Ridgewood Theatre

Been away for a few days, but I had to repond to comments made above about Landmark Status not meaning “squat”. It is an incredibly ignorant statement. The list of buildings protected by landmark status in New York is longer than the Ridgewood Page and YES it does have a significant impact in saving a threatened structure.

Does it work 100% of the time? Of course not! But it is an incredibly valuable tool to help save buildings in danger of being lost. I agree that the loss of the Acadamy of Music was painful. Every palace that is lost is, but landmarking is a powerful tool nonetheless. Especially in New York!

Good point, Panzer65! What better way to (at least temporarily) take people’s minds off of what’s going on in terms of the news, weather, etc., than some good, old-fashioned movie classics, or good movies..period, to see good movies in a real movie theatre, with the lights down low, on a great big, wide movie screen, and to share the (communal) experience with tons of other people, whether one knows them or not? Do classics such as West Side Story, Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago, to name afew, come to mind here? Hehehehehe.

Lost Memory and John Dereszewski, if the bad economy is a blessing in disguise for the Ridgewood Theatre and other movie palaces, etc., that’re slated for the wrecking ball, and produces a silver lining for the Ridgewood Theatre, then is it possible that other movie palaces and historical buildings in general could be saved and merely restored and renovated? It seems like it would be cheaper on the long run to just restore and renovate such palaces as the Ridgewood, etc., than to just tear them down and build expensive “Grand Promenades”, etc. in their place, especially since the economy is in such awful shape.

During the Great Depression, in the 1930’s, people frequently flocked to movie palaces to keep their spirits up and to temporarily take their minds off of the overall vissitudes of life in general, and I wonder if that’s begun to re-emerge in our bad economy. It may very well be, imho. Just saying…

The Ridgewood Times article was certainly a pleasant surprise and provides some hope for the future. It should definitely inspire those of you who have not yet done so to sign the “Save the Ridgewood” petition, a link to which appears on this page. Currently, about 360 names have been secured, which is good but not great. A push to raise that number to at least 500 would be very helpful at this juncture.

Given the Ridgewood’s not very ornate interior, I was surprised that the Landmarks Commission’s statement dwelt considerable attention to such interior issues as sight lines and decor. This could underline the preliminary nature of the process and imply that the Commission is just beginning to focus on the building’s landmark potential. In any event, very few interior areas are ever landmarked and both the Ridgewood’s distinguished exterior and fascinating history clearly provide more than sufficient justification for landmark consideration. (A concise summary of the comments contained on this page could provide a compelling brief on behalf of designation.)

Peter, the Ridgewood looked exactly as you described it when I visited the site about a month or so ago. So, it seems as if the property is not being actively marketed. Given the state of the economy, this is not very surprising.

One last point. You may be interested to know that the Queens Crap blog, which was affectionately cited on the Keith Richmond Hill page, has been regularly promoting the “Save the Ridgewood” petition on its home page. So, kudos to them.

You’re welcome, Peter.K. Glad to offer my moral and emotional support even though I’ve never lived in the area. I enjoy posting on this site overall. Good luck in your work in preserving the Ridgewood Theatre, despite the fact that it’s closed.

Thanks for the responses, Panzer65 and Bway. Without having seen the Ridgewood Theatre in person, much less been inside (since I’ve never resided in the area), from the description of the theatre here on CinemaTreasures by everyone who remembers it from a bygone era, and the one or two photographs of the exterior that I’ve seen, I’d say that the Ridgewood Theatre sounds like it should probably be made into a theatre that has all kinds of special events: Classic films, concerts, and other stuff.

When I said the Ridgewood is intact, I mean it’s still intact as a theater, and even though cut up, much of it’s features are still there. Compare that to a gutted theater such as the Madison Theater down the street, where the whole orchestra level, lobbies, and much of the theater was completely destroyed. Yes, I don’t believe the Ridgewood held a candle in ornateness to the Madison down the street, which by the way was also built as a “neighborhood” vaudeville house, and was quite ornate. The Ridgewood is far from lost, even though it had been cut up. While the paint scheme inside obviously doesn’t come close to doing whatever plasterwork survives justice, much of it is still there.
As for comparing it to the RKO Keiths in Richmond Hill, that theater also deserves a landmark status, and yes, it’s interior is highly intact, but it’s a different theater. I hope to see that one also refurbished back one day, however, I think locationwise and populationwise, the Ridgewood would work better as either continuing as a 5-plex, or being converted back to one theater for a performing arts center, or concert hall, etc. The Richmond Hill, while absolutely stunning inside too, it’s location even in it’s best days was never really all that ideal, and probably today even less so.

Thanks for all the interesting stuff about the Ridgewood Theatre, everybody. Although I’ve never, ever lived in the area, I’ve thus far gotten a real kick out of reading all the postings about what was a memory of a theatre for so many people. I wish you all the best of luck in being able to save the Ridgewood Theatre. Sounds like a wonderful trip down memory lane that you’re all taking here. to digress from the subject at hand just a wee bit; one of the things that I’ve noticed that many, if not most newer movie theatres, as well as renovated movie palaces have are chairs that’re newer and more comfortable than the much older chairs. I think that this, in itself, is one way to bring back people to the theatres and therefore rake in some extra money. It’s not the end in itself, but it’s a start.

While it still showed movies,the Ridgewood may well have been the longest continuously operated movie theatre in the Greater New York area, if not the entire USA. That’s exceptional.

What matters is what’s in the minds and hearts of all Ridgewood Theatre patrons, past and present, not what’s in books and other writings about theatres and purpose-built cinemas.

My point, Luis, was that if the Ridgewood were reopened this minute, it would take very little to get it functioning as a cinema again. The seats and screens are all there. whereas they are missing from the Keith’s Richmond Hill.

Yes, Peter. The Keiths Richmond Hill does not have the orchestra seats nor the screen, but I believe the balcony seats are still there. More importantly, almost all of the decorative elements are still there; they are just whitewashed with a cream color paint. This theater is remarkably intact and could be beautifully restored. The Ridgewood, on the other hand, doesn’t appear to have ever been elaborately decorated and, having been cut up into five screens has probably experienced a lot more damage.

As for the the popularity of the actual page, it is not due to the theater itself. This page became a neighborhood bulletin board with many posts having to do with Ridgewood – The Neighborhood, not Ridgewood, The Theatre. I had to stop receiving comment updates from this page because almost all of the posts were about “the ice cream parlor down the street” or the owner of the barber shop around the corner, etc…….

The Ridgewood, while much beloved as a neighborhood institution, does not hold a candle to New York’s other Palaces.

Also, Luis V, so far as I know, all five cinemas of the Ridgewood Theatre are still intact within, seats and screens and all, whereas the Keith’s Richmond Hill is still all one theater, with NO screen and NO seats.

Funny how the Ridgewood Theatre, “just your standard vaudeville house”, has one of the longest pages on Cinema Treasures.

Bway, you mention that the interior is still intact at The Ridgewood. Is this really true? From the photos that I remember seeing on prior posts the interior still appears to have some detail in it but appears rather bland as if most of the decoration had already been stripped. Maybe it’s just been painted over, but I don’t believe that this theater’s interior compares with that of Lamb’s other storied venues. Of course, I could be wrong, but I think the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill has a much better interior worth salvaging. I’m intersted in hearing other’s opinions.

p.s. I don’t mean to imply that this is an either/or proposition. It would be wonderful to save both, but I believe that there is more to work with at the Keiths Richmond Hill.