Ridgewood Theatre

It is true that each building is its own identity. But identity alone is not enough for landmarking. The primary criteria is Architecture; plain and simple. Other qualifications can be considered, but it is the architecture that is primary. That’s what makes it so difficult to landmark the Ridgewood’s interior. The exterior, in my opinion, is very handsome and deserves designation as of right. But the interior, is bland. It does not have the flourishes of the real palaces and never really did, therefore, there is not much to restore.

Now that I think about it, the Jackson Heights theater (Is it the Jackson?)deserves landmark designation for interior architecture alone from the photos that I have seen.

It is much tougher to get landmark designation for a building simply because it is old or because of the “significance” it has for the neighborhood. It is tougher, but not impossible. John is correct when he says that is why it is imperitive that local leaders get behind the legislation because, in this case, the building does NOT speak for itself.

Thanks! When it comes to landmarking, each building is its own entity. I feel nothing should be compared.

Luis, Michael Perlman’s NY1 interview makes it pretty clear that the Landmarks Commission is only considering exterior designation. Since Michael really knows his stuff and since the interior is clearly not in the same class as the palaces you just referenced, we are only talking about the facade.

In my view, the exterior’s clear architectural distinction plus the Ridgewood’s rich historical value provide a potent argument for landmarks designation – IF the proposal receives strong and enthusiastic support from Ridgewood’s political and civic leadership. Signing the petition will help, but a less than lukewarm support from the local powers that be will be the kiss of death.

Let’s see what happens.

Any more news about the landmarks designation issue? I haven’t seen anything lately; unless I missed something, the most recent edition of the Ridgewood Times said nary a word. I’m particilarly interested in learning how the local politcians, civic associations and Queens CB 5 have reacted to this. Without some heavy lifting here, gaining landmarks status will be an even more difficult task.

Luis and Michael, I have enjoyed reading your comments on on and off topic remarks. As one who has criticized those who have taken an overly purist approach – and I do NOT mean you, Luis – I have stressed the importance of describing the movie palaces within the context of their communities. Clearly, you could not appreciate the significance of the Richmond Hill RKO – or even intelligently discuss its potential future development – without discussing Jahns, the Triangle Hofbrau, Salerno’s or the old LIRR station. Similarly, the wonderful Colonial Theatre page would be woefully incomplete without the many references to the Our Lady of Lourdes congregation. And, of course, many of the comments submitted on this page have greatly broadened our knowledge of the importance that the Ridgewood has had upon this community.

With that said, however, I must also concede that a number of the more recent comments have strayed well beyond the bounds of pertinency and, if anything, have diverted attention from the old theatre. This is particularly troubling since the landmarking issue needs to receive prime attention at this time. When contributions that provide important information regarding this issue are quickly buried in a blizzard of clearly off topic remarks, the value of this page in keeping us informed of emerging events is undermined. This is precisely what happened to a recent Michael Perlman post that provided several important links regarding this issue.

So, without becomming overly purist on this wonderful page, this is probably the time for all of us to exercise a little self restraint.

Thanks Michael, I guess I owe you an apology. When I looked remembered my prior postings at the pages for the Crossbay Theater and the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill, I realized that I had engaged in the same neighborhood recalls that we find here on the Ridgewood. I guess my issue was that there was so much of it on this page but who am I to judge how much is too much? So, please except my apology. :–)

Please guys, I mean no offense. I have wonderful memories of growing up in Queens myself (South Ozone Park) and so I know where you’re coming from, but I don’t believe this is the place to discuss it. It is called Cinema Treasures, not Neighborhood Treasures. This should be about the Ridgewood Theatre, memories of the theater and the efforts to save this historic theater.

For some reason the Ridgewood page, almost alone among all CT theater pages has become more about the neighborhood and not about the theater.

My point and it has been expressed by many others, is that we have had to turn off our alerts to the Ridgewood page because the comments are usually not about the theater or theater subjects.

p.s. I absolutely loved growing up in Queens!

Thanks, Peter. K.

I wasn’t able to enter onto the Bushwick buddies website, but, hey, I’m curious about the Ridgewood community in general, because I enjoy reading/hearing about how such communities came into existence,, and what makes them tick, so to speak.

When I first joined CT, I asked to be notified when someone commented on the Ridgewood page but i ultimately had to delink it because the vast majority of the posts were about comments that had absolutely nothing to do with this theater in particular or even theaters in general.

I recently signed up again with the controversy about the theater shutting down and the drive to landmark it but it has now become, yet again, a neighborhood bulletin board. There are other forums for that including personal correspondence. This is Cinema Treasures!

So now I’m afraid I will have to unlink again unless this page goes back to being about this theater (or other theaters) and not about miscellaneous memories of where “you” grew up.

I apologize in advance for the tone of this post, but it’s frustrating.

Hmmmm…CT’s mail server going bonkers? Good, interesting point, East Coast Rocker and Peter.K.

I’ve had tons of notices on my email from CT, most of them with nothing new. Problem with CT’s mail server sounds possible. Who knows?

Peter.K—thanks for the info about another poster. Sounds cool.

Ok I just had something strange just happen. I already had 4 e-mail notices about replies in this group 4021 and I just looked at my e-mail now and had 8 more notices and there was nothing new. I wonder if CT’s mail server is going bonkers.

Hi, Peter. K—

Thanks very much. Was glad to be of some help.

BrooklynJim—you made a good point. Thanks.

Hi again, Peter . K.

You’re welcome. Glad I was able to be some help. Lincoln was fun to grow up in, and Ridgewood, Queens, NY sounds like it was too.