RKO Keith's Theatre
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
51 people
favorited this theater
Showing 801 - 825 of 1,324 comments
That’s exactly what they did, bobosan. And it is likely that due to the refreshment stand taking up so much space against the back wall, the entrance doors into the downstairs auditoriums from the grand foyer were moved to the outer edges of the back wall, cutting into some of the tile work of ornamentation that existed in those corners. See my post and photo of December 14th, 2006, above for illustration.
My uncle remembers that exactly as you describe it (the fountain being replaced by the refreshment stand.)
They put a floor under the balcony to make that a separate screening area, and then they divided the downstairs seating down the middle, thus creating a triplex. Not sure what the dividers were made of.
I seem to remember that they removed the fountain to create a refreshment stand at the time they created the triplex. Is that true or is my memory failing me?
Wow, so that screen remnant was for the upstairs theater!
So how exactly was the theater divided? Did they out a fake ceiling in? How did they stop sign from coming though?
In the Ridgewood Theater, they put up full sheetrock walls from floor to ceiling, and sectioned off the balcony like that. I have also seen photos of the Paradise, and it also had a strange set of walls, etc dividing them up.
Hey Ed Baxter… welcome back and thanks for your kind remarks on my posts here. Nope… I haven’t been able to get inside the Keith’s since that day I stumbled on the open storefront. Like davebazooka, I fear I’ll never get the chance – and frankly, I’m not sure my heart could bear it. Looking at asphoto’s images, the destruction looks wholesale.
This theater appears to be in far worse condition than the New Amsterdam on 42nd Street was before Disney restored it and appears to be even worse than the Loews Kings. If the Kings is a $75 million project, a full restoration of the Keith’s would probably require a $100 million budget. The plaster in the auditorium shots that asphoto provided appears to have been smashed away completely in some areas, exposing large stretches of bare brick and block. I believe the area depicted would be the right wall of the auditorium (what would have been theater #2 after the triplexing) and the two short sets of stairs leading to the exit doors at the front of the auditorium. I think these were sort of hidden behind the screen after the lower level was split – the screens in each of the downstairs theaters were moved in a bit so as to orient themselves squarely with the new projection booths at the rear and obscured much of the original proscenium detailing. The bit of screen left hanging in the shot of the proscenium and bare stage walls was for the upstairs theater which kept much of the sidewall and proscenium detail intact (as well as the “sky” ceiling, albeit with none of the twinking stars or other lighting effects). Amazing how well preserved and untouched the drapery appears to be!
The shot from the mezzanine level shows the ornamentation on the southern wall of the grand foyer over the main entrance doors (this same ornamentation is shown from a different angle in that recent NY Times photo that davebazooka shared with us last summer). And there is indeed also a shot of the double height ticket lobby or vestibule, revealing that just about all of that ornamentation apears to be intact.
Tom S… I very much look forward to your photos, as I do with the rest of asphoto’s images! I’ll continue to tour the ruins of the Keith’s vicariously through them…
wonderful pictures!!! I’m glad to see that all of you love this treasure as much as I.As you are aware Flushing has changed from the way we remember it. It is really important that this building be restored so the present residents know what the how beautiful the old Flushing was. The damage that has been done is heartbreaking. How many of us saw their first movie there ? how many saw the live show’s there ? How many people had their high school graducations in that Building. This treasure has been a very important partof all of our lives. I’m sure the present residents, when they pass, wonder what magic is inside. Well all they need to do is read the recent post here and look at the pictures.
If they do they will realize how important the keith’s is to us and them.
I think I’ll just have to make a photobucket album of my pictures :-D
I’m getting a little anxious keeping them hidden!
Welcome Back Ed Baxter!! I would love to get inside the Keith’s but it seems like it isn’t going to happen. I think I’ll give up on this theater, the disappointment and frustration is too much to deal with. If I lived in the area I would case it daily, perhaps befriend and bribe the Boymelgreeners with donuts and coffee or some other goody (liquor?) for a chance to enter and photograph, but it is quite some distance for me to travel. It would have been nice to take more detailed photos of the foyer, I am working on an painting using the Keith’s foyer as inspiration for the background, but Lamb’s original drawings and the Chang Lee photo will have to suffice. :(
PS Ed Baxter, thanks for the description of your tour of the Keiths that you posted in Feb. 2005, I have reread it many times!
