Ridgewood Theatre
55-27 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
55-27 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
31 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1,076 - 1,100 of 2,835 comments
You’re welcome, Monica. Good to have you back. Have you been to Bushwick Buddies yet ? It’s loaded with the history of our community, going back at least a century.
I’ll be back to your flickr site soon.
Panzer65, thanks for the update on the Grove pool hall. I see it all the time from the M train on my monthly trip to and from Ridgewood.
Zitch, right on about the S & W Dodge.
Too bad about McZak’s and its successor failing and closing.
The cinema closest to the Ridgewood that is still open is either the Atlas Park Cinema at 80th and Cooper in Glendale, or some theater in downtown Brooklyn.
Thanks for the info on the Brauhaus and “rosie”. There’s probbaly been many articles about it in the Old Timer column of the (Ridgewood) Times Newsweekly.
Yes, the spirit ages less rapidly than the body.
You’re welcome to the memory jog. My pleasure.
No, I don’t think you’re an alcoholic, from your mention of all those bars, just a very active and outgoing social drinker. I know that bars and pubs are usually de facto community centers.
Never been to St. Nicholas and Starr …. that was SAL AND ANGIE BOCA diner on Wyckoff Avenue n/w of DeKalb and the factory across Wyckoff Avenue from it.
Yes, I’ll let the people you knew you’re alive and well if I ever run into them.
Peter
Thanks Peter and Noah! I will be adding more picture of Ridgewood and Bushwick to my flickr site.
Take care everyone..I always enjoy reading other’s memories of the neighborhood. Helps me learn the history of the community.
Thanks again to those who checked out my sites.
The pool hall has been closed for several years now, today it exists as a Chinese buffet restaurant.
Peter,
spoke with my cousin……..told me McZaks closed a few years back but reopened under a different name …but that too failed…..
He said the only theater close to Ridgewood now that is still open is the Cinemart on Metropolitan out near “Eddie’s”……
The pool hall on St Nicholas between Palmetto and Woodbine was called the Grove…It was right across from the S and W dodge dealer?????
Zitch
Eagle’s Nest was across Woodward Avenue from Linden Hill Cemetery, not Lutheran Cemetery, which straddles north and south sides of Metropolitan Avenue from 66th St. to 73rd Place. in Middle Village.
Zitch :
I know the Eagle’s Nest very well ! Woodward and Stanhope !
Signs on wall :
Come in here and take a seat ! It’s better here than across the street !
Creedmoor Annex (entrance to back room)
Pregnant Lucy : God Damn You, Charlie Brown !
I remember the old crusty bald dude serving up the cheeseburgers with fried onions….summer 1970 … he was making animal noises behind the bar, like Tor Johnson in an Ed Wood horror movie … my Aunt Catherine said, “The heat’s gettin' ‘im !”
Used to know a Nancy Paino, 1975-76, who lived above and next door to Eagle’s Nest. Don’t think they or the Eagle’s Nest are there any more.
Zitch :
Where have you been that makes the late 60’s, 70’s bed sty, bushwick and east new york look like rye’s playland or new jersey’s great adventure ??? Vietnam ? Calcutta ?
I don’t know about Farmer’s Oval being re-done, or the bar near the 104th Precinct HQ run by “rosie” : tell me more !
No, I was never served beer in a white qt container, only coffee and ice cream and Chinese food … when I was about 10 in 1965 some teenagers walked past our front door on Cornelia St. w. a container of beer, raising a ruckus, late at night …
Don’t know about that Roslyn movie house that became a rock concert hall.
Peter
Peter,
Some other names form the Woodbine st crew that went to Grover Cleveland hs were Bob Melville and Reggie Maas….last i heard Reg still lives up in Glendale….
we used to play handball up at the old dekalb ave park …before it was a park i believe it was a trolley barn….then it was converted to a track and field park with handball courts…in the late 60’s and 70’s at night it was junkie heaven….
there was another bar that had great burgers in that neighborhood right across from the lutheran cemetary…
…….
……..it was called the eagles nest…and an old crusty bald dude served up the cheeseburgers with fried onions…..just down dekalb from grover cleveland hs…..i doubt if that is still around…..good food and warm beer…..
Zitch
Zitch :
T Jai’s and McZak’s were mentioned to me by a college classmate whom I ran into in Ridgewood Savings Bank in summer 1979, after we had both graduated Cooper Union in May 1979 : Fred Fischl, who used to live on Fresh Pond Road near the Oasis Theatre. He had a cousin named Frank Tellian who lived nearby and who was an SFP classmate of mine. Fred mentioned these two bars because I wanted to know if there were any singles' bars in Ridgewood.
When I asked Fred what he’d been doing since graduation, he grimaced, and made a masturbatory gesture with his right hand.
Peter
Thanks, Zitch. How long since you’ve been in touch with steve graf, joe ganci and joe gangi ?
Peter
Zitch :
I’m glad this site is really jarring your old cobwebs…..
