Thanks for jogging my memory this morning with the photographs. I remember the wooden trains went to Jay Street and the steel trains to Chambers St in NYC. The only time I got on the the steel one was when my Dad would take to his job in the Wall St area.
I do remember the Rockaways as a double fare zone. You paid when you got off and paid double when you go on. The train ride from Ridgewood took hours especially if you were going to Rockaway Park.
It’s great to see all of this discussion about the possible purchase of the Ridgewood Theatre. And I realize that since it hasn’t happened yet that this question probably can’t be answered. Is there any possibility it will be restored to the original configuration of a single theatre? Maybe used for live shows, theatre and movies. We have a few theatres here in NJ that have been restored and are now operated as Non-Profits using member donations to supplement the ticket sales. I haven’t lived in Ridgewood for a long time but I am not aware of anyplace outside of Manhattan where one can see a live show. Not sure the Ridgewood will survive as just a cinema with the new theatres opening in Glendale.
Yeah, but the Madison had Frankie Avalon (promoting his Beach Blanket Movie), the Dave Clark 5 (they didn’t even sing) and the Godfather of Soul (James Brown).
B'way- that’s just the way I remember it. I didn’t go to the Oasis until it’s final days before it became a roller rink. The Madison always had a sense of grandeur to it with the open lobby and marble stairs leading to the second floor loge and balcony seating. I think being part of the RKO chain they invested more in keeping the place up. The Ridgewood was all business you walked in the refreshment was there sat down and watched your movie. If my memory serves me correctly there wasn’t door separating the refrehment stand from the downstairs seating, just a half wall. I was never in the Ridgewood after they changed to a multiplex. By then I preferred the Arion and Cinemart in Forest hills.
Was there anytime when the Ridgewood Movie Theatre floor wasn’t sticky?
Thanks for the great view of the old neighborhood. I remember as a kid walking on Cypress on a hot July afternoon and feeling the drops from the Ridgewood Air conditioner. We never ventured down the alley on Cypress it was always very scary. I remember the Doo Wop singers used to go down there because of the acoustics at night. Wow, Carl’s is still there, what about Joe’s?
I remember the stairs in the lobby when it was one theatre and you sat in the balcony you would use them to exit the theatre. Unless I was just young at the time, my memory says the stairs were really long with 4 doors at the top. Everyone would enter through the lobby and pass the refreshment stand on the left but you exited the balcony via those stairs to avoid the congestion on the people coming in. It was really different back then because they usually showed 2 movies and people kind of would come and go as they pleased unless it was a really popular movie. Living on Madison St we always knew when the movies were over because the streets would fill up with people.
Believe me I remember Sal’s, wasn’t it called the Four Barbers at one time. I got my first haircut there!
Prior to zip codes it was Ridgewood NY 27, when Zip codes came it was 11227 Growing up in Ridgewood we all knew we lived in Queens but we had that 11227 zip code that was a Brooklyn Zip. Later the Ridgewood Post Office was changed to 11385. The pictures of the lobby bring back memories, I can smell the popcorn, hotdogs (on that spit machine) and unfortunately the cigarettes. I believe the only place you couldn’t smoke was the children’s section but I may be wrong.
Hi April, I can’t believe you not only remember me but all of my brothers names. yes, we all did sleep in one room and we did have a bunk bed but it wasn’t a triple.I remember Artie Nelson, we played stickball on Madison St with Spauldings we brought at Joe’s Army and Navy for 11 cents. He had a sister named Patty with red hair and freckles. Whenever you went up to his apartment he use to use a popsicle stick to open the vestibule door. I believe he was about 16 when he drowned in the Rockaways.
I do remember the Seuffert family and I thought on Linden Street one side was 3 family and the other side was 2 family. They lived on the last house on the street close to St. Nick. I also went to the summer concerts at Forest Park Grove.
Peter, I’m not sure if I knew you or not but remember playing Ace, King, Queen on the Key Food wall across the street from Ciros Restaurant. The only names I recall from Woodbine Street are Joe Gangi, Joe Ganci and Steve Graff. I hung out with them as a teenager.
I not really sure but Hank’s was on the second floor and the club was on the third. There was a sign on the door. I know they held dances there because I remember my Mom going there when I was young.
