Sun Sing Theatre
75-85 E. Broadway,
New York,
NY
10002
75-85 E. Broadway,
New York,
NY
10002
4 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Meyer & Schneider
Firms: Groneberg & Leuchtag
Previous Names: Florence Theatre, New Strand Theatre, New China Theatre, New Canton Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This theatre was located under the Manhattan Bridge. The Florence Theatre was opened May 13, 1921. By 1926 it was operated by the Meyer & Schneider circuit. Originally screening Italian and English language films, it closed sometime around 1934. It reopened in 1935 as a Chinese theater, which operated under several names. It closed around 1995, and was demolished in 1998.
Contributed by
OttoBurger
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Recent comments (view all 20 comments)
@ Warren G. Harris, your 3 picture links posted in 2008 are not viewable. PHOTO BUCKET MESSAGE: Page not found But now that you’re here, go ahead and search through the billions of photos, images and videos on Photobucket. If you can post links again it would be greatly appreciated. That movie house was one of the many my friends went to in the 60’s and 70’s.
I read an article in the December 3 1923 New York Times that the receipts were stolen by two “Highwaymen”. The receipts were from the Florence theater on West Broadway and the Atlantic Gardens theatre on the Bowery. They hijacked the taxi cab which was carrying the couriers to deposit the money in the safe at the Delancey Street Theater on Orchard Street.
I also read of a Florence Theater on 331 or 321 Bowery Street if anyone has any info on this,it seems interesting. I did a zip code check and nothing turned up on 10002, thanks.
FatMan, if you read previous posts you will find your answer.
Thanks for the photo, LostMemory, wherever you are.
Does anybody know anything about the Smith or Seeburg-Smith theatre pipe organ that used to be installed at the New Strand Theatre in New York City?
inspectorcollector, do you know anything about this organ?
According to “The Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ” by David L. Junchen, pg. 630, the “New Strand Th.” had a Smith theatre pipe organ installed in 1916. No other details (such as size of the organ, blower info etc) were known at the time of the book’s publication. The only other info given in the entry is that the theatre was “Located at 78 East Broadway” and so must have been this same theatre.
Does anybody know more about this organ and where it (or its parts) is/are today? Thanks!
Yes, this was the third Chinese movie theater…where I spent hours whiling away the time. You could hear the train pass by frequently. Plenty of leg space, double bills. Politically incorrect films that would shock the non-Chinese. They did a slow-motion rape scene.
The September 4, 1920 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide had a short article saying that the City of New York had granted a twenty year lease on a plot of city-owned land under the Manhattan Bridge to developer Henry E. Jacobs.
Jacobs planned to erect a two-story store and showroom building along the East Broadway frontage, which would include an entrance for a moving picture theater that would occupy the remainder of the plot. The entire project was being designed by architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag. The theater was to be leased to the Florence Theatre Corporation, also for a term of twenty years.
Two views of the site, now a market, can be viewed in this recent article about Market Street
The Florence opened on May 13, 1921 with Pauline Fredrick in “The Mistress of Shenstone.” The under-bridge structure was a multi-purpose addition to an existing building of which the Florence Theatre cost $120,000 to build. Purportedly, the name “Florence” was chosen to mesh with the Italian-centric venue’s clientele. Early ticket sales led to unwanted clientele. The 1,200-seat Florence Theatre was consistently robbed and lots of unsavory activity, to boot. The worst such case of robbery was its fifth in two years on September 23, 1925 when nitro blew a hole in the theatre causing $15,000 and a closed for repairs sign. The most brutal crime was that of patron Herman Kellerman who was gunned down exiting the theatre. That was said to be a gang-related hit in retaliation for the Johnny Spanish gang-related murder in which Kellerman was acquitted… but had a price on his head after leaving the courtroom, according to reports.
The Florence was wired for sound to remain competitive. It had a confectionery selling all forms of candy as the Florence’s de facto concession stand. The theatre booked Paramount Studio productions in a block booking arrangement. The Florence closed during the Depression - likely 1934 - with the neighborhood decidedly Asian. And Italian and English-language films just weren’t cutting it. The trade press purports that Toy Kin-Lee took on the venue renaming it as the New China Theatre in 1935 and then it was purportedly renamed as the New Canton Theatre in 1942. The latter mixed in live Chinese music and live plays, as well.
In 1950, Sun Sing Chinese Theatres Inc. took on the venue on a new leasing agreement with Kung Dee King ordering a major refresh that took seat count from 1,200 to under 1,000. It also came with a name change to the Sun Sing Theatre. In 1953, the venue played 3D films - notably The Gold Hunt / Fortune Hunters (Taojin ji) and A Woman’s Revenge (Yunü Qingchou). In 1954 the Sun Sing went widescreen to present 1.85:1 films with Kin-Lee apparently back operating the venue.
The venue thrived in the chopsocky era of the 1970s. It had its last wave of dollars with the Hong Kong New Wave lasting into the 1990s. It was the site of a major riot in October of 1976 in which - it was claimed in court - that there were more gang members than non-gang patrons. Seems highly possible. Based on nothing other than leasing, the theatre may have closed in 1995. The building was definitely demolished in 1998 but, when the walls collapsed during that project, three workers were trapped inside and injured.