Meserole Theatre

Dear Bob D. great pics of Greenpoint. I used to hang out there in my youth of 16 years old. Miss the old hood. Anniegirl

Dear AnthonyS1957 I tried to get photo’s you can go on local.live.com and see a birds eye view of the hood. As far as photo’s of the Meserole theater I will continue to search and let u know. I hung out in Greenpoint in the 60’s I was born in 1945 and hung out in McCarran Park and the swing park near the pool. My girlfriend Paulette Godlewski Swenck might still live in Greenpoint. She married Henry Schwenk who graduated 8th grade with my sister. At the time paulette lived on Noble Street before she married Henry. We used to go to the Meserole and RKO Greenpoint often. Loved the place.
I will keep you posted. anniegirl

I spent many weekends at the Meserole theater seeing some memourable movies in the 1960’s and 1970’s like the “Planet Of The Apes” films, the Original “Night Of The Living Dead” and many more. I have many fond memories of this theater. This was what a movie theater was all about. I even saw the original Batman movie there when Adam West and Burt Ward showed up with the Batmobile. Many years later I got to meet and speak with Adam West when I worked for the Chiller Theatre Convention in New Jersey (1993-2002).

I remember in the late ‘70’s when Pope John Paul II visited St. Stanislaus during his tour of the States. The very substantial Polish community gave the Pontiff (their fellow countryman by birth) a jubilant reception. I wonder if the Meserole closed for business that day or offered any special programming.

I’m sure it was. My family’s roots, on my mom’s side, are in St. Stanislaus Kostka Church at Humboldt and Driggs. My mom’s family lived at 254 Kingsland Avenue in Greenpoint before moving to 412 Harman St. in Bushwick, about 1925.

Anniegirl, by Saint Anthony’s Church, do you mean St. Anthony Of Padua in Greenpoint ? A block east of Manhattan Avenue, between Greenpoint Avenue and Calyer St. ?

I worked just a few doors down the block from the former Meserole in the 1980’s at a Mini-Mart at 711 Manhattan Ave just off Norman. At the time, I seem to recall the theater housed Wholesale Liquidators type of discount store, which advertised on the old marquee. This was about 1984 or ‘85. I remember years later, I was driving back through the area and circled around Lorimer Street to see the shell of the auditorium and took note of how big a nabe it actually was.

Dear Peter K or anyone. I went to the Meserole to see the French Connection with my Husband Louie and my Parents when it first appeared in the 70’s Then we went to VAN DOLHENS ICe Cream Parlor down the block towards Nassau Ave. Peter K you aren’t Peter K from Williamsburgh are you. I went to Transfiguration Grammer School on Marcy and Graduated in 1960. Let me know. I had achance to drive up Manahttan Ave a few months ago. What changes. The Chinese Resturant is gone you know the one upstairs on Norman and Manhattan Avenues. My husband and I celebrated our wedding at the Polaniase Terrace on Greenpoint Ave and we went to the Chopin when it first opened. Now that is gone too. Too Bad. Anniegirl.
posted by louieb Apr 5th 2006

Here’s a trivia question.

What movie was playing at the Meserole the night of the blackout on July 13, 1977?

Cool. Thanks for posting that link. As Warren said, that is definitely the Meserole. Lost, by the way, check your mail.

Kevin, what things d you mean? Those black things on either side of the Eckert sign?

Well, today I did go to Greenpoint, and got a chance to see the interior of the Meserole. See below for a link too current photo of the exterior I took today.
The theater was just like everyone described above. You walk into the “lobby” area, where all the checkouts are lined up, and you walk towards the main auditorium on a downward sloped floor.
The pharmacy is under the balcony. To deal with the sloped floor of the original theater, either Eckerd (Genovese) or the Roller RInk people seemed to have dug out the auditorium area to make the floor flat. There are downward inclines on either side of the store to that you have to go down to get to the main part of the store which is in a “pit”. The pharmacy area is much higher up, apparently the height of the upper end of the theater’s original floor, when it still sloped towards the stage.
The screen area is all intact, and as mentioned, they actally show slides of sales and stuff on the screen. The balcony is fully intact (along with all the ornamentation), however they put a wall up there so you can’t see it.
Also as mentioned, a disco ball still hangs in the center of the aditorium from the roller rink days.
Truly an amazing transformation from theater to store. If it can’t be a theater anymore, this is the next best thing for sure. I wish other companies would have done it this way when converting to retail space, instead of destroying or covering everything.

Here’s a link to an exterior photo of the Meserole

In answer to Bway’s question about the Chopin, the Chopin was on Manhattan Avenue near Greenpoint Avenue – a couple of blocks away from the Meserole. It was diagonally across the street from a catering hall called The Polynaise, which at one point I belive had the same owner (hence the classical music connection in the names). The Polynaise has remianed a very nice catering hall and has been upgraded through the years (my wedding reception was there in 1991). The Chopin closed quite a few yeares ago (the last movie I saw there was Back to the Future). It was gutted for the Burger King. I will look closer the next time I am in there, but I do not recall any recognizable features of the movie theater.