RKO Bushwick Theatre

Several scenes from the 2001 film 'Pootie Tang' were shot in front of the Bushwick Theatre

Last summer,end of August/beginning Sept./ me & 2 friends were able to get in.It was like we were in some Indiana Jones movie as it was like an ancient tomb.Unfortunately a lot of the interior was gutted out due to it being converted to a High School.I got video of the remains of the proscenium though the sides were destroyed.My first video was not so good but the next week I got better video though there was more destruction.But I did get some digital camera stills & video of the magnificent ceiling.How sad that this beautiful interior was being destroyed.This was one of the most beautiful theaters ever made. Ironically, in the weeks before,I was looking forward to the 90th anniversary of its grand opening in 1911-September,11th,2001 !

This looked to be a once-grand place. I wish there were pictures of the theater in it hey day. I think they made it into offices or something.

Last time I was there, it was still a closed down dump.

Can anyone provide the video he was talking about or any images of the exterior or interior?

HMm I have just found a site with some exterior pics:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/RKO%20Bushwick/RKO.html

I always meant to post this ironic story on this page. I used to have a friend and his dad was a policeman in Bushwink during the turbulant late 60's. Alot of times my friend would go with his father to work and spend the entire day seeing the movies at The RKO Bushwick, Loews Gates and Monroe which were all within a few blocks of each other. One day he told his father he wanted to see the films at the Bushwick and his father said no, there was too much going on in the area right now and it was not a good idea. After his father left for work, he took the train there himself and went to see a double bill of Gypsy and Music Man. When he came out of the theatre there were police, ambulances and fire trucks all over the place. During the 5 hours of fantasy he had no idea that racial tensions had flared up and fires were being set all over to burn down Bushwick. Ah those great old musicals !!!!!!!!!1

The Bushwick was built by showman Percy Williams with William McElfatrick as architect, and first opened on September 11, 1911, as a vaudeville house. A year later, Williams sold it to Keith's, which explains how it eventually became part of the RKO circuit. By today's standards, the auditorium was very old-fashioned, with boxes overlooking the stage and a painted mural on the ceiling over the stage. In 1926 and again in 1929, it had some alterations done by Thomas W. Lamb. In 1938, more "streamlining" was done by Max Weinberger. The Bushwick closed around 1969 and then served as a church before being abandoned.

I was in the Bushwick Theatre about a month after the Sept. 11 attacks on the Trade Center. It was on a Sunday and I was admitted to see what was behind the walls of this once magnificent theatre. A B.F.Keith's theatre before going RKO. After use as a film house in 1968/9 it was in use as a church but never converted to office building. The foreman said to be careful as interior demolition was in progress and not to step off the stage. Sun streamed in from where the exit doors were on the upper balcony levels, the middle balcony had been 1/2 way demolished and the box seats were also gone. the upper (2nd balcony) was intact minus seating. The proscenium arch was partially demolished but the centerpiece of the arch (a goddess) was still in place. Even though the theatre was in bad shape prior to interior demolition, enough was there to put it back together again. In a movie called "The Believers" with Martin Sheen, an exorcism scene was filmed inside the Bushwick Theatre showing Robert Loggia in the lobby and the the derelict interior of the orchestra and stage (where the exorcism took place). The exterior of the building is also seen. On that Sunday, 90 years after the Bushwick opened, I wept as I took some of the last pictures from the stage that was once trodden by the likes of Moe & Shemp Howard of "The Three Stooges" fame and others. I also left with a piece of plaster from the proscenium arch. The ceiling was still intact at this time. I did jump off the stage and roamed the entire orchestra level of the building. The distinct facade of the Bushwick, the most ornate of any Brooklyn Theatre is to be restored as part of the school facade. At least the exterior will survive.

The RKO Bushwick Theatre is located at 1936 Broadway.

Orlando could you snd the pictures to sn@snweb.org ? I would like to see them if you wouldn't mind

Orlando, I would also love to see these photos if you also if you don't mind can sen me those pics at savsavage1970@aol.com

Need to update the address on the Bushwick as posted by William on Feb. 27.

Hi, All, some good new and bad news on this theater. In the last two years the ciy took over the theater and rebuilt the entire thing, but saved the outside and the facade which have gotten a face lift and looks great. The bad new is the city took it over and opened up as a public school as a the Bushwick High School for Social Justice. It opened for the first time this semester. We can thank the city for saving the building and the outside facade. It looks beautiful. But unfortunate, not having been inside, I am sure the inside was completely changed.

One other thing, I will go back there in the next week with a digital camera with updated pictures of the place.

Orlando, I also would like to see the pictures that you took. Could you send them to aliggio@yahoo.com? Thanks! And as I said, I send a picture of the new high school.

hey Ligg send me some pics, email is above

To all who would like to view the Bushwick Theatre photos, I don't have the capabilities to scan and submit photos through the internet or to this site for viewing. From time to time I give slide lectures where I show the Bushwick interior demolition slides. There are more than a dozen photos of the interior. I am in the process of putting all my theatre photos on to a yearly disc at this time. As I become more familiar "procedures of scanning photos", I will be happy to share my photos with all of you then.

Just found this web site, so let me add my two cents. First some corrections for the record. The address of the Bushwick Theater is 1396, not 1936, Broadway, Brooklyn. It is now the home of the ACORN High School for Social Justice, which is one of the new smaller high schools being created by the City. Its focus is on community service and themes of social justice interwoven into the curriculum. The school will be celebrating its opening at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, March 30, at 4:00 pm. As the owner of the building, I tried to preserve as much as I could, but the interior was shot. Only the exterior could be saved, and unfortunately, much that was unique and beautiful had been destroyed before I purchased the building in 2000. Nevertheless, the preservation of the exterior and the transformation of the building from a derelict hulk to a proud community facility is a gleaming symbol of the revitalization of the Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant commmunities that it is a part of.

Getz,
You owned the building? Is the city renting from you? One of the men from the Mason hall gave me the info I posted, that the school opened this semester. Is the city renting the building from you or were you a victim of eminent domain?

Do you have pictures of the old interior that could be sent via e-mail. All of us on here would love to see them. Is there anything left of the interior incorporated into the school?

Adam

Adam

I am leasing to the city. I do not have pictures of the interior prior to construction, as the interior was too dark to shoot. The ceiling did have a spectacular plaster winged angel that was too delicate to save. The rest was a soggy ruin. A photographer named Larry Racioppo may have interior shots. He can be contacted via the Brooklyn Public Library's website, which describes a photography exhibit of his work last fall that included this building, among others. There ws unfortunately nothing of the old interior that could be incorporated into the school.

Can I ask you, what made you buy the building in the first place. Did you get for a steal?

I am sure you could have gotten Magic Johnson theaters to look at it and open a theater and renovate. He opens theaters in Black Neighborhoods like Harlem and South Central LA. But I guess it is too late for that.

I think the Gates is still available and in alot better condition.

Not too many years ago, Magic Johnson was supposed to take over the ex-Loew's Kings in Brooklyn, but he never did, so I wouldn't count on him coming to the rescue of the Bushwick or any other old theatres worthy of preservation.

That would have been a disastor cutting up the Kings, I remember him saying he was also going to open a theatre in Jamaica which never haoppened until Redstone came in 2 years ago.

While it's sad that the old Bushwick theater could not be preserved as a theater, and the interior was too far gone to have any relic remain, much thanks to "getz" and the city for at least preserving the exterior and the theater is not lost completely like so many others.

I had just seen the interior of the Bushwick Theater in "The Believers". It must have been filmed there in the mid to late 80's. I recommend the movie to anyone who wants to see the interior, till some other photos are available. The theater appeared very intact in the late 80's according to what it looked like in the movie, although of course in compelete shambles. In the movie some cult had preformed human sacrafices on the stage. It really is a good movie.
Wouldn't it have been nice and ironic had they restored the theater to movies, and the first movie to be shown there was "The Believers". Oh well, at least it is still standing, even if for a high school.

Here's a more current photo of the RKO Bushwick Theater that I had taken last July from the rear of a J train at the Gates Ave station.
http://www.transitgallery.com/showpic.php?uuid=27&aid=47&pid=10293

More images of the RKO Bushwick :

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?25755
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2637

In Image 25755 it is just above the elevated J train, and in Image 2637 it is just above the far end of the silver QJ train.

The roofline of the Colonial Theater at 1746 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY is visible in both of these images near the vanishing point. The Colonial once stood at Broadway and Rockaway Avenue, two el stations into the distance in the above two images. The building was still there as of April 30, 2004 when I last observed it. I do not know what it is now used for. A rectangular frieze surmounted by two stone lanterns remains atop the brick facade, visible above the
Rockaway Avenue end and exit of the Chauncey Street el station, and was probably once the entrance.

The Colonial is used as an evangelical church. Much of the interior is still intact, but re-decorated in different colors from the original, which was nothing to get very excited over. It was always just a plain, neighborhood theatre, originally built by the S&S Circuit (Small & Strausberg), which was later acquired by William Fox and eventually spun into the Randforce Circuit. The Colonial was situated at 1746 Broadway and had 2,222 seats, according to the 1944 Film Daily Year Book, which I believe is a bit exaggerated. I would guess 2,000 at most.

Thank you, Warren. Do you know of an outdoor theater nearby, consisting of a vacant lot or block, screen (perhaps a wall of the Colonial ?)and projectionist's booth, that operated in the 1920's and 1930's ? My father, born 1919, grew up in the neighborhood, and remembers this.

The Decatur was an even smaller theater that once stood not far away at 1674 Broadway, near Decatur Street. I think it has since been demolished.

The roofline of the Colonial Theater at 1746 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn, NY is also visible in these images near the vanishing point :

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26237
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26236
http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26417

In image 26237 the roofline of the Colonial is visible between the top of the front of the train and the "square head and shoulders" apt. bldgs in the distance. It appears below these two apt. bldgs. in the other two images.

I am not sure, but that might be the Monroe Theater, at 4 Howard Avenue, near the RKO Bushwick, in the upper right quadrant of image 2637, above the platform canopy, the near end of the silver train, and the person on the platform. I mean the long building with the peaked roof, two rows of windows, and a water tower at each end.

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2637

The RKO Bushwick itself is above the far (front) end of the departing silver train in this image.

Parts of the film "The Believers" with Martin Sheen and Robert Loggia were shot in the Bushwick.

Small History:
3.Bushwick (sc.2,236)
1396 Broadway
opening date: September 11, 1911 by Percy Williams
B.F. Keiths Bushwick 1912-1930
R.K.O. Bushwick 1930-1969 (closed converted to church)
Vacant since 1973,interior demolished 2000 for school

Pictures of the complete facade restoration I have found:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Yup, the theater has really shaped up.
Images #3, 4, and 5 above are mine. I took them in the middle of July. The building has really shaped up quite nicely.

"I am not sure, but that might be the Monroe Theater, at 4 Howard Avenue, near the RKO Bushwick"

There is not a posting yet for the Monroe, I met the last owner of the theatre once. When he had it they were running porno.

Does that building that may have been the "Monroe Theater" still exist? I can't remember if I ever had seen that building, and it looks too tall for me to have missed it.
Robert, (or anyone), if you know anything at all about the Monroe Theater if it's not listed here, it's easy to add a listing to this site, just click "add theater". All you really need is the address and name, but of course it's nice if you know a little about it to put in the description, but not mandatory, people can just add stuff as we go along.

