Loew's Bay Terrace
213-29 26th Avenue,
Bayside,
NY
11360
213-29 26th Avenue,
Bayside,
NY
11360
7 people
favorited this theater
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I just remember the Bay Terrace being a really modern, classy, almost space age place — not run down like the Arion in Middle Village, or as cozy as the Drake in Rego Park — and because it was a Loew’s theater, it had much more “sophisticated” (to my young sensibilities) graphics and promos than the little independent or small-chain theaters. You know, their “let’s all go to the lobby” shorts and “Now, our Feature Presentation” had much better production values…:)
If you go to the Museum of the Moving Image this month, there’s a wonderful Loew’s centennial exhibit, featuring a great shot of the Loew’s Bay Terrace in its heydey, along with many other cinema shots.
Always enjoyed the way the red curtains opened before the previews and films began and the runway lights were a classy touch.
The Bay Terrace Theatre opened in 1962-3 by the Fabian Theatre Circuit and became a Loew’s Theatre in 1966-7. Loew’s did not open the house. At the time, Fabian operated the Brooklyn Fox, the Paramount and Ritz Theatres on Staten Island and many in New Jersey.
Soon after the Brooklyn Fox closed in February 1966, the Bay Terrace Theatre passed hands from Fabian to Loew’s.
The Meadows was built by Centurys and was always one of Queens highest grossing houses.
The way this theater was twinned — accurately described in the summary by RobertR — was very similar to the old Fresh Meadows theater (was that an RKO???) on the eastbound Horace Harding Expressway off 188th Street in the Bloomingdales Shopping Center. That theater still stands but was completely gutted and re-opened as a 7 screen multiplex in the late ‘80’s or early '90’s.
The large, free standing theater was completely gutted to its outer walls and now houses a large Applebees Restaurant and a Victoria’s Secret store. It anchors the Bay Terrace Shopping Center at the corner of Bell Blvd and 26th Avenue in Bayside, Queens.