UA Astoria Sixplex
2860 Steinway Street,
Astoria,
NY
11103
2860 Steinway Street,
Astoria,
NY
11103
15 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loew's Inc., Skouras Theatres, United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Architects: Thomas White Lamb
Functions: Office Space, Retail
Previous Names: Astoria Theatre, Loew's Astoria Theatre
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News About This Theater
- Jun 18, 2010 — "Jaws"... Happy 35th!
- May 14, 2010 — Please Post Today, May 14 --- "Jaws," Happy 35th
The Astoria Theatre opened in the Astoria section of Queens in November 1920, as a vaudeville house for the Glynne & Ward circuit, but acquired by Loew’s Inc. on January 8, 1923. It was equipped with an Austin 2 manual 22 ranks organ. In 1926 the organ was replaced by a Moller 3 manual 32 ranks instrument.
After many years operated by the Skouras Theaters Corp. chain. On March 18 1977, United Artists divided the theatre into four screens, and then, on March 28, 1986, converted the remaining dressing areas in the back of the building into two additional theatres, bringing the theatre up to sixplex status.
It was named the UA Astoria Sixplex when it closed on December 26, 2001.
Today, the former theatre building is used for office space and retail.
Contributed by
Seth Wharton
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Recent comments (view all 92 comments)
What is mentioned in 1925 article about Queens movie theatres? The Crescent? I just read the article, and The Crescent is not mentioned in the above-linked article.
On Monday 5 March 1951, Bela “Dracula” Lugosi presented his in person Horror and Magic Stage show at Skouras Astoria. Currently I am conducting research on all things Lugosi; if anyone out there actually saw this show and/or has memorabilia (poster, handbill, photos) related to this show, please contact Bill at Thanks in advance for any assistance!
I posted a bunch of grand opening ads for the Loew’s takeover of January 8th, 1923.
November 14th 1944 photo added. Astoria Queens, Steinway Street and 30th Avenue-NYC Gov Records. Via Al Ponte’s Time Machine – New York Facebook page.
Uploaded a photo showing original marquee and vertical.
This theater had almost nothing left of the original ornamentation left by the time it had closed. In the later couple of decades, it was stripped down pretty hard, with everything being covered in matte or shiny black paint.
The only somewhat interesting elements left were the spiral stairs leading to a round landing, the bathrooms and the upper theaters. Mind you, the theater was also cut up into multiplexes a number of times with what would appear to be slicing these upper theaters from what would have been balconies into their own screen suites. For many years it was a quad, until two more screens were added in the back of what must have been admin spaces.
Also, the final marquee was replaced after a quite significant collapse of the 60’s vintage “box” marquee, which I recall may have also have resulted in injuries, and an eventual complete rebuild (as you can see, they added struts to the final marquee, even though it was much smaller), so there were a number of changes to that…
2002 article about the closing.
http://www.qgazette.com/news/2002-01-16/Front_Page/Astoria_Movie_Theater_Closes_After_81_Years.html?fbclid=IwAR3HF_Tigzh0WCImNIJY1yqr1tnL-P62n2gAxJgqzyvDota4M5AO8IYfhYg
Another news article on closure in December, 2001 can be viewed here
Please update, Became a quad on March 18, 1977, became a sixplex on March 28, 1986
Please update total seats 2259 when it closed. Seating capacity according to NYC DOB Website: 1. 461 2. 360 3. 531 4. 525 5. 201 6. 181