AMC Loews Fresh Meadows 7

The original spacious Meadows was first divided into a twin (right down the middle, with each theater featuring an orchestra and a balcony section) in the late '70's. Sometime later (late 80's early 90's) the old theater was gutted completely and reorganized as it exists today as a 7 plex, with one decent auditorium at the rear of the lower level (approximately where the first 20 or 30 rows of the original auditorium sat) and 6 other smaller screening rooms located throughout the theater's 3 levels. This multiplex has the disadvantage of having been completed just a few short years before the advent of the current -- and more desireable -- trend towards larger screens and stadium-style seating.

The Meadows was the first (and probably last) movie theatre built in Queens after WWII with more than 2,000 seats in its single screen auditorium. It first opened on the evening of November 23, 1949, with a "Hollywood preview" of the Rosalind Russell comedy, "Tell It to the Judge." The Meadow's first actual program opened the next day, a double feature of "My Friend Irma" and "Too Late For Tears." The movies were first-run for the area, but two weeks behind Loew's Valencia in Jamaica, which had an exclusive "jump" on other theatres in the borough. The Meadows also showed some movies simultaneously with the RKO circuit, which did not have an exclusive Queens showcase comparable to the Valencia.

Haven't been to the Fresh Meadows in ages.The last time I was
there I saw Beverly Hills Cop 1 and Peggy Sue Got Married.I believe it was late 1984.It had only two theaters at that time.The Fresh Meadows always had a very fresh clean elegant feeling.I would imagine it doesnt even resemble the 1984 theater that I remember.

the cinema 5 sister theater 2 blocks away was closed doen by lows cineplex

This theatre should be listed under its original name of the Meadows, or Century's Meadows if you want to include the name of the circuit that built and then ran it for many years. As the Meadows, it is mentioned in many histories of Queens as the largest theatre to be built in the borough after WWII. It was, of course, a single screen theatre when it opened and remained so for at least twenty years. I don't know the date of its first sub-division.

It's interesting to hear that the Meadows opened with a "Hollywood Preview" because it's the only place I ever saw such things, in the early 70's. Not the "previews" common today, in which a film is sneaked a week in advance of opening to build word-of-mouth, but a showing of a work-in-progress, after which the audience filled out detailed comment cards.
The Previews were a free addition after a regular Saturday night show. They were announced in an ad, but were never identified -- which made for a lot of excitement and anticipation. We never saw a classic -- the best was "The Anderson Tapes", with Sean Connery. Other films we saw previewed was a horribly depressing Australian film called "Outback" -- too bad it was several years ahead of the Aussie movoe craze -- and "Pieces of Dreams", with Robert Forster, a blah romantic drama about a priest in love. We felt a bit of parental pride when the films finally came out, several months later, knowing that our input might have affected the final cut.

I began to go to the Meadows in 1970, right after it had received a total overhaul, complete with new, larger screen (all the new features were proudly described in a big newspaper ad). How sad that the multiplexing mutilation began only a few years later. My Meadows experiences -- 1970 - 1974 -- happened because my first serious girlfriend lived on a bus route that passed the theater. Some vividly remembered movies we saw on the big single Meadows screen included Midnight Cowboy; Live and Let Die; Missouri Breaks; Ryan's Daughter; Sleeper; and Last Tango in paris.
I recall that there was a Horn and Hardart nearby where we could pick up a snack while waiting for the bus home.

The opening "preview" wasn't really to test audience reaction. It was just an advance screening of a movie that was soon due for release. In fact, "Tell It to the Judge" had already been reviewed in The Film Daily and other trade papers on November 18th, 1949.

I was 10 years old when it first opened and I remember that it was a "big deal" to go to this large modern theatre near where I lived.

According to NYC property records, the theatre has a current market value of $17.9 million, though it was as high as $19.7 million in 2002/03.

I am not sure but Thats Entertainment may have been the last movie to play here as a single screen. Sadly Loews is letting this place get run down, it used to be one of Cineplex Odeons best grossing houses outside of Manhattan.

I remember spending the afternoons at the Meadows. 90cents would get you a James Bond double feature. And how about those old soda vending machines sold by the cup. What fond memories. One of many growing up in Fresh Meadows.

THIS THEATER WAS RUN by the same manager for almost 25 years he always brought his dog to the theater .

I went here tonight to see Meet The Faukers and sadly this place is now in the dump status. On a Saturday night they had two people running a concession stand that has 6 stations. I was horrified when I entered the suditorium. The red curtains were gone only a valance on top, and you see all the masking now going all the way to the walls. The masking was so ugly, I don't know why they removed the curtains even if they did not close them. The projection was bad the picture was too far to the right leaving empty screen on the left side. The lights were also kept on trailer level through the whole feature. The theatres and restroom were clean, but the place is tired and not being kept up. For $9.00 I expected more. One last comment in the huge outer lobby there are two huge banners for the Aviator which is still playing there. They are so crooked that it was a joke. Now since those were advance teaser banners they had to be hanging there since at least October. It's appalling to think in all that time no employee thought to correct it, where are the district managers that used to always come in and look theatres over? Sadly this business is so over.

Two photographs from 1961 can be found on the Library of Congress website.

I grew up in Suffolk County, Long Island and such a movie nut,driving to "the city" as a kid, I knew we were in Queens because of the Meadows marquee. United Artist and MGM used to release films and the called their customers "Red Carpet Theatres" and the Meadows was one. One particular time I remember we drove by and they were playing Frank Sinatra in "Dirty Dingus Magee". Why I remember this stuff is a a mystery.

