Loew's Pitkin Theatre
1501 Pitkin Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11212
1501 Pitkin Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11212
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 337 comments found
My father grew up about a block away from this theater and while he took me to the movies a lot as a child, we never went here very much. Hedid tell me about the stage shows this theater used to show and what a beautiful theater it was. I did finally go in 1961 to see “The Guns of Navarone” here and found the theater to be sort of a small version of Radio City Music Hall with a round second level overlooking the massive inner-lobby. When I next was there in 1963 the area was going downhill fast and the theater was reduced to showing 2 horror films: “Werewolf in a Girl’s Dormitory” and Boris Karloff in “Corridors of Blood.” While these films do sound kind of low-grade, I have no doubt that there was a lot worse to come. This was a spectacular theater in its prime though.
Sad picture posted by ziggy. Interesting history of this house.
Wow, I just looked at the photo Ziggy posted a few months ago, and the Pitkin’s interior is really in shambles. It almost seems worse than what the Keiths in Flushing looks like. Not much hope here for the interior….
When did the church move out?
Good observation. It should probably have an aka name of Pitkin Theatre.
Notice Loews is pried off the marquee and the vertical must have ended as an indie
The year given for this photo is 1970. If the year is correct, the Loew’s Pitkin didn’t close in the late 1960s.
Douglas, can I ask you how you got inside ?
I would love to have the oportunity to photograph it before its conversion into apartments.
the loew’s pitkin is now slated to be a subsidized unit for over 60 families
sylvia schildt
I loved this theatre, growing up withit. what a sad state of affairs, wish some millionaire woul rebuild it&use it for local talent shows like they do with the Appollo, butthats just daydreaming
I now live in new hyde park&sometimes I go to a coffee shop across
from th Floral theatre, they made that a catering hall,its sad, you still see the building must have been quite lovely at one time, ah,I’m outta here
There might be certain similarities in the lobbies and such, but the auditoriums are completely different. Loew’s Pitkin was an atmospheric, and Loew’s 175th (United Palace) is not.
is the old marquee still under all the covering? does anyone know?
please forgive my spelling as I can only type with one nand since my stroke. Dennis
The Liberty Theatre did show movies in the later 1920’s early 1930’s and I have added it to its own page on Cinema Treasures. Thanks to J.F. Lundy for bringing the Liberty Theatre to our attention.
Thanks, HerbS. That would explain why Watkins Street in Brownsville has gone the way of Turnbull Avenue in Flatlands / Canarsie (East 105th St. station on the L line).
My guess is that the Liberty Theatre only had live shows perhaps Burlesque or live Yiddish plays like the Parkway (Rolland) on Eastern Parkway. It is the policy of Cinema Treasures not to list theatres that did not show motion pictures. At one time this site had the Parkway Theatre with some posts of mine but it was removed when they learned that it was not a motion picture house. I’m assuming the same format was at the Liberty. By the way, Liberty Av & Watkins Street in Brownsville has been in the confines of the Howard Houses since the early 1950’s.
Thanks, ziggy. I’ll tell my dad what Norton said. My dad still pronounces Loew’s as “Loweez”, too, same as Ed Norton.
J.F.Lundy, Liberty Avenue is still there. I’m not sure about Watkins Street. This may be a clue to another (to me) mystery :
Where was Liberty Pool ? I only know it was somewhere in Brownsville or East New York.
I find a Liberty Theater that was located about 10 blocks away from the Pitkin’s location listed in the 1928 Brooklyn Red Book. The address given is Liberty Avenue and Watkins Street. Google indicates that these streets no longer exist on the grid. Does this Liberty Theater appear under another name on this site ?
I was watching an episode of “The Honeymooners” last night. There was one scene where Ralph and Norton were in a Park Avenue apartment, which prompted Norton to comment that it was “almost as pretty as the lobby of Loew’s Pitkin!”
Of course, Norton pronounced Loew’s “Loweez”
Indeed that is a marvelous photograph. Perhaps someone would know when the photograph was taken.
George
There is more left than I would have thought. The sky is gone, but it looks like the “castle” plaster work is more or less still there. I would think the sky would be the easier of the two to recreate.
As indeed you should, ziggy. But that’s between you and Mr. R.
You’re welcome, but I want to thank Mr. Racioppo for putting the photo on the web. I just wish I could have been looking over his shoulder when he took it.
Surreal ! It looks like a movie set ! Thanks, ziggy.
It also resembles what’s left of the balcony of the RKO Madison in Ridgewood, Queens, above the ceiling of the Liberty Department Store, which currently occupies the street level, orchestra area of what used to be the RKO Madison Theatre (# 4621 on this CT site).
My apologies if this has already been posted, but this website has a photo of the ruinous interior of the Pitkin.
View link
This theater opened in 1929 so it can’t be this one. There were other theaters on Pitkin Ave. There is a good possibility that it was a motion picture theater. If it is listed here under another name, I have no idea what it could be.
It could have been a live theater or a motion picture theater. I posted here because this theater is also on Pitkin Avenue.