Fair Theatre
90-18 Astoria Boulevard,
East Elmhurst,
NY
11369
90-18 Astoria Boulevard,
East Elmhurst,
NY
11369
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 358 comments
Regarding my earlier reference (March 31) to “only on Sunday: Greek movies”: happened to pass by that area and think I spotted that long-lost theater. Anybody know its name and history (it’s a low-scale women’s clothing store now).
Visible if one knows what to look for on Live Search:
2nd building south of SW corner, Wadsworth Avenue and 181st
street. One bus parallel to it, the other almost aimed at
its front entrance.
View link
Identifiable by a frieze of Tragedy & Comedy masques near
top, a mask at each side of wall beneath, and what appear
to be supports for now-missing marquee.
Yet another positive mention about CT and this theatre page on the New York Post blog site:
View link
Let’s all keep up the good work! Our contributions are getting noticed.
And speaking of “grindhouse†theatres, just below that item is another regarding the new movie of the same name and its distinct box office success in the NYC area: View link
Let others say what they may about us dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers…deep down we are all “softies†– true sentimentalists at heart.
Warren, thanks for posting those porn ads on the Cinemart page. I guess you were being funny after all!
Alto: “… I did see one Indian couple (male-female) snuggling up and enjoying the show…”
Sounds good!
Oh.
Maybe you mean the Bollywood show.
Ticket booklets: a gamble? What if I end up having to watch 8 or 9 Bollywood shows? I guess I could watch MF Indian couples snuggling up, but…
I just cannot see Bollywood & XXX co-existing with one another. Most Bollywood goers don’t even like anything more sexually suggestive than a one-piece bathing suit, let alone any sort of nudity. (But reading the last post sounds like it would be temporary at best.)
The closest thing I recall like this is one three screen movie house in suburban Washington DC which had one screen showing arthouse films (like Landmark theaters does) and two screens of XXX fare (video projected)—I think this theater may have closed within the last year. (This would be the theater that was called the Shirley Duke twins in the 1970’s that ran The Opening of Misty Beethoven for an over two year continuous run. It did have a name change later & it became a three screener, but the current name escapes me at the moment.)
Bravo to Alto!!! You have written most eloquently what many of us have tried to say before. Our enjoyment at the Fair Theatre does not make us deviant. Who really knows what a so called normal lifestyle is? Please do not put us in a category of sexual deviants. We are all Gods children. Let us all understand one another and learn tolerance for each other. I will continue to pray for you my dear Warren.
I don’t many people will go out there for the bollywood movies. I am sure that the ‘new’ policy is just to throw off the blood hounds.
Oh well, I didn’t go that often, maybe 3 times a year, but I have always been glad it’s there, and did have a good time too.
But cypress, like I said, my phone call yesterday indicated that the Puritans have in no way prevailed: There’s the new Bollywood on the main screen, but nothing else has been changed, at least not yet. So go on back if you like it.
And it was worth every last dollar I paid.
I won’t go into details but I had some GREAT times there.
Good to the last drop.
pmullins and cypress, as two CT members who have actually paid your $15 to help keep this place open in the past, I think you do undeniably hold the moral high ground.
Al—love the idea of ‘tolerance as an alternative life-style’ instead of ‘to’ one. Clever thought, and I may see if I can work it.
Rudy Guiliani had enough time to ‘clean’ up Times Square and f**** around with a woman who wasn’t his wife. How’s that for morals?
‘That is hilarious, Warren!’
The best part is ‘possibly restoring it to some of its original glory’ by merely changing the main screen, which will, of course, return it to the ‘community-at-large’. I suppose we will have to wait and found out if the community is still at large, held hostage by smut peddlers without enough interest in Queens architectural gems. I mean, this theater is okay, but it’s not like it was the Virginia or the Winter Garden…
That is hilarious, Warren!
“They seem only interested in finding another place to fulfill their sexual desires.”
Did you get that from a 42nd Street marquee?
By the way, Bollywood is mostly run by mobsters in India and the Fair was apparently kept open, not “defiled” by the porn fans who have kept this place open this long.
Deviant behaviour is in the eye of the beholder. Have you ever sat through a three and a half hour Bollywood war musical?
This Cinema Treasures member respects his fellow member’s rights to enjoy cinemas on their own terms without imposing false moral judgement. As any true showman will tell you, you play the film your audience will buy tickets for and leave personal feelings aside.
Warren, this Easter why not try recognising tolerance, for one day, as an alternative lifestyle. You may find it oddly rewarding.
I think they are showing those bollywood films to appease the church next door. But the Fair is no longer the place to go to have some fun. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays the place was packed. Now it is limp.
Are they projecting film or video for their Bollywood presentations? Anyone know? I believe the Mayfair (now Bombay) in Fresh Meadows is strictly video projection.
Okay, now I called them, they said they’ve got Bollywood on the main screen, but everything else is the same. I asked for specifics and nothing described in the old 2006 posts and since then has changed. How long I don’t know, but that’s the latest. Not bad.