The manager with the dog was industry veteran Edward Bernhardt. Ed was a German raised in Palestine (Israel). I worked with him in the nineties at the Meadows when he carried photos of his deceased pooch Charlie in his wallet and showed them regularly.

Ed started as a projectionist in Israel before immigrating to New York where he had a long career with MGM, RKO Century and innevitably, Cineplex Odeon. Months before passing away he famously stated: "I have lived long enough to have seen the fall of Communism, the Berlin Wall, and Pee Wee Herman. That is enough for one lifetime."

For many of us, Ed IS the Meadows.

I moved to Bayside in 1950 from Brooklyn.

To go to the movies meant, either taking the bus to Fresh Meadows to the Meadows Theater, or to Jamaica where the prime theaters were the Loew's Valencia or the RKO Alden.

I graduated from JHS 74 (LIE and Oceana) in 1955, and the graduation took place at the Meadows Theater.

In 1962 the Century's Meadows was the Queens outlet for the first Premiere Showcase.

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I thought the Premiere Showcase concept ruined the way we saw movies. Growing up, when a movie was first released, it was shown in a first run theater in Manhattan. It was a big deal to go to "the City" to catch a movie. One would see a picture before it came to your local theater. I guess depending on its success in the first run circuit, would determine when it could start to show locally.

The Premiere Showcase concept was for a picture to open locally and not differentiate between a first run theater and a local one.

I thought the Premiere Showcase concept ruined the way we saw movies. Growing up, when a movie was first released, it was shown in a first run theater in Manhattan. It was a big deal to go to "the City" to catch a movie. One would see a picture before it came to your local theater. I guess depending on its success in the first run circuit, would determine when it could start to show locally.

The Premiere Showcase concept was for a picture to open locally and not differentiate between a first run theater and a local one.

In the introduction, "also known as" deserves to include Century's Meadows. The Century circuit built the theatre and operated it for many years...The intro is also out-dated. The other multiplex in Fresh Meadows on the opposite side of the LIE closed quite some time ago. And in today's newspapers, the theatre is advertised as the Cineplex Odeon Fresh Meadows Cinemas, with no mention of Loews.

The Meadows was actually owned and built by the New York Life Insurance Company, which then assigned the operation to Century Theatres under a longterm lease. I believe that New York Life was also owner-builder of the entire Fresh Meadows housing and shopping complex. I don't know if that ownership still applies today, or that New York Life is even still in existence.

I can't speak as to whether New York Life still owns the Meadows, but can say that New York Life does still exist.

Here are several 1949 images. The marquee used 10" and 17" silhouette letters in red and blue plastic. The piano in front of the stage might have been rented for the opening night gala. I doubt that it was a permanent fixture. During its first years, the Meadows did split weeks of double-feature programs created for the RKO and Loew's circuits. The RKO programs usually got the best playing time because they were first-run (though not exclusive) for Queens. The Loew's programs were third-run (two weeks after the Valencia and then a week after the Triboro):
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I remember when the Fresh Meadows complex was built on a golf course by NY Life in about 1947. The theater was built later. Fresh Meadows is no longer owned by NY Life.

I never knew it was built on a golf course.

The Fresh Meadows stores ran the gamut from Woolworth to Horn & Hardart to Bloomingdales. The bowling alley was the first I remember that had semi-automatic pin setters.

I never knew it was built on a golf course.

The Fresh Meadows stores ran the gamut from Woolworth to Horn & Hardart to Bloomingdales. The bowling alley was the first I remember that had semi-automatic pin setters.

Just saw the pictures of the old Meadows when it was a single-screen theatre. We would like to see some pictures of the Fresh Meadows' theatres as a multiplex now.

The color photo in the introduction shows it as a multiplex. To get photographs of the interior auditoriums, you would probably have to go there and snap them yourself (if the staff will permit). And if you do, please post them here.

I have some current exterior shots (night and day) posted below. There isn't much of interest inside the theater to capture on film - at least from a historical perspective. As has been written above, the building was gutted right to the outer brick walls for the multiplexing back in the late 80's. Only the outer lobby (basically a plain glass enclosed space) remains more or less as it was prior to the gutting. You purchase your tickets at either of two exterior booths located at the front entrance under the marquee. You then proceed into the outer lobby and a ticket taker is stationed at far left of the 2nd set of doors leading into the theater. Once beyond those doors you are in the space where the inner lobby was - which featured a large candy counter at the rear wall and a big L-shaped stair case on the right that ascended to the mezzanine.

Today, you'll find some coin-operated snack machines, a video game or two and, on the right, at least one small auditorium (I believe this is theater #1). On the left side of this street level lobby, there is a long escalator leading to an upper lobby and 2 or 3 auditoriums on that level (there is a candy counter up there as well - though it never seems to be open). Dead center is a short set of stairs that brings you down to the lower lobby and the remaining 3 auditoriums (#'s 2, 3 and 4, I believe).

The big candy counter is located in the lower lobby on the left and entrances to two mid-sized theaters are on the right. At the rear on this level is the big auditorium (#4) which occupies the space where the front of the original orchestra was located. I try to make sure the movie I want to see (and the particular showing I want to attend) is in this auditorium whenever I go to the Meadows. It has a nice sized screen and high ceiling giving the room a comfortable sense of space. At all costs, I avoid that small street level room, which is cramped with a postage stamp screen, low ceiling and a center aisle arrangement of seats, as I recall.