I grew up going to the RKO Bushwick, Loews Gates and the Monroe. The RKO was exceptional with a huge spiral Marble stair case, dual Balconies and red velvet seats. I remember Jerry Lewis and the Three Stooges coming in person to open films at the Bushwick Theatre. The Monroe Theatre is closed, but the building is still there. I distinctly remember seeing the village of the damned at the Monroe. It was a spartan theatre. The cafeteria on the corner is now a junk yard.
There was an attempt to use the RKO as a church but it failed very quickly. I dont know the date the RKO closed, I was away at college. I was told buy Joseph Brooks of the New York Landmarks commission that Cary Grant was on a Vaudeville circuit that included the RKO, so there is a good chance he performed there asa juggler. I imagine Jackie Gleason probably performed there, he would dropp in on his old neighborhood from time to time. There was a pool hall a few blocks from there were he would occasionally play pool. He had some friends who became Policemen whom he would visit (81st precinct). I believe once he brought Frank Sinatra.
I found a 1937 program on line for the RKO Bushwick. The weekly door prize was $3,000.00 and Guy Lombardo was the main act.
The thing I remember the most about the Bushwick was Sloppy Joe's across the street ,next to the toy store. It was great, you got a Root Beer, Hamburger and fries for forty cents. And on the way home we would stop at Cheap Charlies and buy nickel and penny toys.

Thanks Apollo of all the great comments about the area theaters. I believe the church that originally set up in the RKO Bushwick is the same organization that eventually moved into the Loews Gates when that theater became available. I forgot the reason, but think it was because the Loew's Gates was either bigger, or because the Gates was in better shape at the time. A shame they didn't stay in the RKO, as it was such an ornate theater, and it would still be preserved today. However, it may have been a sacrifice for the Gates, because that may be the theater that is gutted and a school now. Either way, I am happy that the Bushwick's building still stands, even if the interior is gutted.
As for the Monroe, is the building I speculated to be the Monroe's building (in the Monroe theatre section of this site) the Monroe theater?
I narrowed it down to the white building to the right of RKO Bushwick (with the tree up against it), next to the vacant lot with the cars in this photo I took from the Gates Ave el station back in 2003.
Here is the link to the photo I took of the Bushwick, with what I think is the monroe to the right of it, across the street.

Apollo, thanks for posting all your great memories. Jackie Gleason was partly inspired by amateur nights at the Halsey Theater, 928 Halsey Street, between Saratoga Avenue and Broadway. I think he performed there on amateur nights also. I think the address on his mother's death certificate was 357 Chauncey Street.

Bway, the Cinema Tour listing you sent me last April gives the address of the Monroe Theater as 4 Howard Avenue. It should be a simple matter to check what block that address is on.

Apollo, I can taste the french fries now and the root beer. That place, across from the Bushwick had the best fries and hamburgers. I saw the Dave Clark Five when their movie Catch Us If You Can opened. it must have been 1964 or 65. I went with my aunt to see all the Jerry Lewis movies and of course the Ten Commandments.
The Bushwick sat vacant for years. It was also used for R&B concerts starring Jackie Wilson, George Clinton and Parliment and Joe Tex. Vandals and druggies killed it's interior. It fell victim to fire and neglect. I passed this beauty weekly and hoped it would be resuced. I hoped a grant from some foundation would save it. Finally I discovered it was purchased. yes it's a school. I wonder if the kids realize what really happened on this site. For years the ad promoting vaudeville was visible on the side of the building. In the high school directory it mentions that Mae West played here, maybe even George Burns. What history.
Rose

"You can almost taste the hot dogs and french fries they sell ... under the boardwalk ..." (The Drifters)

Or, in this case, under the el ...

Thanks again, Rose. My dad (born 1919)remembers the likes of Mae West and George Burns, and other live vaudeville, at the RKO Bushwick.

My goodness, you guys are making me want to go back in time and really visit Broadway! The hamburgers sound so good.
Anyway, a little of trivia speaking of the RKO Bushwick and Mae West. Mae West is buried in the mausoleum in Cypress Hills Cemetery - Just down the J train from the RKO Bushwick....

Thanks, Bway. I have read that Mae West was originally from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, lived in the Brooklyn Manor section of Richmond Hill, and used the Rockaway Line LIRR station of that name to get into Manhattan quickly. Also that she liked to eat at the Triangle Hofbrau in Richmond Hill.

"It's not the men in my life, it's the life in my men !"

"Hey, big boy, are ya glad ta see me, or is that just a pickle in your pocket ?"

The architectural credit for the Bushwick is backwards. McElfatrick, one of the greatest and most influential theatre architects of his time, designed it. Lamb was barely known then and just starting his career. He had no connection with the theatre until 1929, when he did some interior renovations for the newly formed RKO Theatres, successor to Keith's ownership of the Bushwick.

Before I go I have to tell you all that Mae West is one of my favorites. She also lived on Bushwick Ave. I went to L.A. this summer, yes I'm star struck and I took this trip to pay my respects to Jack Benny, Lucy, Mae West and Laurel and Hardy. I tracked down Mae's apartment in the Ravenswood Apartments in Hancock Park. I kept thinking about a Brooklyn girl doing her thing back in the days. I plan to visit her in Cypress Hills too! Just a little aside.
Rose

Rose, do you know where on Bushwick Avenue Mae West once lived ? My dad once lived at 1454 Bushwick, between Chauncey and Pilling Streets, in 1945.

Peter K.

Peter, I'm not sure but I'll try to find out. Any excuse is good for me to do research.
Rose

Thanks, Rose. The latest comments on the RKO Madison Theater page are about Mae West once having performed at a theater at Bushwick and Euclid Avenues, which makes no sense.

Here's a current view of the old RKO Bushwick Theatre taken today.

Click Here for Link

The theater is now gutted for a school as you all know, but is in excellent condition.

nice pic, except for those 2 golden arches!

Hi Neo, the only reason I took that photo with the arches is beacause I was taking the photo as an "after" shot to compare to a "before" shot that a friend of mine has from the 70's when the building where Mc Donalds is now still took up that corner, right up the the sidewalk. I am standing in the exact spot the 1970's photo was taken from, and wow, what a difference. Garbage, graffiti, refrigerators, and abandoned cars are everywhere in the 70's photo, and the boarded up building to the right too....
Here's a current photo without the arches:

Click here for photo

Thanks, Bway. I had the same thought about the golden arches being in the way. But thanks for posting your rationale for that photo's vantage point !

Wow, what a difference a few years makes, I found this photo on the web. I don't know how old the photo is:
Click here, you won't believe it

Oh by the way, the site I put all my photos on of the various Bushwick and Ridgewood Theaters last week is having technical difficulties, so if you click on any of my photos, they will not come up. The webmasters claim they will be up again shortly, so please try again later if you have problems with my Sept 22 or Sept 24 link above, or any of the other theaters I added photo links on this site to.

Yes, how things DO change with time, sometimes even for the better !
Thanks for posting that.

Thanks for the heads-up on the site your recent photos are on. I'm glad I printed them when I did. My dad very much enjoyed them.

When can we expect an image of the Halsey Theater as it is now ?

Ah, my photos seem to be back up again. The webmasters said they may go on and off for a bit, but as of now they are working.
Anyway, I may get over to Bushwick some time in October, so I'll keep you posted the current shots of theaters I forgot the last time, like the Empire and the Halsey, etc.

The Halsey is gone, I think the Empire is gone too. The Halsey was knocked over in the fifties unless I'm mistaken.

There have been recent comments by "Apollo" on this site about the Empire, at Ralph and Lexington Avenues and Broadway, still being there, now in use as a church.

The Empire does indeed still exist, see the Empire's section for a photo taken yesterday:
http://www.cinematreasures.org/theater/7294/

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/RKO%20Bushwick/RKO.html

This page of Forgotten New York features a shot of the RKO Bushwick with its marquee intact.

This marquee was so unusual the way it protruded from the corner of the building. Was this the same one the theatre had until it closed?

Hi everyone here is a little story i will pass on the my fellow rko bushwick lovers.Back in the early 60's i lived on harmon and centeral ave although just a youngster i use to go to the rko bushwick with my cousins that lived in the same tenament as me.
One time when i was suppose to be watching the movie i snuck way up into the very heart of the movie theatre friends i had made a pilgrimage to the "projection booth"well i was simply stunned i remember at the time i was in awe as to what i was seeing!Hoping i wouldn't be discovered i keept still as i watched the movies reels go round and round all of a sudden i heard some one say Hi may i help you i knew i had been discovered.Well i went back to the movie i remember it was house on haunted hill and i remember thay had rigged up a dummy skeleton and it was a guide wire and it flew from the front of the theater to the rear and everyone was screeming,how funny it seems now.Well as time passed i was always fasinated as to what i had seen in that projection booth so many years before that later on in life about when i made it to high school i knew that thats what i wanted to do and to day at 51 yrs old i have been a projectionist for the last 30 years.So the RKO Bushwick was a very special for me and in my heart.I am going to try and see if i can find any of the union projectionists that werked that theatre in the 60's with some luck mybe thay might share some storys and history not redaly known,and mybe some cool pics

joe matteo

I don't think that was the same marquee the theatre had until it was closed. I have lived in Bushwick all my life (I'm only 24), so I obviously was not around when the RKO was open. But I remember this building and its' marquee, thinking the marquee would fall at any moment. That's how messed up it looked. I do remember that the marquee was somewhat smaller, a while before the theatre was turned into a high school. It was also ruined through the wear and tear and neglect through the years. From what I can recall the marquee had the RKO sign on both sides of it. The RKO sign was formed out of light bulbs, forming the signs. I remember seeing garbage atop of the marquee from the J train EL and from the street level as well. This is probably going back to around 1992-93, from what I can remember. I also recall seeing the theatre in a movie called "The Believers". The inside was shown as well as the outside of it. I would like to see that film again just to see the theatre somewhat intact. My mom went to that theatre around the late '60s and said it was very nice looking inside. She also mentioned the Loews Gates being one of the other theatres in the area she'd go to. If anyone is interested I have a crazy, spooky looking picture of the RKO Bushwick at night being renovated around 2002, 2003 during the
winter that I can share.

By the way, does anyone have any old shots of the RKO Bushwick besides the ones already seen on this site? (perhaps from the 60s, '70s, 80s) Any photos would really by a delight to see.

My e-amil address is juniorstar23@hotmail.com

Percy Williams and William McElfatrick built the Bushwick.

I was born on Bushwick Ave in 1948. Went to PS24 on Beaver Street.
I also remember seeing House on Haunted Hill at the Bushwick Theater.
I remember when the skeleton came across the theater on the wire all you would hear is paper clips and Red Devil candy bouncing off it.
We would also frequent the Loews (then pronounced Loweees)Gates.
There was also the RKO Madison further down B'way and still further,
right on my corner was the Rogers Theater. Anyone remember that
place? Park Ave and Broadway.

The photos of this former theatre are fascinating! It had such an ornate facade that has all been removed or covered today!

The bushwick? It looks entirely intact except for the circle on the point and the brick. I wonder why they got rid of that seal.

Brian: That was my exact thought....why get rid of that seal. Do you know what was on the seal or if there was any wording? After looking at the present day photo it looks like a good job was accomplished in preserving the building, but keeping the seal and perhaps some of the ornate and elaborate exterior design would have been a nice touch!

I'm for educating our youth, but why this Lamb theatre!?!

Quote:
Brian: That was my exact thought....why get rid of that seal.

The only thing missing from the fasade of the RKO Bushwick is the marquee and that little round window up top. The theater was in complete shambles. In photos I have seen from before the construction began, while it was abandoned, the ornamentation around that little round window were already damaged and gone.

Quote:
I'm for educating our youth, but why this Lamb theatre!?!

I agree, but unfortunately the theater was a wreck before the construction began. Years of abandonment and neglect had taken it's toll. The roof and theater were all open to the elements, and water found it's way in. The interior was in pretty sorry shape.
I hate to see it gone as a theater, but it was either something like this, or we could be taking photos of an empty lot. This is the lesser of two evils, and at least the exterior was preserved.

Bway: Yes, the lesser of two evils!

Holy cow, Apollo,

I just read your posting and you mentioned a name that I hadn't thought about in over 50 years, Cheap Charlies. As a kid I used to go there all the time and buy garbage. I remember the woven finger trap and the drawer with the secret compartment when you put in a penny and it disappeared. Do you remember the pharmacy on Ralph & Putnam? He was my father's best friend.

