Thanks Lost Memory for the photo! I grew up (until I was 10) on Webster Avenue and 169th Street, just a few blocks away from this theater. I have a vague recollection of going to some awful Sci-Fi movie that involved Frankenstein in a theater right off of or on Bathgate Avenue. Since the intro above says that this theater closed in the 1940’s this wouldn’t be that theater, but I haven’t been able to find another theater in the immediate area to satisfy my curiosity.
I wish there was a feature that allowed you to see a map of a zip code with all of the theaters currently in Cinema Treasures identified with a dot or something.
Ugh!!!! This is disgusting! I agree with KenRoe that many chrches have made adaptive reuse of theaters in a way respectful of the original architecture and history of the building. Paramount among these are Reverend Ike’s Loews’s 175th Street theater, The Tabernacle of Prayer’s Loew’s Valencia in Jamaica, Queens and The Rock Fellowships Loew’s Elmwood in Elmhurst, Queens. There are several excellent examples in Brooklyn as well, but this is a travesty. I can only hope that YngBronxite was being sarcastic with his “very nice” comment.
I understand that not every theater can be saved and that not all purchasers of historic theaters will have the will (or the money) to restore them. This will be one of the theaters that should be marked pretty much as demolished as virtually nothing but the overall shape of the old structure will be preserved.
This time, I’m afraid I have to agree with Warren. Though the Cort theater is indeed very beautiful, I don’t believe, nor has anyone shown any evidence that films were ever shown here and that is the main criteria for listing on this site. While we may disagree as to the length of time movies needed to be shown (I’d say yes even if it was just one month) we all basically agree that the it has to have shown films at some point in its life.
There are quite a few Broadway houses that, in fact, outshine many of the “treasures” on this site, but alas, they have no film in their history.
There should be a “Theatre Treasures” for Legit Playhouses!
Ron..The only theater I can think of off the top of my head is the Castro in San Francisco. I’m sure there are others. But, the reality is that simple economics dictates that concerts and touring Broadway shows make the most economic sense for these theaters to operate. No theater in today’s market where big budget films open on 4000+ screens, there simply is no place for a 1,500 Plus seat single screen movie theater to survive on just films especially in smaller markets. Even in New York, the Ziegfeld (with 1,100 seats) survives because it has a long term low cost lease and has a steady stream of “Premieres” which must add significantly to the bottom line. Without that, not even The Ziegfeld would survive and that’s in the huge market of New York.
I’m happy whenever a palace is restored regardless of what the ultimate function is. Of course, my preference is that it continue to have the ability to show films. If it doesn’t, then the next best use is as a live performance venue; a play, a musical or concert. A church is an almost last resort as it is not as public, but some churches take excellent care of the former palaces. The last resort is a retail space. I believe retail makes the building lose too much of its integrity, but it’s still better than being torn down.
Hi Geo, good to have you back! As I posted above, I grew up attending The Valencia and I’ve attended films in the newly restored Jersey. I still haven’t been to The Paradise and The Loews 175th St (though still technically a church) is very much one of New York’s premier concert facilities. The one black eye has been the sad state of Loew’s Kings in Brooklyn. However, a lot is going on behind the scenes there and I would ask you to go to the Kings CT page to see my post there about today’s tour of the theater for developers interested in restoring the city! I was there and it was exciting to finally see some real movement on restoring one of the nation’s most beautiful and opulent palaces ever constructed!
I did some research on CT and found out that The Loew’s Kings actually had the least amount of seats of all of the Wonder Theaters. Rather than the City’s third largest, the Kings would be the fifth largest performance theater behind Radio City, The MSG WaMU theater, The Paradise, and Loew’s 175th Street. Technically, the Valencia doesn’t count because it is not availble to the public as a performance venue (which was how Markowitz was counting it) and Loew’s Jersey doesn’t count because it’s in, well, Jersey! Just behind would be the St. George in Staten Island and the Beacon on the Upper West Side.