A problem with the theaters on the upper level is that the ONLY bathrooms in the place are located under the staircase on the lower level, meaning you have to come all the way down the long flight to street level and then down the other flight to the lower lobby and then a few steps down farther still and all the way back again for a mid-movie break. You miss a lot of action in that time!

Anyway... the exterior is largely unaltered from prior to renovations. Even the old balcony fire escapes are still there and in use - they are contained within the cream-colored protrusion at the left end of the building shown in the 2nd photo below. The signage was a bit different in the old days... the "Fresh Meadows" logos above the marquee and on the rear of the building were not there. There used to be big letters (where they green?) on the side of the building facing the Long Island Expressway that read "MEADOWS":

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such few posts on one of queens busy theaters

There are three old interior photos of the Meadows theater here and another is here and the third is here.

If you were a child in Queens in the early 70's, The Meadows
was an incredible first major motion-pic experience.
My folks tagged me along to catch Woody Allen's "Sleeper",
on a Saturday matinee. Barren house...we sat in row 6.
I loved it...couldn't bear to leave. The lunch at the
Whelan Drug counter across the street was also a fading
classic. Now it's a Radio Shack. Good grief..!

ahhh..the century meadows..spent my youth there..great memories...75 cent matinee..the horn and hardett and the Q17 bus..however, my best memory is graduating. IS 74 and Cardoza high school both had there ceremonies there..also watching every bond film from goldfinger on up to the last roger moore film..hanging out on the balcony throwing bottle rockets also was a treat..large velvet chairs and a hugh screen..those were the days...

My new Meadows Theater album includes the photos I had posted here in October plus a couple of recent night shots as well as some vintage views I purloined from Warren's post above. The old links to my shots no longer work.

All of the photos mentioned by Lost Memory on 3/6/06 seem to have been removed.

Thats why I dislike linking to photos, you never know how long the link will last. The site that hosted those photos was called "Applied Semantics". They were acquired by Google. Either the photos were taken off the site or they were moved making the links unusable.

I'm not sure if these are the same photos or not, but there are interior photos dated 1961 here and the second is here and one more is here.

hey thanks for the pics...brings back tons of memories...check out that '60s furniture..though it might be original 1949 furniture?!?!
by todays standards its very dated but back then it was the cat's tit's!!!

Thanks Lost... I'll steal those for my album too! That 2nd photo looks like the mezzanine foyer. The photos of the stairwell from both the main foyer and the mezzanine looking down are precisely how I remember the Meadows when it was a twin. The only difference was there was a candy counter under the mezzanine railing (below where those diamond shaped signs are hung). On either side of the counter was the entrance to each auditorium (as the theater had been split evenly down the middle). Up the stairs, you also had two entrances on either side of the mezzanine to the balcony of either auditorium.

Today, the place has been gutted. Only the ticket lobby is more or less the same as it was. The old staircase is gone entirely and is now where theater #1 is located. Where the candy counter was, there are now 7 or 8 steps leading down to a sunken lobby with a large candy counter against the left wall, theaters 2 and 3 off the right and at the rear the big theater 4 (occupying what was the front third or so of the original orchestra seating). The new staircase/escalator leading up to theater's 5, 6 and 7 (with their own decent sized foyer and candy counter) begins to the left of where the photographer of that 1st 1961 photo was standing.

This theatre should be listed as located in Queens.

The introductory remarks say it's in Queens. What more is needed? "Queens" is not usually used in addresses for that borough of New York City. It would just be "Fresh Meadows, NY," "Flushing, NY," "Forest Hills, NY," or whatever. The same goes for addresses on Long Island beyond Queens in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, such as "Great Neck, NY" or "Cold Spring Harbor, NY."

If you want to find fault with the address, it should be 190-02 Horace Harding Expressway South.

Horace Harding Expressway does not denote north or south..it never did..so that would be wrong also..however, the above poster is right..queens is never used in the address..it is always the city or town of the area of queens..like bayside, or rego park or corona etc etc...

Horace Harding Boulevard is now a "service road" and is on the south side of the Long Island Expressway, running parallel to it. During construction of what eventually became known as the Long Island Expressway, the new roadway was known as Horace Harding Expressway as far as the Queens border with Nassau County to differentiate from Horace Harding Boulevard. I don't think that the name "Horace Harding Expressway" is used anymore. Before the construction of the LIE, Horace Harding Boulevard started at Queens Boulevard and continued east until the city line. Some of the original Horace Harding Boulevard still exists, but most of it was demolished in construction of the LIE and connections to other fastways.

I live on bell blvd. and horace harding expressway..at least that is what the street sign says where i stand to catch the bus everyday...

The outer lanes of Horace Harding Boulevard were kept on for use as the LI expressway service roads and they remain offically named Horace Harding Expressway. NYC dept of buildings lists this theater as 190-02 Horace Harding Expressway. The signs may not indicate north or south but there are north and south sides to the expressway. There is a north service road and a south service road. Those service roads are the Horace Harding Expressway. I gave the address of 190-02 Horace Harding Expressway "South" because that is how Google maps it. Also, Google will map this theater with or without the Fresh Meadows in the address. The following address is returned:

190-02 Horace Harding Expy S
Queens, NY 11365

Actually, this is much ado about nothing.

this is much to do about nothing your right..however, the expressway and the service road are one in the same...

Maybe I wasn't clear before. The DOT marks the LIE service roads on both sides of the Long Island Expressway as the "Horace Harding Expressway" from Queens Boulevard to the city line near Lake Success. Prior to the LIE being built, the road was called Horace Harding Boulevard and before that it was known as Nassau Boulevard.

