Warren: I don’t think so in this particular case. The New Law refers to the new building code for moving pictures. When this bill was passed in July 1913, many 300-seat nickelodeons (mostly storefronts) were demolished and replaced by 600-seat theaters. Usually the adjacent plot was bought to do this because the standard lot size in Manhattan was too small for a 600-seat theater. Some of the newly opened theaters got new names (e.g. Essex Street Theater became the Palace Theater) others kept their old name but the word new was added (e.g. New Delancey Street Theater).
Molly Picon was the theater’s top star in those days and probably controlled it with her husband-manager (a common practice in the Yiddish theatrical business since the late 19th century). Yiddish theaters were frequently named after the star-manager, so it is not be unlikely that for a few seasons it was known as Molly Picon Theater or Molly Picon’s Second Avenue Theater.
There was a small movie theater at 235 Avenue A as early as 1908. According to the Trow’s Business Directory, it was run by one I. Decristofore in 1908 and one Joseph Totora in 1909 (probably Italian nickelodeon operators). The Graves' Motion Picture Theater Directory of 1918 lists the house under the name Fingers (?) Theater.
Like many independent theater owners, Charles Steiner lost control over most of ‘his’ theaters in the mid 1930s as a result of the Depression and unfair competition from Hollywood-owned theaters.
Probably Thomashevsky’s National Theater. Both Yiddish theaters had a main auditorium for legitimate drama (2000 seats) and a 1000-seat rooftop theater for movies & vaudeville. If there was a strike in the Yiddish theater, the managers would sometimes switch to movies in the main theater in order to break the strike.
The 1913 accident at the Houston Hippodrome was the direct reason for the Board of Aldermen to pass a new building code. After careful examination the Fire Commissioner concluded that there had been no violation of the existing laws and that persistent rumors about overcrowding at the HH proved unfounded but most officials agreed that something needed to be done to make filmgoing safer. The new bill regulating moving picture exhibition and theatrical performances (especially vaudeville) had lingered on the council’s agenda since 1911. It was passed in July 1913.
Intriguing. I never came across an Astor theater on 2nd Avenue in my sources (mostly Yiddish press of the 1910s). To whom would they have catered? The 1914-15 year + 600-seat capacity suggest that is was built under the city’s new building code of 1913 (Folk’s Ordinance).
I checked my 1921 Bromley’s map once more. The St. Marks theater had the lobby/entrance at 133 Second Avenue (next to the Public Library), but the theater was actually located around the corner at 35-37 St. Marks Place (E 8th Street).
On the Bromley’s Atlas of Manhattan of 1921 there is no theater at 139 Second Av (139 is right next to the former German Dispensary — a red brick building which is still there and part of the NY Public Library, if I remember well). The address I have in my files (conveyances, records of the bureau of building) for the New Law Theater is 23-27. 23-29 is the location on the 1921 map
What is a bit surprising is that the New Law advertises for a recent Paramount picture (The Dictator). In the late twenties, the M & S circuit did no longer have good access to mainstream Hollywood productions. Their programs mainly featured B-films from small production companies (including many Jewish-theme films).
This is a very nice detail!
I don’t know if there are any marriage records at the Municipal Archives — I have never used them for my research.
During the 1890s, some meeting halls on the Lower East Side published every week a list of the couples that were going to marry in their establishment in the Yiddish labor press. Unfortunately the Golden Rule Hall didn’t.
You can contact me for further information at .nl
The Majestic Theater opened in 1914. It was developed by Louis Minsky (the father of the Minsky brothers) and William Rosenberg. Like the New Law Theater at 23-27 Second Avenue (also developed by Rosenberg), it was operated by the M & S chain of Mayer and Schneider. Both movie theaters were designed by Louis Sheinart and located near David Kessler’s Second Avenue Theater, a large ‘legitimate’ Yiddish playhouse which opened in 1911. In the early 1910s, Second Avenue was emerging as the new Yiddish Theater district.
The Golden Rule was a well-known public meeting hall in the late 19th century. It served as the headquarters of several Jewish trade unions. In 1905, the ground and first floors were transformed into a Yiddish vaudeville theater with a small balcony. In 1907, the house switched to moving pictures as its staple entertainment. The upperfloors of the building remained in use as assembly rooms and make-shift synagogues well into the 1930s.
The New Law Theater opened in 1913, just after the introduction of a new building code that regulated the construction of movie theater in New York City (hence its name). It was one of the first theaters operated by the M & S chain of Mayer and Schneider. The architect was Louis Sheinart.
Charles Steiner and Abraham Minsky — the oldest of the famous Minsky burlesque brothers — opened the Houston Hippodrome in December 1909 as a Yiddish music hall. Minsky’s father and the notorious kosher chicken czar and Tammany Hall district leader Martin Engel owned the building, a former church, which had been operated for some time as prize fight club. In 1910, Yonah Shimmel opened his knish bakery next door. In those days, movies and cheap dairy food went hand in hand (which also explains the location of Ratner’s next-door to Loew’s Delancey Street Theater). The Houston Hippodrome offered a mix program of motion pictures and Yiddish vaudeville for five cents in the afternoon and ten cents at night. In 1912, Steiner & Minsky moved their variety show to the National Winter Garden, the roof top theater above Boris Thomashefsky’s National Theater (at 111 Houston Street)and the Houston Hippodrome was downgraded to a nickelodeon. In those days, the sign of the theater already featured a shining sun. In 1917, Steiner bought the building and after a $25,000 renovation opened it as the 600-seat Sunshine Theater. There was some talk in the Yiddish press that it might become a Yiddish theater, but to my knowledge nothing came of this. It remained a movie theater.
