There was also once a Dairy Queen on that block, on that side of the street, but closer to Wyckoff. I think Koletti’s was still there; in any event the Dairy Queen did not last. When did Koletti’s go out of business, must have been the early 70s?
Does anyone remember the Carvel that took over for a very short time after Abner’s Bakery went out on my block, diagonally across from the Ridgewood Theater? Pernice Dry Cleaner came afterwards and remained there a long time. There always seems to have been an ice cream shop near the theaters now that I think of it. Must have been a German thing.
Hi ALtheFilmguy. Don’t be surprised that Gary and Ted mentioned something about plans for the theater. I mentioned what was said by them in my 4-16-06 post, and they said nothing really. Any information about any plans has come from you!
No one on this site would ever do anything to deny the Ridgewood Theatre a future.
The Ridgewood community has a long, wonderful history, and people involved in the community are really committed to its prosperity and well-being.
People on this site have a special interest in the Ridgewood Theatre. My concern is that landmark status be considered for this theater, so that it might be preserved always as a theater. You state that the prospective buyer plans on “making some calls to get the Ridgewood evaluated for landmark status.” Make sure your calls include the Ridgewood Historical Society and the Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation. The people involved in these organizations have the expertise and the experience to connect you to the path you need to take to get the Landmarking status achieved.
Good luck. Everyone wants to see the Ridgewood Theatre thrive!
Last night I was speaking with both Gary Giordano (Community Board 5) and Ted Renz (Myrtle Avenue Bus. Improvement. Dist.)who told me that the Ridgewood Theater is up for sale. Ted and Gary told me there is a very intersted buyer. They said the prospective buyer would like to maintain the Ridgewood Theater as a theater, while promoting community-oriented activities as well. Of course, this sounds like what everyone has been hoping would happen — but there is nothing in writing yet.
Native Forest Hiller, I printed out a request for evaluation form. Thank you for directing me to the site. Can a community group, or an individual, apply for landmark status without the consent of the landlord? It seems like the answer is yes. I totally agree with you, I think this property should be submitted for landmark status. And the sooner, the better.
All of you who love this theater can help to save it. There may be a variety of groups in Ridgewood who are also interested in saving it. There are also Community persons in Ridgewood who know all the ins and outs of landmarking, who got landmark status for the Onderdonk House and had Ridgewood designated as a Historic District back in the 80s. Is anyone interested in forming a group to meet with the community board and BID, just to talk and see where a group could go with this?
You’re welcome BillyC. and BTW My mom was also a single mom.
There’s something else I remembered about the vertical sign. At night the sign flashed because the neon letters “Theater” were directly over (or maybe under) the neon letters that said “Ridgewood.” I’m almost certain that it was one sign with two words on it. I’m not sure but I think that the word “Ridgewood” was colored in, or highlighted somehow, so that during the day the sign looked like it only said “Ridgewood.”
Can anyone confirm this—what do the old pictures show?
I haven’t visited this site in a long time. Hello Peter, I see you mentioned me in a recent posting. Please don’t feel you owe me an e-mail. I’m just glad you survived mine. :)
Hi Debbie, The last time I saw you was just before you moved to Norman Street, and that was a long, long time ago! I remember so many things about you and your family. I remember your mom and your dad, whose initials were D.J., and your mom said it stood for Dishonest John (though I think his name was “Dennis”). You, Debbie, are probably the only person who would remember Maureen Daley (although Peter may remember her — do you?) who lived at 1716 Woodbine Street (I’m good with addresses for some reason). You and she were really good friends, but she moved away around 5th or 6th grade to Bedford, NY. I have so many memories of playing with the kids on your block and with you.
Hey, SteveD. I do remember you, too. You lived in the house next to the deli and you had two brothers, Kenny and, hmmmm, was it Eddie? I remember you told me you all slept in a triple bunk bed that your dad made, was that true? I remember playinng ace king queen with you against the wall of the Ridgewood Theater. Do either you or Debbie remember the Nelsens who lived above Joe’s Army Navy Store? The entrance to their house was on Madison. They were Arthur (who tragically drowned at Rockaway), Patty,and Karen.
