34th Street East Theatre

241 E. 34th Street,
New York, NY 10016

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Showing 1 - 25 of 64 comments

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on July 4, 2023 at 6:56 pm

Please correct, total seats 359 based on Dept of Buildings NYC website

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on July 21, 2022 at 12:48 pm

Hello-

to Al A.- could you do me a favor and go to the page for the Cinema ½/3. I would appreciate your reply to my recent post. thanks.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 17, 2022 at 5:07 pm

bigjoe, this small drop may have resulted from some duplicate entries of old Bowery theatres from the early days of cinema being combined. For example the M & S New Delancey was listed as both the M & S as well as the New Delancey.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on July 17, 2022 at 2:36 pm

Hello-

to Al A.

a question your considerable font of knowledge I bet can answer. for the longest period of time the number of theaters under ALL was 492 but all of a sudden its 490. what gives?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on November 9, 2021 at 3:13 pm

Hello-

to Al A.- as always thanks for your reply. I assumed the 491 figure mentioned in my previous post was for the number of theaters not the number of auditoriums. the point I was making was its amazing the number of theaters that people alive today went to that I had no idea ever existed. for instance the Parkwest on W. 99 St. which people alive today that aren’t that old attended.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on November 7, 2021 at 6:23 am

bigjoe, I have been keeping track of Manhattan screens rather than theatres or seats. I show 237 screens currently operating, down from a high of 266 in 2001. The highest theatre count year would be 1940 with 227 theatres. The all-time screen count is around 1215 since around 1915. The nickelodeon count prior to that is pretty murky. Purpose built theatres and conversions like the 34th street East, are included. Allowing for name changes and fly by night porn houses, the all-time theatre count would be closer to 600.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on November 4, 2021 at 3:09 pm

Hello-

to Al A.-

as always I thank you for answering my posts with your apparently bottomless font of knowledge. this time its an interesting comment. it seems whenever I look at this site’s page for Manhattan another movie theater I never knew existed is listed. for instance the Parkwest Theater which was on W. 99 St. the all time count for Manhattan is currently 491 theaters. one winders how much more it will increase.

ridethectrain
ridethectrain on July 5, 2021 at 12:14 pm

Please update, theatre closed September 11, 1997. Updated grand opening ad

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on April 21, 2021 at 8:45 am

bigjoe, Ken Roe has now added the Booth here.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/64820

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on April 12, 2021 at 4:41 pm

Hello-

see you are a endless fond of knowledge. I have question not about theaters but home video that I don’t know where to ask it but I bet you can. I bought a 4K played and tv. you can tell the vast majority of the 4K discs I bought online are brand new factory sealed never opened discs. but a few I bought online are clearly opened returned discs re-shrink wrapped and sold as new. yet when I contacted the online sites they swore they were NEW copies though a blind person could tell they weren’t. do you know of an online site where if I ordered a 4K disc I would be guaranteed to get a brand new factory sealed never opened copy?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on April 12, 2021 at 2:36 pm

Hell0-

to Al A.- as always thanks for your reply. if by floating you mean they just put the screen right in front of the proscenium arch did they remove the first few rows of seats. if they didn’t even a 1.33.1 aspect ration screen would be right in your face if sitting in the first row. how would that possibly be enjoyable?

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on April 11, 2021 at 4:17 pm

Hello-

to Al A.- you are a font of knowledge so here goes- other than the current Booth Theater which is a legit house and the 1871 theater built by Edwin Booth on 6th Ave. and 23rd St. do you know of any other theater in Manhattan ever called The Booth? the reason I ask is simple. the 1953 Oscar winning film version of Julius Caesar opened at the Booth. the theater Booth built had been razed by 1953 and the current legit house is too small for even a 1.33.1 aspect ratio screen.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on November 1, 2020 at 3:33 pm

It’s listed as Crown Gotham.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2792

HowardBHaas
HowardBHaas on November 1, 2020 at 3:27 pm

another Trans Lux might fit the bill- http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6377

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on November 1, 2020 at 3:05 pm

Hello-
to Al A.-

I have been searching these pages and can’t find the Trans Lux East. its not listed under the Gotham either. do you know what name its listed under?

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 2, 2020 at 12:28 pm

Thanks, Bigjoe. I had an office here for a few years during my Cineplex Odeon days.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on July 2, 2020 at 11:46 am

Hello-

to Al A.– as I have always said your font of knowledge
never ceases to amaze me. and I thought I knew a lot.
thanks of the info. I don’t have a degree in theater
design or anything close but the exterior always seemed
a bit un-movie theater-ish to me. so my instincts were
right.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on July 1, 2020 at 4:52 pm

It was a power station.

bigjoe59
bigjoe59 on July 1, 2020 at 4:16 pm

Hello-

was the 34th St. East built as a movie theater or was it a conversion of a existing building? when ever i went to it or the 34th St. Showplace across the street the facade of the 34th St. East(minus the marquee) impressed me has a tad industrial and not looking like a movie theater at all.

tone10029
tone10029 on June 16, 2019 at 10:34 pm

My aunt took me to see An American Werewolf in London at this place!!!

Garth
Garth on June 3, 2017 at 6:36 am

Pretty sure this was where I saw Star Trek – The Motion Picture in ‘79. I know I visited several times in my youth.

jarkin
jarkin on February 9, 2016 at 1:29 am

I actually watched ‘Kull the Conqueror’ here. Never imagined it would be the last time I’d see a film there. It’s undergoing a total gutting now, after having served as a lecture hall(?) for Yeshiva U.’s girl’s division. It will become another tasteless piece of dreck high-rise like everything else in the area.

PhillyNative
PhillyNative on December 12, 2015 at 5:54 am

Demolished Fall 2015. It closed as a performance space about 2-3 years ago and the entrance doors were replaced by a metal roll gate. This past fall it was demolished for a residential tower. (My workplace shuttle van route frequently passes this area.)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 16, 2013 at 11:39 pm

Half a dozen photos of the 34th Street Theatre appear on this page of the April, 1964, issue of International Projectionist. (Enlarge the images by clicking on the + sign in the toolbar at lower right corner of the page.)

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on February 24, 2011 at 2:54 pm

Nice marquee photos.