In the new film THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES the two lead boys travel into Argentina. They go to a town that has a newspaper called the Austral. The building they drive up to is shown in longshot. Believe it or not, it is the same design as this theatre, right to the curved front with the porthole at the bow, near the roof. It is not as high but certainly the same design. Have a look, the fim has been in release for only a few months.

http://www.disassociate.com/lost_big_thumb03.html

It's funny that no one has mentioned the balcony of the RKO
Bushwick.My friends and I went to see Quo Vadis there.The movie
theater was so packed there were only seats at the top of the
balcony.The problem with that was if you were seated in the top
area of the balcony you couldn't see the whole movie screen.It was
cut off by an overhang.All you could see was the bottom half of the movie.So we all saw the bottom half of the actors and heard their voices.Believe me it was memorable.

At least you saw the face of St. Peter crucified upside down !

In what year did you see "Quo Vadis?" at the Bushwick? In its original release in 1951-52, the MGM movie played at the Bushwick's nearby rival, Loew's Gates. I somehow doubt that "Quo Vadis?" was ever shown at the Bushwick, though I could be wrong. MGM releases usually didn't play at RKO Theatres. The only exception was in some areas like Far Rockaway and Bay Ridge, where RKO had two theatres and one would play product off the Loew's circuit, but only after it had played at the nearest Loew's theatre.

I remember lots of feet that looked like Lion Feet.:-)
Also heard voices and couldn't figure out if the guy on the
right side was talking or the guy on the left.

Of course I believe the RKO Bushwick was built as a Vaudeville legit theater, so of course all the seats probably weren't "good" when the screen was added later. This may be true for many of the old legit thetaers that later showed movies.

Coming from Williamsburg and growing up in Bushwick in the forties
I never saw a movie balcony like the RKO Bushwick.
The RKO Bushwick wasn't always packed full so the balcony wasn't
really a problem.It was only when they showed a spectacular that
could fill the house that it would bring the balcony problem
to light.The RKO Bushwick was a fine theater.One of ythe best in the
area.

The RKO Bushwick's Interior

The RKO Bushwick's interior

By the way, I can certainly see that ornate "beam" getting in the way of the screen once up a few more rows of seats from where the old photo was taken.

Was that photo taken from the balcony or the roof? I got dizzy just looking at the photo. :)

I don't know, but I assume it was from the middle of the middle of the balcony. Yes, I agree the balcony seems quite steep!
I wonder if they ever played "Vertigo" in the Bushwick Theater.....

Warren you had me beating my brains out on this one.I kept hearing
Paul Newmans voice.It wasn't Quo Vadis it had to be The Silver Chalice. Thanks for refreshing a tired old memory.

Acorn High School for Social Justice, part of the NYC Department of Education, is housed in the former theatre.

Jan 3, 1967 Warner Brothers released "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" on a large neighborhood run. It was mostly RKO houses. In April after it had won the 5 Academy Awards it was re-released to almost the same run of theatres but paired up with "The Oscar" Tony Bennetts one big starring role.

Here is an interior of the Bushwick from the 1940s:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/a61d466f.jpg

This picture of the RKO Bushwick is spooky and a bit out of focus. I have some other pics of this theatre pre 2002, during its' renovation.

Here's a 1970s image of the ex-RKO Bushwick as the Pilgrim Baptist Cathedral, Roy E. Brown, Pastor (displayed on the right side of the marquee). Isn't that the same congregation that now occupies the ex-Loew's Gates?:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3001_IMG.jpg

Yes I heard they started out at the Bushwick and then moved to the Gates.

Warren, the congregation that was originally in the RKO Bushwick was in fact the same group that is now in the Loews Gates down the road. I don't know what the reason was that they left the Bushwick for the Gates. It is interesting what a twist of fate it was though, the Gates is preserved pretty nicely, and well maintained. Interesting had it been the Bushwick instead of the Gates. We all know what happened to the Bushwick after the church left. It died a very slow death for over about 30 years. In perhaps it's final hour, it was saved, at least it's exterior for the school that now sits within it's shell, but it's grand interior was lost forever. It was totally beyond saving by that point anyway, but at least it wasn't razed completely.
It's neighbor the Gates though may not be a theater anymore, but it's interior is all intact. Churches are perhaps the least destructive post-theater use a theater could have, and most theaters are lucky to have found a church to fill their walls.

BTW Warren, keep all these photos coming, they are GREAT.

I agree. The interior photos are even better. Do you know if there are any available inside photos of the Bushwick Theater aside from the old one that has already been linked to here?
Also interiors of the Ridgewood (current or past), Glenwood, Colonial (current or past), or Monroe Theaters if Warren or anyone else knows of any. Also an exterior or the Monroe or Decatur would also be appreciated.
Heck, just keep all of them coming!

A Wurlitzer organ Opus 1390 Style F was installed in the Bushwick Theater on 7/15/1926.

Here are the sppoky photo I promised previously.

Bill, there's no link or photo in your post. Please repost the link to the photo, as I am sure we would all love to see it!

Yeah, sorry. I don't think I am doing it right. I'll try again.

To promote his new film "The Ladies Man," Jerry Lewis appeared on stage at this theater on July 13, 1961.

Which one ? RKO Bushwick or RKo Madison ?

Both probably. He must have done it all day, at various times when the movies began at the various theaters. Apparently, Jerry Lewis got around promoting this film....as I noticed Bob's post in a few theaters mentioning this.
My father remembers these sort of appearances well at the RKO Madison Theater. He said stars often came to that theater. I am sure that the RKO Bushwick, like the Madison was one of the showcase theaters where these sort of events took place.
Wouldn't it be nice if the stars still did this nowadays. But then again, it's not as glamorous going into the nondescript multiplexes as it was entering these old showcase theaters.

Dracula on stage tonight! (April 7th, 1949):
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/chamberofhorrors.jpg

Bway :

It's like Jay Leno said, they're not movie theaters any more, they're concrete bunkers at the end of the shopping malls !

Warren :

I love New York, especially in the evening !

Age old controversy.....Interesting how RKO promoted the RKO Madison (in the same ad) as being in Brooklyn, when it is, and always was in Queens!!

Ridgewood seems to be the only neighborhood that this Brooklyn-Queens border error is seen in. I've never seen it, for example, in Cypress Hills adjacent to Woodhaven.

Hey, Robert R: I know this is 2 years after your comment, but I couldn't resist ! If that double bill of Gypsy and Music Man was in 1967, I took my 2 kid sisters to see it at the RKO Prospect in Park Slope (now a supermarket - sob !) when I was on leave from the Army.

PKoch... I think this occurs with Ridgewood because I believe that once upon a time the neighborhood was in fact located in Brooklyn before the county border was officially changed. This occured sometime in the 20th century, so maybe this was a nod to some residual association of Ridgewood with Kings County.

EdSolero, it's also that Ridgewood and Glendale, though in the borough and county of Queens, were for many years, until January 1980, in the 11227 postal zone, which was part of the Brooklyn post office.

Yes, it was the zip code that was Brooklyn, even though in Queens (this goes for Glendale too). The Brooklyn-Queens border was slightly changed also, but not that far. They took what was a straight line border running right through the middle of blocks (and homes/porperty for that matter), and zig-zagged it down streets instead, as to not have half a house (or block) in Brooklyn, and another half in Queens. This was before the Madison Theater (or Ridgewood Theater) were built, so it wouldn't have affected their "Queens Status". Then for years afterwards, as PKoch has mentioned, Ridgewood while in Queens, was served out of the Brooklyn post office until 1980 for some strange reason.

I think the real reason for the advertising both the Ridgewood and the Madison in Brooklyn was a marketing plus for some reason, so that's why they did it. The border is close enough, that it would be able to be done, and truthfully, even though Ridgewood is Queens, it has more of a Brooklyn feel than a Queens feel in it's housing stock in general.

Bway, I think I know what you mean about Brooklyn and Queens feel of housing, but please elaborate.

I've seen those beautiful, high brownstone-stooped, two and three-story, three-window bay front, brick houses in Bushwick and Bay Ridge, to name two Brooklyn neighborhoods, as well as Ridgewood, albeit not always made of "Ridgewood" orange and yellow Kreischer brick.

I don't know what it is, but the housing in Ridgewood seems more "Brooklyn-like" than Queens like. I always think of Queens as looking "newer" (think Middle Village, Glendale, upper Queens, etc). Ridgewood has more of a "Brooklyn" look to me, I guess because of the timeframe when the buildings were built. I mean it as a compliment by the way, not a citicism. I like Brooklyn's housing stock much better than that of Queens (in general of course).

OK, Bway, thanks. That's what I thought you meant. Overall, Queens housing is newer than Brooklyn housing, and Ridgewood seems to be transitional between the two housing types.

Yes Peter, that's it!

Having just posted about the old Peerless Theater at 433 Myrtle Ave., I've read with keen interest your memories and photos of the RKO Bushwick. On a recent trip earlier this year, I passed by on the J train train and saw how good the renovations looked.
Back in '58-'60, I used to take the number 15 train from East New York to the Gates Ave. station. The going rate for a movie was now 60 cents, 3 times that of the Peerless! But as the Bushwick was a classy place with a very long history, promotion and gimmick guys had a field day: outside the theater when "Macabre" ran, there was a parked ambulance and we had to sign a waiver freeing the moviemakers and theater from all liability if we suffered heart attacks; Vincent Price reeled in the skeleton from the left balcony in "House on Haunted Hill" ('59); and I was actually "tingled" by "The Tingler!" I also lost a blasted molar from a bar of Bonomo's Turkish Taffy on some other non-memorable occasion.
I'm very pleased to see this distinctive edifice survive into the 21st century!

Thanks for posting your memories here, BrooklynJim. "The number 15 train" is a reference to the old BMT route numbering system. I know those William Castle-directed "gimmick" films very well, although I experienced them at Film Forum in lower Manhattan, rather than at the RKO Bushwick, Madison or Ridgewood Theater in their original release.

Stephen King and his kid pals referred to "Macabre" as "McBare". As a kid, I mispronounced it as "MAC-A-BREE". "The Tingler"'s gimmick was "spine-tingling Percepto", "House on Haunted Hill" was "bone-chilling Emergo", and the glowing plastic skeleton was on the left side of the Film Forum screen.

Did you see "Mr. Sardonicus" with its "punishment poll" ?

I can almost feel your loss of a molar to Bonomo's Turkish Taffy ! Ouch ! I remember the TV commercials for it in the early '60's.

I, too, am pleased to see the Bushwick survive, albeit as a school instead of a theater.

Cinemaphiles obviously abound on this site. Less than 20 minutes after I posted, PKoch adds a marvelous reply, the second one I've received today.

Nope, never got to see "Mr. Sardonicus," although that punishment poll seems all too reminiscent of my parochial school days. And you remember very well the names of those special effects employed by the purveyors of shlock.

The Castle & Co. gimmicks spawned a nostalgic little flick about a dozen or so years ago: "Matinee" with John Goodman. Don't think it's on DVD yet (I have a VHS copy), but it deserves to be.

Thanks, BrooklynJim. My pleasure !

I, too, attended parochial school : St. Brigid's in Ridgewood.

Punishment poll ? Let's see those cards; hold 'em high !

Thumbs up ? Mercy. Thumbs down ? No mercy.

Castle only ever filmed the "no mercy" ending.

Haven't seen "Matinee" yet.

The first time I saw a first-run Castle film was summer 1965 at the RKO Madison : "I Saw What You Did"(and I know who you are !)

I remember "House on Haunted Hill" at the Bushwick. I also recall the skeleton being pelted with paper clips and candy as it floated across the theater, (surely it was self-defense).