That may not tell us what they are doing with the several small screens and the rest of the theater, though. They might not say everything on the phone, which could mean that the other screens are still as they were—after all, the big one never showed anything XXX. But it’s hard to imagine that all the little screens are now filled with Bollywood musicals.
i just called the theatre , the person who answered stated that they are now only showing Indian cinema.
That doesn’t sound bad at all, if the management would just read this site. When I told them about something, and referred to this site, they didn’t know what I was talking about, although there must be some primitive way they could hook up to the internet.
Sure, they could do this, and after a while, the XXX customers would know anyway, or could call in. They’d give the info if you asked discreetly enough. These elegant solutions like this don’t always work as well as one would like, though. Maybe you should talk to them if you go out there soon. I have never found them particularly desirous of any kind of chat with the customers.
Indian movies or porn? Love them or hate them…Why not both?
In my humble opinion, I feel that management could and should attempt to promote and operate this theatre as an Indian cinema in a last ditch effort to save it (after all, it IS a business) AND at the same time continue offering adult movies for a mature audience. How so, you ask?
The Fair is very coy about revealing its true identity as an adult establishment because it does not wish to be classified or perceived as such due to zoning laws and its proximity to a church. Therefore, it does not openly promote or present this fact to the public and relies on an “underground†following and word-of-mouth for business. This practice has actually worked quite well for it over the years and is probably the reason why the theatre still survives and is able to avoid more legal problems than it already has.
On the other hand, you don’t want the XXX cinema customers showing up when Indian movie audiences are in attendance â€"like oil and water, they would not mix well, resulting in some rather uncomfortable and tense situations for both, not to mention presenting the logistical problem of keeping them separate while at the same time sharing a common facility (box office, rest rooms, etc.). So how do you allow two disparate audiences into the same theatre, without one knowing that the other obviously exists?
My solution would be two-fold: openly promote and show Indian films, restricting them to clearly specified days and times, THEN at all other times continue to operate the theater as-is, anonymously as an venue for adult-only audiences. For example, posters, newspaper ads and the marquee could boldly advertise the Indian movies in such a way that the XXX customers could easily figure out which days are (or are not) open to them…for example:
ALL BOLLYWOOD CINEMA
ALL DAY – THU THRU SAT ONLY
NEW SHOWS EVERY WEEK
Indian movies would occupy the prime weekend time period, while a mix of adult and other movies could be shown the remainder of the week (including Sundays â€" one of their busiest days). This way, the theatre could draw income seven days per week, with the stronger business days “subsidizing†or compensating for the slower days. Depending upon which format excels (or flops), the option remains for expanding or terminating one or the other.
faberfranz, I don’t like those little places for anything heavy either, they’ve always been unsatisfying, but just think how even they are barely there by now. I like to go into one occasionally, even though they are pretty much nothing, because at least they are connected to some sort of past, and most of current urban development is moving much faster to get rid of all of that.
The remaining upstairs at the Corona Plaza sounds like it would make a great XXX theatre.
“…I hall have to visit again to determine exactly what the Fairâ€\s status is regarding its adult XXX offerings.” posted by Alto on Apr 1, 2007 at 10:18pm
Do! and let us know!
Oops – now look what I started [with my previous comments] â€" I’m even being quoted in a New York Post article!
I drove by the theatre early Sunday morning (4/1) and saw no alterations made to the marquee or any other exterior clues indicating this latest programming change. It would be hasty of them to abandon showing adult movies altogether – I can’t believe that management would be foolish enough to desert a loyal following of customers (many of whom have been coming here for years). Still, given the ultimate fate of other nearby theatres that have gone this route, it does not bode well for adult theatre enthusiasts.
Suppose the switch to Indian films fails as a means of attracting a new and loyal audience â€" if there are no adult films showing, what will they have to fall back on? After all, there are other theatres nearby that already show Indian films, and the area can only support so many before the market becomes over-saturated (besides, how many first-run or new release movies could possibly be available in a specialty genre such as this – could they be shown simultaneously in several local theatres AND still attract and share a large-enough audience?). When the nearby Polk closed over a year ago, the Fair had a “lock†on the adult XXX theater-going audience in this area (and indeed in all of Queens).
I do believe that the increase in the admission price from $10 to $15 almost two years ago is a major reason why business has declined (although there are other factors that have collectively affected adult theatre establishments everywhere). Still, they do seem to get a decent crowd on weekends (although appearances can be deceiving). Perhaps the closure of the adjacent Italian restaurant (located there for many years) is an indicator that the financial situation is worse than it seems (during my occasional visits, it usually had few, if any, customers despite the decent food). The neighborhood and its population have changed â€" with this in mind, perhaps the programming switch is the theatre’s last-ditch effort to adapt to changing times and recognize (rather than operate in isolation from) its surrounding community.
I shall have to visit again to determine exactly what the Fair’s status is regarding its adult XXX offerings.