Metro Twin

“ES TU MOMENTO@ (Its your moment) is a Vodaphone ad slogan, so it may be a paid advertisement or a special event party being held on the site.

Unless someone had the foresight to remove at least some of those elements, Howard, I fear to report they are all gone, but at least we have your photos to remember them by.

By the way, I walked past the Metro earlier this afternoon and the phrasing on the marquee reads “Hoy Gran Estreno – Es Tu Momento”. As I mentioned yesterday, my knowledge of Spanish is pretty poor; can anyone provide a translation?

I passed by the Metro last night and there was something in Spanish on all three sides of the marquee, with no mentioning of space still being available for lease, leading me to think a Latino restaurant or grocery or clothing store is moving in. When I’m in the neighborhood again this weekend, I’ll write down and later post on this site the words on the marquee, hoping someone can translate them. (Upon first look, from what limited knowledge I have of the Spanish language, there wasn’t any definite indication on what’s moving in, but I might be wrong.) Also, the tarp covering the view from the box office window and the doors were removed; there’s now a sheet of lumber obscuring the view from the box office, but the doors now offer a clear look at the interior of the theatre – it’s been all but gutted to the bare four walls, with a false stage at the front of the former downstairs auditorium, and construction lights throughout.

My wife and I stumbled upon this theater back in 1999 (she was just my girlfriend at the time) and decided to go in and see THE WHOLE NINE YARDS. That was the only time I went to this theater.

When I passed by Saturday afternoon, the entrance was still obscured by the gate and black plastic, but the retail space adjacent was gaping open and this was where workmen were emerging carrying metal debris, apparently from demolishing the lobby and/or the “upstairs” theater. A front-loader or some such machine was where the last row of seats on the ground floor would have been. The lobby was dark, but beyond the machine and what appeared to be part of the supports for the upper theater I could see the ornate interior, with its own lights lighted (in contrast to the forehead lanterns and work-lights barely lighting the debris in the foreground). I tried to get a photo, but exposure was tricky with my “no frills” camera. Don’t know how well pics came out. As I stood there, a guy came up to my elbow and asked “can I help you?” I said, “no.”

Somebody with a better camera and skills might want to get one last photo of what’s left of the interior while it’s still there.

What puzzles me is why this cinema kept opening and closing again the last few years. Did they have trouble getting butts on seats? Were they doing something wrong? Why couldn’t they make a success of it?

The Metro was closed when Extel Corp began building its two ugly glass midtown office building condos next door and across the street. While it was saved from demolition during construction as part of the deal that allowed Extel to build these buildings twice as high as any other building in the neighborhood, it is now for lease, and will no doubt become a Home Depot or Wal-Mart. So glad we “saved” it!

Anything going on here yet?

To Jodar: Yes.

From what I’ve heard, the Metro will most likely not reopen as a theatre.

This movie theater’s exterior reminds me of the opening scenes of Janet Jackon “Lets Wait Awhile” video, did they shoot those here?

This is a damn shame that the theatre business can’t support a place like this in Manhattan.