RKO Keith's Theatre

135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing, NY 11354

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SWCphotography
SWCphotography on April 12, 2009 at 1:56 am

CEO sez:
“I think that, in contrast to other cases, the situation at Boymelgreen Capital is straightforward. It has three assets and prices are at an unprecedented nadir. We took out loans against these assets, and in the current market conditions, we cannot get a price that allows us to repay our debt.”

Megamot College director Naftali Mendelovich attended the meeting as the representative of 300 bondholders. He said, “The company is effectively bankrupt. They don’t have a shekel on hand. To the best of my knowledge, Shaya Boymelgreen personally has no money for the company. We have Azorim and its subsidiaries.”

Jeffrey1955
Jeffrey1955 on April 5, 2009 at 2:09 am

Wo! Sorry — since CT wiped out all the automatic notifications about responses to selected theaters, I haven’t gotten a single message. I just decided to check in here and found this!

My comment on 8/14/08 was in response to the article linked to by Lost Memory directly above it. I just checked and the link still works. It’s an article in The Real Deal, a real estate industry publication, from 05/29/08: “Massey Knakal lists RKO site in Flushing for $31 million” and all it says about the mortgage is: “Boymelgreen took out an additional $13.4 million mortgage against the property in April, according to city property records. The company did immediately not return calls for comment.” Scroll up and click on Lost Memory’s 8/14/08 link to see the full story, or try this: http://tinyurl.com/cjfz6b

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 25, 2009 at 5:55 pm

Jeffrey1955, wherrrrrrre arrrrrre yoooooou?

Email me so we can get an answer to where we can track down the info. Or put it up here. Please…. And Thank You. :)

SWCphotography
SWCphotography on March 25, 2009 at 3:31 pm

Anyone know how to get in touch with Jeffrey1955 regarding the 3/24/09 question posted above, anyone else know the answer?

bazookadave
bazookadave on March 25, 2009 at 12:31 pm

This publicity for the Keith’s is great stuff! Is there any possibility at all now, with the surge in renewed interest in this theatre, of getting inside for photo sessions? I wanna go if there are photo forays!!

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 24, 2009 at 5:20 pm

Warren G Harris and others:

We are in need of photos for the website. Is anyone in posession of photos that they would be willing to give permission for us to use? Inside as well as outside.

Even if you don’t own them, but aware of their wherabouts, that would be awesome!

We are also in the process of incorporating and putting together a 501c3. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Anywhere you know of that we could go to for grants, etc.. We are also looking for a 501c3 that we could “piggyback” on til ours is up and running. We want to do this right the first time, and do it quickly! Please email me at with any info or pics. Thanks.

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 24, 2009 at 5:14 pm

Just wanted to make everyone aware of the articles that have run thus far in the NY papers. If I’ve missed any, please let me know:

3/24/09 – another Article in today’s QNote: View link

3/19/09 – The Times Ledger Ran an Article: View link

3/19/09 – A great video that Tom Stathes put together with Pictures of the inside of the theater:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7KKlprF-ow

3/19/09 – Queens Tribune ran a Feature Story today! : View link

3/18/09 – The NY daily News ran an article today:
View link

3/17/09 – and another… Ran in “The Real Deal”, New York State’s Real Estate Industry’s Bible Publication: View link

3/17/09 Another Article! This one ran 3/12/09 in the Queens Examiner: View link

3/12/09 – check the Queens Tribune for the article they ran on our efforts. It is not available online, unfortunately.

3/14/09 – The RKO Keith’s hits the press! Read the article about this facebook group in the National Trust for Historical Preservation’s Online Magazine:
View link

SWCphotography
SWCphotography on March 24, 2009 at 4:12 am

1955 Jeff:
Could you shed a little more light on this:
“Boymelgreen took out an additional $13.4 million mortgage against the property in April? And people wonder why there’s a sub-prime mortgage crisis!
posted by Jeffrey1955 on Aug 14, 2008 at 11:40am"
Who was the lender, how did you find out?

