Hyperion Theatre
11101 43rd Avenue,
Corona,
NY
11368
11101 43rd Avenue,
Corona,
NY
11368
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Located in the Corona section of Queens, the Hyperion Theatre first opened in December, 1910, and offered vaudeville, films, and amateur nights for prices ranging from five to fifteen cents, according to a report in The Newtown Register, a newspaper that covered North Queens.
By 1924, the Hyperion Theatre had become part of the Small-Strausberg Circuit and showed movies only. The building of larger and better theatres in the area like Loew’s Plaza Theatre and the S & S Corona Theatre and Granada Theatre spelled the Hyperion Theatre’s doom. After developing a reputation as the local “itch”, it was demolished and replaced by a branch of the U.S. Post Office.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Warren, thanks so much for the additional information. All of the children of Dan Sheer, the theater owner, have passed away and with them the stories of theater ownership. I believe the last of the theaters was sold in the mid 1950’s. If you find the ads from the LI Star-Journal I’d be very interested in viewing them. Thanks again.
Once again Warren. Just amazing investigative work. I plan on sharing your findings with the remaining Sheers. Goes to show we need to record history before it slips away. Ask the elders questions before they are gone. Thanks again. I’m recollecting the son of Dan Sheer, Henry Sheer, ran one last theater until the early 1950’s when he died. I’ll have to do some digging too.
OK, the Sheer brothers were in fact Samuel and Dan Sheer.
I grew up in corona and new the ins and outs of the area thoroughly from 1970 to present. I too recall linden park, the pool and the shoe cubby holes. Yes, Eddy does still have a hotdog truck, he’s parked on 43rd ave and 104 street. Other theatres that operated in and around the area were the colony theatre on 82nd street between 37th ave and roosevelt, and the boulevard theatre on 83rd and Northern-what is now a spanish restaurant and THEATRO, CALLED, “NATIVES”
does anyone remember newfields on National and 42nd ave, Keyfood was next door. Newfields used to be called the 5 and 10. up 1 block and a half on 41 ave, there were two ialian deli, phils latacini and toms latacini, they sold all kinds of meats and had many types of fresh nuts outside. They would be lined up outside in barrels with burlap bags, we would try to pick at them and run as little kids but the owners would stabd outside with threatening stares, we’d only fake at the bags but never take anything, as the owners looked scary and mean. The delis were across and adjacent from the old union evangelical church, (Big Wooden White Church) The boys scouts used to be in the basement. In Linden park a big Neighborhood gangster called Dutch, was killed, by a sniper.
I.S. 61 was in Corona as well. That school had all the neighborhood toughs and there were many many big rumbles after school. There were the dominicans -vs- the iatlians the Greeks -vs- the Italians, the blacks vs the italians, and on Holloween, WOW, there would be a couple mobs numbering into the hundreds, roaming through their blocks, bombing with potatos, tomatos, eggs, and more. It was a dangerous dangerous time to be outside of your block. if I recall correctly there was a large rendevous area behind the old plaza theatre, adjacent to Linden Park where mobs would stage their surges from. During those few holloweens that I recall, not even the police came out, it was that ominous. Fortunatly it was a time with little or no guns, and not many people were seriously hurt, it was more for posturing and to show alliances.
Some more notable locations and business is Corona were, Contes Supermarket. There was Carvel ice cream, adjacent to the corona plaza train enterance, between national and 104 street, there was the shoe store on the corner of 41st avenue and national street that had the old film violas, where you put in a nickel and as you crank the handle the still pictures would create a moviing film, I don’t know the name of the aperatus but I know it was fun and original. I remember the old supermarket call potash, it was a mega fruit and produce market which was cold and had chipped wood all spread scross the floor. It was on 42nd avenue directly across from the union evangelical church. There was clappers mens store and 103rd 3 stores from 39th avenue. Probably shared part of the lot of the old hyperion theatre with Angelos Pizzaria. Morris Mens shops was also right across the street. With the rosa blanca restaurant 2 stores down. Corona Hardware store right on the NW corner, and right across from the flower shop which was right on the NE corner were the hyperion theatre once was.
Some more neighborhood jewels. We had miller brothers deli Bodega on 102 and 37avenue, and dante’s next door, who daughter dania who is currently the Queens DA office supervisor of Paralegals, we had the old Soap Factory on 102-101 street on 37 avenue. We had Pitstop autoparts which is still there today on 37avenue and 102-103street. We had Hernandez light foot realty, operated by Victor and Judy Hernandez, who has made a resurgance and is operating under the same name out of a store on 103 street off 34th avenue. He’s doing taxes and Real estate, just as he did in the 1970’s. There was the infamous sirenna Bar on 39th avenue and 104 street. This was the seediest part of our little neighborhood with all types of undesirables lurking after dark. There was the chuchifrito right across the street where pretty latin women would serve typical dominican foods to Patrons. There was a Furniture store right next to clappers and the pizzaria that had a traveling baseball team that had some very very good players from back in Corona’s hey day. Clappers by the way is one of the places where Current Mets GM Omar Minaya worked, as well as in the clappers on Junction Blvd next to the Original Banco Poplular. Mostly anyone who knows of all these locations went to PS 19 where the principal Mr abromowitz Was arrested back in 1974 for stealing funds from the school.
I totally disagree, and think these historical contexts of the neighborhoods of the theaters are wonderful. Of course, they could also be put on the other link, but to respond to all these superb, not to mention time-consuming, reflections, as if the neighborhoods as they’d evolved over the years did not shed even more light on the theaters which were located in them, is quite ungrateful and pedantic in the worst sense.
You are a pretty good scholar and collector of memorabilia, Warren, but you are often unnecessarily controlling. In this case, where the material is not even wounding to the Puritan consciousness we’ve seen elsewhere, it is totally misplaced, and I, for one, thoroughly loved coronainmymindseye’s memories of Corona. In fact, I am going to print them out and go out there and see what I can see there. For those who want to look at certain old remaining structures, including theaters in Manhattan, the ‘Songlines’ sites for individual streets can be easily accessed—that’s how I discovered the real Tin Pan Alley on 28th between Broadway and 6th, and I’m sure that this horribly OFF-TOPIC notation can be remedied by looking at the Songlines for 42nd Street, which will have THEATERS, even if they have other OFF-TOPIC things on the very same streets!
Uploaded the photo of a September 1920 ad in Paramount Weekly indicating that the Hyperion would be participating in a special exhibiting event.