Brooklyn Jim, thanks so much for your comments on the Bushwick Theater. I have to say that the Bushwick theater is actually THE theater that made me find this site back in 2003, so the RKO Bushwick is actually to blame. While it was actually the RKO Keith's Richmond Hill Theater that got me somewhat interested in theaters when I was a kid (going to it long after it closed to movies, but as a flea market in it's diamond in the rough condition), it was actually the Bushwick that made me find this site. I was always interested in the deteriorating, and in shambles theater passing on J trains on the el, and one day did a google search for the theater, and that search found this page and this site. I soon brought PKoch over too, as he and I used to exchange emails about theaters, Ridgewood, and other things, and knew he would enjoy this site too. So there you are. This theater brought both PKoch and I to this site....and I guess all of you are stuck with us, haha... You can blame the RKO Bushwick!!

Ooops, I meant 2004, not 2003.

Thanks, Bway, for recounting some of our cyber-interaction history.

Well, Bway & PKoch, thank you both kindly for your responses to my postings from across the continent, "the left coast." I, too, will be informing some dedicated film buffs on both coasts about this site so they can also enjoy this forum.

Tried to post a number of times today, but could hardly bring up anything at all. The one I finally got in for the Peerless was DOUBLE posted. Does this kind of stuff happen often here? Hope not, because I have a ton of theaters from NY to LaLaLand to post about. Ha! My PC committed suicide by electrocution several years ago, so I'm forced to use the ones at a local public library. The filter they use won't allow me to access the RKO Albee! $%#@!?#...

To stay O/T, let me say that I really appreciated the overhead pic of the Bushwick's interior that someone posted a year or two ago. Whoa - almost got a nosebleed. We can all collect flight pay, huh?

Today's lesson is on how to hype a lousy sci-fi motion piction...

In pre-Mothra days, (along with "Godzilla vs. Sonny Liston" and other masterpieces from Hell), it was a much simpler world. Fresh from the devastating fallout and effects of WWII, Japanese movie directors could re-release their shining products in America if they were smart enough to have someone here splice in "known" actors, such as Raymond Burr ("Godzilla: King of the Monsters") and John Carradine ("Half Human").

In 1959, we ragamuffins began to learn about the evils of hype.

Television ad space was used by movie companies to plug upcoming releases. One such movie was "The Mysterians." In that 30-second spot, repeated endlessly, we became like lemmings to the proverbial cliff, only in this case, to our local bijou. At the time, mine was the RKO Bushwick.

I can relate one positive at this point: the film was in color, perhaps the first for Japanese movie makers. Postive comments end here, as well. Our expectations had been driven to new heights, but we were provided the pits of drekdom. If there were any high points to the movie, and I concede several, each of those high points was featured in the TV trailer, all 30 (or 60) seconds of 'em. Never, before or since, have I sensed crowd violence about to erupt upon leaving a theater. We kids were absolutely livid, having been sold a bill of goods by manipulative purveyors of schlock.

It was a most painful lesson: first, in the wallet department - we couldn't get our money back. Unheard of. Second, in the psychological department - we were scammed, we'd been had, and we KNEW IT! For years, if anyone was callous or stupid enough to mention "The Mysterians" in polite trivial conversation, you could immediately feel collective blood pressure in the room begin to escalate. I'm not kidding.

Don't ask me why, but I recently purchased a DVD copy of "The Mysterians" (in widescreen, no less!) during my stay in NY. Perhaps I wanted to see if it had remained as bad as I remembered. Dunno if I had still blocked it mentally after all these years, but I neglected to bring it back with me to CA. It's still laying around, unwrapped, in my Brooklyn casa, and I suspect that there's some kind of moral in all of this...

[Aside to PKoch: Jump over to the Astoria and see if you recall the third film I described on the midnight triple bill. Reply there if you do...LOL! Thx!]

Here are some photos of the old RKO Bushwick Theatre I took around Winter 2002, during the beginning of a Nor-Easter.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m149/juniorstar23/d9e2310f.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m149/juniorstar23/938a0e3d.jpg

Thanks so much! That must be just before they began fixing the place up to become the school.

Yeah, it was right before they started to make it a school. I had an opportunity to actually sneak inside the building, once they began converting it.....there was enough light to be able to walk around and do some discovery, but I was too chicken to do it....I should've done it. I was able to see the lobby part (or what was left of it) and the rest of the ruins.

I often peered in the windows when passing by on the J train, looking at the interior in complete shambles, with plaster ceilings completely fallen down in the rooms that had the windows facing the el.

Bushwick Bill, I think the winter 2002 nor'easter you took those photos of the RKO Bushwick at the start of, occurred on Friday December 11th and Saturday December 12th, 1992.

You are correct Peter, as I actually drove from Ridgewood to Downtown Brooklyn, via Myrtle Ave, on Saturday, Dec 12, 1992 for something I had to do that day, and it was a pretty snowy day. Remember it like it was yesterday....

Glad you remember it, Bway. I had stayed over at my parents' place in Ridgewood the night of Thursday the 10th, and, when I tried to go to work from there the following Friday morning, I found myself unable to, because the L and M trains were not running, because of the storm. So I went back home and returned to Dobbs Ferry the following day. I had to take the M and J trains into Manhattan, because the L subway line still wasn't running.

I think Wednesday the 9th was a full moon, with a lunar eclipse, which would have made the astronomic tide especially high.

If you think things are bad in Bushwick today, the following is from 1944:

NY Times

"POLICEMAN IS BEATEN BY 10 BOYS IN THEATRE; Attacked by Gang When He Tries to Quiet Disturbers

Mar 15, 1944

Patrolman Theodore Abele, 38 years old, of 272 Cornelia Street, Brooklyn, was attacked and beaten by ten youths when he attempted to stop a disturbance early yesterday in the balcony of the Bushwick Theatre, at Broadway and Howard Avenues".

PKoch, you're right. But I think you mena Dec. 11 & 12, 2002.

No, I mean December 11th and 12th, 1992. The December 11-12 1992 nor'easter was a well-documented storm.

Correct. And as I said, I remember that 1992 storm well.

OK, I stand corrected. Does anyone else have any more pics of this theatre. When I went to take these pictures, I was almost frightened at the size of the building and how spooky it was. I got some crazier pics, when I find them I'll post them ASAP.

"I was almost frightened at the size of the building and how spooky it was."

Bushwick Bill, I can relate. I am reminded of the images of the RKO Bushwick Theater on Matthew Melnick's "Lost Brooklyn Trips" website :

http://www.lostbrooklyn.org

Some of the images were taken at dusk, or at dawn, with most of the light coming from streetlamps, and showed the back of the building, centered around the corner of Howard Avenue and Madison Street, and showed how big it really was, with the external fire escape stairs zigzagging down to the sidewalk.

I'll look forward to your "crazier" pics, BushwickBill.

The only 2002 nor'easter I recall was the blizzard of Christmas 2002.

The view of the RKO Bushwick in the photo at the top of this page does not give a true idea of its size. It's similar to a view of the Flatiron Building, at 23rd St. and 5th Avenue in Manhattan, looking right at the famous, narrow, acute-angled corner, with the wider rear end hidden in the background.

There was alot of crime surrounding this theater back in the 1940's. :)

NY Times Jul 22, 1947

"2 THEFT SUSPECTS SEIZED IN THEATRE; Suspicious Merchants Near Brooklyn Shop Trail Men -- 12 Rings Recovered

While thirty policemen blocked exits, detectives and witnesses of a jewelry store hold-up searched the Bushwick RKO Theatre at 1396 Broadway, Brooklyn, yesterday afternoon. They found and arrested two suspects and recovered the loot, twelve wedding rings valued at $600".

Thanks, Lost Memory. I find this interesting. If nothing else, your latest post shows that crime in Bushwick was not confined to the looting, vandalism and arson of the 1960's to the present.

I remember moving to 17 Palmetto Street in 1968, which was across the street from the RKO Bushwick. We had some good times back then. My mother was in the entertainment business and I remember her group, The Ramsey Sisters playing one night there. Also on the bill was the Delfonics, The Dells, Solomon Burke and I believe the Barkays. I remember my brothers and I getting in free because my mother was singing that night. We had a great time. My girlfriends and I used to hang on Woodbine Street and I remember around the corner from Palmetto was Gates Avenue. We also used to go to the movie theater which I believe was named the Loews Gates on Broadway around the corner from Gates Avenue. They had so many stores on Broadway back then. I remember taking the "J" train to school. After the blackout in the 70's there was looting and majority of the stores closed. After that, it became a runned down area. That was so sad. I'm glad I have those happy memories before all of that happened.

Thanks for the memories.......Dolores D. Ramsey....Richmond, Virginia

Thank YOU, Delores, MsDee380, for posting all YOUR memories. I don't recall The Ramsey Sisters, but I do recall the Delfonics("La La La La La Means 'I Love You'", spring 1968, "Didn't I Blow Your Mind This Time", spring 1970, The Dells ("Stay In My Corner", fall 1968) and of course Solomon Burke ("Everybody Needs Someone To Love"). Yes, the Loews Gates was indeed at Gates Avenue and Broadway, and had two entrances, one on each street. It is now the Pilgrim Baptist Church.

From the year of my birth (1955) until 1966 my family doctor, Dr. Wilchfort, had his office in a brownstone house on your block of Palmetto Street between Bway and Bushwick Avenue, on the odd-numbered, northwest side, but closer to Bushwick Avenue, and the telephone building.

Yes, Bushwick suffered much devastation, especially after the July 13, 1977 blackout. Tourists from Europe used to be bussed into Bushwick from Manhattan, to gawk at the devastation, which they likened to Europe after WW II, but Bushwick is now being re-developed, and the RKO Bushwick is now the School For Social Justice, its interior gutted and completely changed, its exterior preserved.

I last passed by your old block on July 15, 2006, on the B-52 Gates Avenue bus, on the way from the BAM Rose Cinema in downtown Bklyn to my old neighborhood of Ridgewood.

Three boys were buried alive at the Bushwick Theatre construction site on the Monday afternoon of August 1, 1910. They were apparently on the Broadway side of the site digging tunnels in construction sand when three tons of unshored building materials came down on brothers Alfred, 9, and John Sohn, 6, and their cousin Harold Verhas, 9, all three of 823 Madison Street, one block away. Police and Fire units recovered their bodies at noon on August 2.

The triangular lot formerly held some rickety frame buildings that had been cleared for the theatre, and neighborhood children were accustomed to using the now-vacant lot as a ball field and playground, even after digging began for the foundation.
The contractors fenced off the site but neighborhood children continued to enter and explore.

The boys had lunch at home at noon on Monday and then left to play. When they hadn't returned by evening, Mrs. Carrie Thompson, an aunt of the Verhas boy, went to report them missing at the Ralph Avenue Police Station.

On Tuesday morning, ten-year-old Alexander Sullivan said he and his fox terrier Spot went to the Bushwick construction site to play, but Spot began to sniff the sand, digging and whining, and trying to lead Alexander to the edge of the Broadway side of the lot. There Alexander saw a hand protruding from the sand and stone. He ran until he found a foot patrolman, Officer Charles Hoffman of the Ralph Avenue Station, who turned in an alarm and then went to the site to dig with his hands, finally carrying out one dead boy. Doctors at the Bushwick Hospital across the street affirmed he had been dead for many hours.

As the news spread, a large and noisy crowd gathered at the site and the Ralph Avenue Station sent out police reserves to keep order and to dig for the other boys. The two Sohn brothers were identified by their father and an aunt, but the Verhas boy was so disfigured by the crushing weight of rock and sand that identification took some time. Officials said it seemed the boys had been struggling to escape.

The cause of the tragedy was never ascertained but there was an unshored ten-to-twelve foot embankment of loose sand along the Broadway sidewalk, and the boys may have been tunneling there.
The feeling then was that the vibration of passing elevated trains may have been enough to trigger a collapse along ten to fifteen feet of sidewalk, made worse by large flagstones from that sidewalk falling into the trench as it caved in and the ten-foot-high fence along Broadway which blocked the view of any potential rescuers while the frequent noisy trains overhead may have drowned out any cries for help.