Steve, you said your grandmother lived on Linden Street between St. Nicholas and Cypress. Do you remember that George Seuffert, Sr. and George Seuffert Jr, the bandleaders of Forest Park fame lived at 1666 Linden Street and gave music lessons from their home for many years? I always thought they lived in a 2 family house on that block, but of course I am probably wrong.
Leona Seuffert, the younger George’s wife, used to play the Cornet at the bandshell on Sundays and usually had a solo. We went almost every week and I just thought she was wonderful. My brother took trumpet lessons from her.
Alot has been discussed since I was last here. I would like to respond to a comment by BillyC from a posting in August,2005. Hello Billy! You sort of asked me personally if the word “Loew’s” was on the Ridgewood Theater’s vertical sign. To my recollection the words Ridgewood Theater (or maybe Theatre, but I think it was spelled the other way) appeared on the sign. I think the sign was red neon block letters and I remember that it flashed (because I slept in the front room facing Myrtle avenue!)— First RIDGEWOOD would flash, then THEATER. I believe (but, I ’m not certain) that the sign did not fall down with the marquee. I think they removed the vertical sign and then put up the new marquee, which stands today.
Peter, when you asked the question, “Did my recollection of the collapse of the Ridgewood Theater marquee under the blizzard of Febrauary 9, 1969 make sense to you?” were you referring to your recollection of the date as 2-9-69?
I remember in a previous post there seemed to be a discrepancy over whether the snowstorm that brought down the marquee occurred in 1968 or 1969.
I can not verify the date by memory. Though I do seem to remember the (then) Ridgewood Times reporting on the incident (I vaguely recall a picture with a caption). If this is true, it would have appeared in the edition following the incident (Thursday, February 13, 1969).
Thank you for explaining how the sneaking in thing worked. It happened almost every time I went to the theater. It sure was a different world then. Did you really NEVER sneak in? My brother, Harold, did it all the time.
I really enjoyed reading your memories of people from St. Brigid’s days. You never mentioned your kindergarten teacher’s name. Were we in the same class? I had Miss Vitolo, who had red hair and who was very nice. Our class was in the basement of the “annex” building on the Grove Street side. In first grade, I had Sr. Mary Davidica who was also very nice. In second grage I had Sr, Mary Sylvia, who was an older nun, but a warm and wonderful person. It was, therefore, a huge shock to meet up with Mrs. Wagner in the 3rd grade.
Oh how she hated me. She picked on everything I did. I was always in trouble in her class…for talking, for asking questions, for almost anything. She enjoyed humiliating me (and others, it wasn’t just me). Once —and you may remember this, Peter— she had a boy give her his belt and she TIED me to my seat because she said I was fidgeting too much!
I was religious in those days, and after that incident, I prayed and prayed every night that God would make Mrs. Wagner stop picking on me. Sure enough, my prayers were answered. He sent her a baby, and she couldn’t finish out the school year. He sent me Miss Campanella, who was kind and sweet and good. An “angel,” just as you said.
Fourth grade was Sr. Mary Helen. Yes, she was a character. I remember she enjoyed Greek and Roman mythology and had us doing book reports on myths. She apparently thought this was an excellent way to interest the kids (which it did, I loved reading the stories) with short stories and to get us writing mini book reports (on index cards, if you remember). She had to abandon it, though, when word got out that she was teaching us about “false gods.”
We were friends then, Peter. I remember your house on Cornelia Street. You lived on the Synagogue side of the street, but up toward Cypress. Did you know an older boy named Billy Varade from the other side of the Street? You had a big stoop outside and I remember going into your house through a door under the stoop(?) Oh Peter, I sometimes have an excellent memory for detail, but I am not doing so well here. I have a vague memory of a large sunlit room with a long wall on the left, light-colored or yellow linoleum, windows facing the yard. I remember the stairway in your house was on the left, like mine was.