The current listing for the theatre in the NY Daily News movie clock gives an address of 190-02 Horace Harding Boulevard. Perhaps some of the old street signs for Horace Harding Expressway were never changed. Calling a service road an expressway makes no sense. Horace Harding Expressway was the name of the highway while it was under construction, which took many years. When construction started, I'm not sure that extension into Nassau and Suffolk counties was a certainty.

To add to this tempest in a teapot, all the street signs for the service road still read Horace Harding Expressway... at least from Queens Blvd east to the Nassau border. West of Queens Blvd, the service road doesn't run continuously. At some point it is called "Queens Midtown Expressway" and eventually gives way to Borden Ave which runs under the elevated LIE on its home stretch through Long Island City to the Tunnel toll booths. Out on Long Island, depending on the town, I've seen everything from N. Service Rd and S. Service Road to Powerhouse Rd, Nassau Blvd, Old Westbury Road, etc. Anyway... let's lay this one to rest, now that we've gotten completely off topic!

stop the madness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amen guys. Google, Yahoo maps, Mapquest and Rand McNally maps refuse to map Horace Harding Blvd. Instead they will convert it to Horace Harding Expressway. The DOT calls the service road Horace Harding Expressway, NYC lists this building as being on Horace Harding Expressway and I'm sure that doesn't mean this theater is located in the middle of I-495. I guess that all of those map companies and government agencies are wrong. Things must be slow on this site when we have time for a debate over a street name.

Lost... you can go over to the latest poll topic about "The DaVinci Code" and debate the subject of blasphemy if you like!

On a more topical note vis-a-vis the Meadows... I took some digital photos of a bunch of ads from the local newspapers I saved just after the murder of John Lennon. Seems at the time the Meadows Twin featured Redford's "Ordinary People" in one theater and Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories" in the other:

Daily News 12/12/80 Ordinary People
Daily News 12/12/80 Stardust

A couple of years later (the time of John Belushi's death) the twin auditoriums featured the family drama "Shoot the Moon" and the infamous Pia Zadora in "Butterfly":


NY Post 3/10/82

Love the little block of porn ads at the bottom of the page. Both the News and Post used to run these along with the mainstream ads. You just don't see that anymore (not that there are many porn theaters left in NYC).

I took a look at the poll about the Da Vinci Code. I try not to get into debates over politics or religion. I prefer to debate more important issues like street names. I haven't seen the Da Vinci Code yet but I did enjoy the prequel, Morse Code. ... --- ... LOL

like i said earlier it IS horace harding expressway..case is now closed...let's move on ..

Wow! I didn't realise I had started this. I looked up Queens, New York on Cinema Treasures. Fresh Meadows wasn't there. That was my point.

Former manager Ed Bernardt once jumped the erxpressway rail with his car and landed on a snow mound on the boulevard across from the theatre. He wasn't hurt but maybe we have the address wrong.

I managed this place for over a year and this is first time I have heard of it not being in Queens or on the Boulevard. My letterhead did not say Fresh Meadows or Expressway in the address line.

I knew that instigator, Al "it don't map" Alvarez was behind this. Relax Al, I'm just kidding. The numbers 190-02 are correct. As far as the Queens vs Fresh Meadows controversy, I have a suggestion. Why not have all NYC theater addresses listed by borough and state only instead of by town. The description could note that this theater is located in the Fresh Meadows section of Queens.

Some appellations die hard, Al... I wonder if "Boulevard" just stuck around on the theater's letterhead out of habit for many years (since at the time of the Meadows' construction in the 1940's it was surely located on Horace Harding Boulevard)? Just like how the Jackie Robinson Parkway will continue to be the "Interboro" to many folks and for many years to come. Or how I'll always remember my telephone # exchange in Elmhurst as "HAvemeyer 8" rather than "428".

As long as I've been frequenting the area (since I attended Junior High School there at I.S. 216 in 1977) it's been "Expressway". It's possible some old street signs were still in place on certain corners back in the day (you know the City), but I think they've all been replaced by now.

This topic sure has "legs", eh? I'll stop aiding and abetting now.

I have lived for over 40 yrs. in bayside (and yes our phone numbers always started with BA) and i have never seen blvd. signs..but what you said about some old signs still being around might be true..however, they would be white with blue writing because that was the queens color scheme on all road signs before all five boroughs went to the current sign color we all know today..every once in awhile i still see some old queens colored signs around..especially in quiet low density areas..

LOL.

Ok here are some Meadows stories to help put all this nastiness behind us and start some new nastiness.

Ed Bernhardt, bless his heart, a Mr. Magoo style driver, once drove (literally) into the local bank.

On my arrival in QUEENS, I asked Ed if the typical New Yorker read the New York Times. Ed responded that the "typical New Yorker could not read" and I should "stop assuming ANYONE read the New York Times".

Ed also taught me that Arabs can never anti-semetic as they are all semites.

On the opening weeks of the Cineplex Odeon Meadows, a sold out showing of THE PRESIDIO was moved from a 400 plus screen to a 200 plus screen after construction workers removed the projector while finishing ceiling drywall without telling anyone. Refunds and anger ensued.

On THX certification day, the post office heater kicked in and the whole building shook for five minutes. We failed the test.

A hot water/cold water problem caused steaming toilets and urinals for the first few weeks, a fact that perplexed locals. Oddly enough, a basement crank flushes every toilet and urinal in the building, an oddly satifying act of power for me at the time.

