Grand View Theatre
716 Woodward Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
716 Woodward Avenue,
Ridgewood,
NY
11385
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They have built an apartment house on this site.
Very good observation. No roof would also lead me to believe that there was no basement. Indeed this was a hastily built theatre. I am inclined to discount any role that the railroad may have played in this. The building was in all likely hood in ill repair and needed to be replaced. Most Nickelodeons in that era were storefront operations. The Grand View or possibly Folly theatre were unique in being an open air theatre. More of a temporary structure than a true Nickelodeon.
The LIRR owning the property next to the right of way of the curent M line, had to mean that the LIRR had to have something to do with the old steam RR that preceded the Brooklyn Rapid Transit company.
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Corp went bankrupt in 1919 and became the BMT sometime in 1923. Many of the Right Of Ways were owned by the L.I.R.R. since that RR has been around since the 1800’s. It is possible that the L.I.R.R. owned the land and leased it to the BRT.
Many early theatres were hastily built since codes were non existent or not enforced anyway. Many such theatres were fire traps and closed as new laws were passed. The cost of upgrading these buildings were prohibitive to the owner. Also many of the theatres were rented buildings with no leases so owners would sell the property when the real estate market dictated so.
I mentioned this somewhere, but I forgot where. What is now the M train el was built in the 1800’s as a steam railroad. It was not an LIRR line. It is described as a “dummy steam railroad to the Lutheran cemetery” on old maps. A dummy steam engine was made in a way that would not frighten horses. It did indeed run on the ground. The stations were in the same places that they are now, at Seneca/Palmetto Sts, and at Forest/Putnam Aves. The Forest Ave was between Woodward Ave and Fairview Ave, just as it is now on the el. Eventually, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Corp, took over the steam railroad, and connected it to the end of it’s Myrtle Ave El at Myrtle/Wyckoff Aves, and the line ran rapid transit cars. There was a ramp from the station at Wyckoff, that went down to ground level and the el trains ran off the el there, and ran on the ground to Metropolitan Ave station. The el was completed in 1914 or 1915, at which time the elevated trains ran on the el, and the old right of way on the ground was converted to trolley service (which lasted into the 50’s).
I would like to know as much about the history of this area to better make a determination on the prior theatres name.
I have just viewed the Folly Theatre photo from the link in the Ridgewood Folly area. The photo can be a bit deceiving. The building to the right of the Folly theatre appears to have wooden siding or slats.
One of the messages posted by the ‘Kooky People’ as lostmemory refers to them, claims that an ad was found that showed the location of the Folly Theatre. I doubt that very much as these small neighborhood theatres rarely used newspaper advertising. They relied on flyers and word of mouth. They were also located near factories, taverns and other high traffic areas. Perhaps the ‘ad’ that these people refer to was a real estate listing of the Grand View purchasing the Folly Theatre.
While the pieces fit, I can’t prove it.
The Ridgewood Folly was on a corner lot, with the cross street to the left, and another building to the right – just as this property. However, this happens exponentially all over the place, so while this won’t prove this is the site, it does prove it’s a contender.
Why I don’t actually think this is the case, is the fact the in the photo of the Ridgewood Folly I have seem, the building to the right of the Folly is a brick building (or appears to be). There is no building on the Grand View block or Woodward Ave. Under most circumstances, a brick building would not be torn down to replace it with a wood frame building, but anything is possible.
I have never lived in Ridgewood although I did live in Howard Beach for a brief time. I notice that my spelling of Wooward Avenue has been corrected. I have read some postings from the so called ‘Kooky People’. Many of their statements may hold some truth only they knowingly led you to the wrong theatre.
This part of Ridgewood is Queens and always was Queens. My grandmother lived in that area since the 1920’s. They had a Brooklyn zip code, and used the Brooklyn post office….but it was the borough of Queens. The border between Queens and Brooklyn never changed…only the sip code lines. This is that endless debate causing the confusion. It’s also why that area of Queens escaped the Queens numbering system on many of it’s streets.
The borders might have changed but as a theatre, in its' entire run as a film house the Grand View was always listed as a Brooklyn house in reference and newspaper advertising. I know some of you from the area might dispute this but “that’s the fact”. I don’t think this place was in operation after the so called borders changed.
The original theatre that the Grand View replaced was built in 1908. Could the original theatre be the Ridgewood Folly Theatre? It is possible since the date of the building is close to the date of the Folly Theatre photo. I am not familiar with the ‘Kooky People’ but their speculation is plausible.
Tom, it’s funny, me and another cinematreasures member were trying to figure out exactly where this theater was, and we narrowed it down to just the address you listed this as.
This must have been a similar theater to the infamous Ridgewood Folly Theater that was located somewhere in Ridgewood, and was actually the first Ridgewood theater to show silent movies.
The site had a two story wood frame building (apartments over a store) built on it soon after the theater was demolished.