I remember your mom and dad. You’ve mentioned your cousin, Fran, several times (how is she?). Were your mom and her mom twin sisters? They looked a lot alike. I remember your dad was very kind, and very nice to me. I remember going to your house often and playing in your front gate, though you will have to refresh my not so amazing memory as to what kinds of stuff we did. I do remember having fun with you.
So Peter, what are you doing now? I think I read you are an engineer for the Army. Good for you! You seem to be a Movie Theater buff. You know, reading what people have had to say on this site, I’m surprised there’s no one starting up a group to talk to the Ridgewood Theater’s owners about their plans for the Theater’s future, or for ways to help get it Restored.
The house where I lived from 1955 to 1975 was at 55-14 Myrtle Avenue, diagonally across the street from the Ridgewood Theater. We didn’t own the house growing up, but my grandfather bought the house sometime around 1975 and my mother continued to live there until it was finally sold in 1995.
Reading this discussion has been a pleasure for me. Peter, as you already know, I am your friend from 4th grade, April. As has been stated again and again, your memory is remarkable. Yes, you were right, I lived over the Ridgewood Toyland, the store with the mechanical pony outside.
I have so many happy memories of both the Ridgewood and the Madison Theaters. The RKO Madison was a splendid theater, grand and spacious. As has been mentioned, it was cleaner than the Ridgewood Theater. No doubt that was in some part due to the mean, humorless matrons who didn’t allow you to move or talk when you came without your parents. Does anyone remember the nasty matron with the red hair?
Admission was 50 cents when I first started going on my own to the movies. I remember the Ridgewood Theater just as you’ve all described it. Yes, it had a very steep balcony, which was disorienting in the dark. Invariably, someone would sneak into the theater by the side door and suddenly the darkened theater would be lit on the left by a doorway of blinding sun — and so you could never see exactly who was sneaking in.
When you lived on Myrtle Avenue you had to develop an ability to sleep with noise. My room was right on the Avenue. There were all kinds of noises. There was the screech of the EL train as it rounded the turn at Wyckoff through open windows on a cool summer night. There were the endless fire engines racing past the house in the early night hours, mostly towards what was then called “Lower Ridgewood.” There was also a bus stop right outside our house where people waited a long time for the bus, talking and making noise. People walked on the Avenue all night long to and from the train station.
“Strange” noises, however, woke me right up. Things like the breaking of glass (before roll-down gates), fire, yelling — anything that wasn’t “normal.”
One night I awoke to a “strange” sound. It was late at night, but unusually quiet. It sounded like the limbs of a big tree rubbing together in a strong wind. I went to the window and looked out. It was snowing. The street was quiet, no cars, no people, and of course, no trees. The creaking went from little creaks to heavy, heaving-type creaking. It seemed to be coming from the Theater.
After a few minutes, the noise got worse. There was a prolonged sound now, the groaning of metal, and straining sounds as the marquis slowly pulled away from the theater. In a moment it fell to the snow-covered ground in an almost quiet THUD.
I stood stunned for a few minutes before I woke my mother. I was filled with emotion. I saw that the huge chains that had apparently once held the marguis were lying limply against the building. I couldn’t believe what happened. It surely was exciting.
I’ve always wondered if there are any other eye witnesses. Anyone?
Hello to all of you from St. Brigid’s days. What a pleasure it has been to find you here. I remember you all —Peter, DABOC, Vicki,Dawn N.and Cathy A. I hope you are all well. You other guys who I don’t know have done some amazing research on these local theaters. Thank you for such interesting information. Monica, I have enjoyed reading what you have written about the Ridgewood Theater and about Ridgewood, in general. I would love to hear more about the place Ridgewood is today.
There was also once a Dairy Queen on that block, on that side of the street, but closer to Wyckoff. I think Koletti’s was still there; in any event the Dairy Queen did not last. When did Koletti’s go out of business, must have been the early 70s?
