RKO Keith's Theatre

TO MelR re RKOKeith Memorabilia. As you may see on this site August 2005, I wrote a song called “Movie Palaces” which was inspired the first day the DEMOLITION sign was posted on that theatre. I lived in Flushing a few blocks away and was on the bus on my way to work and saw that sign. On the way to Manhattan I wrote the song starting: “They’re tearing down the RKO Keith on Northern Boulevard—and I’m taking it hard!”
The song has been performed in three of my cabaret revues, and by other singers as well. If you want a cassette with the song I’ll send a copy, but I was not able to access your e-mail address for some reason. Francesca

Hi BrooklynJim! I took the tour a couple of months prior to September 11, 2001, and have not heard if Lorraine is still permitted to conduct those tours behind the scenes at Penn Station. Who knows what new security rules might be in place. It was very interesting, though, especially one part of the tour during which the group visits the HVAC room and views an ornate track sign that remains from the original station, but is now jammed behind an AC duct. Seeing the original pink marble tiles of the waiting room where they appear through worn spots in the fake floor is also a blast! Oops, perhaps that is the wrong word post 9/11. If I find my pic of that Penn Station track sign I will scan it and post it, though there are probably hundreds of pics of it online, and may be one at the Forgotten NYC web site.

No, not actually aware Ed. Just inferring from the actions I see taking place (or lack thereof). I think your theory makes sense.

Ed, yes now I see what you mean, that wall and those beautiful structures over the entrance would have to be removed in order for the lobby to be visible from the sidewalk. That glass curtain idea is malarkey, they probably just made that up to appease the community. I am surprised the building has not fallen prey to arson or inexplicable explosions. Wish I could make myself invisible and sneak in with a camera, I’m not skeered of big abandoned rickety places…when I was young living on Roosevelt Island I used to explore all the ruined buildings there, it was hugely exciting! My biggest fear was of getting caught and arrested, which I think would be much scarier than tiptoeing across half-collapsed floors.

Jeffrey1955, regarding the disposable city: I have a book called “A Source Book In Theatrical History,” (by A. M. Nagler) and in it there is a small entry that details the same thing: building disposable structures, building for obsolescence…it is called “A Theater for Eighty Thousand,” and it was built in ancient Rome. Excerpt:

“Before Pompey built the first permanent theater in Rome (55 B.C.), Roman theater structures were very ephemeral affairs: they were erected for definite occasions and torn down after having served their purpose…The playhouse built by the aedile M. Aemilius Scaurus in 58 B.C. may be cited as an example of a temporary theater. The Elder Pliny gives an amazing report on the oriental splendor of the stage-house wall (scenae frons):

‘During his aedileship, and just for the temporary use of a few days, Scaurus wrought the greatest work ever achieved by the hands of man, even when intended for permanence: I refer to his theater. The building had three stories, supported on three hundred and sixty columns, and this also in a city which had not given one of its leading citizens permission to erect six pillars of Hymettian marble without some criticism. The lower level was marble; the second, glass â€" sort of a luxury which since then has been quite unheard of; and the uppermost was made of gilded wood. The lowermost columns…were thirty-eight feet high, and placed between them…were three thousand bronze statues. The theater could accommodate eighty thousand spectators, even though the Theater of Pompeius, built after the city had been greatly enlarged and its population had increased in vast numbers, was considered large enough when seating only forty thousand.’"

Even back then, before Rome had ‘officially’ become an empire, large glorious buildings were being created at great cost and then swept away after their usefulness had come to an end. The situation was different from that of the RKO Keith’s, but there are similarities. Maybe in 2000 years someone will read what we’ve written about our lost movie palaces and be amazed at our “throwaway” culture.

The sad twist is that while the regrettable demolition of Penn Station (dubbed a “monumental act of vandalism” by the NY Times' Ada Huxtable) ultimately led to the formation of the LPC in NYC so that corporate vandals could be held at bay, the LPC seems to have lost whatever teeth it ever had. The Kieth’s lobby WAS designated a protected landmark by the LPC back in the early 1980’s while still the theater was still in operation as a triplex and look how Huang made a mockery of that status!!!

In all fairness to Huang (not that he deserves it), the grand RKO Keith’s fountain was removed sometime in the ‘60’s or early '70’s to make way for a larger concession stand… long before Tommy Huang ever got his filthy paws on the building.

To answer Davebazooka’s question about the entrance… You are correct about the tunnel. The Keith’s entrance was already set back about 10 to 12 feet or so from where the building’s lot line met the sidewalk. This outer vestibule allowed folks to peruse advertising material in display cases or lobby cards and offered some space around the old outdoor box office for folks to mill about before entering. Once through the doors you probably had another 15 or 20 feet of inner vestibule with more display cases on either side before you reached the inner set of doors where the ticket taker was usually situated. This is the opening you see in that NY Times photo. Once you got your ticket ripped, you were allowed to pass into paradise…

The allusions to Penn Station here are quite appropriate when considering what is being lost in architectural splendor verses the sterile and functional banalities that we are being given to replace it. Have you ever seen photos of the old Penn Station and then compared them to the depressing low-rent basement that took its place? I forgot who it was that said of the comparison “You used to arrive in New York like a King, and now you scurry in like a rat!”