Sylvia, I absolutely mean no disrespect, but it takes much more than hope to save a movie palace and have it survive as a functioning theater, performing arts space, or a museum. It takes people who care passionately about the project, people with money and or connections and people with patience. These projects have to pay their own way unless a governmental agency steps in to do so which is very, very rare.
That is what is so exciting about the current state of the Kings which has been dark for almost 30 years. The city is behind it and they are willing to give grants to help restore the theater provided a developer comes up with viable plan to have the restored theater pay its own way afterwards.
The Pitkin (as well as many, many palaces that have been lost over the years) didn’t have these benefits. At least you’ve been able to preserve your memories of this grand theater in your book and in your memories. Thank you!
Thanks Sylvia for your memories. As I mentioned above, it’s impossible to save all of the theaters that are worthy and based on mp775’s post above, there is virtually nothing salvagable of the interior. At least the exterior looks like it will be incorporated in to the adapative reuse.
Today, I went on a tour of the Loew’s Kings which the city is making every effort to save. Please go to that page to see my post. Though it is too late for Loew’s Pitkin, it is not too late for Loew’s Kings. I think The Kings will make it!
I have just come back from the theater tour held today, April 7th, at The Loew’s Kings.
I was present in October 2006 when the city’s NYEDC held a similar tour for an “RFEI” (Request for an Expression of Interest). The result of that process was that enough interest was expressed to move to the next step; an RFP – Request For Proposals and to make certain requirements as part of that request.
The city insists that the theater’s architectural elements be restored and that the theater be able to be operated as such. Not necessarily for movies, but for performing arts. The city also insists that all proposals be financially viable to enable the restored theater to operate WITHOUT any public subsidy.
The city has estimated that it will cost approximately $70MM to restore the Kings to its former opulence. Here is the important part: The city made it clear that they WOULD make grants to cover some or most of the resoration costs as long as the developer “made that as part of their proposal” (who wouldn’t) and as long as the developer had a plan to run the theater going forward without any further operating subsidies from the city.
Marty Markowitz introduced the tour and I do believe that he is totally sincere in his efforts to get The Kings project done. The turnout, in my opinion, was slightly higher than the turnout in 2006 for the RFEI and I was encouraged by the number of “Suits” in the audience. Some of the people were obviously interested in the theater. I was hoping that I was one of the few people who just wanted to see the theater again.
Regarding the actual condition of the theater: I posted my earlier tour in a post from October of ‘06 which I am repeating here:
We proceeded into the main auditoium and I was in awe of the vastness of the space! It was painful to see the tremendous water damage on parts of the walls. The seats are all there though and, to me, looked quite comfortable. The seats appeared larger than what we have today and the rows had amazing amounts of legroom; much more than you see in today’s theaters.
The walk up the grand staircase is majestic. Though the balcony is relatively small, it is spectacularly beautiful. What I found funny is how far away the screen is from the furthest seats in the orchestra and balcony sections. I could never see a movie from these seats! I would need opera glasses.
We also went into one of the basement levels under the grand foyer. It was big enough to have a makeshift basketball court set up. Apparently, the ushers played there between shifts. There is also a basement space beneath the theater itself though we didn’t get to see it.
The theater, while heavily damaged, is totally recoverable.
We learned that the exterior vertical Loew’s sign that once adorned the theater above the marquee is alive and well and being stored by the city. The city is asking, though not requiring, that the sign be reinstalled with any restoration of the theater. I am in agreement with above posters that the original marquee may be underneath the square one currently in place. You are able to see the curves when you stand underneath the marquee.
Very few of the curtain fabrics in the theater remain though some do.
I also was surprised by how small the candy counter was! It was tiny! I was also surprised at how small the bathrooms were especially for a theater of this size.
Additional information that I found out: There is a street directly behind the theater that will be demapped and included as part of the site. This will allow a developer to expand the backstage area and make the theater available for touring Broadway Shows/Concerts and other events.
