Loew's Pitkin Theatre
1501 Pitkin Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11212
1501 Pitkin Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11212
19 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 292 comments
If page up to Life’s too short’s post from May 21, 2007 and look at the link for the roof. And look at Ed Solero’s post from May 23rd, 2007 of his link for the roof. And match that with Bwy’s post of Mar.4th 2010, and you will see just how much worse the roof has gotten in 3 years.
Jesus. It’s gotten much, much worse since the last time I took a look at an aerial image. This would have been a year or two ago.
i thought they were going to build low-income apartments in this building any word on that?
There is no saving the Loews Pitkin…..I don’t know how old this bing maps image is, but if you look closely, you will see that the entire roof is now open to the elements, it’s probably full sunlight inside of the theater at this point. It was reported above that the plaster ceiling has already collapsed, and the walls are probably just as bad. Water freely flows through the building, as seen in this aerial image of the theater, which is probably a couple years old already. Sad.
Does anyone have any vintage images of the interior? None of the links above seem to work. A more current one would be welcome too, but I am sure no one has been in there recently. Any interior photos would be appreciated.
Click here for aerial image….it’s a sight…
Nice photo Bway.
I don’t know if this has been posted here before, but I couldn’t tell…but it’s a great old photo of the Pitkin from the 50’s:
View link
Is there any way at all anything can be done to save this theatre? I am not from Brooklyn, I live in Staten Island but I love old theatres and I love Brooklyn. I have known about this theatre for a few years reading about it on here and would really love to see it restored. Who was the one who took the picture of the interior as it is now? Are there any way to have any more pictures of what the rest looks like? Maybe I can ask the owner of the store if he will allow me to take some pictures. Is this really going to be a doomed theatre by the wrecking ball? I hope not we need to all do something and contact the owner. Does anyone know if the dressing rooms are still intact as well as the projection booth and anything else? Please let me know if you have information on the present state. We cannot let this theatre be lost. I have a question as well on another theatre or what I think is a theatre. I noticed what seemed to have been a theatre on Rogers avenue in Brooklyn. Are there any old theatres that were closed down there? Rodges avenue I think it is right before Atlantic avenue on Rogers avenue. It looks like it was a theatre at one time. And does anyonw know besides this theatre and the Kings which other theatres in Brooklyn are still intact and closed and no longer in business. Thank you so much and if we all band together we can save and restore this theatre. I am surprised the stage and side decor is still intact.
My father grew up about a block away from this theater and while he took me to the movies a lot as a child, we never went here very much. Hedid tell me about the stage shows this theater used to show and what a beautiful theater it was. I did finally go in 1961 to see “The Guns of Navarone” here and found the theater to be sort of a small version of Radio City Music Hall with a round second level overlooking the massive inner-lobby. When I next was there in 1963 the area was going downhill fast and the theater was reduced to showing 2 horror films: “Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory” and Boris Karloff in “Corridors of Blood.” While these films do sound kind of low-grade, I have no doubt that there was a lot worse to come. This was a spectacular theater in its prime though.
Sad picture posted by ziggy. Interesting history of this house.
Wow, I just looked at the photo Ziggy posted a few months ago, and the Pitkin’s interior is really in shambles. It almost seems worse than what the Keiths in Flushing looks like. Not much hope here for the interior….
When did the church move out?
Notice Loews is pried off the marquee and the vertical must have ended as an indie
Douglas, can I ask you how you got inside ?
I would love to have the oportunity to photograph it before its conversion into apartments.
the loew’s pitkin is now slated to be a subsidized unit for over 60 families
sylvia schildt
I loved this theatre, growing up withit. what a sad state of affairs, wish some millionaire woul rebuild it&use it for local talent shows like they do with the Appollo, butthats just daydreaming
I now live in new hyde park&sometimes I go to a coffee shop across
from th Floral theatre, they made that a catering hall,its sad, you still see the building must have been quite lovely at one time, ah,I’m outta here
is the old marquee still under all the covering? does anyone know?
please forgive my spelling as I can only type with one nand since my stroke. Dennis
The Liberty Theatre did show movies in the later 1920’s early 1930’s and I have added it to its own page on Cinema Treasures. Thanks to J.F. Lundy for bringing the Liberty Theatre to our attention.
Thanks, HerbS. That would explain why Watkins Street in Brownsville has gone the way of Turnbull Avenue in Flatlands / Canarsie (East 105th St. station on the L line).
My guess is that the Liberty Theatre only had live shows perhaps Burlesque or live Yiddish plays like the Parkway (Rolland) on Eastern Parkway. It is the policy of Cinema Treasures not to list theatres that did not show motion pictures. At one time this site had the Parkway Theatre with some posts of mine but it was removed when they learned that it was not a motion picture house. I’m assuming the same format was at the Liberty. By the way, Liberty Av & Watkins Street in Brownsville has been in the confines of the Howard Houses since the early 1950’s.
Thanks, ziggy. I’ll tell my dad what Norton said. My dad still pronounces Loew’s as “Loweez”, too, same as Ed Norton.
J.F.Lundy, Liberty Avenue is still there. I’m not sure about Watkins Street. This may be a clue to another (to me) mystery :
Where was Liberty Pool ? I only know it was somewhere in Brownsville or East New York.
I find a Liberty Theater that was located about 10 blocks away from the Pitkin’s location listed in the 1928 Brooklyn Red Book. The address given is Liberty Avenue and Watkins Street. Google indicates that these streets no longer exist on the grid. Does this Liberty Theater appear under another name on this site ?
I was watching an episode of “The Honeymooners” last night. There was one scene where Ralph and Norton were in a Park Avenue apartment, which prompted Norton to comment that it was “almost as pretty as the lobby of Loew’s Pitkin!”
Of course, Norton pronounced Loew’s “Loweez”
Indeed that is a marvelous photograph. Perhaps someone would know when the photograph was taken.
George
There is more left than I would have thought. The sky is gone, but it looks like the “castle” plaster work is more or less still there. I would think the sky would be the easier of the two to recreate.
As indeed you should, ziggy. But that’s between you and Mr. R.
You’re welcome, but I want to thank Mr. Racioppo for putting the photo on the web. I just wish I could have been looking over his shoulder when he took it.