Kings Theatre
1027 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
1027 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
86 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1,151 - 1,175 of 1,564 comments
The Latest News:
No date has been scheduled for the issuing of the RFP (Request For Proposal) by the New York City Economic Development Corp, (owners of the Loew’s Kings) They were supposed to issue their BIG RFP in April or May, the Brooklyn Borough President has prepared a written statement of purpose, suggesting various theatrical uses for the facility and hopefully, EDC will make their announcement soon!
I’ll be in the Northeast from late June to early August. I would like to meet with you.
I go to this page and it doesn’t show the one I just put in. I retype and it shows two responses…Ain’t that life folks?
By the way, the Loew’s Kings just got another vote as the favorite Loew’s Wonder Theaters. cinematreasures.org/polls/12 and I think Bruce 1 should put in his vote as well as others.
I will check with my family on the best date. Maybe I can get someone else involved. IF ANYONE ELSE ON THIS PAGE WANTS TO JOIN US THEN MAYBE THEY SHOULD SAY SO.
I will check with my family about the best time. I’M ALSO WONDERING WHEN SOMEONE ELSE WILL JOIN US! WE NEED PEOPLE!
OK
How about some time in June?
Let’s meet in front of the Loew’s Kings, no picketing, just let’s meet!
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO HAVE THAT MEETING? I suggested this site to Bruce 1 because I thought we could help! We have a bunch of positive things on the location as a business. Me, I even plan to come from Holtsville, Long Island to help! I may be doing it in my new classic 1975 Caprice. HOWEVER, WE NEED TO GET TOGETHER! We need to decide where to meet. We have a good business site, which is to say an excellent site for what we want to do.
Well that’s what you get when you look at urban problems from a suburban perspective. I may live on Long Island (even though some people want me to move to another called Staten), but you can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can’t take Brooklyn out of the boy.
To Gustavelifting – You may have misunderstood my comment about transportation. My point is that with the nearby subways and the frequency and reliability of the Flatbush Ave. bus, transportation is not an issue. Particularly with the B41 bus, folks traveling from one end of the borough to another get to experience the entire Flatbush Ave. commercial strip, a major plus for bringing back the Kings.
Hip Hip Horay for Gustavelifting!!! He has made some good points (and is no longer trying to push for a Multi-Theatre Comeback!!)
For all those fans of Magic Johnson, (the same guy that wanted to multiplex the Loew’s Kings, one of the Loew’s ‘WONDER THEATRES’ and destroy the lobby with sheet rocked drop ceilings, formica and masonite, has now turned on the Williamsburgh Savings Bank (the tallest building in Brooklyn) and swears he’ll maintain all the —-architectural integrity of the building. In effect, the only detail still there is in the lobby and bank areas and that’s where he plans to put his ‘high end retail’. I wonder, how he plans to install the retail shops without destroying the integrity of one of the marble and mosaic ‘WONDER BANKS’
On the positive side, he represents still another developer who has seen the possibilities of major change for Brooklyn. As Theaterat points out, Brooklyn may not be Jersey City, but it is seeing an unparalled development burst throughout it’s neighborhoods … and not just the waterfront! So, I still predict that ‘Developers can be decent human beings…as long as they can make a buck!’
C Connoly…. As Hamlet would have said, “Aye, theres the rub”.Maybe the variables in Jersey City were different than those of Flatbush, maybe they are not.Jersey City has made a “comeback” of sorte while Flatbush is set to comeback soon. Prehaps it will not be as gentrified as Jersey City, but with areas in Brooklyn such as Williamsburg, Red Hook, and Greenpoint emerging as desirable, even trendy areas, who knows? The BAM Rose cinema does feature “art” and foreign films, but, again this area{ downtown Brooklyn{ is closer to Manhattan than Flatbush.Bruce 1 is right. We all talk the good talk, but who is REALLY going to do something? I have a job and my schedule is very flexible, so I can use my somewhat limited knowledge to do my part. The whole trick of this seems to be contacting the right people and pitching this idea to them. But then again, who ARE the right people? As an arts center the uses can be many. What theater in Brooklyn has ever revived classic films? Seeing a great movie on the large screen has no comparison to watching the same film on video or DVD.I am sure that most of us who post entries on this theater all share a common love and respect for these great old palaces, but the sad part of it all is that too many people just do not care.
I apologize if I ruffled any feathers with my comment about the Kings and it’s proximity (or lack of) to a subway. I was just trying to point out one of the obstacles that might limit it’s appeal as a varied entertainment venue. There is nothing I would love more (well, yes there are…) than to see The Kings return.
