It seems to me that the criticism of Condos above is misdirected. One need only look at cities like Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis, Camden, Newark, (the list goes on) to show that many movie palaces were lost in cities that had no development at all. That was the problem! No one wanted to build Condos because many people had left and no one else wanted to move in. So the palaces rotted.
In New York, new condo development has primarily ocurred because the city has been turned into a very desirable place to live. By lowering crime, cleaning the streets and restoring and creating new infrastructure, people have been flocking back to the city. As a result, developers built new housing. That doesn’t mean that you lose all of your landmarks. That’s what Landmark laws are for. That is what Zoning laws are for. All of these new Condos and Office buildings increase property values over all.
In New York, one need look only at what happened on 42nd Street. New Office buildings were built and the entire street was redeveloped. Some theaters were gloriously restored (The New Amsterdam, The New Victory, The American Airlines and the Hilton Theaters). One theater shell was preserved as an entrance to a new multiplex (The Harris). Another theater, The Times Square, is being turned into a retail store for Marc Ecko. Another theater, The Liberty is still awaiting its new use (rumour has it that it will soon be restored into an actual operating theater).
My point is that, overall, development SAVED these theaters. It is not enough to say that all old movie palaces need to be restored. Someone has to pay for them and they generally have to have a way to support themselves afterward. A vibrant successful residential/office district is much more likely to allow that to happen.
Philadelphia finally landmarked the Boyd! It’s about time! Now, they have to find a way to assist in restoring it; whether through tax breaks, grants or other incentives. The city needs to understand that a restored Boyd will lift the entire district up and enhace Philadelphia’s reptation. The sooner they truly figure that out, the sooner you will see progress.
I just had a memory come back to me. I thought my last visit to Radio City was to see Crossed Swords which I think corresponded to the Easter Show. I don’t remember the year. The movie was forgettable, but I clearly remember the stage show spectacle of the lilies lined up in a cross shape.
However, I also remember seeing the Bicentenial celebration in the summer of 1976. I don’t remember the movie, but the stage show’s gimmick was that it included a song that represennted every state in the union. Some were easy: “California Here I Come”, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”, “Oklahoma” and “New York State of Mind”. Other states were much more challenging. New Jersey’s song was somethng called “Jersey Bounce”. I can'’t imagine what they used for New Hampshire, The Dakotas (Both) and Minnesota. For the Carolinas I think they used “Nothing could be Finer” for both of them, but I could be wrong. I also think there might have been a state or two where they couldn’t find any song and they made one up.
As as adendum to my previous comment….When this theater first opened this escalator area opened into a food court. As a matter of fact, there was a Cinnabons right there and, on several ocassions, I bought one (or more) for the road. At that time,there was plenty of open space and therefore no issue.
Then the food court failed and they took all of the restaurant space and almost all of the food court’s open space and rented it to Buster and Daves. The separation being big glass walls so that you can see everyone eating and playing inside. That’s why there’s a problem now. There is no overflow and I think its a dangerous situation; especially if there is an emergency.
AlAlvarez…..the problem at the AMC is that the area originally created to hold the people as they change escaltors has been severely constricted by glass walls that were built to house more restaurant space for Buster and Dave’s. The back up (when it occurs) now has no overflow area. That’s what creates the potentially dangerous situation especially if people are trying to exit in a hurry as in the case of an actual emergency.
The problem is that there is not enough space at the “turn around” areas where you switch from one escalator to the other on the floor where Busters and Applebees are located. I’ve seen some very uncomforatable situations when multiple movies let out. I think one escaltor is slower than another resulting in back ups that can lead to a dangerous situation if people panicked. I have never seen this at any other theater.
There is big news about the Strand! The Brooklyn Academy of Music is investing $17.3MM for a renovation of this theater:
The following is a posting from Curbed.com which is a real estate blog in New York City:
It’s been a month or so since there was any news out of the BAM Cultural District, but today there is an announcement that the old Strand Theater in Fort Greene is going to be getting a $17.3 million expansion and makeover. The space, which was a vaudeville theater in the old days, will house BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn and UrbanGlass. The BRIC group, which produces Celebrate Brooklyn among other things, will get 20,000 square feet. Brooklyn Community Access Television will get a media screening room and a new TV studio. UrbanGlass will get a big new space too. Design work will happen this year with construction in 2009 and completion in 2010. The space, which dates to 1918 and also was a bowling alley for a while, is next to BAM’s Harvey Theater on Fulton Street.
