Brooklyn Heights Cinema I & II

Hello fellow movie theater lovers,

I’m doing a project for my photojournalism class at NYU about closed down independent movie theaters in New York. I hope to gain information about people’s past experiences at these movie theaters, recollections of favorite memories or not so great experiences, perhaps economical insight, contacts with owners/managers, etc. On a larger level, I hope my project is able to show the significance of the role that these establishments play in our city and the importance of keeping them afloat.

If anyone would be willing to answer a few questions via email about your personal memories at the theater, please let me know! It could be as simple as recounting a favorite movie you remember seeing back when it was open. I would greatly appreciate your insight.

You can contact me at:

Thanks,
Gabi

I was at the Quad last night and their screens are definitely smaller. Not sure about Cinema Village, haven’t been there in awhile but Brooklyn Heights screens were roughly the same size as Film Forum, maybe a little larger.

Went to one of the final screenings last night. A very bittersweet experience for me. I’ve had a lot of memorable experiences here, particularly a sold-out screening of True Grit a few years back where you could just tell that everyone in the audience just loved the film. Conversely, a screening of Drive wherein the already small audience of mostly older people rapidly dwindled with each increasing scene of graphic violence (not the usual fare for this place).

I am happy that Brooklyn Heights Cinema will soon have a new home but sad that one of the last independent neighborhood cinemas had to move at all. Places like this are a dying breed and they need our support. I loved this location a lot and won’t lie and say I wasn’t a little choked up when I left.

Where is Dumbo?

Exterior and lobby photos from July 2010.

There is a proposal being floated to demolish the building that houses this theater; the theater owner says he will keep the cinema going even if he has to relocate:

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=5&id=48504

Here is another photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ybbmgl5

We are in Borough Hall. We saw a United Artists theater, a multiplex. Nice marquee. I didn’t see it listed, though. Perhaps under another name?

Saw scores of movies at this relaxed, intimate theater when I lived in BH in the ‘70s. Even when it wasn’t officially an arthouse, it usually seemed to have at least one indie, foreign or offbeat film playing. From the photos, it looks like it’s upheld that tradition, with the Indian import 'Water’ and the excellent indie film ‘The King.’ Nothing special architecturally, as I recall, but an inviting venue nonetheless.

“Mangia la galinga morte.” – Old Italian expression (“Eat the dead chicken.”)

Your live chickens vs. KFC comment, mikemovies, is referring to KenRoe’s cutline beneath his 8-13 photo directly above. During the last century, several of the boroughs raised chickens (and ducks, for fat rendering) for poultry stores. If you have a local library or bookstore (Barnes & Noble) that stocks a softbound copy of “New York in the Thirties” by Berenice Abbott (Dover Press), flip through it to see a few detailed pictures of some of the front windows of these poultry stores down on Manhattan’s lower east side.

I’m amazed that Brooklyn Heights eventually produced a small, intimate movie theater from a building that had quite a different history years ago.

Two photographs I took of the Brooklyn Heights Cinemas I & II in June 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214330227/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/214343339/

I think this is on here already?