But the comparison (I think) to the Jersey is valid. What were the variables that managed to make that venue come back as opposed to the Kings?
To everyone above in the last few postings…What if there was NO Path subway that stopped near the Jersey? What if there was NO parking ( at a lot or on the street?} Would that discourage people to go? Besides classic films, the Jersey has operas, concerts, independent film festivals, Afro American events, jazz, and many other features. The same venue would make the Kings viable as an entertainment center. Pickets outside the theater( thats so 1960s )would only discourage would be investors and big money people.
Oh come on Bruce 1 and Astynax;
There is someone from Long Island who believes in it. I also think that the whole transportation thing is outrageous. I went to Brooklyn College for a while. The Flatbush Avenue Bus passes the Long Island Railroad. I have been living on Long Island since 1974, and went to the college in the eighties. Sometimes I would take this bus to the Junction of Flatbush and Nostrand. It would pass the Kings. Furthermore, we have performing arts centers out here, and the transportation system, they say, is worse then the city’s. There would be some walking distance from the Patchogue LIRR Station to the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, and the only other choice you would have is taxis. However, this theater, which was a vaudeville house that turned to movies before closing, reopened in the middle 1990s, and we are proud of it. The theater is also surrounded by parking and people usually ignore the “no theatre parking” signs to go there. The perceived lack of transportaion to the Kings is really a moot point if you consider that people can get there with public transportation. If people want to go there, they will go there. It all depends, really, on the entertainment we place in there. They say that if you build a better mousetrap they will come. I think all we have to do is build a better entertainment mousetrap and they will walk from the station or, park their cars in the lot despite some protest if any (then again, there may not be any protest). In short, lack of transportation does not mean lack of audience. It all depends on what’s playing and not the number of walking steps. I hope I didn’t offend anyone.
Maybe CConnolly is right! The Loew’s Kings is not convenient to the Path and so, without further ado, let’s forget our ‘massive do nothing’ campaign.
The B & Q trains stop nearby on Church Ave., several blocks west of Flatbush Ave. In addition, the Flatbush Ave. bus line runs frequently from Cadman Plaza in B'klyn Heights in the north to either Kings Plaza or Veterans Ave. at the southern ends of the borough.
“I never let that stop me from going!The destination was its own reward. ”
That’s you and I and most people on this site. But the general population? It’s iffy. And it’s those people that are needed if a venue like The Kings is going to suceed.
Bruce 1 C Connoly There is a subway stop not too far from the Kings.Sorry, but I do not know what train it is. If parking is an issue,I am sure the sears and the Ratner parkimg lots will suffice. When I went to the Kings before I had a car or even a drivers license, it was adout a 30 to 40 minute bus ride.I never let that stop me from going!The destination was its own reward.
Regarding Bruce1’s comment, yes, in the past, the lack of nearby subway service did not effect attendence. BUT I think this has to do with the fact that the majority of the patrons came from the immediate area (Flatbush) which was and is very densely populated.
If the Kings' venue is to be a performing arts center, a movie revival house (ala Loews Jersey) or a combo, this lack of easy transport will have an effect because it’s sucess will rely on people coming from out of the area.
The Loew’s Jersey are ideally situated because the Path is literally right next door.
At this point, there are NO plans to tare down either the Loew’s Kings or the Brooklyn Paramount. However, anything is possible!
Jim’s logic regarding ‘office space’ at the Paramount, being a benefit, certainly makes sense. At Loew’s Kings, there are adjacent store fronts and construction could create office, retail or even HOTEL space above the theater.
For Gustav to think that 3 store fronts with MAYBE a total of 5,000 square feet would be enough to create a meaningful block of office space—-makes as much sense as picketing! If Gustav wants to picket, it’s a free country…although, I have no interest in such folly.
As far as Warren’s assertion regarding public transportation, that’s true! However, it never stopped patrons from attending this palace in the past. Besides, the combined parking lots of Sears and the Ratner controlled lot( behind the Kings) can certainly handle the driving crowd. Not to mention the buses that go up and down Flatbush Avenue.
Looks like I am going to be spending some time upgrading the Loew’s Kings site if I can. Will the college let me into the site during finals week, I don’t know. If this is true about the Kings Demolition, then the people need to know about it.
Aren’t there some storefronts on either side of the entrance? They could be turned into offices easily.
I rarely find myself saying this because I don’t go for this sort of thing, but should we form a picket line?