Ooops! Yes, I agree that Loews Lincoln Square is an exception, but my point was that modern megaplexes aren’t all that different form one another, as a whole and to criticize AMC 25 in this regard was unfair. Thanks.
I have never had an unpleasant experience at AMC 25. I love their incorporation of an old theater into their lobby. I like the escalators that seem to go on forever. I haven’t been to any megaplex that doesn’t look have the “look and feel” of an airport once you get past the lobby so this is an unfair ctriticism of this theater in particular. The individual theaters are comfortable, have great sound and the screens are very large relative to the size of the theater. My only real complaint is the exit. There is one narrow escalator to get out and sometimes the bottlenecks that form border on a disaster just about to happen. I can’t believe it was designed that way and that the city hasn’t made them change it.
That sounds so cool! Why wouldn’t they NOT replicate it? The goal of any establihment/business is to make itself unique from anything else in the market. A steaming Buddha Bowl goes a long way!
Back in August 2007 Somic mentioned in an above post that the Liberty would soon be restored and possibly returned to live theater. Has anyone heard anything about this since?
The RKO Keiths Richmond Hill is still there! The Marquee was totally restored for the filming of a movie and looks great, but the inside has not. It serves as an indoor flea market. The theater is still pretty much intact and could easily be restored. The issue, of course, is who would pay for it and how it would maintain itself. The theater is not located in a commercial hub or entertainment area. So for now, it just sits and waits.
Based on reading the threads of the Adams, The Paramount and Proctor’s it would appear that The Paramount is best positioned to be the one of the three to have the best (though apparently slim) chance of being saved. Proctors appears to be on the verge of collapse and the Adams is the furthest away from Penn Station.
I believe that Newark will be in a position to restore one of these theaters in the near future as its fortunes improve, but I’m afraid the effort will be too little, too late as all of these theaters appear to be reaching the point of no return.
I don’t see the fact that no seats are remaining would be a hindrance to resotring this theater. Many of the old theater seats are too small for today’s rather larger patorns and need more legroom so it would be better if the seats were replaced even if the originals were still there.
This theater appears better situated than the Adams to be Newark’s “Theater” but Newark still has work to do to make itself more inviting and welcoming. Cory has his hands full, but I applaud his efforts and wish him luck. In the right hands, Newark will have a bright future as the oil crisis forces people and businesses to live and work in areas that have superior access to mass transit as Newark does.
The Adams restoration would be more probable if Newark in genereal and this neighborhood in particular were more inviting.
Cypress… Why do you feel that Newark losing its “grit” is a terrible thing? Obviously you don’t live there. Who wants to live in a neighborhood filled with crime and fear? Given the choice, virtually no one.
Times Square was a cesspool that was symbolic of the city as a whole in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Once it was cleaned up and its “Grit” removed, what happended? The Theater Boomed, hotels boomed, restaurants boomed and then, surprise!…People WANTED to live in Times Square/Hells Kitchen.
Newark could only dream of having success like this. In the early 90’s New York had a murder count of 2,200 people. Today it is around 500. A big part of the reason for the decline is the city’s success in getting rid of that “grit” you appear to like. Many more people are alive today because of the city’s success. Yet Newark is at its high point in murders. Why would you want it to stay this way?
Thanks Bob, I’ll look those theaters up on CT. Is there any hope (or desire) on anyone’s part in Newark to restore those theaters? Is there anything to restore? It seems things are finally starting to look up in Newark.
What an incredible marquee! The “upgraded” marquee posted by TC on 7/10/07 is also handsome, but IMO, doesn’t compare to the original plus what must have been a beautiful Blade. Another shame for Newark that it appears that none of its palaces was able to survive whereby “lowly” Jersey City was able to keep two.