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on March 21, 2009 at 11:25 am

Wonderful Job Thomas! Thanks for your efforts to save this spectacular theater. A huge thanks to Ed Tracey as well!

I attended a film here only once, sometime in the early 80’s, and even though it was already triplexed at the time, I remember being awed in the same way as when I visited Loew’s Valencia and Radio City. I don’t remember the film I saw, but the theater I will remember forever.

I had the opportunity to tour the abandoned Loew’s Kings in Brooklyn on 2 ocassions over the last 3 years. It has sat abandoned for almost 30 years and though there is much damage, it can easily be restored – for a lot of money, of course.

Sadly, your tour of the Keiths reveals a theater in even worse shape than the Kings. I believe the damage might be even worse today as I am not sure if you took your tour before that awful developer (Boymelgreen) began some of the interior demolition of the auditorium as he prepared to build his condo before abandoning the project.

Nonetheless, it is wonderful to see that the public is making its voice heard and that, perhaps, this wonderful legacy of theater history may be saved so that future generations will be able to experience what it was like to see a movie in the days when “where” you saw a movie was sometimes more important than “what” movie you were going to see.

Panzer65
Panzer65 on March 21, 2009 at 8:48 am

TStathes,
Nice work, very interesting and enjoyable..I hope this gets the ball rolling on restoration efforts.Good luck!

Jeffrey1955
Jeffrey1955 on March 20, 2009 at 10:09 pm

Thomas, that is one heck of a good video! Really well done.

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 19, 2009 at 6:37 pm

3/19/08 – ANOTHER article came out today, this one in the Queens Tribune: View link

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 18, 2009 at 2:57 pm

Thanks Davebazooka! That’s the NY Daily news Article that ran today, 3/18/09. More to come this week in the news – keep watching!

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on March 17, 2009 at 3:33 pm

This ran is last week’s issue of The Real Deal which is the New York real estate industry’s bible publication:

Group forms to protect historic building

RKO Keith’s Theater

A grassroots organization, “Friends of the RKO Keith’s Flushing,” has formed to protect the RKO Keith’s building, a former movie theater. The building, at 135-27 Northern Boulevard in Flushing, is for sale after the current owner failed to develop the site into a planned luxury condominium. But a profitable sale of the property is unlikely, the group said in a statement. The group, which has over 1,000 members, hopes to preserve the building and find a use for it that fits with its past role as a theater. TRD

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 17, 2009 at 3:16 pm

3/17/09 Another Article! This one ran 3/12/09 in the Queens Examiner: View link

3/12/09 – check the Queens Tribune for the article they ran on our efforts. It is not available online, unfortunately.

Jeffrey1955
Jeffrey1955 on March 14, 2009 at 8:31 pm

Ed, you’ve done a fantastic job. Sorry I wasn’t able to make it down to the meeting.

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 14, 2009 at 4:43 pm

3/13/09 – Just had our first article in Preservation Online Magazine! Check it out:

View link

ejtracey3
ejtracey3 on March 13, 2009 at 11:39 pm

Flushing ’s Landmark RKO Keith’s Theatre is once again in the spotlight, an amazing, 23 years after its closure. This is the result of a bursting of the real estate bubble and the formation of a grassroots organization “Friends of the RKO Keith’s Flushing ,” which managed to gather an also amazing 1,000+ membership in the first week of its conception. Formed one short month ago, by members of the Facebook Group. The group has tapped into a wellspring of interest, extending beyond Flushing ’s boundaries, to include former residents and many others, who have attended graduations, dance classes, concerts or saw classic films at the theatre, in addition to current residents who see the potential of this venue. All this suggesting that the former show palace represents something much more than just another inert landmark. The building is now for sale again ($24 million) after the failure by the current owner to develop the site as a 19 story luxury condominium. Faced with the reality of a lasting and depressed real estate market, the survival of any developer is questionable and the sale of this property at a profit is extremely unlikely. Flushing may be left holding a foreclosed property, with little to show for those 23 years of vacancy. Ironically, among Flushing’s landmarks: The Bowne House, Quaker Meeting House (being restored), Kingsland Homstead, Latimer House and Town Hall, only the RKO site and shell structure has the location and size as is to become a revenue generating event center. The “Friends of the RKO Keith’s Flushing ” seek to preserve the entire building and give it a purpose in keeping with its storied past.

