Loew's Valencia Theatre

Does anyone recall a Nedick’s tucked into the corner of Jamaica Ave. directly next door to the Valencia? I remember my Dad stopping there with me for a hot dog and orange drink before or after we would see a movie at the Valencia. I’m talking late 50s/early 60s.
By the way, I remember Gertz clearly as my future sister-in-law used to work there as a waitress in their coffee shop. Does anyone remember when department stores used to have their own restaurants? Speaking of coffee shops, does anyone remember Louie’s Coffee Shop on, I believe 164th St off Jamaica Ave? I went to Delehanty High School in the 60s and our crowd always hung out at Louie’s before class, at lunchtime and after school every day. Paula was the waitress back then – red bee-hive hairdo and a great gal.

No, PKoch, I am definitely not related to Steely Dan’s Pretzel Logic, but Sutphin Blvd is familiar to me, having grown up in the Richmond Hill/Jamaica border. I saw the martial arts movie at the Valencia when it was in full throttle decline, for sure. If it closed for good in 1977, then it must have been 1977 that I saw the movie at Valencia. I don’t remember the goldfish reflecting pool, but I do remember torn theater seats, a somewhat dangerous element in the audience, and the distinct smell of maryjane (no offense to anybody who’s into that stuff, but I’m not.) I only remember one line from the movie — some Australian martial arts character had just killed off another character by throwing a round, metal serrated disc at his head. And then he said in a thick Australian accent, “Thank God for Black & Decker.” For some reason my friends thought this was the most hilarious thing they’d ever heard and they said this sentence for weeks and weeks afterwards. The rest of the movie was forgettable but the experience stuck in my mind because I had never been inside such a gorgeous, “atmospheric” movie theater, and probably never will be again, unfortunately, now that we have these boxy multiplexes with screens smaller than a TV dinner. I really feel cheated that other than that one time, I didn’t experience a real movie palace, along with ice cream/soda fountain places, unless you consider Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor in Queens, but that was already commercialized, not like the fanciful, castle-like ice cream parlors of old that used to exist (as described by my mother in law).

I don’t recall a Gimbel’s store in Jamaica. W.T. Grant’s was near Woolworth’s, and on the same side of Jamaica Avenue. When I worked at Loew’s Valencia, if one of the goldfish in the reflecting pool suddenly died, we would rush to Grant’s or Woolworth’s to buy a replacement. Unfortunately, the store-bought fish never survived very long. They were much smaller and more delicate than the ones that came from Forest Park. There were a couple of kids that trapped them in buckets and sometimes brought them to the Valencia in exchange for free passes. Those fish also had a tendency to eat the smaller ones from the variety stores.

Thanks, Lost Memory.

I do, very much, Lost Memory. Thanks for posting it.

I just sent the link to three friends via e-mail.

So Jamaica, as well as John Jacob Astor’s fortunes, owes its existence to beaver pelts.

Somewhat related to the coneys, or rock badgers, of Coney Island, I would think.

I won’t belabor the double entendre of “beaver hunt”.

You might find this interesting.

There were also two huge furniture stores in Jamaica, Saks New York (not to be confused with high end Sak’s Fifth Avenue and a store I think was called Kurtz (and no I’m not confusing it with Gertz Department Store) :–) By the way, I just remembered Gertz’s tag line…..“Where Long Island Shops”!

As much as I loved the Valencia, I do remember thinking twice about going due to the decline of the area in the 70’s. Though Jamaica never declined to the levels of other inner city neighborhoods in the city it was definitely pretty bad for Queens. I’m happy to see that there has been a lot of improvement over the last few years. There is a lot more on the drawing boards. I wish them luck!

Curiously, Jamaica suffered three traumatic events in 1977. In addition to the Valencia’s closing and the termination of elevated subway service, the Long Island Press, which had its offices in Jamaica for decades, ceased publication forever with its issue of March 25, 1977. Several hundred people lost their jobs, and Queens was deprived of its last daily newspaper. The Press’s final “Movie Timetable” shows only two theatres operating in Jamaica, Loew’s Valencia with a double feature of “Poor White Trash II” and “The Hitchhikers,” and the RKO Alden with a triple feature of “J.D.’s Revenge,” “Cornbread, Earl, and Me,” and “Cooley High.”

The last day of normal operation on the Jamaica El was Sept 11, 1977. However, they did hold fantrips for the last time on both Sept 11th, 1977 (which was the last day for normal service), and Sept 12, 1977 ran a fantrip, which was the last day a passenger train traversed it….

It “has” to be 1977, as the Jamaica Ave el was closed on September 11th, 1977, and there are photos at nycsubway.org using the 168th St Station, which was right at the Valencia, and there is already a “Tabernacle of Prayer” cross on the Valencia.

See here for one example:

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?24041

Isn’t 1977 considered “the late 70s?” The Valencia definitely closed forever as a cinema in 1977. It was the only “atmospheric” theatre in Jamaica, and one of only four in the borough of Queens. The others were the Queensboro/Elmwood in Elmhurst, RKO Keith’s Flushing, and Loew’s Triboro in Astoria.

As promised, my work friend’s movie-going experience at Loew’s Valencia :

“The Ten Commandments”, with his father, late 1950’s.

“The Bridge Over The River Kwai”, with Uncle Jerry, probably also cousin Robert and Aunt Bernice, 1957

“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” (James Stewart and John Wayne), probably 1964.

“Fantastic Voyage”, 1966.

“To Sir With Love”, 1967, with friend, Tom Krauss.

I’m so glad I discovered this website! As an avid movie fan my whole life, it’s wonderful to chat with others who are as passionate about films and theatres as I am. My wife and I go to the movies often but we are so sick of the boxlike multiplexes. Leno is SO right! We are always reminiscing about the old classic theatres. So I guess that makes us old fogies. But to see a film in a Valencia or Madison or even the Embassy was wonderful. Even if the picture stunk, at least the theatre was pretty to look at.
Re SAMSON AND DELILAH – I honestly don’t remember the quality of the picture or the sound. I was just so happy to be allowed to go by myself that I would have been thrilled just to watch newsreels all afternoon!
It’s amazing how so many of us who grew up in the 50s & 60s were so incredibly influenced by moviegoing. Not just movies – but moviegoing. Going out to the movies was a treat. It was very often a family event. I recall seeing BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI with my parents and aunts and uncles and cousins in Patchogue, Long Island in 1957, I believe, and when it was over, we all marched out of the Patchogue theatre whistling the Colonel Bogie March. I remember a bunch of us going to see REAR WINDOW at the Embassy (1956?)and my grandmother yelling at Grace Kelly to get out of the murderer’s apt. cause she could see him (Raymond Burr) coming up the stairs. I’ll never forget seeing DAMN YANKEES (1958) at the RKO Keiths and my parents and I singing “Ya Gotta Have Heart” on the way to our 55 Chevy Bel Air. But I guess each generation has its own memories of movie going. I’m just happy that I got mine from magnificent theatres rather than Ipods or cell phones.