NativeForrestHiller, that’s quite a valuable site resource. Note that the 1998/99 permit was for:
ALT3 – GEN CONSTRUCT
HEREWITH FILED ALTERATION APPLICATION TO RMOVE “PREEMPTORY VACATE ORD
PLASTER AND METAL FROM CELING AND COLUMNS,PATCH HOLES IN FLOOR,REMOVING
LOOSE FIREPROOFING FROM COLUMNS.NO CHANGE OF USE,EGREE OR OCCUPANCY
That certainly would cover a broad area; any number of the architectural elements we see were destroyed could have been covered under "remove plaster and metal from the ceiling and columns."
But also note that LANDMARK STATUS is simply L – Landmark, making no distinction between the lobby and the entire building!
Wow. These photos are like seeing photos of the Titanic for the first time in the 1980’s. We have all heard about the inside, but it’s great to get the photos for perspective. It appears that the theater “could” be salvaged, but it would be a tremendous and expensive undertaking. it’s quite obvious that the former owner deliberately destroyed key features of the auditorium and theater. For example, what happened to the plaster in the below linked photo does not just happen from neglect or possible water damage. This is deliberate destruction:
View link
View link
Welcome back to Cinema Treasures! I look forward to hearing about your visit.
For those of you who are curious about latest developments at the site, I entered in 135-35 Northern Blvd (different address from main menu of this thread above), and retrieved the following:
View link
Click on the “proposed jobs” and “permits in process/issued” by the Dept. of Bldgs, and see what comes up. The latest permit was issued Dec 27, 2006 for asbestos removal at the site, and expires Dec 21, 2007. I advise everyone to take strong precautions. Perhaps Shaya Boymelgreen is salvaging the significant architectural elements for his own use or reuse, and ridding the theater of asbestos, and then plans on making a profit? I’m really baffled as to what’s going on! Also, please share your thoughts on my idea and press contacts posting above.
Wow!! You snooze and you lose around here. I haven’t been back here since August and wow has a lot happened. First and foremost I have to commend asphoto on the pictures submitted via flickr. Gorgeous. As if Mike69’s photos weren’t cool enough (awesome by the way Mike), to have someone with your talent get inside and take pictures, you couldn’t ask for better. I checked out the rest of your photos on flickr and they are outstanding. Mike69, you rock man. You started this rolling with your photos. Thanks so much to both of you for that. What a trip down memory lane.
When I was reading Ed Solero’s post about the day he ventured inside the building through one of the side entrances, it brought me right back to April of 1999 when I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of the building. I know the adrenaline rush he must have been experiencing because I felt the same way the day I got in. If memory serves me correctly, the late 70’s early 80’s the first store on the left of the theater was M&K Electronics. Their big thing was selling all of the newest games for the Atari 2600. You could play them before you bought them.
I’ve spent the last three hours catching up on all of the posts and looking at all of the new, incredible photos. What a thrill. Everyone has become so spirited in their writing. I had a lot of fun reading everyone’s comments. A book about the Keith’s could be made out of Ed Solero’s posts alone. You possess great writing skill man. I also enjoyed the energy of posts from davebazooka, Mike69, Tom S., and Jeffrey 1955. I am moving back to College Point in the summer so I am getting jazzed to be back near the big hulk of a mess that is the Keith’s. I look forward to seeing the rest of the photos from Mike69 and asphoto. Congrats on the baby Mike.
I hope that Ed Solero and davebazooka get an opportunity to get inside the theater. You both deserve to. I know that I plan to start casing the joint again when I move back to Queens. I must say that I was laughing at some of the posts about breaking an entering, especially from davebazooka. If I was to break in there with someone, I think I would want it to be you. Your guerilla methods are a riot. I haven’t noticed this kind of spirited insanity on any of the other theater pages I’ve seen on Cinema Treasures. The desire to get inside that place drives some of us to do things we normally wouldn’t. Just proves how much it meant to all of us. I can’t wait to see what the plans of the next shit-head who buys it will be.
Happy to be back and happy to see everyone is such good form. It’s 2:45AM and I have work in the morning, so I am signing out. I was just so psyched to see all of the new pictures and to read all of the new posts that I just had to write something.