Hi BrooklynJim, Penn Station’s loss is something NYC and the world are still reeling from whether we admit it or not. MSG is a hideous joke pulled on us by developers and the Pennsylvania Railroad. I think The Meadowlands was built atop the landfill where the ruins of the station were dumped? Or at least that was one rumor. I have a copy of Lorraine Diehl’s “The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station,” signed by her. Did you ever take her Penn Station tour?

IDEA: OOOH how about running this ad on Craigslist (or someplace similar):

“Looking for a restaurant I visited years ago, in Greenwich Village I think…I remember most that it had a large, very grand fountain in it. Anyone have any idea what I’m talking about? I had a very enjoyabe time there and would like to take some out-of-town friends there for dinner. Any information appreciated. Thanks!”

Worth a shot? Has anyone already tried this?

davebazooka, couldn’t agree with you more! Your comments about Big Bucks and Grand Central Station had already happened to the old Penn Station in the early 1960s! Its demolition, under the guise of “progress,” along with the political machinations of Mr. Felt (of MSG’s Felt Forum) and others, including impotent newspapers which sat idly by and hardly printed a word of protest, was one of the most infamous architectural disgraces of the 20th Century. Pieces of the old Penn Station were dumped unceremoniously along the Jersey marshlands for viewing by NY/NJ commuters on the Lackawanna. (I have photos of this.) The remnants of RKO Keith’s fountain are probably close by…

Hang Huang!

Davebazooka… the image must have been taken from near the top of stairs on the right side of the lobby. The view looks about right. Turn a bit to the right and you were looking down at the candy counter that had long ago replaced the marble fountain that was the lobby’s original centerpiece. As Ed Baxter indicated in his posts above and way back in Feb 2005 about his unofficial visit inside the hulking ruins, the mezzanine promenade that overlooked the lobby was probably structurally unsound (with big holes punched through the floor, as I believe Ed described back in February) and probably off limits to the photographer. I can recall standing pretty much in that spot at the top of the stairs the last time I was in the Kieth’s (for a double bill of “A Boy and His Dog” and “Hell’s Angels Forever” in 1984 or so) and pausing to have a good look around the place. Hard to believe it’s been over 20 years since that last look at the Kieth’s magnificence.

I wonder if the plans to restore the lobby space include a replica of that fountain? Or, since the fountain had been removed long before the LPC granted its token designation to the foyer, do the plans propose some sort of information kiosk or concierge desk in its place? The whole project is a sham anyway. I don’t see how that wall featured in the NY TImes photo or any of its surviving ornamentation will figure into the plans to render the lobby and foyer viewable from the street by having a glass curtain wall installed on the Northern Blvd facade. The concept just doesn’t work without the elimination of that wall. Restoration my derierre!

On February 27, 2005 I wrote a pretty detailed description of what the inside of the theater looked like in 1999. I can’t believe that was seven years ago. I can’t imagine that anyone would be allowed in to take pictures. I am sure the last seven years weren’t kind to the already devastated inside. I am pretty sure that Tommy H. did as much damage as he could to the theater when he bought the theater hoping that anyone looking to landmark it would deem it a lost cause and just let it go. I’m pretty sure he didn’t realize the hell that would come his way for what he did.

When I went into the theater I have to admit I felt very unsafe. There were pieces of the ceiling on the floor, even just past the lobby. The wall opposite the entrance shown in the New York Times photo behind the famous stairs was ripped out. Not strategically removed, but ripped out. The doors that used to exist for the two downstairs theaters were just gone. It was actually tough to remember where some things used to be because so much had been removed. It was heart-breaking. There was no longer a ceiling separating where the downstairs theaters were from the upstairs theater. Just the balcony which was accessible from the stairs. The balcony had huge holes in it. I was pretty sure I was going to fall through it. Nobody knew I was in there so I was thinking that God-forbid anything happened to me, no one would have known I was there in the first place.

Unless there has been some work done in there in the last seven years to stabilize the things that were severely damaged, I can’t imagine anyone other than those doing construction would be granted entrance. The way people use lawyers these days to sue at the drop of a dime, I can’t say I would blame them. I can however ensure you that if you got inside you would be very disappointed.

I would love to get inside and take some photos. One of the links above leading to a story about the redevelopment included a TEENY TINY picture of the entrance to the lobby from the interior, showing two people standing in the doorway talking. Above them are three ornate Moorish wiindows or balconies (one still has draperies in it) and the damaged dark blue ceiling. This picture is credited to Chang Lee at the New York TImes. What a great image that would be if only it was available full size instead of thumbnail size! I emailed the NY Times store for information about purchasing a print but have not heard back from them. That photo has the pathos of all lost glorious civilizations. Since the lobby is officially landmarked, I wonder if that gives the public the right to view it regardless of who owns the property.

ooops, here’s the link:
Click here for photo

Ed, thanks for those incredible photos. Certainly looks, on the surface at least, like the building is structurally sound. What a waste!