a buddy who resides in Brooklyn recently went here and said its an OK theatre. He also states he recalls it once being a porno theatre , can anyone confirm this?
vito yes the staircase was indeed intact but at the top were barriers preventing entry to the balcony. it looked like they had originally cleaned out the interior lobby , but they were now using it to store a large amount of used furniture they are selling. the person also told me all the buildings on the block had suffered water damage not long ago ,due to a street drainage problem.
for some odd reason they were recently selling used furniture out of the place. i pretended to be an interested buyer and talked my way into the interior lobby. it was a shambles as vito has said. i then told the gentleman i was a movie theatre enthusiast who had spent many hours there in my youth ,and would like to see the auditorium. however , he was having none of it…
after this posting i kept thinking about what alfvaen said about the armrest, i had thought i had the same experience at a different theatre. sure enough i went back and checked my post from a year and a half ago about seeing “capote” here and there it was….the unpadded armrest! guess they still haven’t gotten their act together…
alf, it’s the same response i got after complaining about the poor sound system in theatre 1. the female manager i spoke to (didn’t get a name) asked “well , did you watch the entire film?”. and this at a premiere manhattan theatre , you’d think they would care…
another plus i forgot to mention is that in theatre 1 there is a small enclosed foyer between the lobby and the auditorium , perfect for taking important cel phone calls. compares well with sunshine cinema , the only other downtown theatre that i have found to be impressive. i had some problems with the quad and the angelika…
i was there today for the first time (never had the pleasure of the Waverly). At first didn’t like that you sink down in the seats but then found them quite comfortable. In theatre one there were brick walls, making for a very interesting setting. I went on wikipedia which revealed the building was a church in the 1800’s. Didn’t have time to check out theatres 2 and 3. Overall much more impressive than the Angelica….
driving by the other day i noticed it looked like panel boards had been put up over some of the interior lobby doors , could they be fixing up the place? obviously it wouldnt be a theatre , but maybe they have some other use in mind?
NFH , thanks for the info but the asian bistro already exists at the corner end of the property (bay and union streets.) there is a new sign on the marquee stating “store and space for rent” but i would guess they refer to the adjacent areas (the former steckmann’s store) not the theatre itself. as vito said it is in deplorable condition …..
whatever plans the owner has for the site , it seems to be taking forever. i pass by frequently and have seen no further activity. anyone have updates?….
have they done anything with the adjacent (closed) toys r us store? i havent been here in over a year but when last there the girl working the counter told me they might expand the theatre. guess it’s still holding on…
gustave i hate to be a pessimest but i think you are whistling past the graveyard , as they used to say. another thing sounding the death knell , in addition to the buildings' condition as vito described , is the severe lack of parking in the area. there is a municipal lot , but you must pay to park there . new dorp lane has meters and the surrounding residential streets , where each house has 2,3 or 4 cars , is very limited.
the interior doors are now either open or gone altogether , and you can see the entire lobby thru the mesh gate. the only thing intact is the staircase leading up to the balcony. i’m still gonna try to get in there if i see the workers there. i don’t have a digital camera but anyone who does can contact me.
gustave i have driven by the loews kings and read the postings on this website , most are not optimistic pointing out that it is in severely dilapidated condition. it also evidently is in a rough neighborhood. we were very lucky here with the st. george theatre restoration by mrs. rosemary and family. it would take someone with the same motivation (and funding) to restore the king’s….
i’ve driven by several times since my last posting , all i’ve seen is bags of garbage behind the steel gate , i guess it was being removed from inside. if i see anything or get inside again i will post.
driving by today i saw new ads on the marquee , a metal gate out front that i had never seen , and the interior doors were open. i saw several asian gentlemen bringing equipment into the site , so i immediately approached the man who seemed to be in charge. i explained that i was a movie theatre enthusiast who had gone there in my youth and asked if i could have a look around , so i could report my findings back to this website. he said he was aware of the website but was nervous about letting me in , saying something about it being dangerous because of the work going on. i asked him what the owners plans were and he said “he’s not sure” , then i managed to get into the lobby. i know that vito has posted about the state of the place , but what i saw was a complete train wreck. he said i couldnt go any further but that if i come back next week he would let me look around. im not sure i want to at this point , and he may have been blowing me off. i will reort back next week.
i saw the movie “brick” here a couple of months ago. i think it was theatre 3. once or twice there was the rumble of the subway , i could easily deal with this. the “tinny” sound in theatre 1 was far worse…
a buddy who deals with farrell lumber tells me he’s been in the theatre , all remnants (seats , etc.) of being a movie theatre are gone and it is strictly a storage area. he said you would never know (from inside) that it was once a theatre. too bad….
i recently attended the film festival at the st. george and spent most of the time admiring the spectacular theatre. i started to think of how many of these magnificent movie palaces ended their life as porno houses . the empire was the only one on s.i. to go out that way. i only visited twice as a teen , it was showing porn and i recall it being non-descript , but then it was hard to tell because they kept it pitch-dark in there…..