Although we had several 306 projectionists, only two, Sal Mancuso and Randy knew what they were doing. Randy was arrested on site one night accused of stealing an Oscar by the widow of a Manhattan retiree who won it for a 1940's film that won in all four major categories. (look that one up!)

The cinema received hate mail for NOT showing THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.

Some man called nightly for over a year to tell us he had a red bow on his head.

One Sunday night four men armed with shotguns came in the front door and robbed the manager's office while holding customers at gun-point in the lobby.

THE BLOB remake was a big hit here.

Once I went into the projection booth and could not find the projectionist. I closed a roof door that was creating a draft and went back to call the Union. They sent a replacement several hours later. The next day I found out the projectionist had wondered on to the roof for sun bathing a fallen asleep. He was fired.

Staff who caught a Yamuka wearing young man masterbating in the auditorium while watching WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? asked him to leave the theatre. To our dismay, he walked out screaming "My parents won't let me do it at home either!".

These are very amusing!!

According to advertising in today's newspapers, this theatre is now known as AMC Loews Fresh Meadows 7...The former names should include Century's Meadows, since Century built the theatre and operated it for many years. During the Century connection, I don't remember anyone calling it just the Meadows; it was always Century's Meadows, as in the similar cases of Loew's Valencia and RKO Keith's Flushing.

Saw that too, Warren. "The Meadows" might have been how folks referred the place informally, but Warren is correct that the AKA here should be "Century's Meadows" while the theater's new name is being updated. I wonder if the signage (that has been out of date for sometime) will now be updated to include the "AMC Loews" logo.

People actually used the circuit's name for "Century's" Meadows, "Loew's" Valencia, and the "RKO" Keith's Flushing? Was that a custom in Queens? In B'klyn, we cited just "the Alpine," "the Dyker," "the Albee," "the Met," etc. Certainly nobody ever said "Fabian's Fox" (poor Fabian, lost and forgotten).
Upon crossing the river to Manhattan, we Brooklynites talked about "the Palace," but curiously used the designation "Loew's State" for that flagship theater. We distinguished the "B'klyn Paramount" from its 43 Street counterpart by calling the latter the "New York Paramount," though the ads referred to it as the "Times Square Paramount."
If I had lived in Queens, I would have grown hoarse from vocalizing all those two- and three-syllable circuit names.

People actually used the circuit's name for "Century's" Meadows, "Loew's" Valencia, and the "RKO" Keith's Flushing? Was that a custom in Queens? In B'klyn, we cited just "the Alpine," "the Dyker," "the Albee," "the Met," etc. Certainly nobody ever said "Fabian's Fox" (poor Fabian, lost and forgotten).
Upon crossing the river to Manhattan, we Brooklynites talked about "the Palace," but curiously used the designation "Loew's State" for that flagship theater. We distinguished the "B'klyn Paramount" from its 43 Street counterpart by calling the latter the "New York Paramount," though the ads referred to it as the "Times Square Paramount."
If I had lived in Queens, I would have grown hoarse from vocalizing all those two- and three-syllable circuit names.

i used to say rko keith's and century meadows..but only used utopia and quad for the other two theaters i used to go to ... i guess its how i heard it as a kid so i repeated it...

Pretty Maids in a Row held the hot pants finals here :)
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Sadly the theater as It stands today is a mess.
I went there last month and It;s in dire need of a renovation of some kind. It was kinda dirty and the screen had a tear in it. The seats were broken and It had a weird smell. The picture on the screen seemed like they weren't using enough lighting amps because the image was very dark.. I noticed this many times at the theater being it's multi-plex.
I remember the Meadows in it's single and twin screen days more so the twin. I remember seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a child and all the bond fims at the time and I all the Pink Panther films there.
I remember the art deco 60's - 70's wallpaper? that was white with black drawings of movie stars heads like Elizabeth Taylor and Monroe..
It was a great theater.