1952 presenting "The Stars of Tomorrow" on stage
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a13/ChmnofBrd/Movie%20Ads/roomforonemore.jpg

Thanks for posting the tragic story, Louis Rugani. What is your source ?

RobertR, thanks for the image.

"Room For One More" to be "Buried Alive" in the "Dangerous Ground" of the RKO Bushwick ?

"Room for one more, honey !"

- morgue nurse (Arline Sax) to dancer Liz Powell (Barbara Nichols), Twilight Zone episode, "Twenty Two".

"Room for one more inside, sir ..."

- William Burroughs, "Naked Lunch", "Introduction : Deposition : Testimony Concerning A Sickness"

The tragedy was reported in the August 3, 1910 New York Times.

Thank you, Louis Rugani.

Happened across this while working this morning.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pingnews/441530839/in/set-72157600164404300/

Great photo, Life! Thanks for finding it and sharing.

Yes, thanks, Life ! Good to see a photo of the theater with the original marquee still on !

Great catch, Life's too short! Can't begin to tally how many 60¢ admissions I paid at that very entrance between 1958 and 1961!

More power to you, BklynJim, for having been there.

My one-time family physician was not far away, on Palmetto, between Bushwick and Bway, but closer to Bushwick, near the phone bldg., until 1966 or early '67. when he moved to upper Ritchwoot (60-11 70th Avenue, between Forest and Fresh Pond).

I don't know if this was posted here before. This is a postcard picture of B.F. Keith's Bushwick Theater.

Yes, I think I've seen that, Lost Memory, but thanks for posting it anyway.

Sorry about that Peter. I scanned through the comments on this page and didn't see it posted. Shouldn't there be an aka name of B.F. Keith's Bushwick Theater?

Yes, Lost Memory, there should be. Thanks.

I often pass the RKO Bushwick during my working hours, and its a fine specimen of how ornate the movie houses of the early 20 the century looked. I passed when it was abandoned, and wondered how such a building, full of so much culture and history can be so carelessly neglected. Then on another trip I passed after its full renovation and it had a gleam to it, standing tall and proud, proclaiming its grand presence. Has this building been landmarked, if not does its exterior qualify?

Well-put, Panzer65. I don't know if the RKO Bushwick has been landmarked or not.

Thnaks for your reply PKoch, This theater has many fascinating stories, in response to Orlando, who was inside the Bushwick in 2001, it was a rare opportunity indeed to step on the stage, one which featured Vaudeville talents Moe and Shemp Howard, Mae West, George Burns,and Cary Grant.Such interesting descriptions of the interior, A stone Goddess, An Angel attached to the ceiling. But perhaps the most interesting feature is one that Joe S. mentions, that because this was a Vaudeville house originally, the rear half of the balcony had obstructed views, Joe S. claims that in a full house these seats would be last to fill. There was a stone arch that only permitted half the screen to be viewed!

Lifestooshort: Thanks for posting that old-school picture.

I'm so intrigued by this theater, not only for its ornate features, but the fact that a previous posting had mentioned, that it resembles
a truly beautiful building known as The Flatiron building on E23 St. in Manhattan, one can only wonder how the asymmetrical design made the interior look. Also the main entrance on opening day had a huge sign instead of a marquee above the door, its remnants remain today
as a large square. The first marquee was a small and unusual looking one, anyone know why it was removed? The second marquee was more traditional ,but eloquent to sat the least, with the elite RKO markings on the side.

Wow, thanks lost for posting that photo! I have bever seen that one before! Plenty of photos of the Bushwick are available...but this is the first I have seen with the original look...without a marquee, and instead the large sign where information was posted. I think the traditional marquee always looked akward on the triangled shaped front of the Bushwick, and now I can see why, as it wasn't designed that way...not to mention the cherobs over all the doors wound up under the marquee, and are only now open to the sky again in it's new life as a school.

Bway....Speaking of cherubs, have you seen these photos before?

Thanks for the nice photos Bway, that old sign has stood the test of time and really confirms conspicuously, that this was an elite Vaudeville only venue. In regards to the photo at the bottom right, where the brick meets the white wall, between the two statues theres
a circular opening. Could this have been a window or an early form of ventilation? Taken in '99, during its years of neglect, is it possible that this opening contributed to the downfall of the interior, allowing water, birds,vermin etc. to get in?

Great photos Bway, thanks for posting them. ;)

Lost, I always knew you had multiple personalities!

Thanks Ed. Wait a second, why am I thanking you? I am you! LOL

And now for something completely different. This is a 1922 Dixie Cup ad for the B.F. Keith Bushwick Theater.

Lost Memory
Thats a unique and rare ad for the Keith's chain of theaters, thanks for sharing!

Dear Sirs,
We here at the C.V.S. Corp. would *love* to buy this theater for a good price and gut it for one of our many,many,many,many,many locations! Give us a call as soon as you can!

Willard Dribbleman
(V.P. of demolition to old theaters)

555-6756

(SATIRE)

Perhaps if it was still an abandoned theater....but it has it's new use now....

But speaking of drug stores, WHAT is it about theaters and drug stores? SO many theaters have become drug stores, just off the top of my head, I couldn't even count them all. It's such a high percentage that have become drugstores as opposed to other retain uses...

After a theater is gutted, the people in the community are so upset that they need medication. LOL

Better a chain drug store like CVS or Eckerd than a shooting gallery or squatting for the homeless.

Or, in the case of the Bushwick, human sacrifice for devil worship in the cult of Santeria ("The Believers", 1987, filmed there).

Hehe, yeah, that was a strange movie.... The RKO Bushwick in the 80's, however, was the perfect setting for that movie... There is a lot of footage in and around the theater for that scene where the human sacrifice is taking place on the stage of the Bushwick theater..... And the exterior! Just as perfect for the mood of that scene....

Bway, I agree with you completely about the RKO Bushwick in the 1980's, both in terms of how it appeared in the film "The Believers" and how creepy the Bushwick appears in the images of Matthew Melnick's "Lost Brooklyn Trips". Those desolate images of his make Brooklyn look like a lost city of the dead, or damned !

I got a copy of The Believers just so I can see the RKO Bushwick.

Does anyone know if there was a theater across from the Bushwick?

The theater across from the Bushwick was the Monroe Theater.

The Monroe Theater was across Howard Avenue from the Bushwick, at 4 Howard Avenue. There is a page for the Monroe on this site. The number escapes me at the moment.

I don't know where else to ask this, but since the Bushwick Theater is well....Bushwick....I figured I would ask here.
I found a small, old theater building at 403 Evergreen Ave in Bushwick, at the corner of Grove. Do any of you guys with one of those old books try and look up what it was? It's similar in style to many of the other small, old theaters in Bushwick, like the Luxor, the Irving/Mozart, the Wyckoff, etc, etc. I have an old photo of it from about two years ago, but it looks much better now, as it's been all fixed up, and is currently being used as a church. Any information on it would be greatly appreciated. Here's the photo of the theater from about two years ago:

Photo of Theater at 403 Evergreen Ave at Grove

The name of the church is the Metro International Church. Maybe you could find a way to contact them and ask if the building was a former theater.

I didn't find an email address, but I did find a phone number:

Metro International Ministries

403 Evergreen Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11212
718-453-3352

Do you remember seeing this story on the news? It mentions this church and Seneca Chapels.

Hey Bway and Lost. I was just checking on oasisnyc maps and dept of buildings database and I think the theater-like building you're referring to is actually 391-397 Evergreen Avenue. 403 Evergreen is listed as only being a single story with 1820 square feet and would be the low lying building to the right (and just out of frame) of the structure in Bway's photo. The only C/O I can find for the larger structure dates to 1929 and describes an alteration to existing building with occupancy as a "Public Garage."

Looks like there was a C/O going back to 1918, but that one can't be viewed in the online database. A later 1952 C/O shows this became a "Ribbon Factory" and "Shoe Factory" on the ground and 2nd floors, respectively. Jump 30 years ahead to 1982 and a new C/O is issued for "Manufacturing Establishment" on the ground floor with a "Banquet Hall (accessory Bingo) upstairs. My guess is that the Church utilizes this "Hall" space on the second floor for services - unless they've made renovations to the ground floor. There is no C/O I can find on 403 Evergreen, but it seems that the two buildings are now somehow associated with each other (perhaps via a breakthrough of the common wall between them) as each file "bin" refers to the other.

In any case, it doesn't appear that this was ever a theater.

Here's an aerial view from local.live.com. I was wrong about 403 being only one story - in fact it is the two story town house-like structure to the right of the larger building on the corner that we thought may have been a theater. It does appear as if some sort of connection was made between the structure on the corner (391-397 Evergreen) and #403. The connection runs through the building that had been known as #399 Evergreen and appears to include a 2nd story extension.

All of these structures sit on what are now 2 lots (391-399 being one and 403 being the other) and are all classified as Church/Synagogue use and owned by Metro Innercity Children's Campaign, Inc. Metro acquired title in 1996 from the obviously related Metropolitan Assembly of God, Inc, which took title in 1981. Prior to that, looks like a Social Club owned and operated out of this building. By the way, the church also owns the vacant lot at the other corner of the block where the school buses are parked.

I believe that both buildings belong to the church. At some point the two buildings were connected together but they are still listed as individual buildings, each with its own address. As Ed already mentioned, 403 Evergreen Avenue is the smaller building. I checked a real estate site and the two addresses given for these properties are 403 and 395 Evergreen Avenue.

395 Evergreen Avenue

Block & Lot #: 03323 - 0007
Building Class: Church, Synagogue, Chapel (M1)
School District: 32 map/schools
City Council District: 34
Police Precinct: 83 (Crime Statistics)
Political Contributions: search
BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS
Zoning R6
Building Size (F x D): 65.00ft x 100.00ft
Lot Size (F x D): 78.08ft x 127.25ft
Building Height: -
Total Gross Area of Building:
Year Built:
Historic District?: No
Corner Lot?: No
Has Garage?:
Number of Floors: 2.00
# Units: -
FAR as built: 1.07
Allowable FAR: 2.43
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

403 Evergreen Avenue

Block & Lot #: 03323 - 0006
Building Class: Miscellaneous Religious Facility (M9)
School District: 32 map/schools
City Council District: 34
Police Precinct: 83 (Crime Statistics)
Political Contributions: search
BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS
Zoning R6
Building Size (F x D): 26.00ft x 35.00ft
Lot Size (F x D): 26.33ft x 64.50ft
Building Height: -
Total Gross Area of Building:
Year Built:
Historic District?: No
Corner Lot?: No
Has Garage?:
Number of Floors: 2.00
# Units: -
FAR as built: 1.20
Allowable FAR: 2.43

As I already posted, you could try contacting the church and ask if they know anything about the history of the building. You could also go to the Department of Buildings and have a search done by block and lot number. Thats not a free service. The building might have been built for manufacturing/warehouse use as the c/o indicates. Even if was built as a theater, it might not have been a movie theater. I wish I had more information for you Bway, but this is one of those properties that is difficult to trace online.

Thanks Ed and Lost for the help....it sure looks like all those old theaters of the era. The address I gave as '403" is what the building now has on the front of the building when I was by the other day. It has been fixed up since the photo I originally posted.

PKoch, in a private e-mail you asked what was the last movie I saw at the Bushwick and why did I stop going. I decided to post my answer here because my reasons might touch on some common threads regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity.

I'm pretty certain that the last movie I'd seen there was a 1961 Hammer release starring Oliver Reed, "Curse of the Werewolf."

As to why I stopped going, in random order:

1) Price of admission at the RKO Bushwick had gone up again, from 60 to 75 cents. Remember, we had had been spoiled by the 20-cent deals at the Peerless since '53, and when they raised prices in '61, two bits became the going rate. They closed soon afterward. The Bushwick was a far classier theater, no question, but it was getting expensive for us kids.