I noticed they have installed new glass doors at the entrance behind the pull-down gate. Anybody hear anything?
a buddy who resides in Brooklyn recently went here and said its an OK theatre. He also states he recalls it once being a porno theatre , can anyone confirm this?
vito yes the staircase was indeed intact but at the top were barriers preventing entry to the balcony. it looked like they had originally cleaned out the interior lobby , but they were now using it to store a large amount of used furniture they are selling. the person also told me all the buildings on the block had suffered water damage not long ago ,due to a street drainage problem.
for some odd reason they were recently selling used furniture out of the place. i pretended to be an interested buyer and talked my way into the interior lobby. it was a shambles as vito has said. i then told the gentleman i was a movie theatre enthusiast who had spent many hours there in my youth ,and would like to see the auditorium. however , he was having none of it…
after this posting i kept thinking about what alfvaen said about the armrest, i had thought i had the same experience at a different theatre. sure enough i went back and checked my post from a year and a half ago about seeing “capote” here and there it was….the unpadded armrest! guess they still haven’t gotten their act together…
alf, it’s the same response i got after complaining about the poor sound system in theatre 1. the female manager i spoke to (didn’t get a name) asked “well , did you watch the entire film?”. and this at a premiere manhattan theatre , you’d think they would care…
i just called the theatre , the person who answered stated that they are now only showing Indian cinema.
another plus i forgot to mention is that in theatre 1 there is a small enclosed foyer between the lobby and the auditorium , perfect for taking important cel phone calls. compares well with sunshine cinema , the only other downtown theatre that i have found to be impressive. i had some problems with the quad and the angelika…
i was there today for the first time (never had the pleasure of the Waverly). At first didn’t like that you sink down in the seats but then found them quite comfortable. In theatre one there were brick walls, making for a very interesting setting. I went on wikipedia which revealed the building was a church in the 1800’s. Didn’t have time to check out theatres 2 and 3. Overall much more impressive than the Angelica….
driving by the other day i noticed it looked like panel boards had been put up over some of the interior lobby doors , could they be fixing up the place? obviously it wouldnt be a theatre , but maybe they have some other use in mind?
NFH , thanks for the info but the asian bistro already exists at the corner end of the property (bay and union streets.) there is a new sign on the marquee stating “store and space for rent” but i would guess they refer to the adjacent areas (the former steckmann’s store) not the theatre itself. as vito said it is in deplorable condition …..
whatever plans the owner has for the site , it seems to be taking forever. i pass by frequently and have seen no further activity. anyone have updates?….
my mistake , it is leased to LA fitness and is selling for $21 million. the folks who bought it last year paid $7 mill.
i just saw it on NY1 , part of it had already been sold to LA fitness for 7 million and the rest is going for 21 million as DFC said.
have they done anything with the adjacent (closed) toys r us store? i havent been here in over a year but when last there the girl working the counter told me they might expand the theatre. guess it’s still holding on…
gustave i hate to be a pessimest but i think you are whistling past the graveyard , as they used to say. another thing sounding the death knell , in addition to the buildings' condition as vito described , is the severe lack of parking in the area. there is a municipal lot , but you must pay to park there . new dorp lane has meters and the surrounding residential streets , where each house has 2,3 or 4 cars , is very limited.
jean i didnt realize it until i read your post but i believe you are right , the box office is gone. i’m gonna drive by tomorrow to check.
the interior doors are now either open or gone altogether , and you can see the entire lobby thru the mesh gate. the only thing intact is the staircase leading up to the balcony. i’m still gonna try to get in there if i see the workers there. i don’t have a digital camera but anyone who does can contact me.
gustave i have driven by the loews kings and read the postings on this website , most are not optimistic pointing out that it is in severely dilapidated condition. it also evidently is in a rough neighborhood. we were very lucky here with the st. george theatre restoration by mrs. rosemary and family. it would take someone with the same motivation (and funding) to restore the king’s….
i’ve driven by several times since my last posting , all i’ve seen is bags of garbage behind the steel gate , i guess it was being removed from inside. if i see anything or get inside again i will post.
driving by today i saw new ads on the marquee , a metal gate out front that i had never seen , and the interior doors were open. i saw several asian gentlemen bringing equipment into the site , so i immediately approached the man who seemed to be in charge. i explained that i was a movie theatre enthusiast who had gone there in my youth and asked if i could have a look around , so i could report my findings back to this website. he said he was aware of the website but was nervous about letting me in , saying something about it being dangerous because of the work going on. i asked him what the owners plans were and he said “he’s not sure” , then i managed to get into the lobby. i know that vito has posted about the state of the place , but what i saw was a complete train wreck. he said i couldnt go any further but that if i come back next week he would let me look around. im not sure i want to at this point , and he may have been blowing me off. i will reort back next week.
i saw the movie “brick” here a couple of months ago. i think it was theatre 3. once or twice there was the rumble of the subway , i could easily deal with this. the “tinny” sound in theatre 1 was far worse…
a buddy who deals with farrell lumber tells me he’s been in the theatre , all remnants (seats , etc.) of being a movie theatre are gone and it is strictly a storage area. he said you would never know (from inside) that it was once a theatre. too bad….
island electronics is apparently kaput . wonder why the theatre didn’t last long , that was unusual back then…
i recently attended the film festival at the st. george and spent most of the time admiring the spectacular theatre. i started to think of how many of these magnificent movie palaces ended their life as porno houses . the empire was the only one on s.i. to go out that way. i only visited twice as a teen , it was showing porn and i recall it being non-descript , but then it was hard to tell because they kept it pitch-dark in there…..