It was pointed out that The Kings is the city’s 3rd largest theater, after Radio City and The WaMu theater at MSG. The Borough of Brooklyn has 2.6MM people and has only two performance spaces of note. The Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Performing Arts Center at Brooklyn College. There is every reason to believe that a restored Kings could do extremely well as a performing arts center, concert center and Broadway Show touring theater. Plus, the Kings HAS PARKING!
I came away from this event very hopeful for the future of The Kings. The RFP’s are due back to the NYEDC by the beginning of May. The city expects to select a plan within 60 days (July).
I’m sure I forgot some details. I’ll post additional recellections as they come to mind.
I think we’re on our way to finally saing The Loew’s Kings after almost 30 years of sitting in silence and decay.
I never had any real hope that this palace could be saved; too much damage and a very poor location. It appears from the links posted above that much of the very handsome exterior will be preserved, but I assume that all of the interior (or what’s left of it) will be lost.
At the end of the day, the preservation of the Pitkin’s exterior is probably the best that could be hoped for. The eyesore of this abandoned building will be replaced with new retail and much needed affordable housing.
Every time a palace is lost, it hurts. From the photos I’ve seen, this one was particularly beautiful and therefore even more painful. But all of them cannot be saved. Our concentration needs to be focussed on those with the most promise; specifically, in the case of Brooklyn, The Loews’s Kings and The Brooklyn Paramount. In Queens, it’s probably too late for the RKO Keiths Flushing, but not too late for the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill. A movement is now afoot to save the just shuttered Ridgewood.
With every palace that is lost, every remaining palace becomes even more valuable.
Warren, thanks for the link to the ad which proclaims “Loew and Behold!” That’s brilliant. It’s not as clever when you say “Low-eez and Behold”. Unless, of course, if youse guys are from Brooklyn. :–)
Warren, thanks so much for the links above! The Marquees for The Palace an The Mayfair have to be among the most beautiful that I’ve ever seen. It must have been quite a sight to see them live way back when. What a shame that they no longer insist; especially since The Palace is still is fully functioning theater. They should replace that dull one they have with a replica just as the Hard Rock Cafe put in a replica of the old Paramount. I believe The Palace is a Nederlander theater. If so, they’re notoriously cheap. Hopefully, I’m wrong.
While Jamaica has declined from its heydey (up to the 1960’s), there is a lot of hope for the future. At least 3 big hotels from Sheraton and Marriott are due to be built within two blocks of the Jamaica Air Train Station followed by several office buildings which are expected to serve as an “Airport Village” of sorts. There is even hope that JetBlue, the hometown Queens airliner will move their HQ to one of these new buildings. No hope, though, that The Valencia or The Alden will be returned to screening films anytime soon!
Is it fair to say that the Loew’s Pitkin is the 3rd largest movie palace in the city just sitting in decay? The largest, of course, is The Kings in Brooklyn and the 2nd largest (by just a few seats over the Pitkin) is the RKO Keiths in Flushing. The Brooklyn Paramount doesn’t count because it is not decaying. I assume what is left of it is being taken care of by LIU. Maybe that’s assuming too much. Are there any others?
Sure thing, hopefully I will be able to post my observations by Tuesday! Sorry I won’t be able to meet you! I went on this tour about 18 months ago and it was an incredible experience. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can noticably see any difference since October of 2006.
I remember the section on Robert Moses and it is increduble how much power this one man had. With it, he did things that could never be done in today’s New York. Some were great things. He built the George Washington, Triboro, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazano Bridges and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. He built Flushing Meadows Corona Park (the largest in Queens) out of an ash dump and brought the World’s Fair to Queens. He built hundreds of playgrounds throughout the city and built many of the municipal pools we have today. He is also responsible for the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (although that is a result of his Brooklyn/Queens Expy cutting the people of Brooklyn from the shorefront.
