RKO Keith's Theatre
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
51 people
favorited this theater
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For anyone interested in looking into to the eyes of one of Tommy Huang’s co-conspirator’s in the destuction of this true cinema treasure, here are a couple of clippings regarding the late Donald Manes:
Manes Steps Aside – Post 1/29/86
More Manes – Post 1/29/86
I didn’t copy the whole article because it really has nothing to do with the Keith’s (which at this time was still in full operation). Suffice to say, Manes was in a world of crap – under investigation for all sorts of corruption and photographed in the hospital after having made his first suicide attempt in the wake of the scandal and suffering a heart attack. In the same paper, Mayor Koch called Manes “a crook”. His second attempt to take his own life a few weeks later would prove a success. His involvement in convincing the LPC to landmark only the Keith’s lobby rather than the facade and full interior – at owner Huang’s behest – would not be uncovered until after the theater was already shuttered and plundered.
Ed you are right about asbestos removal and demolition…I lived on Roosevelt Island and before the big Central Nurses Residence there was demolished, all the asbestos had to be removed so that the destruction of the building (parts of it were dynamited) would not release asbestos dust into the air and become a public health hazard. Asbestos removal crews tore through every wall, floor and ceiling where there was plumbing…I assume the asbestos was wrapped around the pipes.
The actual demolition of the building did not happen until years after the asbestos removal. In 1992 I got to sneak in and take pictures of the ruined interior, which I would LOVE to do in the case of the RKO but I have no idea how to get in.
“Partians” could indeed be a misspelling of “partitions” — or it could also be a misspelling of “portions.” Any way you look at it, none of this seems to bode well.
I think the windows were sealed with cinderblock and all glass removed sometime around 1990 to prevent vandals from causing a pedestrian hazard by shattering the window panes. Or perhaps I should say “causing further hazard” as I’m sure there must have been plenty of broken glass in the months and years following the theater’s closure in 1986. I don’t think that mortar work is airtight. In fact, if you look at a few of the close-up photos I took of some of the window bays (in June and earlier today) you’ll note some fairly loose grout between those blocks and plenty of gaps. In fact, in the upper window area behind the scaffolding, it appears that at least one cinderblock is missing entirely.
Anyway… the asbestos being removed might be anywhere in the building – including, perhaps, the old fire curtain. I also think that asbestos removal is probably mandatory prior to demolition work. They might only encapsulate the asbestos if the work were to be minor, but removal would probably be required in the event of demolition so that particles aren’t released into the air.
We will see. It would not surprise me if the building sat for another two years after they finish.
Wouldn’t plastic be a heck of a lot cheeper to cover the window openings? It looks like they want to remove the window frames and have no windows. It is a sad looking building.
I would suggest that sealing the windows with cinder blocks and mortar makes it possible to more easily conduct asbestos removal without having to enclose the building in the usual plastic enclosure, although I’m not positive this is the case. Plywood has a tendency to fall out of place and not be airtight, but bricks and mortar certainly are. The fact that they’re even engaging in asbestos abatement suggests they intend to preserve at least some part of the store building structure, which is odd, since the renderings seemed to indicate only a portion of the lobby would be preserved and the rest would be replaced by steel and glass. It also might be simpler to remove the window moldings, then strip the rust and recondition them elsewhere, than to attempt to do that in place. But again, that suggests they intend to restore the building front. The fact that they’re spending money on any work at all tends to counter the earlier posts suggesting that the project was dead in the water — but that’s just speculation on my part.
I did some photographic recon this morning and took the following images:
Scaffolding
Permit for minor work
Scaffolding through marquee frame
Storefront entrance frame below scaffolding
Cast iron storefront frame detail
Rust never sleeps – more detail
Alternate view of scaffolding
As mike69 informed us, they ripped out the cast iron window framing and spandrel from the third bay of windows counting from the left (western) edge of the facade. I didn’t take a good head on shot of this bay when I was last to the theater in early June, but it surely didn’t appear to be the most precarious of facade ornamentation to the naked eye. There must have been some safety concern there. You can see the Work Permit I snapped was issued back in January to allow for the removal of asbestos in the building. The other notices posted in that cluster all seem to concern sidewalk shedding and restrictions on work during the school year. I drove around the block and there were no signs of any other work or scaffolding around the old auditorium.