2) I wasn't going to any theaters as often, as I felt the quality of movies was getting worse. Equally valid, I suppose, was my own changing tastes regarding the horror and sci-fi genres.

3) Travel involved the #15 Jamaica el, now the J train. Even though we high schoolers had the reduced transit passes, they couldn't be used on weekends. It was easier to walk to other local theaters.

4) The Peerless (on Myrtle between Clinton and Waverly) and the Embassy (Fulton St. - ENY) were nabes where kids and teens knew each other. There was a comraderie not unlike some of the friendships and acquaintances here on CT. I never found that at all at the Bushwick. You wuz on yer own, Jack.

5) Dating age caused a shift in our movie-going habits from Saturday afternoons to Saturday evenings. It was not uncommon for us to take our dates to their own local theaters. I couldn't imagine taking a date at night to the RKO Bushwick, located in a tough and hardened area, not if I ever wanted a second date with her!

Thanks for your answer, Jim. It all makes perfect sense to me.

The 1961 Hammer release starring Oliver Reed, "Curse of the Werewolf", was one of many films I remember reading about in "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" magazine, yet did not see until many years later, in this case, not until 1985 or 86, and then only on TV. I remember the ripped-open shirt revealing the hairy chest, and the blood trickling down from the fanged mouth in twin gouts. The FMOF writeup very delicately described what I later realized was a rape, and resulting impregnation, near the start of the film.

Interesting that the vicinity of the RKO Bushwick had become, as you wrote, a tough and hardened area, by 1961.

ESPN's recent miniseries set in 1977, "The Bronx Is Burning," used actual TV news and film footage to highlight the Bushwick Blackout and subsequent riots and looting. (Note: www.deepdiscountdvd.com will be offering it 9/25 for just $30.15. My copy's already reserved.]

Thanks for the heads-up, BklynJim !

I hope "The Bronx Is Burning" doesn't mis-represent the Bushwick blackout, and subsequent riots and looting, as being in The Bronx.

My dad remembers that the RKO Bushwick had two balconies : upper and lower.

Wow, I didn't realize the Bushwick Theater had two balconies. There's an image posted way up above here (I don't know if the link still works) that shows the procenium arch taken from way up high in the Bushwick's balcony. You get vertigo just looking at the photo (I wonder if "Vertigo" ever played at the Bushwick, haha). Anyway, it seemed to be a very steep balcony, but now that you said there may have been two, that does make sense. I think I also vaguely remember seeing the second balcony in the movie 'The Believers", which was filmed inside and outside of the old Bushwick Theater in the earlu 1980's, the scene when the cops come when they are performing human sacrifice on the stage of the RKO Bushwick.

Thanks, Chris.

" ... performing human sacrifice on the stage of the RKO Bushwick" : I hope that never really happened there. It's a far cry from the innocent days of 1942 : "The Lodger", "Women In Bondage" and vaudeville live on stage Tuesday and Wednesday evenings !

The closest thing would be the three small boys buried alive there in 1910. See Jan 26 2007 post above.

I don't know if "Vertigo" ever played at the RKo Bushwick (I see no reason it couldn't have; perhaps BklynJim can answer that). I know from "bushwickbuddy" that "Psycho" played at the nearby Loew's Gates, that, when she went to see it, she somehow missed meeting her friends there, and ended up sitting in the balcony by herself, so that, when the knifing in the shower scene started, she almost fell off her seat !

In its original 1958 release, "Vertigo" would not have been shown at the RKO Bushwick, but at nearby Loew's Gates. The Loew's circuit had an exclusive on Paramount releases in those days.

Thanks, Warren.

Peter, ESPN didn't misrepresent Bronx for Brooklyn at all. What made the miniseries outstanding, IMHO, was all the then-current city history through the '77 Yanks-Dodgers World Series: the yearlong Son of Sam rampage, Jimmy Breslin of the Daily News, Beame vs. the other Koch, the blackout and subsequent Bushwick looting, the love-hate triangle of George, Billy and Reggie, etc. I saw the concluding 4 episodes and look forward to the beginning.

Bway, I've saved that posted pic of the Bushwick's interior. Every time I view it, I wish I could put in for flight pay. (And my molar is up there somewhere, courtesy of a bar of Bonomo's Turkish Taffy...)

Jim, I'm glad ESPN didn't misrepresent Bronx for Brooklyn at all.

You probably know that Son Of Sam was dramatized also in the Spike Lee film, "Summer Of Sam".

Summer 1978 I cynically joked about "The Tonight Show, with guest host David Berkowitz" and a co-worker thought I was serious !

"The other Koch" ... Sixteen years ago, my then-fiancee got so tired of being asked about "Uncle Ed", she started saying, "Oh yeah, he's coming to the wedding !"

Summer '77 or '78, my dad met campaigning Ed Koch, who asked my dad if he would vote for him. I forget what my father said.

I hope ESPN reruns that mini-series. I'd now like to see it.

Your taffy-fused molar, still up somewhere in the RKO Bushwick ... ouch !

Hey BrooklynJim, PKoch and frankie! Sorry I missed you guys when you all hooked up at the Ridgewood recently. Peter, sorry I didn't return your call, been sidetracked by an occupational dilemma of late! When the dust settles here, I'll be in touch!

The ESPN mini-series you guys are talking about is based on a terrific book of the same name that came out in 2005, I believe. I highly recommend it. A fascinating year in NYC history, to be sure.

Thanks, EdSolero. Look forward to talking with you soon. I've got that Gojira sampler DVD and a VHS from BklynJim for you.

Ed, it's good to know that that ESPN mini-series is available as a book, in case I'm not able to see the TV show.

The RKO Bushwick Theatre opened 96 years ago today, September 11, 1911.

The Bushwick Theatre opened in 1911, but it wasn't until 1929 that RKO became attached to the name.

How did RKO become attached to Bushwick, Warren ?

Back in '59, I and many other young patrons at the RKO Bushwick were ready to revolt after seeing the hyped "Mysterians." Each one of us lost a precious 60-cents on this dud, with no hope of ever getting our money back. The movie never matched its 30-second TV spot ads.

Almost 50 years later, and having passed the former Bushwick on the train and on foot during my last visit, I decided on a dare to buy the DVD Toho-Scope release just to see if the movie was better than I'd recalled. The color, I think a first for the Japanese sci-fi genre, held up remarkably well. It was also Japan's first for a widescreen, I'm told. Under Ishiro Honda's direction, the message of peace vs. resistance did manage to get across now in 2007, after being lost to us all these years.

Honda had his favorite actors: the lead gal and guy had appeared in "Gojira" ('54) and "Half Human" (also '57 in Japan). Some of the special effects were pretty well done for the time, but like Servo and Crow in MST3K, I had way too much fun this time around with wisecracks. Glad I revisted this one.

Peter, please read my post above of 2/27/04 at 1:51 PM for an explanation of how the Bushwick eventually became an RKO theatre.

Thanks, Warren. I just re-read it.

BklynJim, "The Mysterians" never matching its TV ads doesn't say much for it. It also shows how misleading and misrepresenting of the films that they advertise, that those ads can be.

"The Mysterians" was one of those Japanese monster flicks that thrilled a certain friend of mine from work as a child, but left him totally cold as an adult. (He's about two years your junior.) As a result, he passed his VHS of the film on to me. It's still sitting behind me and to my right in my cube at work. I still haven't take it home to watch it. But I might, soon, given your recent reaction to the DVD Toho-Scope release you just bought and watched. It's good those adult sub-texts finally came through.

Honda reads like a good director. I'm recalling another Japanese sci fi flick of that time in which people were reduced to pools of living green ooze, and a man told a woman to "take off all your clothes". I wonder what I might be remembering : "The H-Man" ?

Incidentally, Sat. Aug 25th, when I got home from our outing in Ridgewood with frankie, my wife had two "Sci Fi Invasion" DVD's at home waiting for me : so far, I've watched Roger Corman's "Wasp Woman", and Chiller Theater's "Killers From Space", with Peter Graves vs. the bug-eyed aliens in black hoods and cumberbunds that look like Marty Feldman from "Young Frankenstein".

What was much more enjoyable on the "Mysterians" DVD, Peter, was the ability to hear the actors using original Japanese dialogue over English subtitles. In 1959, we got stuck with an atrociously dubbed version, probably exacerbating our frustration with the film.

"The Giant Behemoth" is available as a WS DVD Cult Classic from our good friends at www.deepdiscountdvd.com for only $8.23. (Think I saw that one at the Willard.)

Ain't it great to have wives that cater to our insanity? I mean, uh, hobbies?

Jim, I know what you mean about the dubbing. It reminds me of what yet another friend at work, who lent me "Gojira" on VHS, said about it : it lets the Japanese characters speak for themselves, in their own language, rather than let them be "props" talked about by the Greek chorus narration of Raymond Burr in the American release "Godzilla".

Thanks for the news about "Giant Behemoth" on DVD. That must have been something to see on the Willard's big screen, in deepest, darkest Queens, so far out on the Jamaica el from lil' ole Bklyn !

I think I first saw it on WOR Channel 9's "Million Dollar Movie", fall 1961. I remember my Mom tuning it in, saying, "Oh I hope this is good, and not a lot of British mumbles !"

It's second in a triad of dinosaur-monster flicks directed by Eugene Lourie, the first and third being "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "Gorgo". I have all three on VHS, and grew up with all of them on TV.

My dad almost took me to see "Gorgo" at the Ridgewood, in 1961, but didn't, because he was afraid I would be too scared. He saw it there himself, though. I finally saw it on The Big Preview on Channel 9 on a Sunday night in Spring 1964. Way cool !

Yes, it's great to have wives that cater to our ... interests. My wife figured, at a buck per DVD, she couldn't go wrong !

If Magic Johnson came in, wouldn't he have just gutted it and made it a Loew's theater instead of preserving it?

http://boinko.com

Bobby, the Bushwick Theater was gutted. All that remains it's it's shell. The interior was so bad, and so neglected after about 30 years of abandonment (and I am sure it was in need of help even before it closed), there wasn't much of the inside that was salvagable, even if they wanted to. While I think they did a great job on preserving the exterior, and it's great that it's now being used, it would not have been bad at all (perhaps better) if it was gutted and made a Loews multiplex....as the exterior would probably also have been preserved, just as it is now....and inside it's walls...would still be movies, even if not in the old theater.

Good comments, Bobby Boinko and Bway !

According to previous posts, The Three Stooges appeared on the stage of this beautiful theater. After the war, the new invention television, which spelled the death knell for so many of New York's classic movies houses, recruited The Stooges and their time proven comedy acts for one of WABC TV's proposed weekly comedy shows. An early form of Tv production, kine scope, is the format of this rare peice of footage as a proto type of the proposed show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgVptFLC61g

Thank you for posting this, Panzer65. I tend to think of The Three Stooges as being on WPIX Channel 11 rather than WABC, but in 1959 they were also on Steve Allen's Sunday night NBC variety show.

It just occurred to me that the RKO Bushwick is on Broadway, which many people regard as the Bushwick - Bed-Stuy border, just as the Ridgewood theater still is, and the RKO Madison was, near the Ridgewood-Bushwick, Queens-Brooklyn border.

PKoch,
Thank you for your reply concerning RKO Bushwick's vaudeville act,The Three Stooges.
Your welcome, it's interesting to note that the Three Stooges were part of the entertainment industry's most versatile acts, acknowledging the fact that RKO Bushwick had many live appearances, it should be noted that Moe, Larry ,Curly, Shemp ,and Joe &Joe, did Vaudeville, Television and Movies. Not many acts of today can claim that.

You're welcome, Panzer65, and thank you for pointing that out about The Three Stooges.

If the Three Stooges did appear in vaudeville at the Bushwick Theatre, it would have been as part of an act originally called "Ted Healy and His Racketeers" and then "Ted Healy and His Stooges." Vaudeville ended at the Bushwick in 1932. The Three Stooges eventually split from Ted Healy and had a long tenure in movie comedy shorts. If they ever returned to the Bushwick, it would have been on promotional tours for some of the feature movies that they made in the 1950s and 60s.