His terrible things were legion. The destruction of a wide swath of the Central Bronx for the creation of the Cross Bronx Expressway, the same destruction for the construction of the Brooklyn Queens Expy and his total antipathy for mass transit which resulted in all available funds going to the auto instead of trains. Thank goodness, he never got to carry out his biggest potential travesty; the bulldozing of large parts of what would become the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District and the West Village for a planned highway system which also included a highway down 34th Street from river to river. The scene where he Moses gets his comeuppence is one of the best in the 7 part series!
I bought the whole series, but I lent it to someone who moved away and I don’t think I’ll ever get it back. I think I need to rebuy it! It was an incredible history of the city and something that anyone who loves this city should see!
I agree with Al. The Ziegfeld does make significant money from premieres, and needs the income, HOWEVER, that is no excuse for not informing the public in advance. A Studio doesn’t call The Ziefeld on Friday night and say that they need the theater for a premiere on Saturday.
That said, how difficult can it be to update the phone message and website to let the loyal theatergoers know how to plan to see a movie at their favorite theater?
It’s just common sense. Like using the curtains! If they are there use them! :–)
No problem! You do such a great service posting so many photos. I really appreciate your efforts and enthusiasm, but I also know you would want to be notified if there was an error. Keep up the great work!
Hi LM, the picture you posted on 4/2 is not a recent picture. That photo shows a long abandoned and forlorn Aztec. I was at the Grand Opening of the renovated Aztec back in 2006. You posted a photo in July 2007 that actually is a recent photo. It is a great “before” shot!
Hey Jeffrey…one more thing before we return to hot porn!
I still feel the pain about the loss of Pennsylvannia Station. I never got to see it while it was standing and the photos of it just make me want to cry. But, I do believe that losing Penn Station is the reason we still have Grand Central today. People were so shocked by the loss that the city created the Landmarks Preservation Commission which went on to designate all of the Landmarks and Historic Districts that we have today. The fight for Grand Central and the Supreme Court upholding the laws were a direct result of the loss of Penn Station.
Sadly, it was too late for The Singer Bldg (Congrats for knowing about it, not many do) and too late for so many other illustrious bldgs from New York’s past like The old Metroploitan Opera House (39th & Bway) and the Old Post Office downtown (where City Hall Park is today). Since this is a theater site we should mention the biggest crime of all, the loss of The Roxy!
Regarding housing, it is the city’s responsibility to create low and middle income housing or to provide incentives to developers to provide them. This is a capitalist economy and with the cost of new construction or renovations, no landlord can make money by renting to the poor/middle class without help. If they could, believe me people would be building them.
The city/state is working on creating 5,000 units at Queens West. That’s a start, but what most people don’t know is that the city does create tens of thousands of units annually though low interest loans and grants to create units throughout the boroughs. They also create many units through the 80/20 rule where most luxury rentals in the city set aside 20% of their units for low/moderate income people. It will never be enough because so many people want to live here, but people are working on it.
Bway….I totally agree with you that I kind of remember seeing Studio 54 listed under its own name, but I can’t totally be sure.
As for other opinions on whether or not this theater qualifies….why wouldn’t you want this theater to qualify even under the most basic terms? It is a beautiful theater. MUCH, MUCH more of a cinema treasure (if in fact movies were shown here) than the many storefront boxy theaters referenced by Bway and the dull multiplexes which are very well represented on this web site. Exactly why is the Regal Union Square 14 a “Cinema Treasure”? It isn’t for me, but I accept it. We should want Studio 54 to be listed because it is a beautiful theater and it IS about the architecture and the atmoshpere created by the theater that, for me, qualifies as a true cinema treasure. That is why Radio City and The New Amsterdam (and many more expamples) qualify even though they were built for legitimate theater and subsequently showed films.
p.s. I apologize for talking about Studio 54 on this page, but it doesn’t have its own page! :–)
Thanks Lost Memory for the photo! I grew up (until I was 10) on Webster Avenue and 169th Street, just a few blocks away from this theater. I have a vague recollection of going to some awful Sci-Fi movie that involved Frankenstein in a theater right off of or on Bathgate Avenue. Since the intro above says that this theater closed in the 1940’s this wouldn’t be that theater, but I haven’t been able to find another theater in the immediate area to satisfy my curiosity.