Does anyone remember the Carvel that took over for a very short time after Abner’s Bakery went out on my block, diagonally across from the Ridgewood Theater? Pernice Dry Cleaner came afterwards and remained there a long time. There always seems to have been an ice cream shop near the theaters now that I think of it. Must have been a German thing.
Hi ALtheFilmguy. Don’t be surprised that Gary and Ted mentioned something about plans for the theater. I mentioned what was said by them in my 4-16-06 post, and they said nothing really. Any information about any plans has come from you!
No one on this site would ever do anything to deny the Ridgewood Theatre a future.
The Ridgewood community has a long, wonderful history, and people involved in the community are really committed to its prosperity and well-being.
People on this site have a special interest in the Ridgewood Theatre. My concern is that landmark status be considered for this theater, so that it might be preserved always as a theater. You state that the prospective buyer plans on “making some calls to get the Ridgewood evaluated for landmark status.” Make sure your calls include the Ridgewood Historical Society and the Greater Ridgewood Restoration Corporation. The people involved in these organizations have the expertise and the experience to connect you to the path you need to take to get the Landmarking status achieved.
Good luck. Everyone wants to see the Ridgewood Theatre thrive!
Last night I was speaking with both Gary Giordano (Community Board 5) and Ted Renz (Myrtle Avenue Bus. Improvement. Dist.)who told me that the Ridgewood Theater is up for sale. Ted and Gary told me there is a very intersted buyer. They said the prospective buyer would like to maintain the Ridgewood Theater as a theater, while promoting community-oriented activities as well. Of course, this sounds like what everyone has been hoping would happen — but there is nothing in writing yet.
Native Forest Hiller, I printed out a request for evaluation form. Thank you for directing me to the site. Can a community group, or an individual, apply for landmark status without the consent of the landlord? It seems like the answer is yes. I totally agree with you, I think this property should be submitted for landmark status. And the sooner, the better.
All of you who love this theater can help to save it. There may be a variety of groups in Ridgewood who are also interested in saving it. There are also Community persons in Ridgewood who know all the ins and outs of landmarking, who got landmark status for the Onderdonk House and had Ridgewood designated as a Historic District back in the 80s. Is anyone interested in forming a group to meet with the community board and BID, just to talk and see where a group could go with this?
Thank you to KenRoe for those pictures of the Ridgewood Theater. Even though they are pictures of the theater today, they really bring me back!
You’re welcome BillyC. and BTW My mom was also a single mom.
There’s something else I remembered about the vertical sign. At night the sign flashed because the neon letters “Theater” were directly over (or maybe under) the neon letters that said “Ridgewood.” I’m almost certain that it was one sign with two words on it. I’m not sure but I think that the word “Ridgewood” was colored in, or highlighted somehow, so that during the day the sign looked like it only said “Ridgewood.”
Can anyone confirm this—what do the old pictures show?
I haven’t visited this site in a long time. Hello Peter, I see you mentioned me in a recent posting. Please don’t feel you owe me an e-mail. I’m just glad you survived mine. :)
Hi Debbie, The last time I saw you was just before you moved to Norman Street, and that was a long, long time ago! I remember so many things about you and your family. I remember your mom and your dad, whose initials were D.J., and your mom said it stood for Dishonest John (though I think his name was “Dennis”). You, Debbie, are probably the only person who would remember Maureen Daley (although Peter may remember her — do you?) who lived at 1716 Woodbine Street (I’m good with addresses for some reason). You and she were really good friends, but she moved away around 5th or 6th grade to Bedford, NY. I have so many memories of playing with the kids on your block and with you.