I don’t mean to be sacriligious, but…..I don’t believe that all multiplexes are souless and cold. Some of them, like the AMC Empire incorporate some of the old (in this case using the auditorium of the original Empire as the entrance to the multiplex). The reality is that modern theaters can be very enjoyable places to see a film. The chairs are comfortable, hand rests are removable, there are drink holders, the floors are raked or have stadium seating, the screens are huge relative to the size of the theater and the sound excellent (ideally). I mention all of this because I truly love the old movie palaces, but in many of them, the seats were not comfortable, the screens were small (relative to the size of the theater, sound was not the best, etc….
Yes, they were architecturally wondrous and that is why we treasure them, but in the best of the multiplexes, we do have an experience of seeing films in the best possible setting (with the big exception of the archtectural splendor of the setting). I agree that is a BIG exception! :–)
I went to The Saint for the first time in 1988. The dome was still there and I distinctly remember entering at a side door on 6th Street. The Saint closed and then reopened for a couple of years for special events. I went to several of those and the entrance for those events was always at the main entrance on 2nd Avenue through the original theater entrance (as it always should have been).
I’m only saying that the one time I went while the dome was still up, we entered via 6th Street.
Thank you for letting me know Warren. I sincerely appreciate it. I know that he was a valued friend of CT and The Theatre Historical Society of America, but I was not aware of his passing. May he rest in peace.
It’s incredibly frustrating that Newark Symphony Hall’s own web site provides only one interior photo of the theater and not a very good one at that. If the theater is as beuatiful as they say it would make common sense to show it. Alas……
Has there been any movement on the renovation of this theater? I’ve read a lot about plans about the renovation of Santurce and I know that there have been some successes, but I haven’t heard anything about the Paramount. I will be spending the Christmas holidays in Puerto Rico this year and will have a look around and report back on this site.
It seems to me that the criticism of Condos above is misdirected. One need only look at cities like Detroit, Gary, East St. Louis, Camden, Newark, (the list goes on) to show that many movie palaces were lost in cities that had no development at all. That was the problem! No one wanted to build Condos because many people had left and no one else wanted to move in. So the palaces rotted.
In New York, new condo development has primarily ocurred because the city has been turned into a very desirable place to live. By lowering crime, cleaning the streets and restoring and creating new infrastructure, people have been flocking back to the city. As a result, developers built new housing. That doesn’t mean that you lose all of your landmarks. That’s what Landmark laws are for. That is what Zoning laws are for. All of these new Condos and Office buildings increase property values over all.
In New York, one need look only at what happened on 42nd Street. New Office buildings were built and the entire street was redeveloped. Some theaters were gloriously restored (The New Amsterdam, The New Victory, The American Airlines and the Hilton Theaters). One theater shell was preserved as an entrance to a new multiplex (The Harris). Another theater, The Times Square, is being turned into a retail store for Marc Ecko. Another theater, The Liberty is still awaiting its new use (rumour has it that it will soon be restored into an actual operating theater).
My point is that, overall, development SAVED these theaters. It is not enough to say that all old movie palaces need to be restored. Someone has to pay for them and they generally have to have a way to support themselves afterward. A vibrant successful residential/office district is much more likely to allow that to happen.
Philadelphia finally landmarked the Boyd! It’s about time! Now, they have to find a way to assist in restoring it; whether through tax breaks, grants or other incentives. The city needs to understand that a restored Boyd will lift the entire district up and enhace Philadelphia’s reptation. The sooner they truly figure that out, the sooner you will see progress.
I just had a memory come back to me. I thought my last visit to Radio City was to see Crossed Swords which I think corresponded to the Easter Show. I don’t remember the year. The movie was forgettable, but I clearly remember the stage show spectacle of the lilies lined up in a cross shape.
However, I also remember seeing the Bicentenial celebration in the summer of 1976. I don’t remember the movie, but the stage show’s gimmick was that it included a song that represennted every state in the union. Some were easy: “California Here I Come”, “The Yellow Rose of Texas”, “Oklahoma” and “New York State of Mind”. Other states were much more challenging. New Jersey’s song was somethng called “Jersey Bounce”. I can'’t imagine what they used for New Hampshire, The Dakotas (Both) and Minnesota. For the Carolinas I think they used “Nothing could be Finer” for both of them, but I could be wrong. I also think there might have been a state or two where they couldn’t find any song and they made one up.