I wish there was a feature that allowed you to see a map of a zip code with all of the theaters currently in Cinema Treasures identified with a dot or something.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
Ugh!!!! This is disgusting! I agree with KenRoe that many chrches have made adaptive reuse of theaters in a way respectful of the original architecture and history of the building. Paramount among these are Reverend Ike’s Loews’s 175th Street theater, The Tabernacle of Prayer’s Loew’s Valencia in Jamaica, Queens and The Rock Fellowships Loew’s Elmwood in Elmhurst, Queens. There are several excellent examples in Brooklyn as well, but this is a travesty. I can only hope that YngBronxite was being sarcastic with his “very nice” comment.
I understand that not every theater can be saved and that not all purchasers of historic theaters will have the will (or the money) to restore them. This will be one of the theaters that should be marked pretty much as demolished as virtually nothing but the overall shape of the old structure will be preserved.
This time, I’m afraid I have to agree with Warren. Though the Cort theater is indeed very beautiful, I don’t believe, nor has anyone shown any evidence that films were ever shown here and that is the main criteria for listing on this site. While we may disagree as to the length of time movies needed to be shown (I’d say yes even if it was just one month) we all basically agree that the it has to have shown films at some point in its life.
There are quite a few Broadway houses that, in fact, outshine many of the “treasures” on this site, but alas, they have no film in their history.
There should be a “Theatre Treasures” for Legit Playhouses!
Wow Ken, that is a spectacular photo. Thanks!
Ron..The only theater I can think of off the top of my head is the Castro in San Francisco. I’m sure there are others. But, the reality is that simple economics dictates that concerts and touring Broadway shows make the most economic sense for these theaters to operate. No theater in today’s market where big budget films open on 4000+ screens, there simply is no place for a 1,500 Plus seat single screen movie theater to survive on just films especially in smaller markets. Even in New York, the Ziegfeld (with 1,100 seats) survives because it has a long term low cost lease and has a steady stream of “Premieres” which must add significantly to the bottom line. Without that, not even The Ziegfeld would survive and that’s in the huge market of New York.
I’m happy whenever a palace is restored regardless of what the ultimate function is. Of course, my preference is that it continue to have the ability to show films. If it doesn’t, then the next best use is as a live performance venue; a play, a musical or concert. A church is an almost last resort as it is not as public, but some churches take excellent care of the former palaces. The last resort is a retail space. I believe retail makes the building lose too much of its integrity, but it’s still better than being torn down.
Hi Geo, good to have you back! As I posted above, I grew up attending The Valencia and I’ve attended films in the newly restored Jersey. I still haven’t been to The Paradise and The Loews 175th St (though still technically a church) is very much one of New York’s premier concert facilities. The one black eye has been the sad state of Loew’s Kings in Brooklyn. However, a lot is going on behind the scenes there and I would ask you to go to the Kings CT page to see my post there about today’s tour of the theater for developers interested in restoring the city! I was there and it was exciting to finally see some real movement on restoring one of the nation’s most beautiful and opulent palaces ever constructed!
I did some research on CT and found out that The Loew’s Kings actually had the least amount of seats of all of the Wonder Theaters. Rather than the City’s third largest, the Kings would be the fifth largest performance theater behind Radio City, The MSG WaMU theater, The Paradise, and Loew’s 175th Street. Technically, the Valencia doesn’t count because it is not availble to the public as a performance venue (which was how Markowitz was counting it) and Loew’s Jersey doesn’t count because it’s in, well, Jersey! Just behind would be the St. George in Staten Island and the Beacon on the Upper West Side.