Sorry it takes me so long to read all the posts. Re: the post on Aug 23,24. The theatre was a church for awhile and 4 days after they left the building the looters started going in. The glass on the front door was smashed in. I happened to see that so I went in with a flashlight and saw they started in the lobby to rip the copper wiring out of the walls. I went in up to the stage area and it was really nice in there with the large overhanging mez. That was the one and only time I was on the inside and that was in 1978.

Thanks, Warren and kong1911.

kong1911, I'm glad you got out of what was left of the Bushwick, alive and unharmed, after your 1978 visit inside there.

I found it sad to read about the looters going in four days after the church had left the building.

I did see the Three Stooges in the 60s in the Kanema (spelling?) on Pitkin Ave. in East New York. I was also inside the Lowes Pitkin in the mid 70's when it was a church. It was still beautiful. You could have put on live shows at any time. Even the pipe organ was still there. I also, about the same time took a walk through the Palace which was just a few blocks away and it was a bombed out mess due to fire and water damage. I got out when pieces of the ceiling came down near me.

Thanks, kong1911. Glad you got out of the Palace O.K.

I am watching the movie, THE BELIEVERS, and just saw the scenes filmed outside the RKO Bushwick. I bought the DVD specially to see the theater.

GMTA, cypress. I, too, got the movie "The Believers" based on Bway's comments. Watched it with friends last night and pointed out some of the RKO Bushwick's past greatness to them. Sad to see the results of neglect over time (late '60s - '87 or so), but glad to know the building itself has been restored and is used for offices.

As for the movie itself, lots of jolts from a fine director (the late John "Midnight Cowboy" Schlesinger) and quite a capable cast. We enjoyed it, despite being weirded out quite often!

Thanks for your post, BrooklynJim. I'm glad you and your friends had a good time watching "The Believers".

Here's a current view of the side of the Bushwick theater I took yesterday when walking by. The building had amazing detail:



Click here to see photo

Here's a new link to a photo taken circa 1946-47. Most of the original decor remained. Curtains surrounding the screen had been replaced for a more modern appearance:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushwickaud.jpg

Thanks, Warren.

Nice photo Warren,
A truly beautiful theater inside and out.

The RKO Bushwick is mentioned in a wonderful article from the NY Times on Thomas Lamb:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/05/realestate/05scap.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=thomas%20lamb&st=cse&oref=slogin

Thanks, Bway.

The Bushwick should NOT have been included in that Thomas Lamb article in last Sunday's New York Times. William H. McElfatrick was the Bushwick's architect. Lamb only did some interior renovations in the 1920s. I believe that the NYT will be publishing a correction, if it hasn't already...The introduction to this listing also needs to be corrected. If Lamb must be listed in the architectural credits, his name should be listed after McElfatrick, with a semi-colon dividing the names. The current order can give a false impression that Lamb was the guiding force on this project. He definitely WASN'T.

The correction appears on page 2 in tomorrow's Real Estate section.

Since the main point of the piece concerned Lanb's EXTERIOR designs, the error was pretty egregious and certainly extremely unfair to McElfatrick.

Warren, can you provide us with a few other examples of McElfatrick's work?

Some of McElfatrick's projects are listed here: http://cinematreasures.org/architect/171/
The listing for the Embassy-2-3-4 in NYC is actually for the Columbia Burlesque Theatre, which occupied that site before Thomas Lamb totally gutted the interior and turned it into the Mayfair cinema.

Thanks, Warren. I did not realize that McElfatrick designed the RKO Greenpoint, where I spent many afternoons in my youth.

It's possible that this photo has been posted before but the link no longer works. The date given is March 28, 1978.

Lost Memory, I just tried the link, and it works. It shows the Bushwick inhabited by the Pilgrim Baptist Church, which now occupies Loew's Gates Theatre. Thank you.

Your welcome Peter. It might be the same photo that Warren posted on Jul 29, 2005, but that link no longer works.

Cool, LM. Thanks.

Here's a new link to a photo that I posted above on 7/29/05. It's NOT the same photo mentioned yesterday by "Lost Memory."
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/130-3001_IMG.jpg

A great facade, one of my favorites. Where did all those windows open into?

That's a good, basic question, Louis Rugani, and I thank you for asking it. I would guess that all those windows opened into the inner lobby, with the possible exception of that circular "porthole" high up on the corner, which may have opened into the outer, upper balcony.

It would be great to have a photo of the inner lobby of the RKO Bushwick, when it still functioned as a theater.

A most beautiful exterior, I have wondered about those portals above the windows Peter, could they have been for ventilation purposes in the balcony?

If you look at the photo at the top of this theatre's page you can see that the windows don't open into the auditorium portion of the building. It's probable that the Bushwick didn't have too large of a lobby, so I would think that the windows were there for office space.

Ziggy,
Thank you for your reply regarding the RKO Bushwick's windows. This asymmetrical design, which replicates the landmark Flatiron Building in Manhattan, must also have an asymmetrical interior. If I remember correctly, the RKO Bushwick started as a Vaudeville only house, which caused the balcony's sight lines to be partial when sitting in the rear seats.
Does anyone have any interior photos of this beauty?

Panzer65, I think the lobby was triangular, an isosceles right triangle, and the auditorium rectangular, with the long dimension parallel to Howard Avenue. ziggy, I don't think there was ever any office space within.

The only interior photos I know of were provided by Bway, taken from his copy of the 1987 film "The Believers", the end of which was filmed inside the RKO Bushwick Theatre. There is probably access to them somewhere on this thread. They show the inner lobby and the auditorium. There is also a photo of the interior available somewhere, taken shortly after the theater opened, taken from the balcony, looking down towards the proscenium arch, stage, and screen.

This is an interior photo that Bway posted.

I assume that the windows were for office space because of the regularity of the fenestration, like an office building. The offices were probably rentals and not connected with the theatre from the inside. This was a common concept for many theatre buildings.

Thank you Lost Memory for the excellent interior photo.

The interior photo posted by Bway was borrowed from my collection. It was taken in 1946-47, and not "shortly after the theater opened." It shows a "modern" screen and curtains that would have not been there when the Bushwick opened as a vaudeville house in 1911. I re-linked it above on 7/22/08, after displaying it well before that. I don't recall the exact date.

We still need to find a photo of the interior lobby, with the correct orientation and sufficient detail, to answer ziggy's question about the windows that are visible from outside.

Thanks Peter, I'm hoping to see another interior photo as well.

You're welcome, Panzer65. I've also privately questioned "BrooklynJim" about this, and am awaiting his answer. I think he said he was last to the RKO Bushwick in 1961.

If I'm not mistaken, guys, there was a manager's office on the 2nd floor above the lobby. Probably included a safe where the day's receipts could be stored. Management staffers may have had their own restrooms on that floor, as well.

What a memory you have, Pete. '61 was my last trip ("Curse of the Werewolf"). You just didn't bring a Saturday night date to Gates & Broadway in that era and hope to land a second one with her in the future.

Perhaps a date at The Roxy in Manhattan would accomplish a second date Brooklyn Jim?

Thanks, BrooklynJim. How many stories high was the inner lobby, and what did those large rectangular windows open onto inside ? How about that high circular "porthole" way up near the cornice on the rounded corner ?

Understood, Jim, about Gates & Bway circa 1961.

Warren, I didn't know that was that photo. I think that photo was emailed to me by JF Lundy some time ago (I really don't remember). It came from some sort of a book, as the photo next to it was an exterior photo, with a description on the Bushwick. That photo is also linked above by "someone" some years ago.

As for the windows, I remember riding by on J trains, and looking in. The windows were all smashed on the Bway side, and you could look in. They were rooms. I don't know what kind of rooms, but you could see plaster everywhere that had collapsed. of course, you could only get a quick glimpse inside as the trains went by.

Thanks, Bway. So, those rooms were not the interior lobby, but above the ceiling of the lobby.

Yes. At least on the Broadway side, those large windows on the 2nd and third floors were rooms. They may have opened up over the lobby on the Howard Ave side, but don't know.

Actually, thinking about this a little more, it was probably the 3rd floor windows I looked into many times on the Broadway side. The 2nd floor part of those windows may or may not have been open to the lobby.

Here's an original 1911 floor plan showing fire exits. The ground floor plan is at the left:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushplan.jpg

In 1911, the Bushwick was reported to have cost $225,000. That would be equivalent to about $5 million in 2008.

Thanks, Bway and Warren.

Thanks Warren, as usual you always come through, it is interesting to see that the triangular design is sort of offset to the Howard ave. side, and there appears to be a large foyer type of room to the extreme left of the orchestra. Another peculiar fact is that because of the triangular design, the area behind the stage, which must be the dressing rooms, is vast,and not included in the diagram.
All in all, it is a very unusual design for a Vaudeville house, most likely, unique to other venues.

Panzer65, the unusual design perhaps resulted from the unusual shape of the block that the theater was designed to occupy.

Turning the clock back to 1911, one has to guess that most of the real estate in this neighborhood was undeveloped. The architect of this beautiful building most likely surveyed many symmetrical lots that could have been built on, but chose this one. So some credit is due to take on the challenge of building a triangular venue of this magnitude. No wonder why it still stands today so tall and proud.

Yes, just like the Flatiron Building, that corner really gets in one's face.

Great discussion.

Just wanted you to know that the Ridgewood Times/Times Newsweekly has just printed its 100th anniversary issue. It contains a treasure trove of old pictures of the Ridgewood, Bushwick, Glendale, Middle Village, etc. communities. Included therein are, of course, MANY pictures of the great movie houses - including the Bushwick - that once served the area. While the edition will probably go on line in a little while, many of the pictures might not be carried over. So, if you can, you really should take a trip to the old neighborhood to fetch a copy - and enjoy.

Here's a photo and article from a February 1912 issue of the New York Clipper. The entrance lobby was circular in design and rose to a dome in the ceiling. I suspect that the windows on Broadway and Howard looked out from various points of staircases, promenades and lounging areas used by balcony patrons. The stage facilities included four tiers of dressing rooms, as well as an apartment for quartering animals used in performances. The stage was 80 feet wide, wall-to-wall, with a proscenium opening of 30 feet in height, and a depth of 35 feet from curtain line to back wall:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushart1-1.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushart2.jpg

Thanks, John D. and Warren.

This is probably the photo that started a false claim that the Bushwick had a lecherous history. One of the films mentioned on the marquee, "Women in Bondage," was nothing more than a Monogram exploitationer about the plight of women in Nazi Germany. And the "Vaudeville Every Tues. & Wed. Night" consisted of several acts of budget-priced, family-oriented performers. It was not burlesque or anything close to it, as the proximity to the words "Women in Bondage" seem to have caused some to conclude:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushwick44.jpg

Thank you once again Warren,
Your photos and expert insight are appreciated and always interesting.

Those seriously interested in its history should consult a five-page article with photographs and text description in the September, 1911 issue of Architecture and Building Magazine, which can be found in reference libraries such as the NYPL at Fifth Avenue & 42nd Street and Columbia University's uptown Avery. It will be well worth their effort.

When I attended the RKO Bushwick in the late 40s I sort of remember that it did not have a very large lobby. And although the exterior of the building was lovely, the lobby was quite small compared to the Loew's Gates. There was one marble (I think) staircase that was on the Howard Ave side of the lobby building. I think that there might have been a candy concession on the left side of the lobby. I do remember that you could go down that staircase and immediately exit through the front doors.

Thanks for the details of the RKO Bushwick Theatre's lobby, ebeach. I'm mildly surprised that such a large, grand-looking building did not have a very large lobby.

The fact that this "flat-ironed" like building site had its entrance at the top of the iron strongly implies that there just was not alot of space for a grand lobby. The glory of the Bushwick would occur as the lobby opened out to support the grand theater. But the available space for the lobby was quite sparse.

