RKO Keith's Theatre
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
135-35 Northern Boulevard,
Flushing,
NY
11354
44 people
favorited this theater
Showing 126 - 150 of 1,352 comments found
“Drama at the Keiths” Now Playing at RKO Keith’s…
Not so fast: Daily News
Project moving ahead: queenscourier
In the rush to demolish part of Flushing’s history, this fallen column got left behind in the balcony:
It’s stunning that so much stunning detail survives in a space heavily advertised as gutted:
This section from the de-landmarked auditorium is about 1 sq ft of 34,600 sq ft (includes the balcony)
Thanks for pix’s. This theater must have been a stunner when it opened and operated!
Fireplace in Ladies Smoking Room No. 144 (de-landmarked); July 2011.
Wow, look at that utter devastation! What a shame there is “nothing left” of the auditorium worth preserving…
p.s. For what it’s worth (not much) my comment did, indeed, get posted at Queens Chronicle.
From the auditorium, July 2011:
I’ve submitted a response comment on Queens Chronicle; we’ll see if it gets approved and posted.
Still more press coverage: qchron
Sounds similar to the slogan about the Plaza in Patchogue – Blight to light. Big deal, they’re going to tear it down and put up a fence like they did with other blighted properties rather than let PlazaMAC exercise their plan to renew the space. The situation of the Keith’s is not dissimilar.
Ruin to be reborn: crainsnewyork
Sorry again; this seems like deja vu. I must be developing fatal degradation of my sarcasm meter.
Of course I was not serious about being happy with the lobby plans. I read all of the earlier posts. But then again, no lobby at all would be worse. Loved your Roxy photos Ed Solero!
More like Thomas Huang failed in his attempt to completely destroy the theater…he was stopped before he could finish the job, and had to settle for mortally wounding it.
BobbyS, I trust you are not seriously happy that “the ornate lobby will be saved and restored!” Go back and read some of the earlier discussion about what that actually entails.
Thomas Huang “failed at [his] attempt to revamp” the theater?!? More like he successfully torpedoed any hope that the entire structure would ever be returned to viability in its original form!!! Vandalism, is what it was.
LuisV, thanks for the update. I was wondering what was happening on the site. I guess we should be happy the ornate lobby will be saved and restored!
The Condo Plan has received Final Approval. Construction to start by the end of the year. It still calls for the “ornate lobby to be preserved”.
Developer gets final approval to transform landmarked Queens theater into condos July 13, 2011 04:30PM
RKO Keith’s Theater Having just received the final approval from the Board of Standards and Appeals, developer Patrick Thompson is moving ahead with plans to turn the landmarked RKO Keith’s Theater in downtown Flushing, Queens into a 17-story, 357-unit residential rental complex, according to Crain’s.
“I am very delighted and look forward to starting construction,” Thompson said.
At the close of last year, Thompson submitted his plans to the board, which included a modification of plans that had been submitted by its previous owner. The new proposal included increasing the number of units from 200, increasing parking spaces inside the building to 385 from 229 and increasing the retail square footage to 17,000 from 11,000, according to Crain’s.
“This long-neglected site is finally on the road to rebirth as a mixed-used development that will provide much needed housing and a senior center,” Queens Borough President Helen Marshall said. “From the 1920s to the 1980s, when it was vacated, the RKO Keith was a major entertainment Mecca for everything from vaudeville shows to motion pictures.”
Thompson is the third in a string of developers that have taken on the site. Two previous owners — Thomas Huang and Shaya Boymelgreen — failed in their attempts to revamp it.
Thompson expects to start construction by the end of the year. [Crain’s]
Okay, it’s getting spooky. Somebody complains about the order of the comments, and they get switched. Somebody complains about the lead photo, and it gets changed. It’s almost like somebody in authority is MONITORING this page… or could it be this is the place where wishes come true? Hm…that gives me an idea…
It sure would be nice if that stupid condo plan was dropped and somebody committed a lot of money to rehab the whole theater! (Oh, and it would also be nice if cash would start shooting out of my computer…)
Interesting concept from the former BP: a “cancer” that, instead of growing, seems to continually shrink.
The relief sculpture face is from the de-landmarked auditorium, actually one of many surviving details in a space advertised as having nothing left; a convenient thought if believe as the former BP does:“The RKO Keith’s has been like a cancer in downtown Flushing forever”.
Tinseltoes, you are 100% right about the photo of the wall decoration. Also right about reading a book backwards! “You are right on the money”.
With all the RKO Keith’s images that have been posted here over the years, why does the CT listing have to start off with a photo of a wall decoration in ravaged condition? Doesn’t make sense! Even a Google Maps exterior view of the current decaying building would be better.
They have switched the first page of comments order but all comments are still in reverse order.