Sylvia, I absolutely mean no disrespect, but it takes much more than hope to save a movie palace and have it survive as a functioning theater, performing arts space, or a museum. It takes people who care passionately about the project, people with money and or connections and people with patience. These projects have to pay their own way unless a governmental agency steps in to do so which is very, very rare.
That is what is so exciting about the current state of the Kings which has been dark for almost 30 years. The city is behind it and they are willing to give grants to help restore the theater provided a developer comes up with viable plan to have the restored theater pay its own way afterwards.
The Pitkin (as well as many, many palaces that have been lost over the years) didn’t have these benefits. At least you’ve been able to preserve your memories of this grand theater in your book and in your memories. Thank you!
Thanks Sylvia for your memories. As I mentioned above, it’s impossible to save all of the theaters that are worthy and based on mp775’s post above, there is virtually nothing salvagable of the interior. At least the exterior looks like it will be incorporated in to the adapative reuse.
Today, I went on a tour of the Loew’s Kings which the city is making every effort to save. Please go to that page to see my post. Though it is too late for Loew’s Pitkin, it is not too late for Loew’s Kings. I think The Kings will make it!
I have just come back from the theater tour held today, April 7th, at The Loew’s Kings.
I was present in October 2006 when the city’s NYEDC held a similar tour for an “RFEI” (Request for an Expression of Interest). The result of that process was that enough interest was expressed to move to the next step; an RFP – Request For Proposals and to make certain requirements as part of that request.
The city insists that the theater’s architectural elements be restored and that the theater be able to be operated as such. Not necessarily for movies, but for performing arts. The city also insists that all proposals be financially viable to enable the restored theater to operate WITHOUT any public subsidy.
The city has estimated that it will cost approximately $70MM to restore the Kings to its former opulence. Here is the important part: The city made it clear that they WOULD make grants to cover some or most of the resoration costs as long as the developer “made that as part of their proposal” (who wouldn’t) and as long as the developer had a plan to run the theater going forward without any further operating subsidies from the city.
Marty Markowitz introduced the tour and I do believe that he is totally sincere in his efforts to get The Kings project done. The turnout, in my opinion, was slightly higher than the turnout in 2006 for the RFEI and I was encouraged by the number of “Suits” in the audience. Some of the people were obviously interested in the theater. I was hoping that I was one of the few people who just wanted to see the theater again.
Regarding the actual condition of the theater: I posted my earlier tour in a post from October of ‘06 which I am repeating here:
We proceeded into the main auditoium and I was in awe of the vastness of the space! It was painful to see the tremendous water damage on parts of the walls. The seats are all there though and, to me, looked quite comfortable. The seats appeared larger than what we have today and the rows had amazing amounts of legroom; much more than you see in today’s theaters.
The walk up the grand staircase is majestic. Though the balcony is relatively small, it is spectacularly beautiful. What I found funny is how far away the screen is from the furthest seats in the orchestra and balcony sections. I could never see a movie from these seats! I would need opera glasses.
We also went into one of the basement levels under the grand foyer. It was big enough to have a makeshift basketball court set up. Apparently, the ushers played there between shifts. There is also a basement space beneath the theater itself though we didn’t get to see it.
The theater, while heavily damaged, is totally recoverable.
We learned that the exterior vertical Loew’s sign that once adorned the theater above the marquee is alive and well and being stored by the city. The city is asking, though not requiring, that the sign be reinstalled with any restoration of the theater. I am in agreement with above posters that the original marquee may be underneath the square one currently in place. You are able to see the curves when you stand underneath the marquee.
Very few of the curtain fabrics in the theater remain though some do.
I also was surprised by how small the candy counter was! It was tiny! I was also surprised at how small the bathrooms were especially for a theater of this size.
Additional information that I found out: There is a street directly behind the theater that will be demapped and included as part of the site. This will allow a developer to expand the backstage area and make the theater available for touring Broadway Shows/Concerts and other events.