Anyone out there remember any of this? :–)
As as adendum to my previous comment….When this theater first opened this escalator area opened into a food court. As a matter of fact, there was a Cinnabons right there and, on several ocassions, I bought one (or more) for the road. At that time,there was plenty of open space and therefore no issue.
Then the food court failed and they took all of the restaurant space and almost all of the food court’s open space and rented it to Buster and Daves. The separation being big glass walls so that you can see everyone eating and playing inside. That’s why there’s a problem now. There is no overflow and I think its a dangerous situation; especially if there is an emergency.
AlAlvarez…..the problem at the AMC is that the area originally created to hold the people as they change escaltors has been severely constricted by glass walls that were built to house more restaurant space for Buster and Dave’s. The back up (when it occurs) now has no overflow area. That’s what creates the potentially dangerous situation especially if people are trying to exit in a hurry as in the case of an actual emergency.
The problem is that there is not enough space at the “turn around” areas where you switch from one escalator to the other on the floor where Busters and Applebees are located. I’ve seen some very uncomforatable situations when multiple movies let out. I think one escaltor is slower than another resulting in back ups that can lead to a dangerous situation if people panicked. I have never seen this at any other theater.
There is big news about the Strand! The Brooklyn Academy of Music is investing $17.3MM for a renovation of this theater:
The following is a posting from Curbed.com which is a real estate blog in New York City:
It’s been a month or so since there was any news out of the BAM Cultural District, but today there is an announcement that the old Strand Theater in Fort Greene is going to be getting a $17.3 million expansion and makeover. The space, which was a vaudeville theater in the old days, will house BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn and UrbanGlass. The BRIC group, which produces Celebrate Brooklyn among other things, will get 20,000 square feet. Brooklyn Community Access Television will get a media screening room and a new TV studio. UrbanGlass will get a big new space too. Design work will happen this year with construction in 2009 and completion in 2010. The space, which dates to 1918 and also was a bowling alley for a while, is next to BAM’s Harvey Theater on Fulton Street.
Pierce Brosnan gets the award for absolute worst singing in a leading role of a movie musical. This is the best they could come up with? Oy! :–)
Ooops! Yes, I agree that Loews Lincoln Square is an exception, but my point was that modern megaplexes aren’t all that different form one another, as a whole and to criticize AMC 25 in this regard was unfair. Thanks.
I have never had an unpleasant experience at AMC 25. I love their incorporation of an old theater into their lobby. I like the escalators that seem to go on forever. I haven’t been to any megaplex that doesn’t look have the “look and feel” of an airport once you get past the lobby so this is an unfair ctriticism of this theater in particular. The individual theaters are comfortable, have great sound and the screens are very large relative to the size of the theater. My only real complaint is the exit. There is one narrow escalator to get out and sometimes the bottlenecks that form border on a disaster just about to happen. I can’t believe it was designed that way and that the city hasn’t made them change it.
Other than that, I love it!
That sounds so cool! Why wouldn’t they NOT replicate it? The goal of any establihment/business is to make itself unique from anything else in the market. A steaming Buddha Bowl goes a long way!
Back in August 2007 Somic mentioned in an above post that the Liberty would soon be restored and possibly returned to live theater. Has anyone heard anything about this since?
Ouch!!!!
The RKO Keiths Richmond Hill is still there! The Marquee was totally restored for the filming of a movie and looks great, but the inside has not. It serves as an indoor flea market. The theater is still pretty much intact and could easily be restored. The issue, of course, is who would pay for it and how it would maintain itself. The theater is not located in a commercial hub or entertainment area. So for now, it just sits and waits.
Isn’t Bridgeport experiencing some kind of revival? It’s heartbreaking to see this.