Hey, SteveD. I do remember you, too. You lived in the house next to the deli and you had two brothers, Kenny and, hmmmm, was it Eddie? I remember you told me you all slept in a triple bunk bed that your dad made, was that true? I remember playinng ace king queen with you against the wall of the Ridgewood Theater. Do either you or Debbie remember the Nelsens who lived above Joe’s Army Navy Store? The entrance to their house was on Madison. They were Arthur (who tragically drowned at Rockaway), Patty,and Karen.
Steve, you said your grandmother lived on Linden Street between St. Nicholas and Cypress. Do you remember that George Seuffert, Sr. and George Seuffert Jr, the bandleaders of Forest Park fame lived at 1666 Linden Street and gave music lessons from their home for many years? I always thought they lived in a 2 family house on that block, but of course I am probably wrong.
Leona Seuffert, the younger George’s wife, used to play the Cornet at the bandshell on Sundays and usually had a solo. We went almost every week and I just thought she was wonderful. My brother took trumpet lessons from her.
Alot has been discussed since I was last here. I would like to respond to a comment by BillyC from a posting in August,2005. Hello Billy! You sort of asked me personally if the word “Loew’s” was on the Ridgewood Theater’s vertical sign. To my recollection the words Ridgewood Theater (or maybe Theatre, but I think it was spelled the other way) appeared on the sign. I think the sign was red neon block letters and I remember that it flashed (because I slept in the front room facing Myrtle avenue!)— First RIDGEWOOD would flash, then THEATER. I believe (but, I ’m not certain) that the sign did not fall down with the marquee. I think they removed the vertical sign and then put up the new marquee, which stands today.
Peter, when you asked the question, “Did my recollection of the collapse of the Ridgewood Theater marquee under the blizzard of Febrauary 9, 1969 make sense to you?” were you referring to your recollection of the date as 2-9-69?
I remember in a previous post there seemed to be a discrepancy over whether the snowstorm that brought down the marquee occurred in 1968 or 1969.
I can not verify the date by memory. Though I do seem to remember the (then) Ridgewood Times reporting on the incident (I vaguely recall a picture with a caption). If this is true, it would have appeared in the edition following the incident (Thursday, February 13, 1969).
Dear lostmemory
Thank you for explaining how the sneaking in thing worked. It happened almost every time I went to the theater. It sure was a different world then. Did you really NEVER sneak in? My brother, Harold, did it all the time.
Hello Peter!
I really enjoyed reading your memories of people from St. Brigid’s days. You never mentioned your kindergarten teacher’s name. Were we in the same class? I had Miss Vitolo, who had red hair and who was very nice. Our class was in the basement of the “annex” building on the Grove Street side. In first grade, I had Sr. Mary Davidica who was also very nice. In second grage I had Sr, Mary Sylvia, who was an older nun, but a warm and wonderful person. It was, therefore, a huge shock to meet up with Mrs. Wagner in the 3rd grade.
Oh how she hated me. She picked on everything I did. I was always in trouble in her class…for talking, for asking questions, for almost anything. She enjoyed humiliating me (and others, it wasn’t just me). Once —and you may remember this, Peter— she had a boy give her his belt and she TIED me to my seat because she said I was fidgeting too much!
I was religious in those days, and after that incident, I prayed and prayed every night that God would make Mrs. Wagner stop picking on me. Sure enough, my prayers were answered. He sent her a baby, and she couldn’t finish out the school year. He sent me Miss Campanella, who was kind and sweet and good. An “angel,” just as you said.
Fourth grade was Sr. Mary Helen. Yes, she was a character. I remember she enjoyed Greek and Roman mythology and had us doing book reports on myths. She apparently thought this was an excellent way to interest the kids (which it did, I loved reading the stories) with short stories and to get us writing mini book reports (on index cards, if you remember). She had to abandon it, though, when word got out that she was teaching us about “false gods.”
We were friends then, Peter. I remember your house on Cornelia Street. You lived on the Synagogue side of the street, but up toward Cypress. Did you know an older boy named Billy Varade from the other side of the Street? You had a big stoop outside and I remember going into your house through a door under the stoop(?) Oh Peter, I sometimes have an excellent memory for detail, but I am not doing so well here. I have a vague memory of a large sunlit room with a long wall on the left, light-colored or yellow linoleum, windows facing the yard. I remember the stairway in your house was on the left, like mine was.