Perhaps they’ll start removing all the ornamentation at some point, but if so, why start here and why not erect scaffolding along the entire facade? I’ll have to try and pass by more frequently to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, I had not previously noted the decorative pattern on the cast iron that frames the entrances to the former storefronts. I snapped a pair of shots showing some rusting detail.
Cheebs, you missed a truly great experience by not visiting the Keith’s before it got carved up into a triplex. That wonderful lobby fountain, the whole atmosphere of the place made seeing a movie a special experience.
I posted my website early this year, but for those who missed it, here are photos I took of the Keith’s in 1990 and ‘94, after it had already closed.
http://bobby19850.tripod.com/
The ones that are missing are the second set to the left which are still there in your photos Ed.
For good measure, here’s another set of windows that didn’t look all that secure when I snapped the photo just this past June.
Mike, I’ll have to get back there and try to photograph what’s going on… Perhaps there were safety concerns. Check out some of the recent photos I took here in my photobucket album. The facade isn’t exactly in the greatest of shape.
Just looking at this one image it sure looks like that those old casement frames and spandrel ornamentation is pulling away from the building. And I’m sure that patchwork brick job that replaced the glass windows was never intended to stay in place as long as it has.
If what I read was true and it truely is back to the drawing board for the project, then someone please tell me why a little bit of scaffolding has gone up and the ornate moulding has been stripped from one set of windows???
My mom remembers the Keith’s fondly from her youth, so much so that when I at age 9 saw D.A.R.Y.L. in Cinema Manhasset and came home awestruck, she sighed wistfully and said, “You should’ve seen the Keith’s.” (That was ‘83 or '84, so it would’ve been triplexed by then, I believe.) Then she described it to me in detail, and all I remembered clearly before going through this page and linked pics was the moving clouds.
I never got to enter the Keith’s, only watch the progression of the exterior’s destruction when we went to services at the Friends' Meeting across the street. I used to wonder how such an ugly, plain building could be saved while a virtual palace could be left to rot. Ah, the naivete of childhood….
(MelR, please check your spherewerx email. My mom wants to help. :)
Currently we havent set up a LLC yet for the Doc b/c we are in the research phase. But I am working in conjunction with Spherewerx. Try e-mailing me again b/c I’m not sure that I received it. Try me at
I am still looking for personal stories or pictures from people that remember the RKO from their childhood.
Thank you in advance.
Melissa — I e-mailed you, but didn’t get a response…can you tell us who you’re producing the documentary for?
I know this because I am currently producing a documentary on the RKO.
Mel R – Welcome to Cinema Treasures! Was the RKO Keith’s recently cited in any newspaper? I was unaware that the proposal was denied once again. I hope Boymelgreen will choose to RESTORE more of the building. Please encourage as many people as possible to sign this petition, since enough is enough:
View link
Good, because it is a bullshit project.
Actually the building proposal has been denied again so the whole thing is back to the drawing board. right now the whole project is in limbo awaiting approval.
Is this theatre currently being restored, what is actually happening to it right now?
The landmark designation came in 1984. Huang purchased the building shortly before it was closed down at the end of the summer of ‘86.
What a tragic chronology, eh Lost? I love how the damage to the building was attributed to vandals and arsonists. Here’s a news flash: the only vandal and arsonist involved with the RKO Keiths is the nefarious Tommy Huang himself! I worked for Green Point Bank further down Main Street (just a couple of blocks from the old Prospect) for many years and we in the mortgage/appraisal area were well aware of Huang’s viscious tactics trying to muscle in on desired properties in the area. There was a block of storefronts on Main Street that Huang wanted in the ‘80’s and shortly after the owner refused to sell, several of the stores were destroyed in a suspicious early mornign blaze. Huang got his properties.
Hopefully, one of these days, Huang will truly get what is coming to him. If only I could believe in Karma as a irrefutable fact.
Francesca… If you have an AOL account or some other email program that you regularly use, just log on to that account and then open a new message and manually type in Melissa’s email address in the “To” line. That ought to work.
Melissa—every time I try to e-mail you, I’m asked for a keychain password I don’t have. Francesca