I was responsible for this theatre's licenses from 1989 through early 2006 - so i know the theatre inside out.............and for extra money, I also ran lines in front of the theatre on Fr/Sa eves from approx 1995 to 1997, where I "rhymed" the movies--you know, "Bette Midler keeps the expressway clean; and at 7:00 she'll be on the screen." "'That Thing You Do' is in theatre 1; go and see it you'll have a lotta fun."....
Does anyone remember me ?
It was busy in those years, and I helped sell out a lot of weekend shows. "People are coming all the way from Manhasset, to see (whatever the movie was)...with Angela Bassett." We sold Bulk candy, coffee, and had hawking carts.
Often I was asked to chase the Mr. Softee truck away because it was said he competed with concession sales.
The Gemini Diner (later called Future Diner) next door was where a lot of managers and staff bought cheese fries. In ( i tHINK) the 1992 Presidential election, a campaigning Governor Bill Clinton visited blue collar Fresh Meadows at the Future Diner. I remember the theatre was ordered to put a "Welcome Mr. Clinton" sign on the marquee--there is a picture of that marquee somewhere. There were pictures of Bill Clinton in the diner for years afterwards. I would go in there for an occasional burger. It competed HEAVILY with concession. Many theatre customers went there over the years, getting discounts with their ticket stubs. The food was very good. And there was always some interesting altakokkas telling their life stories "at the counter" . The waiters were extremely patient and nice. It has been sadly vacant for over a year.
While i was there, Donald Trump often brought his family to the movies there, and parked his limo in the parking lot. I want to set a few things straight:
1. The certificate of occupancy address is:
190-02 Horace Harding Expressway [ although: Horace Harding BOULEVARD was strangely used for the other theatre (CINEMA 5- now demolished) on the NORTH side of the expressway.
2. The Fire Department and a lot of the Buildings Dept actually use
190-02 LI Expwy
on all other documents. It's easier to abbreviate on their computer.
3. ALL of the following are acceptable:
Fresh Meadows, NY 11364
Flushing, NY 11364,
Fresh Meadows Qns, NY 11364 (my personal favorite)
Queens, Ny 11364
Fresh Meadows is like a "subdivision" of Flushing.
4.It is now known as AMC Loews Fresh Meadows; however that name is not yet legal. That's because the advertising people who place ads in the paper don't
know the legalities. It was NEVER officially known as LOEWS. [It SHOULD be known as the AMC Cineplex Odeon Fresh Meadows. The building still bears the Cineplex Odeon sign. ]
Since 1989, one MUST include the FRESH in the name--although pre-1989 it was known as the Meadows.
I knew or worked with many of the managers there: Ed, Anthony, Joe Mc, Barry, MikeG, Darwin...even GeorgeS.
Sadly, yes, the operation has deteriorated. It is true concession is definitely underutilized, and could be a bit more sanitary. The showtimes on the mylar are so small that no one of advancing age can see them anymore. That is really sad. Escalator to theatres 5, 6 & 7 is still frequently out of order. When i went there 2 weeks ago, the elevator (down to the basement rest rooms) halted suddenly while I was in it with some other people and it scared me half to death because it felt like another car landed on top of us. I told the current manager, whom i know. I know he will fix it.
The presentation is Ok, but the vibe is not as exciting as in the past when it was always busy and selling out. I too miss the use of curtains
One last thing: i strongly disagree with the notion cited that New Yorkers don't read the NY Times, as quoted in this column as being attributed to the late former Meadows Manager Ed Bernhardt. I can attest, that many, many New Yorkers unto this day, still read the Friday NY Times and complain at the fresh Meadows if the listings are erroneous.

So how bout it ? Who remembers any of my rhymes ?
Please recite those you remember.
Tawk amongst yourselves.

Oh my god Brian.....I remember you........what took you so long tp join...........

Oh my god Brian.....I remember you........what took you so long to join...........

Brian, I can't recall your little rhyming games, but then I probably tried to steer clear of the Fresh Meadows when it was at its busiest on a Friday or Saturday night. However, we could have used you back in May when we debated the whole Boulevard vs. Expressway issue! Welcome to CT. I still enjoy attending theater #4 here when something decent is playing. I've been going to the Meadows since its earliest days as a Twin in the late '70's. Attended Jr. High at George J. Ryan just a few blocks to the west across Utopia Parkway.

hello everybody , im a supervisor at the Fresh meadows theatre and have been working there on and off since 1999. I have been enjoying your stories about the theatre. I agree with all of you of how the theatre has gone down in the past years, this is due to lack of funding by each company that has owned it and from certain mangers that will remain nameless. Just to tell you ive been trying to get the use of the curtains back for a while , but the theatre gets paid for the use of the projection slides. The theatre has gone from selling out shows all the time , to now less than 200 patrons a day. I can't tell you how many staffs ive been through here. Some mangement have tried to fix up the theatre and now we are finally getting new seating. Sadly , the dts has not been working in theatres 4 and 7 , I ,myself always put on the dts in theatre 6 , and try to put the more action oriented movies in that theatre. I ll try to keep you posted on all the happenings here. Take care from joe

joe this time off year thats about allthat theater did in a day even years ago ..............but how did it do this summer

Hey Joe... What is the seating capactity in #6? And just for comparison, how about #4? Is 6 the biggest of the upstairs theaters?

On AMC's website, this theatre is called "AMC Fresh Meadows 7", and the newspaper calls it "AMC Loews Fresh Meadows 7". I this is because Cineplex Entertainment (A Canadian company) owns the rights to the "Cineplex Odeon" name.

Another question? How did they convert this from a twin to a 7 plex?

MikeRa... The twinning of the Meadows was a simple matter of erecting a wall more or less down the middle of the old auditorium and then chopping a few of the first rows off so that the new screens could be aligned properly for projection. I'm not sure on the details about the projection booth (whether it was split or if two new booths were created), but the result was two rather narrow theaters, each with their own balcony.

The conversion in '89 to a 7-plex was a complete gut job. The theater was gutted down to bare brick walls and a new multiplex was constructed within the shell. Only the former glass-walled ticket lobby remains pretty much as it was in the old days. There's one theater at street level to your right as you walk past the ticket-taker, then 3 theater's (including the big #4) on the lower level and 3 more on an upper level. The same type of conversion happened to the Fantasy Theater in Rockville Centre. I've seen folks on this forum refer to this sort of conversion as "The Midway Treatment" (after UA's Midway Stadium 9 in Forest Hills), but I think it may have happened here and at the Fantasy before the Midway. Plus, the Midway's 9 rooms all feature stadium seating - the Fresh Meadows and Fantasy Theaters do not.

ed did you work for cineplex

Thanks. I kinda figured out about the twinning. It was the same way that William Goldman/Budco, General Cinema, and Sameric Theatres twined all thier theatres in the Philadelphia area.

Longislandmovies... Nope, never worked in the business at all. I'm just a theater enthusiast who has frequented this theater - as well as the Midway and Fantasy - both prior to and after their gut re-habs. I realized after I typed that up that the MIdway conversion didn't occur until the late 1990's ('97 I think) so the Fantasy and Meadows conversions predate that by almost a decade.

