RKO Madison Theatre
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
54-30 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
21 people
favorited this theater
Showing 701 - 725 of 1,251 comments
The facade is intact beneath the sign. I noticed that when they put the sign up, that it’s pushed outwards to allow for the concrete Gothic adornments above the windows. Interestingly, before Liberty moved in, when the Busy Bee store was there, the facadfe was completely steam cleaned and repointed. Unfortunately it was seen short lived, as Liberty decided to cover it with their huge sign.
Here’s a May 2005 photo of the RKO Madison. The facade is most likely intact beneath the overwhelming sign.
View link
Cinemascope comes to the Madison for Christmas of 1954
View link
The Madison was part of this huge second run in 1964
View link
Thanks, Warren and Bway.
Warren, I really enjoyed the pictures and the ‘28 description of the Madison.
I’d like to suggest that you break long articles such as this into paragraphs to make it more readable.
‘Tonino Kojak Civility Temperance Roma
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior,
BTW, were there any other photos, even if you only keep them up temporarily?
Wow!!! This is the first time I have seen the interior of the Madison since I was a kid in there in the 1970'!!! Simply BEAUTIFUL!! Thanks so much, I can’t believe all that beauty is now all covered or gone. If you go into the Liberty Department store, the curve of the balcony is READILY noticable, as they have a drop ceiling under the balcon, and then you see the curve of the balcony, and just above the plaster on the edge of the balcony, around where the rail would have been is the fake drop ceiling that lowers the height of the ceiling to just above the level where the Balcony edge is in the photo…. And of course the floor has been leveled, so it wouldn’s seem as high as it may appear it would in the photo.
PKoch, Your opinion re living in Williamsburg, Bklyn confirmed my suspicion. That was why I made my original comment re rental costs there.
Williamsburg, VA is a pricey place too, but an ok place to throw your hat.
Shalom, ciao, excelsior, and Buon Natale
There are apartments both for rent and for sale. The neighborhood has improved, but I am not sure I would feel safe living there again. Good idea about restoring one of the closed movie theaters.
Happy holidays to all !
PKoch; for $1,700 per month is the surrounding neighborhood nice. Are these apartments for rent or for sale. If there is a renaissance in the area perhap’s one of the closed movie theatre’s could be restored. Happy holiday’s fella’s.
PKoch… Who’s buying and / or renting at those prices ?
I don’t know. Maybe Indians? They seem industrious and running convenience stores/gas stations and driving taxis. But I had the impression they had taken over more formerly upscale neighorhoods such as Rego Park along Queens Blvd.
I’d work in a donut shop on off-shift if it would help me to live in the City. Times, and preferences change. Took me 30 years to realize that. Like the man said: “Once you left Mew York, you aint gone no where.”
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Yes, Eleanor, I’ve seen that picture of that type of apartment on the site.
‘Tonino, my reaction precisely. Who’s buying and / or renting at those prices ? Who’s moving in ? How long can prices continue that high ? I don’t know what typical rents are in the more “affordable” areas.
A 2nd or 3rd job to live in the City ?
…..$ 1,700 a month for a one bedroom apartment at Wilson Avenue and Cooper Street.
Ugh, gag, ugh. Who would do that?. I’d be better off paying two or three times that for a flat in the City, No? What are typical rents in some of its more “affordable” areas? There must be some under $60k a year, no?
I’d get a 2nd or 3rd job to live in the City.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
So true Peter and there is a picture of an apartment of that type posted on the Bushwick Buddies site.
Re : returning to Bushwick : perhaps now it’s less a matter of getting lost and / or surviving than it is of being able to afford moving back in, at the prices and rents now being charged there, like $ 1,700 a month for a one bedroom apartment at Wilson Avenue and Cooper Street.
Hey Lost … if you’d like to join us I’m sure you’d be welcome. I’d get lost if I went back.
Indeed it does, Lost Memory. Please join Bushwick Buddies and tell us all about it !
Yes, Eleanor, I am one of the younger “Bushwick Buddies” at age 51. Perhaps “Bway” is the youngest “Bushwick Buddy” of all. One would need to go onto Bushwick Buddies itself to find out, though. Perhaps the age differences don’t matter, given that we all have Bushwick and Ridgewood in common.
Hi Eleanor, I was 16 in ‘53. I left NY in '61. Grew up in Glendale.
Is Wallabout St, west of Broadway, in Bushwick? I used to help my father in his trucking business when he went to Slattery’s Gas Range on Wallabout St every Saturday. It was a few blocks away from Pfizer’s. Also, familiar with businesses in Greenpoint which I guess isn’t part of Bushwick.
My paternal grandparents lived in Brooklyn, not sure if it was Bushwick (I doubt it) and I don’t remember the address.
I never knew there were so many neighborhoods in Brooklyn until just now. View link
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Hi Tonino … I was 13 in 1953 and left Bushwick in 1962 when I got married. I actually lived in “Bushwick” not “Ridgewood” but we did most of our shopping either on Myrtle Avenue or took the Putnam Avenue bus downtown to A&S, Namms Loesers (forgot how to spell it) and of course Bonds and Mays. If you are at all interested in Bushwick with a touch on Ridgewood I have a website called Bushwick Buddies … PKoch is one of our younger buddies. Most of us are in our 60s and 70s and are sharing memories and pictures from the 40s, 50s and some earlier, and we have current pictures too. If you’d be interested, just drop me a note at or take a peek at www.bushwickbuddies.com It is a private site so username and password is required. Looking forward to hearing from you.
bushwickbuddy said………..You know, I used to go to the Madison on a regular basis in the 1950s and walked Myrtle Avenue quite a bit
Finally someone familiar with the area in the same decade. I worked at Ripley’s men’s clothes from about'53 to'60. Walked Myrtle Ave from the RKO Keith’s, Richmond Hill to the RKO Madison. (Also, vicinity of Navy St and Jay St.from the Myrtle Ave el.) Sounds like we left the area about the same time, early 60s.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
That “barber shop” survived into the 70’s with the store. I don’t remember it still bein a barber shop when I was down there, but I remember a glass enclosed “store within a store” down there in the basement of that children’s clothes store, and remember being down there during the going out of business sale. I don’t know if that was the late 70’s or very early 80’s. After the childrens store closed, it became “Michelle’s Dept Store” which sold things like curtains, clothes, housewares, etc. They didn’t use the basement though, but you could see in the floor where the opening used to be.
Of course today, as I mentioned, both stores were combined (Mc Crory’s and that childrens store), and is now where “The Fair” is, which is a higer end linens, curtains, (Bed, Bath, and Beyond-type of store). They don’t use the downstairs of either the old McCrory’s store or the Childrens stores. I believe because of current ADA (American’s with Disabilities) legislation, they are not allowed, as it would not have access to wheelchair or disabled people, and it woundn’t be worth the cost to install an elevator of course, so to comply, they just don’t have stores with lower levels anymore….
I think it’s very instructive to look through those older photos. Some are old enough to show Wilson Avenue as Hamburg Avenue. Later ones from the 1950’s show the bulky, round “Sherman Tank” style cars of those days, a certain style of street sign, and the fact that Bushwick wasn’t looking bad back then.
One could also make a comparison within those BrooklynPix photos, of, say, Halsey and Bway in 1906 and 1908.
But yes, especially your home at Central and Eldert, with you standing next to it !
Everyone would certainly be appreciative of that Peter. We’ve got some of those pixs up as you’ve seen and they’ve drawn many comments, to include the one of my house at Central and Eldert. It seems we’ve got everyone searching through old photos lately. lol