MEDIA RECOMMENDATION – Alex’s photos (asphoto) are quite a site to behold! May he be blessed for further documenting a gem that has potential!!! I also admire that he & other members are bringing the abuses of owners/developers to the forefront.
Is anyone willing to send a press release or a general e-mail containing our hope for the Keith’s, with accompanying photos? A larger percentage of the public should see why it’s worth fighting for a greater restoration than that of the presently landmarked lobby. Alex would probably be the best candidate. If not, we would need his permission to use his photos:
Press contacts are as follows:
Queens Tribune:
, , (Editor Brian Rafferty)
Queens Chronicle:
Daily News:
(Queens reporter Nicholas Hirshon)
Queens Courier:
, (Owner Victoria Schneps)
Queens Ledger & affiliates:
, (Editor/Repoter Shane Miller)
Times Ledger series (i.e. FH Ledger, Ridgewood Times, etc)
, (Reporter Nathan Duke)
Queens Gazette:
Times NewsWeekly:
, (Reporter Robert Pozarycki)
Metro NY:
AM-NY:
Editor-in-Chief: (Vera Haller)
Managing Editor: (Pete Catapano)
City Editor: (Michael Clancy)
Reporter: (Chuck Bennett)
NY Post:
(Steve Cuozzo) & (Editor Stephen Lynch) &
NY Sun:
,
NY Times:
(David Dunlap), (Robin Pogrebin), (Jeff Vandam)
Queens Crap – Blog that exposes development abuses and grants hope
and http://queenscrap.blogspot.com/
Four Borough Preservation Alliance – Spearheads preservation endeavors in the outer boroughs:
(Chairman Bob Furman has numerous press contacts)
so sorry…i think my photo labeled “foyer detail” is actually somewhere in the lobby…in any case, it is right before you enter the main auditorium. they have a lot of the front areas blocked off and there were some offices set up…didn’t look like much work goes on in them though.
davebazooka- actually, i happened to have my camera on me and ran into someone from a neighboring business. we talked for a bit and next thing you know, i was inside taking pictures…i’m sure who he talked to…but he obviously knows someone. i wasn’t allowed much time and never expected to even be in there…
asphoto, you’re a hero! these photos are marvelous. The “view from second floor balcony” took my breath away. I had no idea that much of the original RKO remains!
And that brings me to my second point – most of us thought there was almost nothing left of the theater. These photos show that’s not true! It was be a tragedy if what is left is allowed to be destroyed. These photos should be widely distributed in order to generate momentum to a restoration movement. I really think these photos should be sent to newspapers, city councilmen, etc. It’s not too late to save the RKO Keith’s!
True- but the door to that office is usually closed.
hmm well if you got a picture of the plaster gallery that is over the ticket lobby, which that last “foyer detail” photo appears to show, you must have run into someone who works on the premises for Boymelgreen…isn’t that lobby where they set up temporary on-site offices?
i posted a few more photos…here is the link again:
View link
as for getting in, for those of you who are curious – let’s just say, it was my lucky day. i didn’t go to flushing specifically for taking photos of the theater…but i happened to run into the right person.
Aha! Ian, you’re right. Looking at them closely, I can see pipes attached.
This is quite peculiar. Usually, when a building is stripped by vandals or demolition/renovation crews, things like antique radiators and pipes are the first to go. Yet these are still in place. Why would anyone destroy architectural details, yet leave pipes? Really sick.
To answer Jeffrey’s question about the parts that look like windows at the rear of the stage; to me they look like steam radiators, which were commonly mounted to stagehouse walls.
asphoto: I’d love to hear about your visit, if not publicly want to email me? My contact info is on my profile page.
I’m sure we’ve all had unsavory imaginations of what Mr. Huang should have suffered (for shame, Tom!)
An eye for an eye, or in this case a bulldozing for a bulldozing?
Honestly though, I came into the world after the theater closed. Nonetheless touring the remains could make the sentimental choke back tears.
tom s. – i didn’t notice that, it could have been filled in…but i’m not sure, because it was extremely dark in there.
as for the paster…i think water damage, the old developer, and vandals played a part in that…
as for the storefront still being opened, i don’t think so…it wasn’t when i was there…and i told there is security there 24/7.
Perhap’s the asian fella should be prosecuted for destroying the interior.
Absolutely, the stuff was hacked away at. It all looked unharmed by water.