Mike... I wonder if more twin conversions took this route than the alternative method of sectioning off the balcony as a separate theater to the orchestra level. My guess is that it would be cheaper to do than having to create a new ceiling to separate the two. Of course, once you perform the work using the latter method, you're all set up to easily section off both the balcony AND the orchestra into additional, smaller theaters - as has been the case with many old theaters.

Hi Brian, good to see you on this site! I certainly remember you, your rhymes and how you managed the NYC beaurocrats with their own medicine in order to keep us open.

By 1978, the building had aquired a roof sign to direct eastbound drivers on the Long Island Expressway to the Fresh Meadows shopping precinct. The area's original anchor was a Bloomingdale's department store, later converted to a K-Mart and now a Kohl's:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/meadowsshop.jpg

next to bloomingdales on the expressway side was a horn and hardet..i worked there..around the corner from the horn and hardet on the second floor was an 8 lane bowling alley..talk about weird!!!

horn and hardet became bagel nosh and then i lost track...

The Horn & Hardart eventually became the Future Diner - where Bill Clinton made a great deal of local press when he stopped in for lunch and some remarks in 1993 shortly after his inauguration. Prior to becoming the Future, the site had been a sort of cafeteria - the sort where you slide your tray along the counter and pick out your food and then pay at the cashier before you sit and eat. As busy as the Meadows Cineplex has been and remains to be, I'm surprised that so many tenants have come and gone in this location. I think the Future Diner had one of the longest tenures here when it finally closed in 2005.

Was the bowling alley around the corner in the professional building that faces the shopping centers parking lot? I know there was a spa or fitness center here for some time and I want to say that there was also a small place (not quite a catering hall or restaurant) where they had parties (like birthdays, sweet sixteens, etc)? It's all pretty much doctor's offices and similar professional space now.

By the way, Warren, thanks for that picture... This is how I remember the Meadows best when I was a youth attending Junior High School just a few blocks away. Was there also a sign on the east wall of the theater? Before I ever saw a single movie here (or knew it was a theater) I seem to recall whenever my Dad would take us to his Uncle's house in Fresh Meadows, we'd see that sign as we approached the Utopia Ave exit from the east and that's how I knew we were there. I had never seen a sign like that annoucing a neighborhood before - sort of a poor man's version of the Hollywood sign, or so I thought when I was a tot.

you are right .. the bowling alley was in the professional building facing the parking lot...

The bowling alley was knows as the Fresh Meadows Bowl and in their time was well advanced. They had semi-automatic pin setters.

I took my son to the Fresh Meadows this evening to see "Night at the Museum" and thought I'd report on the rather shabby upkeep and presentation under AMC. We saw the film in one of the lower level mid-sized theaters (auditorium #2 to be precise) and as soon as we sat in our seats (around 5th row center in the shallow twin-aisle room) we discovered a sticky mess of a drying soda spill that had cascaded down the slope of the floor from at least a row or two behind us (and continued ahead of us for at least as many rows). This, despite the fact that the room had already been cleared out and presumably "cleaned" after the previous screening. I walked back out to the lobby and found an employee coming down the stairs from street level. I must say that after I informed him of the spill, he came quickly with a mop to attend to the mess.

I'd say about 40 or 50 folks were in attendance for the 4:30pm showing in a space that holds 275. While there were a few children in attendance, the majority of the audience appeared to be senior citizens, presumably from the surrounding development for which the theater is named. Curiously, we sat for about 15 minutes staring at a blank screen with only the sound of muffled conversation in accompaniement. No piped in music, and stranger still, no slide-projected advertisements. With the house lights on full power, the "show" began with one of those paper-bag-puppet Fandango spots during which the projector shut down for a few moments before springing back to life - as if someone tripped over the power supply by accident and scrambled to plug it back in. The screen remained masked at 1.85:1 throughout the commercial spots and coming attractions - including for the two trailers that were shown at scope ratio (2.35:1) reduced to fit within the side masking, but leaving an unmasked strip of blank screen along the top edge. Very poor marks for that! But I suppose, since the feature was not in scope, that elminates the need to open the side masking for just those two trailers before closing it again for the main attraction.

The lights finally went down for the movie itself, although it was clear to me that the projection overshot the screen masking by a good couple of feet along the bottom edge and at least a foot on either side (this was apparent during the trailers as well). When we exited the auditorium, the garbage cans at either end of the exit doors were overflowing, leaving folks to deposit their refuse along a small ledge that ran about half way up the wall.

Is this par for the course at AMC? I don't really recall Loews Cineplex running the show this poorly here. It reminded me more of how UA ran many of its theaters into the ground during the '80's and '90's.

Anyway... I didn't see Lost Memory's usual C/O research and seat counts here, so I take it upon myself to present the following:

11/28/49 (Total 2184 persons)
- 1st floor - Lobby, Foyer & Standee Space and Theater with max persons of 1632
- Mezzanine - Lounge & Toilets
- Balcony - Theater with max persons 552

4/21/81 (Total 1988 persons)
Same basic layout as above but listing Theater I and Theater II as having identical respective capacities of 729 persons in the orchestras and 265 persons in the balconies. By the way, the date of completion for the work to divide the theater, as per this C/O, is 5/7/79, which gives us a good idea as to when the theater was re-opened as a twin.