It’s great to see all of this talk about the old neighborhood, I grew up on Madison between Myrtle and Cypress across the street from the back of the Ridgewood. I believe I lived in a six family matthew flat, 6 room, railroad apartment. My Grandmother lived on Linden between St Nick and Cypress.I remember one side was 3 family houses and I thought the other side was 2 family with higher stoops. I bowled at the Partenon before they changed it into a bingo hall. I remember being about 14 and playing pool over the Ridgewood at Hank’s Billard Academy even though you were supposed to be 16. Upstairs from Hank’s there was a place called the Silver Dollar Club.
All I have to say is “OMG”. I stumbled upon this site while searching for some information for my daughter about Ridgewood. I couldn’t stop reading and especially flawed when I read DABOC’s posting because I grew up at 1681 Madison St and remember her and April growing up. I have so many fond memories of the Ridgewood because as a kid our life revolved around it. We played on that side of Madison because nobody lived there. I played Ace, King Queen with Daboc. We played stickball with spauldings purchased from Joe’s Army and Navy store for 11 cents and tried to throw them over the Ridgewood Movie Theater’s roof when they died. Every Wednesday they would push the ladder cart out of the stage entrance and roll it down Madison St to Myrtle and change the marquee. We would try to figure out what the jumbled letters were going to say so we could get in first to see the movie from the children’s sections with the overseeing matron that made sure you stayed in that section. In the summer when I was off from PS 81, they would open the doors to air the theatre. We would sit in the theatre as Smitty and Frank cleaned just to get some relief from the hot summer days. Once in a while the guys would lock us in. And yes when I grew older we figured out a way to sneak in by leaving a door open saving that 50 cent admission. I remember the first movie I saw at night with my Dad and the first time I sat in the balcony was 1963 “How the West was Won”. I also remember the new technology of closed circuit broadcast of the Sonny Liston/ Cassius Clay boxing match and my Dad standing in line to get in. This was a great trip down memory lane.
DABOC- do you remember 5 cent candy at Mike’s deli? Playing Blindman buff inside the gate with those beautiful picket fences? and I do remember the Dave Clark 5 making a personal appearance at the
Ridgewood. And James Brown at the Madison. The Madison is another story. Thanks all for the memories.
Thanks for jogging my memory this morning with the photographs. I remember the wooden trains went to Jay Street and the steel trains to Chambers St in NYC. The only time I got on the the steel one was when my Dad would take to his job in the Wall St area.
I do remember the Rockaways as a double fare zone. You paid when you got off and paid double when you go on. The train ride from Ridgewood took hours especially if you were going to Rockaway Park.
It’s great to see all of this discussion about the possible purchase of the Ridgewood Theatre. And I realize that since it hasn’t happened yet that this question probably can’t be answered. Is there any possibility it will be restored to the original configuration of a single theatre? Maybe used for live shows, theatre and movies. We have a few theatres here in NJ that have been restored and are now operated as Non-Profits using member donations to supplement the ticket sales. I haven’t lived in Ridgewood for a long time but I am not aware of anyplace outside of Manhattan where one can see a live show. Not sure the Ridgewood will survive as just a cinema with the new theatres opening in Glendale.
Yeah, but the Madison had Frankie Avalon (promoting his Beach Blanket Movie), the Dave Clark 5 (they didn’t even sing) and the Godfather of Soul (James Brown).
B'way- that’s just the way I remember it. I didn’t go to the Oasis until it’s final days before it became a roller rink. The Madison always had a sense of grandeur to it with the open lobby and marble stairs leading to the second floor loge and balcony seating. I think being part of the RKO chain they invested more in keeping the place up. The Ridgewood was all business you walked in the refreshment was there sat down and watched your movie. If my memory serves me correctly there wasn’t door separating the refrehment stand from the downstairs seating, just a half wall. I was never in the Ridgewood after they changed to a multiplex. By then I preferred the Arion and Cinemart in Forest hills.
Was there anytime when the Ridgewood Movie Theatre floor wasn’t sticky?
Thanks for the great view of the old neighborhood. I remember as a kid walking on Cypress on a hot July afternoon and feeling the drops from the Ridgewood Air conditioner. We never ventured down the alley on Cypress it was always very scary. I remember the Doo Wop singers used to go down there because of the acoustics at night. Wow, Carl’s is still there, what about Joe’s?
