Loew's Pitkin Theatre
1501 Pitkin Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11212
1501 Pitkin Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11212
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 337 comments found
That is good news a school instead of the apartments they talked about building at one time.At least it will not be torn down.
John, thanks for your comment. I was about the express the very same sentiment. Nowhere in the article does it say how the school will be incorporated into the site, but I assume it will be done in the same way as the RKO Bushwick. The Pitkin exterior is still beautiful and should be preserved. Unfortunately, from what I have read, the interior is just to far gone for any restoration. Overall, this is great news for the old Pitkin.
Thanks for posting the newspaper article and that great link. It really provides a comprehenhive picture of the old Pitkin that I do not believe appears, in a unified format, anywhere else on this page.
The charter school story is great news for both the Pitkin and the Brownsville community. I would also hope that the renovation work will attempt to restore, to the extent possible, Lamb’s exterior facade. This is exactly what occurred when the old Bushwick was converted into another charter school. (The interior, which is probably a total shambles anyway, will almost certainly have to be gutted to accommodate the classroom facility.)
So, best of luck to this very exciting venture!
This webpage has a number of photos of Loew’s Pitkin; my apologies if any of them have been posted before: View link
This once fabulous theater is now slated to house a charter school, with retail operations at street level: View link
I forgot to add The Apollo and The Beacon as performing arts centers. Also, While Loews Jersey does indeed continue to show movies, they also have live concerts, shows and even wedding receptions in their beautiful lobby. The only single screen movie theaters to survive in Manhattan are the Ziegfeld and The Paris; The Ziegfeld has a long term cheap lease on the theater and The Paris is owned by a billionaire who presumably loves keeping The Paris as a cherished part of New York theater history.
Thanks Cwalczak for posting the picture anew. It shows just how spectacular Loews Pitkin was. Unfortunately, you can only save so many theaters. None of the old palaces have survived to this day showing films. They have had to find other uses: Churches (Loews Metropolitan, Loews Valencia, Loews 175th Street, Loews Gates, The Elmwood, The Hollywood and The Stanley to name a few. Some reverted to live theater; most spectacularly among them The New Amsterdam. Some became performing arts centers like Radio City, Loews Paradise and The St. George and soon the Loews Kings.
Sadly, others have been converted to Retail while wiping out most of the original architectural details (many examples) and even a gymnasium (The Brooklyn Paramount). The RKO Keiths Richmond Hill is virtually intact and remarkably survives as a flea market! The Loews Pitkin, though among the most beautiful theaters ever built in the city, is simply too far gone to restore to almost anything and is located in an area that just wouldn’t support a use that has been successful elsewhere. There are other theaters that are better to focus on: The RKO Keiths Flushing, The Ridgewood, The Jackson and the Loews Cana and The Brooklyn Paramount! We need to focus on those with the best chances to survive and, sadly, the Loews Pitkin is not in that category.
This picture of the interior has been posted before, but the previous links do not seem to work: View link
guess i’m dreaming
my cousin &I were reminicing about this palace&how beautiful it was in the late50’s&early60’s, whats its fate now? low income housing seems really sad for this monument to entertainment what a shame!
where are the people that could restore it? guess i’m creaming
Thank you, Tinseltoes. I will update the caption to reflect this fact.
Another wonderful photo, Brad, though it is a side street view of the marquee, the main portion of which fronted on Pitkin Avenue.
Click here for photograph taken of Loew’s Pitkin Theatre in 1930 by George Mann of the comedy dance team, Barto & Mann.
The Parway/Rolland was never listed because it never showed movies. Some descriptions of the theatre claim that it didn’t even have a projection booth. It was strictly a playhouse until being onverted to a church.
registering
There is no listing for the Parkway or Rolland Theater on the site here, did it show film? It should be added if anyone knows any more information about it, and if it showed film.
If the address is 1768 Saint Johns Place, that would make it the Parkway Theatre (at on time the Rolland Theatre). It operated from 1927-1956. There was also another Parkway Theatre in Brooklyn which changed it’s name to the Metro Theatre 6409 20th. Ave. Brooklyn.
If you pan the aerial image slightly over to St John’s Place, I noticed there is another theater in this image:
View link
Further Research determines that is now the Holy House of Prayer for All People, and that it once was the Parkway Theater. Is this on the site? I can’t seem to find it, did it show film?
Here’s a street view of the theater.
View link
Any information on it would be appreciated.
If page up to Life’s too short’s post from May 21, 2007 and look at the link for the roof. And look at Ed Solero’s post from May 23rd, 2007 of his link for the roof. And match that with Bwy’s post of Mar.4th 2010, and you will see just how much worse the roof has gotten in 3 years.
Jesus. It’s gotten much, much worse since the last time I took a look at an aerial image. This would have been a year or two ago.
i thought they were going to build low-income apartments in this building any word on that?
There is no saving the Loews Pitkin…..I don’t know how old this bing maps image is, but if you look closely, you will see that the entire roof is now open to the elements, it’s probably full sunlight inside of the theater at this point. It was reported above that the plaster ceiling has already collapsed, and the walls are probably just as bad. Water freely flows through the building, as seen in this aerial image of the theater, which is probably a couple years old already. Sad.
Does anyone have any vintage images of the interior? None of the links above seem to work. A more current one would be welcome too, but I am sure no one has been in there recently. Any interior photos would be appreciated.
Click here for aerial image….it’s a sight…
Nice photo Bway.
I don’t know if this has been posted here before, but I couldn’t tell…but it’s a great old photo of the Pitkin from the 50’s:
View link
Is there any way at all anything can be done to save this theatre? I am not from Brooklyn, I live in Staten Island but I love old theatres and I love Brooklyn. I have known about this theatre for a few years reading about it on here and would really love to see it restored. Who was the one who took the picture of the interior as it is now? Are there any way to have any more pictures of what the rest looks like? Maybe I can ask the owner of the store if he will allow me to take some pictures. Is this really going to be a doomed theatre by the wrecking ball? I hope not we need to all do something and contact the owner. Does anyone know if the dressing rooms are still intact as well as the projection booth and anything else? Please let me know if you have information on the present state. We cannot let this theatre be lost. I have a question as well on another theatre or what I think is a theatre. I noticed what seemed to have been a theatre on Rogers avenue in Brooklyn. Are there any old theatres that were closed down there? Rodges avenue I think it is right before Atlantic avenue on Rogers avenue. It looks like it was a theatre at one time. And does anyonw know besides this theatre and the Kings which other theatres in Brooklyn are still intact and closed and no longer in business. Thank you so much and if we all band together we can save and restore this theatre. I am surprised the stage and side decor is still intact.