It was pointed out that The Kings is the city’s 3rd largest theater, after Radio City and The WaMu theater at MSG. The Borough of Brooklyn has 2.6MM people and has only two performance spaces of note. The Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Performing Arts Center at Brooklyn College. There is every reason to believe that a restored Kings could do extremely well as a performing arts center, concert center and Broadway Show touring theater. Plus, the Kings HAS PARKING!
I came away from this event very hopeful for the future of The Kings. The RFP’s are due back to the NYEDC by the beginning of May. The city expects to select a plan within 60 days (July).
I’m sure I forgot some details. I’ll post additional recellections as they come to mind.
I think we’re on our way to finally saing The Loew’s Kings after almost 30 years of sitting in silence and decay.
I never had any real hope that this palace could be saved; too much damage and a very poor location. It appears from the links posted above that much of the very handsome exterior will be preserved, but I assume that all of the interior (or what’s left of it) will be lost.
At the end of the day, the preservation of the Pitkin’s exterior is probably the best that could be hoped for. The eyesore of this abandoned building will be replaced with new retail and much needed affordable housing.
Every time a palace is lost, it hurts. From the photos I’ve seen, this one was particularly beautiful and therefore even more painful. But all of them cannot be saved. Our concentration needs to be focussed on those with the most promise; specifically, in the case of Brooklyn, The Loews’s Kings and The Brooklyn Paramount. In Queens, it’s probably too late for the RKO Keiths Flushing, but not too late for the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill. A movement is now afoot to save the just shuttered Ridgewood.
With every palace that is lost, every remaining palace becomes even more valuable.
Warren, thanks for the link to the ad which proclaims “Loew and Behold!” That’s brilliant. It’s not as clever when you say “Low-eez and Behold”. Unless, of course, if youse guys are from Brooklyn. :–)
Warren, thanks so much for the links above! The Marquees for The Palace an The Mayfair have to be among the most beautiful that I’ve ever seen. It must have been quite a sight to see them live way back when. What a shame that they no longer insist; especially since The Palace is still is fully functioning theater. They should replace that dull one they have with a replica just as the Hard Rock Cafe put in a replica of the old Paramount. I believe The Palace is a Nederlander theater. If so, they’re notoriously cheap. Hopefully, I’m wrong.
While Jamaica has declined from its heydey (up to the 1960’s), there is a lot of hope for the future. At least 3 big hotels from Sheraton and Marriott are due to be built within two blocks of the Jamaica Air Train Station followed by several office buildings which are expected to serve as an “Airport Village” of sorts. There is even hope that JetBlue, the hometown Queens airliner will move their HQ to one of these new buildings. No hope, though, that The Valencia or The Alden will be returned to screening films anytime soon!
Is it fair to say that the Loew’s Pitkin is the 3rd largest movie palace in the city just sitting in decay? The largest, of course, is The Kings in Brooklyn and the 2nd largest (by just a few seats over the Pitkin) is the RKO Keiths in Flushing. The Brooklyn Paramount doesn’t count because it is not decaying. I assume what is left of it is being taken care of by LIU. Maybe that’s assuming too much. Are there any others?
Sure thing, hopefully I will be able to post my observations by Tuesday! Sorry I won’t be able to meet you! I went on this tour about 18 months ago and it was an incredible experience. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can noticably see any difference since October of 2006.
Good One Jeffrey!
Yes Dave, it was Ken Burns New York.
I remember the section on Robert Moses and it is increduble how much power this one man had. With it, he did things that could never be done in today’s New York. Some were great things. He built the George Washington, Triboro, Whitestone, Throgs Neck and Verrazano Bridges and the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. He built Flushing Meadows Corona Park (the largest in Queens) out of an ash dump and brought the World’s Fair to Queens. He built hundreds of playgrounds throughout the city and built many of the municipal pools we have today. He is also responsible for the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (although that is a result of his Brooklyn/Queens Expy cutting the people of Brooklyn from the shorefront.