I remember the stairs in the lobby when it was one theatre and you sat in the balcony you would use them to exit the theatre. Unless I was just young at the time, my memory says the stairs were really long with 4 doors at the top. Everyone would enter through the lobby and pass the refreshment stand on the left but you exited the balcony via those stairs to avoid the congestion on the people coming in. It was really different back then because they usually showed 2 movies and people kind of would come and go as they pleased unless it was a really popular movie. Living on Madison St we always knew when the movies were over because the streets would fill up with people.
Peter,
Believe me I remember Sal’s, wasn’t it called the Four Barbers at one time. I got my first haircut there!
Prior to zip codes it was Ridgewood NY 27, when Zip codes came it was 11227 Growing up in Ridgewood we all knew we lived in Queens but we had that 11227 zip code that was a Brooklyn Zip. Later the Ridgewood Post Office was changed to 11385. The pictures of the lobby bring back memories, I can smell the popcorn, hotdogs (on that spit machine) and unfortunately the cigarettes. I believe the only place you couldn’t smoke was the children’s section but I may be wrong.
Hi April, I can’t believe you not only remember me but all of my brothers names. yes, we all did sleep in one room and we did have a bunk bed but it wasn’t a triple.I remember Artie Nelson, we played stickball on Madison St with Spauldings we brought at Joe’s Army and Navy for 11 cents. He had a sister named Patty with red hair and freckles. Whenever you went up to his apartment he use to use a popsicle stick to open the vestibule door. I believe he was about 16 when he drowned in the Rockaways.
I do remember the Seuffert family and I thought on Linden Street one side was 3 family and the other side was 2 family. They lived on the last house on the street close to St. Nick. I also went to the summer concerts at Forest Park Grove.
Peter, I’m not sure if I knew you or not but remember playing Ace, King, Queen on the Key Food wall across the street from Ciros Restaurant. The only names I recall from Woodbine Street are Joe Gangi, Joe Ganci and Steve Graff. I hung out with them as a teenager.
I not really sure but Hank’s was on the second floor and the club was on the third. There was a sign on the door. I know they held dances there because I remember my Mom going there when I was young.
It’s great to see all of this talk about the old neighborhood, I grew up on Madison between Myrtle and Cypress across the street from the back of the Ridgewood. I believe I lived in a six family matthew flat, 6 room, railroad apartment. My Grandmother lived on Linden between St Nick and Cypress.I remember one side was 3 family houses and I thought the other side was 2 family with higher stoops. I bowled at the Partenon before they changed it into a bingo hall. I remember being about 14 and playing pool over the Ridgewood at Hank’s Billard Academy even though you were supposed to be 16. Upstairs from Hank’s there was a place called the Silver Dollar Club.
All I have to say is “OMG”. I stumbled upon this site while searching for some information for my daughter about Ridgewood. I couldn’t stop reading and especially flawed when I read DABOC’s posting because I grew up at 1681 Madison St and remember her and April growing up. I have so many fond memories of the Ridgewood because as a kid our life revolved around it. We played on that side of Madison because nobody lived there. I played Ace, King Queen with Daboc. We played stickball with spauldings purchased from Joe’s Army and Navy store for 11 cents and tried to throw them over the Ridgewood Movie Theater’s roof when they died. Every Wednesday they would push the ladder cart out of the stage entrance and roll it down Madison St to Myrtle and change the marquee. We would try to figure out what the jumbled letters were going to say so we could get in first to see the movie from the children’s sections with the overseeing matron that made sure you stayed in that section. In the summer when I was off from PS 81, they would open the doors to air the theatre. We would sit in the theatre as Smitty and Frank cleaned just to get some relief from the hot summer days. Once in a while the guys would lock us in. And yes when I grew older we figured out a way to sneak in by leaving a door open saving that 50 cent admission. I remember the first movie I saw at night with my Dad and the first time I sat in the balcony was 1963 “How the West was Won”. I also remember the new technology of closed circuit broadcast of the Sonny Liston/ Cassius Clay boxing match and my Dad standing in line to get in. This was a great trip down memory lane.
DABOC- do you remember 5 cent candy at Mike’s deli? Playing Blindman buff inside the gate with those beautiful picket fences? and I do remember the Dave Clark 5 making a personal appearance at the
Ridgewood. And James Brown at the Madison. The Madison is another story. Thanks all for the memories.