Beekman Theatre
1271 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10065
1271 2nd Avenue,
New York,
NY
10065
14 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 100 of 111 comments
I stopped by after work yesterday to snoop around and the young guy who I spoke with mentioned the theatre would be re-opening in a month after some renovations, would be run, in his words, by the people who run the theatre on 58th Street (the Paris? Or maybe he meant the Imaginasian on 59th? It wasn’t entirely clear… ) and would specialize in indie and foreign films… but why do I get the sense that, from what dave-bronx has described, that this won’t exactly be the last operator of the New York/Beekman One & Two? (Also, another thought: why doesn’t the landlord just operate the theatre himself as an indie? Sure, there’d be the issue of not collecting rent from an outside operator, but he’d be able to collect any or all of the profits for himself… )
The landlord there is psychotic, so either he got a bug up his butt about some minor point of the operation, or Clearview got tired of his antics and walked away from the place. The terms for that theatre are that he is a partner in the business – he was with Loews after the initial lease ran out and he was with Crown. I’m sure it was the same deal with Clearview.
I heard from Adam Sands at Clearview Cinemas and he responded that “effective today July 2, 2007 Clearview Cinemas will no longer operate this location”; the question is, will another operator re-open the space?
I walked by the Beekman One & Two about an hour ago and it was closed. The marquee still listed its most recent attractions, ‘The Golden Door’ and ‘Waitress’, but the signage above the exterior entrances to both cinemas which listed which film was playing in which cinema and the showtimes was taken down, and there was a construction-type guy behind the cinema two concession stand (the popcorn side was empty, but the candy part was well-stocked. Did anyone hear anything about this theatre closing (for renovations, Clearview Cinemas or the landlord deciding to terminate or not renew the lease, etc.)? I had a feeling either way the theatre was closing at least for a time when both ‘Ratatouille’ and ‘Sicko’ were both booked into the First & 62nd Street Cinemas, and what I just saw confirmed my suspicions. (The Beekman One & Two are also not currently listed on Clearview Cinemas' website; I’m going to e-mail them and, unless someone has an update first, will post what I find out.)
I only saw two movies at this theater; PLATOON and GOOD WILL HUNTING.
Saw “Scoop” in the Beekman One a couple of weeks back. The theater is still as bland and unremarkable as it always was.
The only film I saw here was the original “Ghostbusters” in 1984. I recall it played both auditoriums with the schedule made up so that there was no more than an hour or so wait between screenings. I also recall that one theater played a 70mm print while the other a 35mm print. The line stretched around the corner and up the side street to for a weekend afternoon showing and this was a couple of weeks into its first run. I seem to recall we stood out there in the rain and were sold out of the 70mm showing I wanted to see and had to settle for the 35mm presentation the following hour.
View link
Here’s the pic of the updated, unremarkable Beekman 1-2 signage.
I don’t recall much about this theater exept that it was clean and plain. I liked the two-story central open area between the two auditoriums where the concession stand is, the stairs and escalators rising on either side up to street level. Saw “Platoon,” “Creepshow 2,” “Harry and the Hendersons,” “The Untouchables,” “The Rosary Murders,” “September,” “Dominick and Eugene,” “Little Man Tate,” “Freejack,” and “Star Trek Generations” here, all prior to 1995.
This location was called “Loew’s NY Twin” back then.
Would be great if Clearview redecorated with hardware and fixtures from the original erstwhile Beekman, such as the art deco door-pulls, the stainless steel doors, similar carpeting and of course the distinct vintage scripted logo for signage, but this probably will not happen. Clearview is a business after all, more concerned with making as much money as possible from a theatre than historic preservation.
The NY Post also now list this Theatre as “Clearview’s Beekman One And Two”. It is playing this past week “Red Eye” and “Four Brothers”.
This theatre’s name – as detailed on the Beekman’s page on this site – has formally been changed to Beekman One & Two; it’s also, as noted above and, again on the Beekman’s page, now under the operation of Clearview Cinemas.
Thanks Dave
The two theatres are not side-by-side, they are at opposite ends of the building with the lobbies and support-structure for the high-rise in the middle, so combining the two to make a large auditorium is not possible.
