AMC Empire 25
234 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
234 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
79 people
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Two months from now will be the theater’s 10th anniversary. Many things have changed, such as Digital IMAX, 3D, and older movie theaters closed. It still is the busiest theater in America and has the most screens of any theater in New York City. No wonder I avoid going to Times Square at any time!!!
my mistake, this and the ewalk close early so that moviegoers can watch the ball drop.
Streets are closed after 3pm so you can’t get onto 42nd Street on New Year’s Eve.
online showtimes are greyed out…on new year’s eve!!!
I was trained as an actor at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, and moved to NYC in early 1969. My first husband (a writer) and I used to spend a day periodically in the movie houses on 42 St. We’d go in at 10AM, break in the afternoon for a quick hot dog at Nathan’s, then decide the next double feature to see. By the time we had had enough, it was 1 or 2AM and we had 6 to 8 films under our belts. Who can remember what they saw after a day like that, but we loved the experience and kept going back.
While I love movies, I wanted to go to 42 St as much to see the turn-of-the-century Broadway houses as much as the movies. I recall this activity as my personal critique of those houses and which was the most fabulous: Republic, New Amsterdam, Victory, Empire, Selwyn, Liberty, Apollo, Harris, and others who’s names I’ve forgotten. My hands down favorite was the New Amsterdam, with the Empire in second place.
I felt it a crying shame that NYC had let these magnifiscent theatres go to seed; still, I was glad they were still standing and I could see them. When I moved to NYC, there was a great demolition of B'way houses going on. I watched in tears and disbelief as the wrecking ball took out some of the most magnifiscent. Ah progress, and welcome to the Big Apple!
Yes, 42 St was a place to watch your back, and yes, that was part of the charm of the street. As for atmosphere inside, let’s not forget the sticky floors of most of the houses or the mice and/or rats who joined the movie crowd. Bet none of us would endure these things at our current ripe old ages …still …
I was in the city before the Empire was moved. My beloved New Amsterdam was complete and I wanted to take the tour. I remember not being able to complete a sentence as I looked at the pit surrounding the Empire’s foundation. My friend – oh, you casual New Yorker types – said nonchalantly, “Yeah, see that vacant lot (pointing toward 8 Ave)? That’s where the Empire’s going to go”. All I could do was look the building up and down, but still couldn’t get my head wrapped around moving a building in Manhattan!
I like the “new” 42 St, but it does lack the feel of old NYC and the sense of adventure it held. Times Square is mighty clean these days and feels less like NYC than a smaller Las Vegas. Perhaps I’m not the only one to see the connection. Afterall, there is New York, New York in Vegas.
Bama Girl in LA
2012 is being shown in 4k on 2 screens.
advance showtimes are now up for Avatar at this theater.
some older photos i took of the empire
exterior in 1995
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/4072626465/
longer shot – does anyone know if the marquee to the right of the empire was a theatre or just a porn house – it says 4 screens of films i think??
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/4072620073/
exterior in 1992
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/78605124/
empire doors in 1995 dressed for LAST ACTION HERO in the guise of the Pandora Theatre
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/78605125/
this has happened at rockaway and will continue slowly at every theater. AMC is not rushing out like Clearview but more like Regal and other larger chains.
amc is not going to shut down the theatre and replace all 35mm projectors with sony 4k. I think what amc is doing is replacing one screen at a time with 4k. Shutting down would be a big loss. Every month they will keep pushing one sony 4k replacing with the 35mm throughout next year. In this way all 35mm projectors will be replaced with sony 4k throughout the whole circuit at the end of 2012. Thats what their plan is for now. So yeah, expect one projector installed every month or two.
Here is a photo circa 1930:
http://tinyurl.com/rybx5n
third digital sony 4k projector coming soon within a month
An Empire on 39th and 9th did show some films in 1923-24.
I believe that the above photo of the Empire theater was the legitimate theater located at Broadway and 40th street in NYC. I believe it was torn down in the 1950’s.
Don’t think this 1953 LIFE view is the same Empire Theatre, but it could be,
View link
The movie I saw here today wasn’t great , but the theatre was. I was very impressed.
I think they use two three, two for 4k/2k movies and one for IMAX (digital). It will take a while before the other 22 screens get replaced by the 4k projection.
How many digital projectors does Empire currently have. From what I have read most of you seem to know exactly what your talking about, so do you think that this theater will be one of the 1st to start receiving these digital projectors from this AMC & Sony deal? Will AMC start at there most profitable places and then trickle down? Also when AMC says ‘all digital’ do they really mean every single one of their screens or will they leave around some 35mm projectors on some screens? AMC has the AMC Select program, that prides itself on independent and some art films, so what affect will this digital plan have on that program? Especially for empire 25 who doesn’t get all the mainstream films each week so they run alot of select films. Wouldn’t that force AMC to keep some 35mm projectors at the empire, if not it seems to me they would have alot of dead screens due to the fact that they don’t get all the mainstream films. Will independent film makers be willing to release in digital and print just for the sake of being able to play in AMCs (if they do mean EVERY screen digital). I understand cost wise the switch for film makers wouldn’t be so challenging but the fact of simply changing to accomadate is what I’m looking at here.
Thanks for the recent photos.
Renewing link.
The above were taken about a year ago.
View link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/curtians/2223415300/
I suspect that since these 42nd street businesses all share exits and in some cases some are inside others, they may a share a main postal office.
How do I e-mail you, Ross?