Flatbush Pavilion
314 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11238
314 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11238
6 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Bunny Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Plaza Twin
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 18, 2005 — Flatbush Pavilion to Become Swimming Pool
The Flatbush Pavilion, located in Brooklyn’s now fashionable Park Slope, is down the road from where such former movie palaces as the Fox and Albee once stood.
A small twin, the theater was closed in May of 2004.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick
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Recent comments (view all 41 comments)
Of course, now that we know the theater, if you look above the building across the street from the Strand, you can make out the V-shaped roof-top sign for the Brooklyn Paramount looming a couple of blocks away on the corner of DeKalb and Flatbush Aves. That should have been a dead giveaway.
The marquee is still up and it’s still an American Apparel clothing shop (socially conscious, American and union made, sweatshop free).
The little pics above the marquee on the sides are no longer there but the “1, 2, 3” still is with messages on the side.
Here is another photo of the marquee:
http://tinyurl.com/3275jh
The closeing of this dive was a mercy killing. The place was a horrid place to see a film. The lobby was dark and dank; the auditoria were even more forboding. The film presentation was beyond bad. In a day and age of 6 channel digital sound, this place was still sporting a mono system in both rooms.
It was a scouting exhibition just to find a seat that wasn’t broken, and even those that were in decent shape were very uncomfortable.
The screens were placed much too high making the viewing angle very hard on the neck muscles. Because it was twined, the rooms were long and narrow, giving you the feeling that you were in a tunnel. This shape was detrimental to speech intelligibility, which sank to near zero; it was a good thing they ran lots of foreign films so you could read the dialogue.
This abomination is an example of just how terrible a movie theatre can be when it is tortured into more than one screen, even though it was designed as a single — a sorry practice in the rush to multiplex. It is no wonder it drove patrons away.
Sadly, there are many, many theatres that should have been saved; this is not one of them.
Here’s a photo when it was Cinema Plaza in 1980:
View link
I remember passing by the theater when it was the Plaza and the for a quite awhile the community was up in arms because it was showing XXX rated movies. Then it went back to first run for a short time before closing.
After it switched back from porn, it played mainstream for many, many years.
Back in the late 50’s, early 60’s it showed most foreign and “art” movies.
What’s gonna happen to this place now that American Apparel has gone belly-up? I hope whoever moves in next restores the marquee.
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