Comments from Borstrich

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Borstrich
Borstrich commented about Majestic Theater on Aug 27, 2006 at 8:35 pm

As a young boy I lived on Seneca Ave. in 1960 one block from the Majestic Theatre, which appeared to have been closed for many years at that time. The theatre was on the corner of Seneca and Greene Avenues. Across the street from the theatre on Seneca Ave. was a TV repair shop that also fixed bicycles. Diagonally across the street was a barber shop. The side of the theatre was on Greene Ave. Across the street from the Greene Ave side of the theatre was many garages. Since no cars could park there, and since the theatre had a fire hydrant on the Greene Ave side, we used the area to play stick ball, “off the wall”, and handball off the side the theatre. The front of the theatre was boarded up but you could still see where the ticket box office once was. The marque was still there and the name MAJESTIC was still on the marque. When it rained we played Ace King Queen under the marque. The rear of the theatre had a yard that was full of dirt mounds, weeds, and debris. The front and side of the theatre was a great place to hang out. We were all very surprised one day when demolition workers entered the theatre. The left the side (Green Ave.) door open at night and we got our first view of the inside. The screen and seats were still there. I think there was also an orchestra pit. There were stairs that led up to the balcony and projection room. We found old comic books that were probably given out with admission. There were broken dishes that were probably given out to customers so that they would continue to return to the theatre to collect a whole set. I found old ticket rolls that had admission prices of .35 cents, .65 cents and several other amounts I can not rememnber but none were for over a dollar. The theatre became the Seneca Chapels funeral parlor. The new owners did not like it when we continued to play ball on the Greene Ave. side. The funeral parlor continued to use the marque but made it much smaller. You would never know that it was once a theatre marque. I would love to hear from anyone who has childhood memories of playing by the Majestic Theatre.