8/25/88 (Total 1950 persons)
The gut job. Toilets are now in the cellar only, with a lobby and 3 theaters at basement level, lobby and 1 theater at 1st floor level and 3 theaters on the 2nd floor:
Bsmt Theater 1 - max 420 persons
Bsmt Theater 2 - max 275 persons
Bsmt Theater 3 - max 275 persons
1st Fl Theater 4 - max 155 persons
2nd Fl Theater 5 - max 250 persons
2nd Fl Theater 6 - max 250 persons
2nd Fl Theater 7 - max 325 persons
FYI... the theater numbers given on the C of O as listed above do not correspond with the way the theater actually numbers the auditoriums. I know that the small street level theater is actually numbered Auditorium 1, and the Bsmt theaters are numbers 2, 3 and 4 (the largest of these is #4). I'm not sure how the upstairs theaters are numbered, so I don't know which has the larger capacity.

I use to work at Meadows. I started back in the mid 90's as an usher and eventually moved up to Assistant Manager (at the time Brian was a caller, and yes I do remember him and his catch phrases).

When I started working at Meadows, Joe McManus was the head manager. He was eventually replaced by Anthony Sauter.

Eventually I was transfered over to Cinema City 5, a/k/a Cinema 5, a/k/a C5, and worked as an assistant manager under Daniel Tully. After about a year, he left and was replaced by Indra Gierdharie. Around 1999, Indra got promoted to a position in the 42nd street theatre, and I was then moved up to Head Manager ("Managing Director") of C5. I held that position for about 2 years until I left to focus on Law School. I was replaced by Darwin as Managing Director of C5 I believe.

Projectionists I remember from Meadows were Sal, Fred and Bill.

The Projectionist at C5 were Alan Berkowitz, Simon, and (Sydnie I think that's it).

Theater 7 has the largest capacity on the second floor

Ed, regarding your post of January 13, when I ran the Meadows the maskings had to moved manually. We used to set them up every Thursday night for the coming show. It is a shame that no one even bothers now.

The Meadows, opening day newspaper ad and a daytime shot soon after re-opening as a Cineplex Odeon multiplex.

http://preview.aalvarez733.photosite.com/album2/scan00251.html

There is a glimpse of the Meadows from 1958 in the center image at the top of page 10 in the Fresh Meadows section of the queenspix.com website. The image ID is FRES137.

This theater had great potential. But it's current state, at its worst, is quiet sad. The only theater were I walked out in the middle due to horrible presentation problems.

Before walking out, I hope that you complained to management and asked for a refund. If you didn't, you should have, because problems like that will continue and probably get worse if patrons don't speak up.

Here are new links to vintage images:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/meadowsopener.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/137-3702_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/137-3709_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/137-3705_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/meadowsshop.jpg

The "James Bond" theater! It was always first run for all the James Bond films....It was twice as far away as our local Jamaica Avenue theaters, but if you wanted to see a first run flick, this is where you had to go!

That might have been true of the Bond films, since UA seemed to favor the Meadows for its "Premiere Showcase" releases in Queens, but surely you could see other first-run movies in Jamaica at Loew's Valencia and the RKO Alden into the 1970s. Possibly also at the Merrick, which closed prior to the Valencia and Alden.

From 1967-1971 I attended the Delehanty High School; 93-01 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica, NY 11432, 112 feet from the Valencia in Jamaica. By that time, Jamaica was a pretty awful place to walk around or to shop. If you could park, it was a couple of blocks away at a municipal parking lot just north and east of Merrick Road and Jamaica Avenue. By the late 60's, early 70's, it was not someplace that parents sent their kids to for entertainment on a Saturday afternoon. The clean, sfae, "new", modern Meadows was within bicycle range of home (which was Bellaire (now Queens Village)) in a perfectly safe neighborhood... and later, when I started driving, it had it's own safe, free parking. There were also options for after-cinema burgers, etc. by the Meadows. In the early 70's, no one in their right mind would be caught in Jamaica after sundown.

When Century's Meadows opened it was a big deal. There had been no theatres built since WWI particularly one that seated 2,200. Would you believe I remember the original phone number AXtel 7-2700. The opening was really something with a number of Hollywood stars in attendance, I remember seeing the newsreel of the event at a local Century theatre. I believe one of the celebs was Linda Darnell.

I remember the weekly Century theatre guide mailed so my home had the image of a pair of binoculars with the caption "Watch for Century's Meadows".

I think that you mean "since WW2," not WW1. A number of large theatres with 2,000 seats or more were built in Queens between 1918 and 1941. The largest was Loew's Valencia in Jamaica, which opened in January, 1929, and had about 3,500 seats. The last large theatre built in Queens prior to the USA entering WW2 was the Midway in Forest Hills, which opened in 1942 and was about the same size as the post-war Meadows.

Thanks Warren I did mean WWII. My skills need sharpening I keep erasing things. And on the subject of post WWII theatres, the only one built, other than in conjuction with the Roosevelt Field and Green Acres shopping centers, was the Shore in Huntington. All four were Century.

Why are there advertisements in the New York Daily News and Post for a showing of 1963's "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" showing Sunday at the Fresh Meadows multiplex at 1 pm. There are no listings for it on fandango.com. Did somebody rent out the theater for some reason?

It's really been bothering me that in my post of Sept 26, 2006, I gave the wrong zip code for Fresh Meadows. It is actually 11365. I am so embarassed because i was trying to provide THE LAST WORD on the theatre's address, and i said 11364 not once, but THREE TIMES! Will you all forgive me?

Ah, what a catharsis to finally confess my error!