Is there any word on when the renaming will take place? Maybe they are going to make it on e hteater like the old Beekman.
A pic and story here about Crown no longer owning it
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Speaking of the re-naming, I’d suspect it’s on hold until the renovation work has been completed.
Thanks for that info, Dave. I wonder what, if any fixtures, are being moved over from the Beekman, including, maybe possibly, the seats? No matter what work is done – and despite Clearview’s best efforts – there’s no replacing its (soon-to-be) namesake across the street.
After I was done snooping around the Beekman tonight, I also stopped over here at the New York Twin. It is undergoing some kind of renovation – there are new light fixtures being installed outside the entry, with all the cables hanging out of the ceiling. Only the ONE side looks as if it is the only way inside. The TWO side has the stairs and escalator boarded over, and the windows are covered with brown paper. In the ONE entry, there is a sign from Clearview saying pardon our dust, changes are being made, but the only thing mentioned specifically is the installation of new seats. The seats that were there were only about 7 years old.
From the 1978 Loews Corporation annual report:
“In March 1979, the [Theatres] Division opened two new 520-seat theatres in New York City — the Loews New York I and II — located at 66th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan.”
(And yes, I find it odd that a 1978 annual report refers to a March 1979 event in the past tense.)
Since Clearview is going to move the Beekman name here from across the street, they should remove the Beekman signatures from the marquee and have them installed here. Those signs are part of what makes the Beekman so beloved, and they are probably the easiest part of the theatre to salvage.
ADAM S. – are you reading this??
According to today’s NY Times, this theater will be renamed the Beekman One and Two following the June 30 closing of the Beekman (I posted the article under the listing for the Beekman). The Times also notes that Clearview plans to do the renaming, which presumably means that Clearview has taken over the operation of this theater.
If the above is accurate, then this listing should be revised to feature the new name.
According th today’s NY Times they showed that they were open. I noticed that it had changed to Clearview but I wasn’t sure if it was a mistake or not. I guess they are trying to butter up the community for the loss of the Beekman.Once the Beekman and Cinema 1,2,3 closes it will be the only theater on the upper east side. It may have been a smart business move for Clearview.
Reassuring…assume they will rebrand it and reopen it quickly
The East side hasnt lost another theater then
It’s official – as Dave-Bronx indicated within his first post from this past April 21st, effective today the New York Twin is now officially a Clearview Cinema property. (This also represents Clearview’s first assumption of a movie theatre property in Manhattan since they took over the sites Loews was forced to divest itself of in 1998 as per the clearance of its merger with Cineplex Odeon.)
Also, aside from Bloomberg’s little townhouse on 59th St btwn 3rd & Lex, there have not been any large-scale projects built in the area that would have the 75,000 sq. ft. needed for a megaplex.
When Loews operated the New York Twin, the bookings consisted of more reliable product and always seemed better coordinated to the neighborhood. (Recently spotted by yours truly in the upstairs street-level entranceway: a banner for the upcoming film ‘Unleashed’; nothing against Jet Li, but the area’s residents hardly strike me as representing a strong percentage of his – or this film’s – core audience.) Who’s to blame for this drop-off in films best suited to the immediate customer or guest base, I’m not sure: Crown, for not being more proactive or competitive in negotiating for bookings or the distributors themselves for not making more (or, in some cases, any) of their releases available to Crown.
To perhaps answer your question, hardbop, about why the UES was bypassed in the recent multi/megaplex building boom, I’ve cut-and-pasted one of dave-bronx' posts on the ImaginAsian Theatre (that subterranean cinema on 59th near 2nd) page on this site:
This block of 59th St was a regular porn alley at one time – this theatre, the Cine Malibu, plus the theatre that would later become the Manhattan Twin, and the Lido East which was on the north side of the street closer to 3rd Ave. were all porno joints. They were the reason that the local community board had the area re-zoned to prohibit any more theatres from being built, and the existing theatres could not add any more square-footage. And I think it also prohibited an existing theatre heavily damaged by some catastrophe from being re-built. They were trying to prevent the area from becoming another 42nd St/8th Ave. I’m not positive but I think that zoning restriction is still in effect.
posted by dave-bronx on Sep 11, 2004 at 2:08am
Hope this helped resolve your query…