I went to ask around and look around today at the former location of this theater, and here’s what I found.
On Google Maps, the satellite view shows a large rectangle roof higher than the stores in the front, pretty good evidence of where the theater stood. (Take a look here: http://i.imgur.com/HZHssAn.jpg). I was curious if the stores went all the way back or if there was a possibility of a stock room or something being used that still had original detail from the theater.
I started on the south end and went into $5 Shoe store. (http://i.imgur.com/95VOqoD.png). From the street, this looks very small but it opens up into an enormous double-height space. It’s a big L-shaped space, and it goes behind the next two stores—Beverly Boutique and Cohen’s fashion optical. It’s finished in drop ceiling tiles and I did manage to see some original trim or something where one tile was missing. But other than that, there is no indication that it was a movie house.
There is a Foot Locker where the entrance once stood. A staff member allowed me to look into the stock room, where I could see the ceiling was not only double-height, but there were still large chunks of the original walls and plaster from the theater. They were painted a greenish color. I managed to spot at least one brass or gold-painted torch-shaped sconce intact from the theater. The wall dividing the back of the store on the right is just bare sheetrock. On the other side of the wall is the $5 shoe store. So the dimensions of the original movie house are intact, if not anything else.
The Foot Locker opened up only about 6 or 7 years ago, and I don’t recall what was there prior to that. They have a very low drop ceiling in the front of their store so it’s possible that something original detail is still there, but I sincerely doubt it.
I went to see a movie there last night. Most of the theater’s original details appear to be intact under several coats of paint. The main auditorium is one of the largest movie houses I’ve been in since I was a kid, although it has a faint odor of stale fake butter flavor.
And the movie had subtitles in Spanish. Did this bother me? No, as I’ve been to theaters all over the world that play Hollywood movies with subtitles in many different languages at once. It is rather entertaining that several of you are getting all hot and bothered over subtitles as some sort of vandalism of the movie. The Jackson Triplex shows Hollywood blockbusters—not art. There are several other movie theaters in the area accessible by subway and car. So it’s not like the Jackson Triplex is the only theater around showing Hollywood movies. (You don’t’ complain about the Eagle that shows Bollywood musicals 8 blocks away.) However, the Jackson is the only theater accessible on foot from Jackson Heights that shows Hollywood movies.
No, Walling Hall was a different building up the street. Keyport, in it’s day, was the only major port in the area so it’s quite possible that Fred Astair came to town more than once.
The Strand was an X-rated theater when I was a kid but tried to go ligit in the 1980s. It showed Rocky Horror Picture Show one time at midnight and the kids practically strated a riot—throwing garbage cans and everything off the balcony. The place closed soon after and then became the mini-mall and later a restaurant over looking the bay.
I went to ask around and look around today at the former location of this theater, and here’s what I found.
On Google Maps, the satellite view shows a large rectangle roof higher than the stores in the front, pretty good evidence of where the theater stood. (Take a look here: http://i.imgur.com/HZHssAn.jpg). I was curious if the stores went all the way back or if there was a possibility of a stock room or something being used that still had original detail from the theater.
I started on the south end and went into $5 Shoe store. (http://i.imgur.com/95VOqoD.png). From the street, this looks very small but it opens up into an enormous double-height space. It’s a big L-shaped space, and it goes behind the next two stores—Beverly Boutique and Cohen’s fashion optical. It’s finished in drop ceiling tiles and I did manage to see some original trim or something where one tile was missing. But other than that, there is no indication that it was a movie house.
There is a Foot Locker where the entrance once stood. A staff member allowed me to look into the stock room, where I could see the ceiling was not only double-height, but there were still large chunks of the original walls and plaster from the theater. They were painted a greenish color. I managed to spot at least one brass or gold-painted torch-shaped sconce intact from the theater. The wall dividing the back of the store on the right is just bare sheetrock. On the other side of the wall is the $5 shoe store. So the dimensions of the original movie house are intact, if not anything else.
The Foot Locker opened up only about 6 or 7 years ago, and I don’t recall what was there prior to that. They have a very low drop ceiling in the front of their store so it’s possible that something original detail is still there, but I sincerely doubt it.
I went to see a movie there last night. Most of the theater’s original details appear to be intact under several coats of paint. The main auditorium is one of the largest movie houses I’ve been in since I was a kid, although it has a faint odor of stale fake butter flavor.
And the movie had subtitles in Spanish. Did this bother me? No, as I’ve been to theaters all over the world that play Hollywood movies with subtitles in many different languages at once. It is rather entertaining that several of you are getting all hot and bothered over subtitles as some sort of vandalism of the movie. The Jackson Triplex shows Hollywood blockbusters—not art. There are several other movie theaters in the area accessible by subway and car. So it’s not like the Jackson Triplex is the only theater around showing Hollywood movies. (You don’t’ complain about the Eagle that shows Bollywood musicals 8 blocks away.) However, the Jackson is the only theater accessible on foot from Jackson Heights that shows Hollywood movies.
No, Walling Hall was a different building up the street. Keyport, in it’s day, was the only major port in the area so it’s quite possible that Fred Astair came to town more than once.
The Strand was an X-rated theater when I was a kid but tried to go ligit in the 1980s. It showed Rocky Horror Picture Show one time at midnight and the kids practically strated a riot—throwing garbage cans and everything off the balcony. The place closed soon after and then became the mini-mall and later a restaurant over looking the bay.