Empress Theater
529 Empire Boulevard,
Brooklyn,
NY
11225
529 Empire Boulevard,
Brooklyn,
NY
11225
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Uploaded a 1930 Century Theaters ad showing the Empress
Photo as Crown from Brooklyn Pics uploaded.
I recently visited and photographed the former Empress Theatre. Check out my post on it at After the Final Curtain
In the late 1930s, according to what my father told me at the time, the Empress was owned by his step-uncle, Isaac Levine. As a young child, I saw movies there, either free or for small change, courtesy of the family relationship. “Sh! The Octopus” (1937), which I realized much later was a comedy, but terrified me then, was probably typical of the less-than-first-rank films shown there.
It’s interesting that as certain Brooklyn neighborhoods re-gentrify there is a need for large event spaces for banquets and weddings. The corridor of Bedford Ave. between Flushing & Park Aves. heading towards Williamsburg, is a prime example. The Empress with its rich treasure of architecural detail in the upper portions would be a great location to open a banquet hall, sorely needed in the Crown Heights neighborhood.
CrownHeightser, thanks for sharing this. That’s pretty interesting ! May I ask you to contact me via my profile/website ?
Recent update: a friend of mine invited me to help load some boxes on the way to his father’s office in, of all places, the old Crown Theater! The first floor is split into a grocery store, now Empire Kosher, which occupies the entire back half of the building and the west half of the front. The southeast corner is a medical clinic. I have yet to find any trace of the theater in either location, which both have (obviously) a level floor, although given the chance to take down a wall or two, that might change. The lobby is simply nonexistent and one cannot distinguish between any of the former theater areas within the grocery.
The upstairs, however, is a different story. The theater building sits on a slope and the alley behind it is a full story higher than Empire Boulevard. From the alley, one enters old emergency exits to find himself walking directly on the (now leveled) balcony and into the airspace of the old theater. For whatever reason, nothing of the old theater ceiling was ever touched! The entire space is encircled by a series of fine plaster moldings, interrupted in a few places by friezes. The ceiling itself is in fine shape, and a few recent drywall patches haven’t done much to interrupt the feeling. The old balcony ceiling is lower to allow for a projection room and covered in a gothic floral pattern. Painted entirely gold, the overall effect is quite impressive.
Near the back (west) side of the theater, large arches on the side walls seem to indicate former stairwells or exits of some sort. More exciting, however, is the front wall: the entire screen opening is intact and surrounded by thick plaster arches, also painted gold. The original theater was quite tall, and enough of the screen pokes above floor level to give one a feeling of having been there.
On the intriguing side of things, what appears to have been the opening to a large dome is, sadly, filled in by 4’ x 8’ ceiling tiles, interrupted in a few places by feeds for fire sprinklers within the (presumed) dome. Judging by the general state of affairs, and the necessity for sprinklers, I would guess that the dome exists intact, but what it looks like I could hardly venture to guess.
I didn’t make it up the stairs to the projection suite / under â€"roof area, nor have I ever seen the basement. I didn’t have a camera (would that I have known where I was headed!) but altogether it was quite a treat. The building doesn’t seem likely to undergo any changes, with a very busy kosher store and clinic downstairs and a well-maintained dry warehouse space upstairs, currently used by the Jewish Children’s museum on Kingston Ave. and Eastern Parkway. If anyone want to invite themselves in and take pictures, remember to say that you know me!
I only knew it as the Crown having been born near the time of the name change. I lived across the street on Balfour Place and spent a lot of time there. Very happy memories. I was devastated when it closed and was replaced by a supermarket.
Here are two recent(May 2006) exterior photographs I took of the Empress/Crown Theatre:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/183637081/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/183637615/
Lost Memory;In the five weeks I was in NYC I visited 175 theatre buildings and took over 400 photographs. Unfortunately I just didn’t get time to go out to Richmond Hill on this occasion. Next time!…..
LOL>>>Lost Memory. Well I have been plodding around the mean streets of NYC again for the past week (another 4 to go!). Glad we have yet another theatre wrapped up ‘in the can’ so to speak.
I have just looked at this building. It is located at 529 Empire Boulevard on the corner of Balfour Place. (Film Daily Yearbook’s in 1930 & 1931 incorrectly give 829 as the street number). Listed as the Empress Theatre in 1941(closed). In 1942 it became the Crown Theatre and closed in around 1951.
Any idea when it stopped showing movies?
This theatre was also known as the Crown Theatre.