UA Astoria Sixplex

2860 Steinway Street,
Astoria, NY 11103

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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

UA Astoria Sixplex

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

Recent comments (view all 92 comments)

TOMBOCHI
TOMBOCHI on July 9, 2010 at 10:49 pm

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.

LugosiResearch
LugosiResearch on December 30, 2012 at 2:42 am

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!

rivest266
rivest266 on October 3, 2013 at 12:43 am

I posted a bunch of grand opening ads for the Loew’s takeover of January 8th, 1923.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 16, 2015 at 6:31 am

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.

robboehm
robboehm on October 23, 2015 at 3:05 pm

Uploaded a photo showing original marquee and vertical.

gipnyc
gipnyc on June 14, 2017 at 4:22 pm

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…

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on November 10, 2018 at 3:11 am

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

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on February 19, 2020 at 4:29 pm

Another news article on closure in December, 2001 can be viewed here

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on July 20, 2021 at 6:48 pm

Please update, Became a quad on March 18, 1977, became a sixplex on March 28, 1986

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on July 4, 2023 at 8:23 pm

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

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