To join the Facebook Group:
View link

To join the MySpace Page:
http://www.myspace.com/rkokeithstheater

Many thanks to the people who made this happen. You know who you are!

SWCphotography
SWCphotography on March 4, 2009 at 11:05 am

Another nice link to keep tabs on:
[url]http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?symbol=BMGN[/url]

Moiselover
Moiselover on February 24, 2009 at 5:21 pm

This is Mr. Tracy’s note for the meeting to save our beloved theater:

Please join him if you can:

With this renewed sense of enrgy and enthusiasm, a meeting is scheduled for Friends of The RKO Keith’s Flusshing:

Saturday March 7th, 2009
12:00 noon – 2:00 pm
St John Vianney Parish Hall
140-10 34th Ave, Flushing –
Parking Lot on Corner of 35th Avenue and Union Street

There is a $100 donation which I am paying (gladly) – if anyone would like to chip in, feel free. No pressure to do so.

A few things we hope to cover during the meeting:

1- Status of the theater and a brief history of where it is today
2- History of The Committee to Save The RKO Keith’s Flushing, Inc.
3- Purpose of the committee, “friends of The RKO Keith’s"
4- Formulate game plan for future endeavors to save the Keith’s: Fundraising, Marketing. Non-profit status, Community Awareness, Preservation Group awareness &
Involvement, Media awareness and involvement.
5- Formation of sub-committees to carry out our mission of saving the RKO Keith’s.

I hope that we can have at least 100 supporters there. Please forward this to everyone you know. I realize many are involved other groups – churches, associations, non-profits, etc. – I would ask you to spread this information to those groups as well if for no other reason than to make them aware.

I am meeting the morning before with some of the key people involved from the beginning to give me a better sense of what we’re up against. This is by far, no small task. But I believe it is not impossible.

I will also add this event to the Facebook group page and the new MySpace page. Please forward this to all as well:

Our new MYSpace page – http://www.MySpace.com/rkokeithstheater

The Facebook Group Page for The RKO Keith’s: View link

Go to /theaters/834/ for info on The RKO Keith’s and its supporters.

Please! Everyone sign this petition:
View link

I’m looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday the 7th. Please confirm your attendance so we can have enough chairs. Feel free to email me with questions or suggestions for additional things to cover during the meeting. I will be flying in on Wednesday the 5th, so I will be available and in town that afternoon.

If you cannot make the meeting, but would like to help in some way, please email me at

See you there,

Ed Tracey

SWCphotography
SWCphotography on February 21, 2009 at 11:22 am

I like this link. Holding out for that $31M sale on a $15M investment on a property worth $1.4M but will come close to having paid the assessed value in tax and maintenance alone over the course of their ownership, for a zero return. These guys must have money to burn:
[url]http://webapps.nyc.gov:8084/cics/f704/f403001i?DET=4-04958-0048-[/url]
Why not donate to a non-profit and get the write off?

NativeForestHiller
NativeForestHiller on February 20, 2009 at 2:34 am

Hi everyone! I have created a flickr photoset (album) documenting the RKO Keith’s Theatre from its early days through present, and I am seeking photos, vintage ads, and any type of memorabilia, which will further the case for preservation & adaptive reuse. The album also includes a link to Ed Tracey’s newly established growing Facebook Group, and a link to Tom Stathes' online petition drive: View link
If you have something to contribute, please e-mail me at and I will gladly grant credit.

  • Michael Perlman
SWCphotography
SWCphotography on February 16, 2009 at 9:49 pm

Here is what one of the pair of foyer fountains looked like:
courtesy of Ed Solero’s Photobucket and 6/6/06 posting