Ridgewood Theatre
55-27 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
55-27 Myrtle Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
31 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1,851 - 1,875 of 2,835 comments
On a more mundane note, do you know that you can still see a double feature at the movies? Only $7.50 per adult. The Wellfleet Drive-in in Mass. Seems to me we got a whole car load in legally for 1 or 2 bucks at the drive in on Sunrise Highway or the one near the Whitestone Bridge when I was a young buck.
No, we didn’t go. Don’t do Depp. But we always go to the flea market at the drive in on a weekend when we’re up that way .
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Ed S, Thomas S Lamb, the prestigious North American theatre architect who designed the Ridgewood, designed 153 theaters. 43 including the Ridgewood, are still open. Lamb became prominent in theatre design in 1913 after designing the Regent Theatre in New York City. His success continued when he designed the Mark Strand on Broadway, the Roxy, the Rivoli, and the Capital Theatre in New York. and the Ridgewood in Ridgewood, Brooklyn, NY.
Btw, the UA Midway Stadium in Forest Hills, NY was also designed by Lamb and is also still open. Of course it was built 26 years after the Ridgewood, and my understanding is that little remains of the original interior following its renovatiom/conversion to 9 screens in 1977.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
Thanks mikemovies. I was going on the info provided up top, but I do recall that this information was updated in the course of all these comments. Still, I think the idea still applies. Ninety years is nothing to scoff at and probably ranks quite high on the list of continuously operating theaters in the City, if not State or Country.
Thanx frankie for speaking with Mr Hirshon. I am ready to land mark this theatre. Keep the wheels in motion fella’s. EdSolero the Ridgewood theatre opened in 1916. It will be 90 years young in december.
I too just finished a nice chat with Mr. Hirshon. His correct e-mail address is the yahoo one. He does want to write something, and was interested in everything I had to say. He took the owner information, too. My next step will be to write to the owners, because without feed-back from them, there’s no point to all this. Yes, mikemovies, sadly, each of the other theaters only had 2 or 3 people there.
What better reason to convince the LPC that the Ridgewood is worthy of landmark consideration than those outlined in the very first post on this page (I paraphrase): Opened in 1913, the Ridgewood might be the oldest continuously operating movie theater in NYC if not in the whole the US of A! Has anyone verified the veracity of that statement? If so, I think that’s a good concept on which to build a case. Even if not, it surely must rank way up there on the list, having lasted as it has for at least 93 years!
Michael Perlman said, “Let’s get the show on the road!” And literally took our hand to show us how. Thanks very much for summarizing the approach to obtaining the designation of a NYC historic landmark. Its completeness suggests that you must have had a few victories in your previous battles with bureauacracies, despite your neighbors thinking you were tilting lances with windmills.
I’ll leave it to others to contact Ross Melnick to find out which theaters have been preserved by achieving landmark status. Theater preservation is an objective of this site. Physically and digitally. At least the Ridgewood will be preserved digitally thanks to Patrick, Ross, LM, W, BW and others.
Shalom, ciao, and excelsior
You’re most welcome, LM.
In trying to summarize, I didn’t mention my answer to #2: that the Ridgewood’s potential closing, conversion and/or demolition would be just one more link lost to a community. I tried to stress the word “community” as a common-experience gathering place for neighbors, friends, co-workers, kids eager for Saturday morning matinees, couples in love, etc. I noted the loss over time of the RKO Madison, Oasis, Belevedere, Glenwood, Parthenon, Whitney, Arion – and even Niederstein’s and the timeworn, classic Fresh Pond Diner!
In short, if they’ve all been bulldozed or converted, gone forever, what the hell are we ever going to use as examples (in a physical sense) when we tell our stories to our children and grandchildren?
When frankie posted that only a few people were at the theatre I assumed business was terribly bad. Perhaps NativeForestHiller could begin the land mark process while we try to contact the theatre management.
This is wonderful ! “We don' need no stinkin' BADGES !” I e-mailed him today, and will definitely call him tomorrow. If this works, we should have our names in stars on the sidewalk outside the Ridgewood !!! But seriously, I don’t know what to think until someone hears from the owners. To be continued !
Got through to Mr. Hirshon a short while ago, but before I mention some of the points we covered, I just wanted to say BIG thanks to NativeForestHiller for his “Manifesto” above, and to EdSolero, PKoch, Lost Memory, mikemovies, frankie, ‘Tonino and others for their enthusiasm and efforts.