It has certainly jarred mine, as you can read from all the memories I’ve posted …
I never knew McZak’s used to have live bands, most of which were solo type artists. I only stopped in there once with a h.s friend in April 1983, not to pick up girls, but I think just use the john and have a drink …. on the way back to Ridgewood from Beefsteak Charlie’s in Forest Hills … “Ulysses” with Kirk Douglas in the title role was on the TV in McZak’s, and the Cyclops had just eaten one of his men …
“These Greeks are tough ! Stringy meat ! More wine !”
My friend said his reaction to that would be diarrhea.
I was last near there Fri. Sept. 2 2005 at the Hess-Miller Funeral Home for the wake of another h.s. classmate of ours.
Thanks, LuisV. When I referred to the RKO Keiths Richmond Hill, in the past tense, I was thinking of when it still showed movies. It is indeed still pretty much intact, as I saw for myself on Saturday, July 8 2006. I think I posted a “trip report” of this visit on the Keith Richmond Hill’s page on this site.
The RKO Keiths Richmond Hill is still there! The Marquee was totally restored for the filming of a movie and looks great, but the inside has not. It serves as an indoor flea market. The theater is still pretty much intact and could easily be restored. The issue, of course, is who would pay for it and how it would maintain itself. The theater is not located in a commercial hub or entertainment area. So for now, it just sits and waits.
Zitch :
Bushwick Buddies also has pix of 14 Holy Martyrs church and school as they are now. You can put in a request for images of them when you attended them.
I’ve checked out Forgotten New York and Brooklynpix.com……
I’m in Ridgewood every month, last visited Bushwick in mid-July 2006, and keep up with recent photos of Bushwick on the Bushwick Buddies site. I also have a very good memory.
I don’t know if TJ’s or McZaks on Metropolitan Avenue just east of Fresh Pond is still there, but I remember them from 1979-1983 as singles' bars.
Please continue harping away on the local watering holes. They have value, as you posted, as the social starting and ending points. Yes, the bar is still there by what used to be the Glendale LIRR stop. Trains stopped stopping there March 13 1998.
Thanks for the location of Trinity. I remember those train passes well, as I used them myself to commute between Myrtle and Bedford Aves. on the Canarsie L line while attending St. Francis Prep, Sept. 1969 through June 1973.
Yes, the RKO Keith’s was in Richmond Hill, on Hillside Avenue, right next to Jahn’s, between Myrtle Avenue and the LIRR viaduct. There is lots about both of them on Bushwick Buddies.
I know what you mean about the old Yankee Stadium.
Peter
Peter,
Been on the Bushwick buddies website…some pictures of 14 Holy Martyrs school….but way before my time….another site to check out is Forgotten New York and Brooklynpix.com……
You must get back there quite frequently or you have a better memory than mine…I guess it comes down to what you where exposed to and who you ran with…
Another high school buddy from Trinity owned a bar on Fresh Pond road across or within blocks of the Oasis called TJ’s…..another buddy MIke G was the bartender there …he was also a NYC fireman….MIke ….like me is probably retired….Is that bar still there????
Hate to harp on the local watering holes but they were the social starting and ending point for whatever the crowd was doing….we all played football and softball for them….like the old movie theaters the bars had style and age like the wood’s tavern up in glendale…The bar was an ornate carving from germany ….Is that still there???? it was right by the Glendale LIRR stop…..
Trinity was located on Montrose ave in Brooklyn…….used to take the BMT from the neighborhood to get there….used to have train passes?????
There was another movie theater in Richmond Hill I used to go to…was it the Keith???? It was around were Jahn’s ice cream parlor was…located….
Sad to see that the old Yankee stadium is closing..I used to go prior to the 1977 reopening. …when the posts were still supporting the upper decks….and continued to go there until about 1979 then it was “wheels up” out of the neighborhood…. ..many memories for me there…..never was a Mets fan……..
Zitch
Zitch,
I know 14 Holy Martyrs. The school was on Central Avenue between Eldert and Covert, and the church was on the western corner of Central and Schaeffer. My father’s best boyhood friend, Vincent Richard Ferro, 1919-1969, went to Mass and confession at both 14 Holy Martyrs and St. Martin Of Tours at Knickerbocker and Weirfield.
Thanks for giving the locations of both the Seneca Inn and the Cobbler Inn. I am not familiar with either though I must have passed by both hundreds if not thousands of times.
How close were you and Vicki Hobson, given the 3-year age difference ?
Yes, the Madison Diner, now the Montas Diner, and before that, the Castillo Diner, was / is across Myrtle Avenue from the Liberty Dept. Store / former RKO Madison Theatre.
Where was Most Holy Trinity H.S. located ?
Have you been on Bushwick Buddies yet ?
When are you going back to walk the streets of Bushwick and Ridgewood again ?
