That’s a great photo, with a peek of the marquee of the RKO Alden across the street in the lower right corner. I had forgotten that this theater was still open in ‘77.
Forgotten NY has a collection of photos of the downtown Jamaica strip from a recent walking tour:
http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/06/jamaica-avenue-queens/
Looks like the teardown of the Jamaica section of the El was finished by the end of 1978.
“paktype: I heard that this theater’s patronage suffered with the closing of the Jamaica elevated in the mid 1970’s.”
Ironically, the demolition of ‘The El’ was trumpeted as the key to a ‘revitalized Jamaica’. When the Jamaica portion was taken down in 1977, the two main dept stores, Gertz and Macy’s closed almost immediately after.
This was a huge blow to the downtown Jamaica Ave commercial strip, an area that was in decline for almost a decade by that point.
As pointed out by others, by the time the Valencia closed, it had long since stopped showing ‘first-run’ movies. I remember only ‘Blaxploitation’ and B horror/slasher flicks at that point.
I was a child in the ‘60’s, and my fondest memories were of shopping on the Ave, and our mother taking my sister and me to a Disney matinee on a Sat afternoon.
However, as stated here, the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People pentacostal church has done a beautiful job of restoration and maintenance: it is well worth a visit if you happen to be in this area on a Sunday.
That’s a great photo, with a peek of the marquee of the RKO Alden across the street in the lower right corner. I had forgotten that this theater was still open in ‘77. Forgotten NY has a collection of photos of the downtown Jamaica strip from a recent walking tour: http://forgotten-ny.com/2011/06/jamaica-avenue-queens/ Looks like the teardown of the Jamaica section of the El was finished by the end of 1978.
“paktype: I heard that this theater’s patronage suffered with the closing of the Jamaica elevated in the mid 1970’s.” Ironically, the demolition of ‘The El’ was trumpeted as the key to a ‘revitalized Jamaica’. When the Jamaica portion was taken down in 1977, the two main dept stores, Gertz and Macy’s closed almost immediately after. This was a huge blow to the downtown Jamaica Ave commercial strip, an area that was in decline for almost a decade by that point. As pointed out by others, by the time the Valencia closed, it had long since stopped showing ‘first-run’ movies. I remember only ‘Blaxploitation’ and B horror/slasher flicks at that point. I was a child in the ‘60’s, and my fondest memories were of shopping on the Ave, and our mother taking my sister and me to a Disney matinee on a Sat afternoon.
However, as stated here, the Tabernacle of Prayer for All People pentacostal church has done a beautiful job of restoration and maintenance: it is well worth a visit if you happen to be in this area on a Sunday.