His terrible things were legion. The destruction of a wide swath of the Central Bronx for the creation of the Cross Bronx Expressway, the same destruction for the construction of the Brooklyn Queens Expy and his total antipathy for mass transit which resulted in all available funds going to the auto instead of trains. Thank goodness, he never got to carry out his biggest potential travesty; the bulldozing of large parts of what would become the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District and the West Village for a planned highway system which also included a highway down 34th Street from river to river. The scene where he Moses gets his comeuppence is one of the best in the 7 part series!
I bought the whole series, but I lent it to someone who moved away and I don’t think I’ll ever get it back. I think I need to rebuy it! It was an incredible history of the city and something that anyone who loves this city should see!
I was going to make a Cablevision/Dolan comment, but chose not to. Thanks, Movie534, for saying it anyway.
I agree with Al. The Ziegfeld does make significant money from premieres, and needs the income, HOWEVER, that is no excuse for not informing the public in advance. A Studio doesn’t call The Ziefeld on Friday night and say that they need the theater for a premiere on Saturday.
That said, how difficult can it be to update the phone message and website to let the loyal theatergoers know how to plan to see a movie at their favorite theater?
It’s just common sense. Like using the curtains! If they are there use them! :–)
No problem! You do such a great service posting so many photos. I really appreciate your efforts and enthusiasm, but I also know you would want to be notified if there was an error. Keep up the great work!
Hi LM, the picture you posted on 4/2 is not a recent picture. That photo shows a long abandoned and forlorn Aztec. I was at the Grand Opening of the renovated Aztec back in 2006. You posted a photo in July 2007 that actually is a recent photo. It is a great “before” shot!
Hey Jeffrey…one more thing before we return to hot porn!
I still feel the pain about the loss of Pennsylvannia Station. I never got to see it while it was standing and the photos of it just make me want to cry. But, I do believe that losing Penn Station is the reason we still have Grand Central today. People were so shocked by the loss that the city created the Landmarks Preservation Commission which went on to designate all of the Landmarks and Historic Districts that we have today. The fight for Grand Central and the Supreme Court upholding the laws were a direct result of the loss of Penn Station.
Sadly, it was too late for The Singer Bldg (Congrats for knowing about it, not many do) and too late for so many other illustrious bldgs from New York’s past like The old Metroploitan Opera House (39th & Bway) and the Old Post Office downtown (where City Hall Park is today). Since this is a theater site we should mention the biggest crime of all, the loss of The Roxy!
Regarding housing, it is the city’s responsibility to create low and middle income housing or to provide incentives to developers to provide them. This is a capitalist economy and with the cost of new construction or renovations, no landlord can make money by renting to the poor/middle class without help. If they could, believe me people would be building them.
The city/state is working on creating 5,000 units at Queens West. That’s a start, but what most people don’t know is that the city does create tens of thousands of units annually though low interest loans and grants to create units throughout the boroughs. They also create many units through the 80/20 rule where most luxury rentals in the city set aside 20% of their units for low/moderate income people. It will never be enough because so many people want to live here, but people are working on it.
Now, back to “Lesbian Prison Guards on Holiday”!
Bway….I totally agree with you that I kind of remember seeing Studio 54 listed under its own name, but I can’t totally be sure.
As for other opinions on whether or not this theater qualifies….why wouldn’t you want this theater to qualify even under the most basic terms? It is a beautiful theater. MUCH, MUCH more of a cinema treasure (if in fact movies were shown here) than the many storefront boxy theaters referenced by Bway and the dull multiplexes which are very well represented on this web site. Exactly why is the Regal Union Square 14 a “Cinema Treasure”? It isn’t for me, but I accept it. We should want Studio 54 to be listed because it is a beautiful theater and it IS about the architecture and the atmoshpere created by the theater that, for me, qualifies as a true cinema treasure. That is why Radio City and The New Amsterdam (and many more expamples) qualify even though they were built for legitimate theater and subsequently showed films.
p.s. I apologize for talking about Studio 54 on this page, but it doesn’t have its own page! :–)