I remember your mom and dad. You’ve mentioned your cousin, Fran, several times (how is she?). Were your mom and her mom twin sisters? They looked a lot alike. I remember your dad was very kind, and very nice to me. I remember going to your house often and playing in your front gate, though you will have to refresh my not so amazing memory as to what kinds of stuff we did. I do remember having fun with you.
So Peter, what are you doing now? I think I read you are an engineer for the Army. Good for you! You seem to be a Movie Theater buff. You know, reading what people have had to say on this site, I’m surprised there’s no one starting up a group to talk to the Ridgewood Theater’s owners about their plans for the Theater’s future, or for ways to help get it Restored.
Hello everyone,
The house where I lived from 1955 to 1975 was at 55-14 Myrtle Avenue, diagonally across the street from the Ridgewood Theater. We didn’t own the house growing up, but my grandfather bought the house sometime around 1975 and my mother continued to live there until it was finally sold in 1995.
Reading this discussion has been a pleasure for me. Peter, as you already know, I am your friend from 4th grade, April. As has been stated again and again, your memory is remarkable. Yes, you were right, I lived over the Ridgewood Toyland, the store with the mechanical pony outside.
I have so many happy memories of both the Ridgewood and the Madison Theaters. The RKO Madison was a splendid theater, grand and spacious. As has been mentioned, it was cleaner than the Ridgewood Theater. No doubt that was in some part due to the mean, humorless matrons who didn’t allow you to move or talk when you came without your parents. Does anyone remember the nasty matron with the red hair?
Admission was 50 cents when I first started going on my own to the movies. I remember the Ridgewood Theater just as you’ve all described it. Yes, it had a very steep balcony, which was disorienting in the dark. Invariably, someone would sneak into the theater by the side door and suddenly the darkened theater would be lit on the left by a doorway of blinding sun — and so you could never see exactly who was sneaking in.
When you lived on Myrtle Avenue you had to develop an ability to sleep with noise. My room was right on the Avenue. There were all kinds of noises. There was the screech of the EL train as it rounded the turn at Wyckoff through open windows on a cool summer night. There were the endless fire engines racing past the house in the early night hours, mostly towards what was then called “Lower Ridgewood.” There was also a bus stop right outside our house where people waited a long time for the bus, talking and making noise. People walked on the Avenue all night long to and from the train station.
“Strange” noises, however, woke me right up. Things like the breaking of glass (before roll-down gates), fire, yelling — anything that wasn’t “normal.”
One night I awoke to a “strange” sound. It was late at night, but unusually quiet. It sounded like the limbs of a big tree rubbing together in a strong wind. I went to the window and looked out. It was snowing. The street was quiet, no cars, no people, and of course, no trees. The creaking went from little creaks to heavy, heaving-type creaking. It seemed to be coming from the Theater.
After a few minutes, the noise got worse. There was a prolonged sound now, the groaning of metal, and straining sounds as the marquis slowly pulled away from the theater. In a moment it fell to the snow-covered ground in an almost quiet THUD.
I stood stunned for a few minutes before I woke my mother. I was filled with emotion. I saw that the huge chains that had apparently once held the marguis were lying limply against the building. I couldn’t believe what happened. It surely was exciting.
I’ve always wondered if there are any other eye witnesses. Anyone?
Hello to all of you from St. Brigid’s days. What a pleasure it has been to find you here. I remember you all —Peter, DABOC, Vicki,Dawn N.and Cathy A. I hope you are all well. You other guys who I don’t know have done some amazing research on these local theaters. Thank you for such interesting information. Monica, I have enjoyed reading what you have written about the Ridgewood Theater and about Ridgewood, in general. I would love to hear more about the place Ridgewood is today.