Union Theaters
990 Stuyvesant Avenue,
Union,
NJ
07083
990 Stuyvesant Avenue,
Union,
NJ
07083
9 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Empire Cineplex Cinemas, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Previous Names: Union Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Opened in 1926 as the Union Theatre. By 1941 it was operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. It was listed in the 1951 Film Daily Yearbook as having 1,303 seats. It was twinned on March 17, 1978. In 1988 the owners managed to carve out seven theaters in the building. Believed to have been showing movies continuously since opening, the Union Theatres was closed in 2014.
In March 2015 it was taken over by Empire Cineplex Cinemas. It was closed by the city without advance notice on March 3, 2020. Poor maintenance was one of the reasons for closure. It was demolished on April 19, 2023.
Contributed by
TC
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Recent comments (view all 33 comments)
Remodeled Late 1968. Ad in the photo section.
This became a twin cinema on March 17th, 1978. Ad in the photo section.
This is now a second run discount theater still operated by Empire Cineplex. The only one in the NY Tri State Area since the South Hills 8 in Poughkeepsie, NY also operated by Empire Cineplex has closed in Feb. Tickets are now $3.50. You can’t get this price anywhere in this area.
Not gonna last long at those prices. They will be getting movies after pay per view.
The union theater closed on march 3, 2020. Fire, Health and Building Department violations and summonses, including non-working fire alarms, a failure to maintain in good working order all means of egress devices and safeguards, exposed pipes and a hole in the ceiling and not supplying adequate heat in the building.
I saw a sneak preview (remember those?) of Raiders of the Lost Ark here. The theater was only about 25% full, this may be due to the fact that Nightwing was the featured movie and maybe no one had heard of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Needless to say, once Raiders opened, sell out crowds followed for a several weeks.
After purchase by the city, the Union is awaiting demolition: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/union/sections/business-and-finance/articles/union-theater-to-be-demolished-what-s-next?fbclid=IwAR1VqlUspwbCWyviaunn5PGnTmmG_A72Bws5gNAifRNWy7IsamLeCytS31E
The Township of Union, NEVER purchased or took ownership of the Union Theaters at least not according to the property records (See link below). Currently it is owned by a company called Stuyvesant Building LLC. out of Kings Point, New York (That’s Nassau County on Long Island) which purchased the property in 2015, previous to that it was owned by Mousa Kafash in 2014 and prior to 2014 it was owned by Spiros Papas of Westwood, NJ.
https://tax1.co.monmouth.nj.us/cgi-bin/m4.cgi?district=2019&l02=20190290300016_____M
and by the way the Tap Into Union article was wrong. I don’t know where they got their information but Monmouth County maintains an extensive records of every property tax record in almost every county (Ocean County being the only exception) so I would go by that and not some online website which has no formal standing as a member of the press community, its just a bunch of residents writing articles for their local towns.
Demolished as of 4/19/2023.
https://tfpnj.blogspot.com/2023/07/union-theater.html
Link to my blog which features photos from inside the building prior to demolition. I visited the building several times, hoping one day I would walk inside and all the interior partition walls would be gone. That never happened unfortunately.