Model Theater
131 Lee Avenue,
Williamsburg,
Brooklyn,
NY
11211
131 Lee Avenue,
Williamsburg,
Brooklyn,
NY
11211
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Island Theater Circuit, Small-Strausberg Circuit
Architects: Herman Gronenberg, Albert J.H. Leuchtag
Functions: Grade School
Previous Names: Lee Theater
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A small neighborhood theater located on Lee Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. It was originally called the Lee Theater later renamed the Model Theater in the 1930’s
Contributed by
CJDV & Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
Dear Bob D did you know a kid by the name of Jerry Yellin. He lived in the hood around the Rainbow. That moviehouse was closed by the time I went to Graham Ave to shop. I was born in 1945. Went to Graham Ave when I was 10 and older. I will go on that site and have some discussions. anniegirl.
That name (Jerry Yellin) does not sound familiar. I’m a little bit younger (born in the early 1960’s), but have been in the neighborhood my whole life.
do you ever go to cono’s pizza on Graham and Ainslie Street? I used to know the owners before they sold the place and moved to Long Island?
Yes. I used to go there all the time (almost every Friday) when the previous owners were there.
Bob D. I used to love their chicpea soup and grandma pizza. Friday nights were great I met a lot of nice people there on Friday’s we live in Kew Gardens and used to go there some friday’s me, my husband and daughter’s Noele and Michele. there was a couple who we would talk to about the changes in the neighborhood. Maria the owner and her son would engage in the conversation and it would be a real family atmosphere. We went there a few months ago after attending a Funeral Mass for a beloved parish Priest who passed away at Transfiguration Church on Marcy and Hooper Street in Williamsburg. Thats where I went to School. and we had lunch at cono’s pizza place and sad to find out that Maria has sold the place to the guy who was the pizza man. The food was good but we missed seeing Maria and Family. Oh well another memory locked away Like the movie houses of my past. Anniegirl
A recent(June 2006) photograph I took of the Lee/Model Theater:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/187616709/
Dear Lost I used to go to this moviehouse with my mom. I have fond memories of this place. It was a small theater but as a child I thought it was big. They would give out dishes each week and collect funds for the Will Rogers foundation. I loved this place, but with the influx of religious Jewish people. The movie house closed. We then went to the Commodore or Republic Theaters in the neighborhood. Thanks for the pics of the building KenRoe. Anniegirl.
Dear Lost Memory, When I went to the movie with my Mom I was only 6 years old at the time. I know the front door was a regular movie door and it had a marquee (small one) at that it only showed a limited movie at that time. As I recall you bought the ticket in the front that faced the street. It was a fond memory for me going to the Movie with my Mom and my Sister. It sure has changed, but the building remains the same.There was a large hardware and goods store to the left if you were facing the theater and a fancy dress store that was located in a sub basement to the right on Lee Ave. Anniegirl
Dear Lost, you are right, that shoe repair was not there when I was a kid growing up in Williamsburgh. I remeber the hardware and goods store where the shoe store is now. It was a big store that had everything from soup to nuts.Anniegirl
Architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag filed an application for a zoning variance with the Board of Appeals on June 27, 1921, to allow construction of a two story theater, 39 x 132 feet, on the east side of Lee Street, 58 feet north of Hewes Street. That has to have been the Model Theatre.
Herman Gronenberg and Albert J.H. Leuchtag are best knows for designing large, luxurious apartment buildings on the west side of Manhattan, so I don’t know how they came to design a small neighborhood theater in Williamsburg. They did some alterations to Carnegie Hall, and are supposed to have designed some other theaters, but so far I’ve been unable to identify any of them.