Peter
Peter,
I did not graduate from St. Brigid’s. I graduated from 14 Holy Martyrs in 1966. I used to hang out on woodbine street and cypress with steven graf, joe ganci, joe gangi, frank maranno, maureen stanson,debbie knorr, janet monteleone, dennis and donald katz…..i met steve in high school at Most Holy Trinity and he introduced me to the woodbine st crew…..it was either one of the katz brothers or steve who introduced me to linda bauer, deb o'connor and vicki hobson.. if I remember correctly vicki and linda and deb lived on palmetto st and really did not hang with the woodbine folks…. the woodbine crew used to hang out at the seneca inn on woodbine and onderdonk, cobbler inn during college on myrtle and 75th st approximate and other local taverns……until we opened our own social club on woodbine and cypress…..I too played stickball( ace ,king , queen,jack.. as well) in the Key food lot with steve, joe and joe….
I remember corato’s pizza, the pool hall on st nicholas and the rko theater….there was the madison diner across the street……we would get together on sunday morning there after playing touch football at juniper valley park. It been a long time since i walked the streets in the old neighborhood….like eddie money says “ i wanna go back”……
Zitch
That’s a very interesting thought, Warren, that the Ridgewood still shows movies, but only on Sunday.
Welcome, zitch ! I graduated St. Brigid in June 1969, along with Vicki Hobson, who has posted on this page, along with Debbie O'Connor, and Dawn Nahoney, who have also posted on this page.
When did YOU graduate St. Brigid’s ?
I don’t know if the Seneca Inn is still there. Where was it ? I remember the Elco Bar at Seneca and Weirfield. Where was the Cobbler Inn ? At St. Nicholas and Woodbine I remember Key Food, with Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 painted on the wall for games of “off-the-wall”, Ciro’s Italian Restaurant, Sal’s barber shop, and the back of the Madison Diner, on the triangle formed by Myrtle, Woodbine and St. Nicholas, where the live chicken market and gas station used to be.
Corato Pizza and Bonafide Opticians were near there on Woodbine between St. Nicholas and Myrtle.
I was last at Eddie’s Sweet Shop in early August 2005, before seeing the Tom Cruise “War Of The Worlds” at the CineMart.
I have posted A LOT of my memories of Ridgewood on this page.
You are invited to join Bway and myself at :
www.bushwickbuddies.com
Bway,
My recollections were off a bit,for all the times I passed Oasis, today the memories have faded. You are correct, I thought the facade was intact but its true, the exterior wall is actually a portion of the interior.Just like the Madison, they left nothing to remind us of the theater’s past glory.Unless of course we both meet up someday with a camera and a 12 foot ladder and start removing ceiling tiles!
The Oasis auditorium part of the theater still survives, but it’s facade is not intact. Most of the theater has been demolished, except fot the auditorium itself. The marquee and facade part of the building has all been torn off. The parking lot for CVS is in the location of where the old lobby area used to be, and all the facade of stores along Fresh Pond Rd has also been demolished. The whole right side of the building was torn down. Only the actual auditorium part of the building still exists. The exterior of that has been resurfaced with a stucco. Inside nothing remains either. Before being turned into a CVS, the Oasis burned, so I don’t even know what of the ceiling dome, if anything remains above the drop ceiling either.
Zitch
I agree,with your posting about the ambiance of old theaters, its something that can not be duplicated in newer establishements.
In reply to your inquiry about Eddie’s Sweet Shop on Metropolitan ave., its alive and well. But unfortunately, another establishment identical to Eddie’s, Jahn’s Ice cream Parlor,closed earlier this year. There are some excellent postings about Jahn’s in the RKO Keith’s Richmond Hill CT page.
panzer,
thanks for the update……it is a shame however regarding the ridgewood theather….like most old ny theaters it had ambiance and character not like the hospital effect of todays modern establishments…..by the way there used to be an ice cream shop out on metropolitan ave called “eddies”???? heading towards forest hills ….remember that place well…is it still in business???
zitch
Zitch
Yes indeed it was the Oasis and its been closed for several years. After conversion to a roller rink, it became a CVS pharmacy, with the front facade still intact, but without the marquee.
we used to have a social club on st nicholas and woodbine st…another couple of friends henry scanzano and charlie bayer use to hang out with steve graf ,myself and joe ganci…..rickie and maureen stanson also hung out with us.unfortunately rick died of cancer at 19 years old ….before i left the area…………….is the seneca inn still around….??? after football and softball up in metro oval we would stop in….another place we hung out was the cobbler inn…..aside from that there was another theater on fresh pond road near metroploitan….is that still there….??? was that called the oasis???
zitch
I grew up in ridgewood but left in the late 70’s…..used to hang out on the corner of st nicolas and palmetto street and used to frequent the old ridgewood theater and the diner across the street on myrtle. Sorry to hear that the theater closed. Have not been back to the old neighborhood in years….
I’m sure its changed a lot….i’m looking to find some old friends by the names of stephen graff, joe ganci, joe gangi ,rose cacavelli, janet bauer, vicktoria hobson ,bob melville, frank and victor maranno, janet monteleone , debbie o'connor , anthony intaglia, and debbie knorr……..they all lived around palmetto and st nicholas….and went to st brigids elementary school….some went to grover cleveland , most holy trinity or christ the king…..
I' ve spent most of my life overseas and out in the western part of the U.S. so I have lost touch with the old neighborhood….i went by the nickname of zitch….first name george ….