Warren: I don’t think so in this particular case. The New Law refers to the new building code for moving pictures. When this bill was passed in July 1913, many 300-seat nickelodeons (mostly storefronts) were demolished and replaced by 600-seat theaters. Usually the adjacent plot was bought to do this because the standard lot size in Manhattan was too small for a 600-seat theater. Some of the newly opened theaters got new names (e.g. Essex Street Theater became the Palace Theater) others kept their old name but the word new was added (e.g. New Delancey Street Theater).
Molly Picon was the theater’s top star in those days and probably controlled it with her husband-manager (a common practice in the Yiddish theatrical business since the late 19th century). Yiddish theaters were frequently named after the star-manager, so it is not be unlikely that for a few seasons it was known as Molly Picon Theater or Molly Picon’s Second Avenue Theater.
There was a small movie theater at 235 Avenue A as early as 1908. According to the Trow’s Business Directory, it was run by one I. Decristofore in 1908 and one Joseph Totora in 1909 (probably Italian nickelodeon operators). The Graves' Motion Picture Theater Directory of 1918 lists the house under the name Fingers (?) Theater.
Like many independent theater owners, Charles Steiner lost control over most of ‘his’ theaters in the mid 1930s as a result of the Depression and unfair competition from Hollywood-owned theaters.
No idea. Doesn’t ring any bells.
Probably Thomashevsky’s National Theater. Both Yiddish theaters had a main auditorium for legitimate drama (2000 seats) and a 1000-seat rooftop theater for movies & vaudeville. If there was a strike in the Yiddish theater, the managers would sometimes switch to movies in the main theater in order to break the strike.
The 1913 accident at the Houston Hippodrome was the direct reason for the Board of Aldermen to pass a new building code. After careful examination the Fire Commissioner concluded that there had been no violation of the existing laws and that persistent rumors about overcrowding at the HH proved unfounded but most officials agreed that something needed to be done to make filmgoing safer. The new bill regulating moving picture exhibition and theatrical performances (especially vaudeville) had lingered on the council’s agenda since 1911. It was passed in July 1913.
Intriguing. I never came across an Astor theater on 2nd Avenue in my sources (mostly Yiddish press of the 1910s). To whom would they have catered? The 1914-15 year + 600-seat capacity suggest that is was built under the city’s new building code of 1913 (Folk’s Ordinance).
I checked my 1921 Bromley’s map once more. The St. Marks theater had the lobby/entrance at 133 Second Avenue (next to the Public Library), but the theater was actually located around the corner at 35-37 St. Marks Place (E 8th Street).
On the Bromley’s Atlas of Manhattan of 1921 there is no theater at 139 Second Av (139 is right next to the former German Dispensary — a red brick building which is still there and part of the NY Public Library, if I remember well). The address I have in my files (conveyances, records of the bureau of building) for the New Law Theater is 23-27. 23-29 is the location on the 1921 map
What is a bit surprising is that the New Law advertises for a recent Paramount picture (The Dictator). In the late twenties, the M & S circuit did no longer have good access to mainstream Hollywood productions. Their programs mainly featured B-films from small production companies (including many Jewish-theme films).
This is a very nice detail!
I don’t know if there are any marriage records at the Municipal Archives — I have never used them for my research.
During the 1890s, some meeting halls on the Lower East Side published every week a list of the couples that were going to marry in their establishment in the Yiddish labor press. Unfortunately the Golden Rule Hall didn’t.
You can contact me for further information at .nl
The Majestic Theater opened in 1914. It was developed by Louis Minsky (the father of the Minsky brothers) and William Rosenberg. Like the New Law Theater at 23-27 Second Avenue (also developed by Rosenberg), it was operated by the M & S chain of Mayer and Schneider. Both movie theaters were designed by Louis Sheinart and located near David Kessler’s Second Avenue Theater, a large ‘legitimate’ Yiddish playhouse which opened in 1911. In the early 1910s, Second Avenue was emerging as the new Yiddish Theater district.
The Golden Rule was a well-known public meeting hall in the late 19th century. It served as the headquarters of several Jewish trade unions. In 1905, the ground and first floors were transformed into a Yiddish vaudeville theater with a small balcony. In 1907, the house switched to moving pictures as its staple entertainment. The upperfloors of the building remained in use as assembly rooms and make-shift synagogues well into the 1930s.
The New Law Theater opened in 1913, just after the introduction of a new building code that regulated the construction of movie theater in New York City (hence its name). It was one of the first theaters operated by the M & S chain of Mayer and Schneider. The architect was Louis Sheinart.
Charles Steiner and Abraham Minsky — the oldest of the famous Minsky burlesque brothers — opened the Houston Hippodrome in December 1909 as a Yiddish music hall. Minsky’s father and the notorious kosher chicken czar and Tammany Hall district leader Martin Engel owned the building, a former church, which had been operated for some time as prize fight club. In 1910, Yonah Shimmel opened his knish bakery next door. In those days, movies and cheap dairy food went hand in hand (which also explains the location of Ratner’s next-door to Loew’s Delancey Street Theater). The Houston Hippodrome offered a mix program of motion pictures and Yiddish vaudeville for five cents in the afternoon and ten cents at night. In 1912, Steiner & Minsky moved their variety show to the National Winter Garden, the roof top theater above Boris Thomashefsky’s National Theater (at 111 Houston Street)and the Houston Hippodrome was downgraded to a nickelodeon. In those days, the sign of the theater already featured a shining sun. In 1917, Steiner bought the building and after a $25,000 renovation opened it as the 600-seat Sunshine Theater. There was some talk in the Yiddish press that it might become a Yiddish theater, but to my knowledge nothing came of this. It remained a movie theater.