Loew's Gates Theatre

Thanks for your reply Warren. I do live in Manhattan; that’s the easy part. Unfortunately he used 3 different names and Im not 100%positive which was the one he used professionally! This should keep me busy for quite a while.
joyz

Dear Warren,
Yes, our church is really called, ‘Pilgrim Church’. When the building was originally bought, it was only going to be used for conventions, meetings, and special occasions. We still use it for those things except now, it’s mainly used as our “Father” church. The other churches that you saw listed are our affiliated churches (Pilgrim Church of New Lots Avenue and Rockaway Avenue). The building that you saw on Broadway, the one with the Renaissance Convention Center wording, is our “Father” church building (1338-44 Building). You’d be surprised at just how much the progress has been made on the inside. The renovations are fantastic. If you wish to ‘take a look’, please contact Pastor DeBora Crow at (718) 452-5180 Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., or feel free to pay us a visit at our 11:00 a.m. sunday services. Jeanne M.

A friend of mine at work once wrote a poem about church services as entertainment, titled, “Praise The Lord ! It’s Showtime !”

That is good news. The building is well maintained from what people have told us here, so this could mean that it is being maintained for the church, and could potentially one day become a theater again, if the neighborhood’s fortunes continue to reverse for the better. I wonder how the Housing Authority wound up with it, unless Loews just walked away from the building when the neighborhood went to hell in the 70’s.

Did the Gates have a smaller auditorium in addition to the main auditorium?

Again, Bryan Krefft, thank you.

Thanks so much Warren! What a beautiful place! From what it sounds like, the church has kept good care of it. (They keep the exterior in great shape, so I assume they have done the same on the interior. A real shame it can’t be a theater right now, but it faired much betteer than it’s neighbor, the Bushwick. A church is probably the next best use if it can’t be a theater or concert hall. And who knows, maybe one day in the future it has the hope of being a theater again, in the meantime it is being maintained. Some of these churches even rent the space out for movies, etc for extra money.
The all too rare interior shot. Keep them coming for any theater you may find them for, they are always welcome.

The large church you speak of is actually St. Johns. I believe it is still in use. That is where St. Johns University started. They built some houses around the old football field and it is some what run down. I am sure it has a following (Probably hispanics from Bushwick, like our Lady of Good Council on Putnam Avenue has).

Peter K: The Empire is a church. The exterior is stucco, which my father always pointed was prone to develop cracks. The exterior shows signs of multiple patched cracks (no recent paint). The interior is hard to describe. It is appearent they dont have the resources of other larger church congregations It’s not in horrible shape, but certainly not the best either. Walking in the Empire will not make your mind conjer up memories of grand old movie palaces'.
I still have not got to your question on Bushwick, but I will.
Brooklyn absorbed all of the other towns in Kings county. It first absorbed Bedford which was probably larger than Brooklyn. Bedford was only a town for a short period. It was given the status of township under the Charter of Liberties and Privileges (Which some refer to as Americas first constitution). When that charter was recinded it later became a hamlet in the village of Brooklyn and village in the Town of Brooklyn. There was talk of making it a town again, but it never happened and finally it was absorbed mainly in the Eastern District of Brooklyn. Bedford was large and retained its identity into the 1930’s. It had a community newspaper which merged with the Flatbush paper. I have a copy somewhere. Bedford’s eastern border was where Easern Parkway turns. It’s southern border was Empire Boulevard and during the first U.S. census, the census taker said he entered Bedford when he crossed Flatbush road (which was mainly west of present day Flatbush Avenue, an old Lenape Indian trail). Stiles, Kings county 1800 historian, said it included Wallabout bay (Brooklyn Navy Yard). There is a famous engraving in Stiles book called Bedford corners. Bedford Corners was located about where the Loews Brevoort was. That area was called Bedford Green and was developed after the turn of the century.
I spent the last year before learning about the local native people who were miss named by a amateur historian name Silas Wood, he created the myth of the thirteen tribes. He took those names from deeds and they don’t reflect reality, a great deal of Native people history is just lost! We do know the native people in the Metropolitan area were Lenape’s. The Lenape people were also in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Delaware were actually Lenapes’. The name Delaware came from I believe an English Gentlemen who was Governor of Delaware for one year (De La War was his name).
It is late, I hope this legible?

Was the Empire known by a different name? I can’t find it on the site. I can’t believe that there were so many theaters in both the Myrtle corridor and the Broadway corridor! Any information on the Empire would be appreciated. If it’s not on the site, maybe one of us can add it. Originally, the only theaters I know about on Broadway were the Commodore, the Broadway, and the RKO Bushwick. I eventually discovered the Gates, and now all these little theaters. I had no idea the Monroe and the Empire buildings still stood. I think I need to have a walking tour of Broadway one day when I am in the area!

The Loews Gates is well maintained. I was in the building two years ago and it looked almost the same as I remembered it from my childhood. On hot summer days I have seen the fire doors to the Theater left open (Gates Avenue side). The Pilgrim church apparently has the resources to maintain the Theater, it seems to be a fairly large congregation. The same can not be said for the Empire (I was in the Lobby of the Empire yesterday)!
I will see what I can find out about the Williamsburg Bushwick border.

I grew up going to the Loew’s gates and have been in there recently. I remember many a day in that Theatre. It is still very well maintained, but to be honest I liked the RKO Bushwick a little more, as nice as the Loew’s Gates is the Bushwick was a little more elegant.
There was a marquee on the gates Avenue side also and a entrance. I remember always entering on the Broadway side though, possibly exiting on Gates Avenue a few times. The first movie I remember seeing in my life was Forbidden Planet at the Loew’s Gates, I was about four. Till this day, that is my favorite movie.
Once again the south side of Broadway is Brooklyn, Bedford section and not Bushwick. Broadway was originally named Division street, because it seperated Bedford or Brooklyn from Bushwick. Williamsburg later seperated from Bushwick.
In the eighties there was an attempt to make ago of it as a Theatre and I do remember James Brown performing there in the early eighties.