the high-rises and in two additional low-rise buildings. A fifth low-rise building would be allowed to house restaurants, cafes and other retail stores.
The city also envisions an amphitheater, dog run and playgrounds on a site near Van Reipen Avenue.
If approved by the council tomorrow, the zoning changes offer a template to the Harwoods. There are no plans yet, Harwood said, adding that unlimited height restrictions would not lead to soaring skyscrapers.
“Nobody should have expectations that we’re going to build another World Trade Center,” he said. “It wouldn’t be economical, it wouldn’t appropriate.”
The council meets tomorrow at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St.
Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
I think the double bill of Fists of Fury and Five Fingers of Death did pretty well back in the day…
Pic of the first attraction “Start Cheering” posted in photos. This picture had opened at the Rialto in Times Square on March 16, 1938. The NY Times said “Unsinkably buoyed by the comical intensity of Jimmy Durante, "Start Cheering,” at the Rialto, turns out to be one of the funniest of the year’s admittedly minor productions…
Pic of the dive-in site today in photos.
There’s a NYTimes article in the photo section that raises those issues.
Neely O'Hara says, Art films? Nudies! That’s all they are. Nudies.
But, but… Did they have a souvenir program for The Ten Commandments? (My collection is incomplete…)