An affable and intelligent young man, Nicholas Hirshon is very aware of this CT website and will be scanning recent comments for additional info. We spoke for about a quarter-hour, (and he was somewhat surprised at receiving a long-distance call). He reaffirmed the uphill landmark task that lies ahead, but would try to assist us in print.
There were two avenues to his questions, and ones you may wish to think over before contacting him:
1) On what basis do we think that the Ridgewood’s immediate future is more in doubt now than when he wrote his article last March? (Run-down theater condition? Rats? Owners expressing interest to sell? Poor attendance?)
2) If the Ridgewood Theater were to be demolished, what kind of value would be lost to the Ridgewood community and surrounding neighborhoods? (Would the Atlas Park Stadium 8 fill a void? How would the current crop of Ridgewoodites react?)
If Mr. Hirshon made one point very clear, it’s that he does encourage you to contact him.
So do I.
Your status has now been elevated to “Hero-of-the-Month,” mikemovies. Great job, sir! Will call Mr. Hirshon from SoCal either today or tomorrow, and will post anything worthwhile right here.
Stay tuned…
Mr Hirshon answered my email. He wants people to call him and tell him about the Ridgewood theatre. This was his answer; Thanks for the update! Would it be possible for you to give your own phone number so I can interview you about this, and maybe the phone numbers of others who are concerned about the project? If you’d rather, you can just give them my phone number at the News. It’s 718-793-3328. C'mon fella’s Mr Hirshon wants to help. Give him a call.
Thanx so much NativeForestHiller. I did find something in my quest for a contact address.
E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR WRITERS AND EDITORS
For general e-mails and tips to the News Desk, e-mail: .com
In general, Daily News staffers use a standard style for e-mail addresses, using the first letter of their first name and their full last name to form the beginning of their e-mail address. For example, “Paul Jones” would have an e-mail address of .com If you want the e-mail address of a staffer whose name does not appear in the paper, call our main switchboard at (212) 210-2100 and ask to be connected to the person or his/her department.
If I understand correctly the email address should be .com I have sent an email to that address. Perhaps others should send an email also. I will now send an email to as posted by NativeForestHiller. BrooklynJim I mentioned Cinema Treasures in my email to Mr Hirshon. I agree with EdSolero and Bway about the NativeForestHiller comment being a news item. We need more folk’s to participate.
I agree Ed. Native, can you submit the above information as a news item to the site?
It’s good that it’s here in the Ridgewood Theater section, but to get better exposure on the site, it may be better to add it as a news item. Here’s the link:
http://cinematreasures.org/add_news.php
The Landmark Manifesto! Thanks a bunch, Native. This information should be posted as a news item or granted a permanent link on this site.
Hi Everyone! I have dedicated lots of time towards preservation of several buildings throughout Queens, as well as other boroughs on occasion. I learned never to give up, & adhere to your mission statement.
I am unfamiliar with the historical & architectural significance of the Ridgewood Theatre. However, if someone can compose a brief report that will serve as the body of an online petition, I can organize a petition on www.petitiononline.com We should document the exterior & parts of the interior that are deemed landmark-worthy. It should be directed towards local councilmembers, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), and it wouldn’t hurt to aim for the Mayor & Borough Pres. Helen Marshall.
We need to build up as much support as possible in a proactive manner!!! Please e-mail me (Michael) with thoughts, suggestions, & potential text at Since we’re fighting to preserve a cinema, may I say, “Let’s get the show on the road!”
I. The Landmark Preservation Commission’s general site is: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/home/home.shtml
To recommend a new landmark, access the following site & download a Request For Evaluation form (RFE):
View link
**In addition to sending in the request for evaluation form to the address specified on the (downloaded) form, it is extremely important that we also send the same letter to LPC Chair Robert Tierney’s e-mail, .gov, Dir. of Reasearch Mary Beth Betts at .gov, & .gov
II. Some press contacts if we wish to work together on sending out a press release:
To address your inquiry, Nick Hirshon of the Daily News can be reached at
Additional contacts which include the Times Ledger, Queens Ledger (two different papers), Queens Chronicle, Tribune, NY Times, Newsday, Times NewsWeekly, Gazette, Courier, & more (a few contacts may come back as undeliverable).
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