Based on reading the threads of the Adams, The Paramount and Proctor’s it would appear that The Paramount is best positioned to be the one of the three to have the best (though apparently slim) chance of being saved. Proctors appears to be on the verge of collapse and the Adams is the furthest away from Penn Station.
I believe that Newark will be in a position to restore one of these theaters in the near future as its fortunes improve, but I’m afraid the effort will be too little, too late as all of these theaters appear to be reaching the point of no return.
I don’t see the fact that no seats are remaining would be a hindrance to resotring this theater. Many of the old theater seats are too small for today’s rather larger patorns and need more legroom so it would be better if the seats were replaced even if the originals were still there.
This theater appears better situated than the Adams to be Newark’s “Theater” but Newark still has work to do to make itself more inviting and welcoming. Cory has his hands full, but I applaud his efforts and wish him luck. In the right hands, Newark will have a bright future as the oil crisis forces people and businesses to live and work in areas that have superior access to mass transit as Newark does.
The Adams restoration would be more probable if Newark in genereal and this neighborhood in particular were more inviting.
Cypress… Why do you feel that Newark losing its “grit” is a terrible thing? Obviously you don’t live there. Who wants to live in a neighborhood filled with crime and fear? Given the choice, virtually no one.
Times Square was a cesspool that was symbolic of the city as a whole in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s. Once it was cleaned up and its “Grit” removed, what happended? The Theater Boomed, hotels boomed, restaurants boomed and then, surprise!…People WANTED to live in Times Square/Hells Kitchen.
Newark could only dream of having success like this. In the early 90’s New York had a murder count of 2,200 people. Today it is around 500. A big part of the reason for the decline is the city’s success in getting rid of that “grit” you appear to like. Many more people are alive today because of the city’s success. Yet Newark is at its high point in murders. Why would you want it to stay this way?
Thanks Bob, I’ll look those theaters up on CT. Is there any hope (or desire) on anyone’s part in Newark to restore those theaters? Is there anything to restore? It seems things are finally starting to look up in Newark.
What an incredible marquee! The “upgraded” marquee posted by TC on 7/10/07 is also handsome, but IMO, doesn’t compare to the original plus what must have been a beautiful Blade. Another shame for Newark that it appears that none of its palaces was able to survive whereby “lowly” Jersey City was able to keep two.
I don’t mean to be sacriligious, but…..I don’t believe that all multiplexes are souless and cold. Some of them, like the AMC Empire incorporate some of the old (in this case using the auditorium of the original Empire as the entrance to the multiplex). The reality is that modern theaters can be very enjoyable places to see a film. The chairs are comfortable, hand rests are removable, there are drink holders, the floors are raked or have stadium seating, the screens are huge relative to the size of the theater and the sound excellent (ideally). I mention all of this because I truly love the old movie palaces, but in many of them, the seats were not comfortable, the screens were small (relative to the size of the theater, sound was not the best, etc….
Yes, they were architecturally wondrous and that is why we treasure them, but in the best of the multiplexes, we do have an experience of seeing films in the best possible setting (with the big exception of the archtectural splendor of the setting). I agree that is a BIG exception! :–)
I went to The Saint for the first time in 1988. The dome was still there and I distinctly remember entering at a side door on 6th Street. The Saint closed and then reopened for a couple of years for special events. I went to several of those and the entrance for those events was always at the main entrance on 2nd Avenue through the original theater entrance (as it always should have been).
I’m only saying that the one time I went while the dome was still up, we entered via 6th Street.
p.s. Very Best Disco……EVER!
Thank you for letting me know Warren. I sincerely appreciate it. I know that he was a valued friend of CT and The Theatre Historical Society of America, but I was not aware of his passing. May he rest in peace.
It’s incredibly frustrating that Newark Symphony Hall’s own web site provides only one interior photo of the theater and not a very good one at that. If the theater is as beuatiful as they say it would make common sense to show it. Alas……
It appears that this theater no longer exists.
Has there been any movement on the renovation of this theater? I’ve read a lot about plans about the renovation of Santurce and I know that there have been some successes, but I haven’t heard anything about the Paramount. I will be spending the Christmas holidays in Puerto Rico this year and will have a look around and report back on this site.