In short, the architect made brilliant use of the available space - but there was just so much space that was available.

If I might return for just this one comment, the Bushwick had a magnificent grand lobby, with circular staircases at both sides. Although it had smaller ground space than some lobbies, it was nearly four stories high and had an exquisitely decorated domed ceiling.

Thanks, John D. and Warren. Warren, your description of the RKO Bushwick's lobby is about what I would have expected of such a large and beautiful theatre.

It is sad however that the interior could not be saved, according to previous posts, there are no interior remnants of the theater.

Warren, thanks for your last comment. I guess the architect faced a real problem that provided a dearth of length and width - but a tremendous amount of height, and was able to turn a lemon into lemonade. Yet another example of McElfatrick's creativity.

Thanks Warren, My memory must be poor cause I only remember the single staircase on the right side of the theater looking into the Lobby. More reasonably there were two staircases because they would have given a balanced appearance. I do remember the double staircases in the Loew's Gates. They were not as high but were also quite grand. As you say the Staircase(s) came from high..at least four stories". Did you enter the staircases from the highest balcony seats in the theater? Oh boy how a plan or a photo could jog my memory.

See Warren's post of October 24 2008 for a floor plan.

I wish there was a photo of the lobby of the Bushwick available somewhere. There are no shortage of exterior photos of the Bushwick on the net, but interior shots are hard to come by.

These are more detailed plans of the ground and balcony floors. On the ground floor, one entered a boxoffice area before walking into the grand lobby and its staircases. I believe that when the Bushwick became a movie house, the boxoffice area was turned into a foyer with display cases, and a new boxoffice was built in front for sidewalk access.
Ground: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushorch.jpg
Balcony: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushbalc.jpg

Thanks Warren. Those plans sure help my memory quite a bit. Do you know to what level of the theater those staircases reached? Mezzanine, Loge, Upper or lower balconies?

I don't know if this photo has been posted before. The year given for the photo is 1974.

I don't know if it's been posted here before, but I have seen that image. I believe that is a photo from after it closed as a theater, but also may be from just after the Pilgrim Church also left the theater after it's very short use of the building. The Pilgrim Church for some reason left the RKO Bushwick when the Loews Gates Theater became available, and they remain in the Loews Gates to this day, which has been restored. Perhaps they got a better deal on the Loews Gates...who knows....but either way, once they left, it sealed the fate of the RKO Buhwick, which began it's nearly 3 decade progression into shambles before being gutted and converted to the school it is now around 2003.

I've also seen that photo before but I don't remember where. The exterior appears to be in good condition at that time. The Loew's Gates might have been a larger building and could be one reason for the church moving, or they got a better deal as you said.

The foyer with its poster cases can be seen in 'The Believers' (1979).

Yes, and the marquee was still there in the Believer's footage too. You can also get a quick glimpse of some of the interior, which was already in pretty rough shape by 1979 when the film was made. The seats were still there though. They may have also "roughed" the interior up a bit for the scene too. It was a scene where there was a human sacrifice on the stage of the RKO Bushwick, when the cops arrive.

The original entrance foyer had two boxoffices on opposite walls. One was for that day's performances and the other for advance purchases.

A pretty good view of the RKO Bushwick Theater can be seen in this photo taken from the elevated Gates Ave station:


http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?89370

Thanks, Warren, for that info.

Bway, that's a beautiful new image from nycsubway.org ! It almost makes the former RKO Bushwick Theatre look like a Greek temple !

That's a pretty recent photo (8/16/2008). I didn't know that the building looked that good.

I'm glad to see that it does ! Hopefully, it hasn't yet been defaced with graffiti at street level.

Good point Peter. It might be time for Bway to take his camera and do a "drive by shooting" of this building at street level to see if the lower portion looks as good as the upper portion does. :)

Yes, indeed. I know what you mean, but the expression "drive by shooting" has unpleasant connotations in Bushwick, though I appreciate your humor !

Such an act of photography by Bway would be the BEST kind of "drive by shooting" !

Keep the camera and the car rolling. It's probably safe there in the daytime, but I wouldn't get out of the car. :)

I think Bway has gotten out of his car quite frequently in the daytime in Bushwick, but I'll let him post for himself on that.

Yeah, I have no problem getting out of the car in Bushwick. It's not the neighborhood it was in the 1980's, or even the 1990's.
As for the theater, I have gotten out here many of times, as sometimes when I am in the area, I often grab a quick lunch the McDonalds next to the theater. the condition of the theater is good, it looks just as good on ground level as it does on the upper levels seen here. There's no graffiti or anything on it, or even near it.
It probably hasn't looked as good as it does now since the 50's....but of course, it's interior is all gone.

Amazing how beautiful an old theater can look when it receives "Tender Loving Care". That's why its such a crime that all this society wants to do is raze them and build condos or stores.

I think the fact that the Bushwick is being positively used as a school helps ensure that it is well maintained and that any defacement is promptly addressed and corrected. This is a great win - win situation.

Google has revised its website. If you go onto Google Maps and type in 1396 Broadway Brooklyn NY then click on the "street view" box in the lower right it will walk you right up to the theater. Notice the construction walkway on the B'way side of the theater. Don't know if they're planning renovations or just preventing old facade from coming down on pedestrians. (You'll also see quite a bit of graffiti on that side of the building).
This website is especially great if you want to visit your old block.

That's right on the money, Panzer65. They not only want to raze beautiful old movie palaces and buid condos or stores, but multiplex cinemas as well. (However, I'm not sure of how well multiplexes will do, given the fact that a number of them have piled on debt, etc., )

MPol,
Thank you for your reply concerning preserving old movie palaces.
I do agree mult- plex theaters are nowhere near the experience of attending a film at a traditional theater, one gets a sense of being in an extraordinary venue,while enjoying the great American pastime there. However from what I hear, prior to the unfortunate
demise of the economy, these modern theaters do thrive well in many urban areas.

Moondog. I am sure graffiti may hit the theater sometimes, as with any building, which may have been what happened when the google maps people went by, but its usually removed promptly. I have been by the building as recently as this past November, and there was no graffiti on it, and am by almost monthly, and really never noticed any. That's not to say it never happens, but is usually removed soon after.
But that all being said, the street view images are great, and I estimate them to be from last Autumn and Summer for most of Bushwick's streets, and that grafitti is most definitely not there anymore. It seems that some kids had gotten on top of the scafolding there.
But anyway, here's a ground level photo that I took this past March 27, 2008 of the RKO Bushwick Location. This is AFTER the google street view images were taken, which were taken August-October 2007:

Click Here for March 2008 Image

hi, Panzer65.

Thanks for your reply. Which type of theatre(s) are you referring to when you say that the more modern theatres are thriving well in many urban areas due to our tanked economy? The multiplexes? Just curious, because, from what I understand, many, if not most of the multiplex cinemas here in the United States generally are located in more suburban areas, in somewhat more secluded areas just right off of the big interstate highways.

If, you're referring to the movie palaces (what few are left here in the United States), then, I think that many, if not most of the remaining movie palaces, are located in urban areas.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Panzer65.

A few new movie palaces are being built, mostly in the suburbs. As an example, there's the MUVICO in Rosemont, Illinois.

Mpol, I can't speak for all urban areas, but In the NYC area there are plenty of "modern" multiplexes.

MPol,
A lot of the newer Multi -Plex's in the outer reaches of the city do well, prior to the economic crisis ,such as the Sunrise in Nassau County, which incidentally,was formerly a Drive In.

Yes, Panzer, I remember that Sunrise Highway Drive-In very well.

Thanks for your replies to my questions, Bway, Louis Rugani and Panze65. There are afew modern multiplex movie theatres in the city here in the Boston area, but most of them are out in the suburbs, just off the big state and/or interstate highways.

AMC (Formerly Lowes) Boston Common and the AMC/Fenway are two urban multiplex movie theatres., and there's also AMC Theatre in Cambridge's Harvard Square, as well as the Kendall Square/Landmark Cinema, in Cambridge's Kendall Square. There used to be an AMC in Somerville's Assembly Square, but that closed down almost 2 years ago. When that particular theatre closed, AMC bought it, but for some reason, they didn't want to keep it, so it's closed, even though the building's still standing. Here's hoping they build a theatre in the Asssembly Square's AMC's place that doesn't play the same schlocky films as most everybody else, if one gets the drift.

The Somerville Theatre in Davis Square and the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, MA are also multiplexes, but they've retained their movie-palace character. Hope they stay up forever. The same thing with the Brattle, which is a single-screen movie theatre, with a balcony. Here's hoping it stays up forever, too.

Boston does indeed seem like a great place to catch a movie,thanks for the excellent descriptions of the theaters there MPol.

Hi again, Panzer65. You're welcome. Thanks for the compliments. Boston does have some nice movie theatres. The AMC Theatre in Harvard Square used to be a single-screened revival movie house, where they played a lot of double-feature revivals, and, every six months, there'd be a big update in the Boston Phoenix, telling which movies would be playing there on which date(s). Among the movies I saw at the Harvard Square Theatre before it was bought out by Lowes and then by AMC were In the Name of the Father, Around the World in 80 Days, my alltime favorite film, West Side Story, and a number of others. It was a cool theatre...often crowded, but, hey....I miss those days.
However, I'm more than grateful that the Brattle and the Coolidge are still around.

The last thing I want to do here is be another Warren, in terms of non-management personnel policing this site, and I have certainly done my share of off-topic posting on this site, but may I suggest that the above discussion of Boston theatres be moved to the pages (if any) on this site devoted to them. If there aren't any, perhaps you gentlemen, with MPol taking the lead, could start some.

You're right B'way, it certainly looks like they cleaned the graffiti from the building. Looks like they took the scaffolding down too.

While I see your viewpoint on this, Peter K, I also must point out that I happen to be a woman.

Thanks, MPol, I had no idea. I get the impression that women are in the minority among posters on this site. Am I correct ?

An interest in theatres does seem to be mostly a "guy thing," with a substantial percentage being gay.

Can you give us some percentages, Warren ?

Women posters here in the minority, Peter.K? Hmmmm...not altogether sure about that, since I've noticed a ton of women's names on this site.

Warren: Is an interest in theatres mostly a guy thing?

Well, I am not a woman, and I am not gay, but still have an interest in theaters....

Two out of three ain't bad. LOL

What does that mean, Lost Memory?!? LOL

Here's a late 1940's view of the standee area at the rear of the orchestra seating. Ceiling fixtures look like "modern" replacements of the originals: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushstandee.jpg

Nice photo Warren, that one looks like a one in a million.

I am interested in the information given by C.T. members, not their life style.

Those light fixtures for some reason just don't seem to "go" with the decor.

Sorry, ERD. I was just pointing out that I'm a woman, so that there wouldn't be any more mistakes made. I see what you're saying, however.

Neat photo. Thanks, Warren.

On Friday January 26, 1962, the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita) embarked on a three day promotional tour for their latest feature film, THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES. They were accompanied by "The Herculean Giant" (almost 8 foot tall Dave Ballard) and popular DJ Clay Cole, who was one of the stars of the co-feature, TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK.

On Sunday January 28, they appeared at the RKO Bushwick at 8:05 PM.

Nyuk nyuk nyuk ....

Hope they got out of the RKO Bushwick Theatre, and Bushwick itself, safely !

Well, Peter, they DID have Hercules with them!

Good point, John D. !

More seriously, 1962 was not 1977. So maybe they didn't need Hercules. Good talking to you, Peter K.

Same here, John D. My family and I travelled safely to and from our family doctor (Wilchfort) on Palmetto between Bushwick Avenue and Bway through 1965, until he moved to Ridgewood in 1966.

While Bushwick was beginning to fall by 1962, as mentioned, it wasn't anything like what the 1970's were to bring.....
I wonder if they came to the RKO Madison that day too. The RKO Madison also often had stars coming to it to promote it's films.

The Stooges appeared at the RKO Madison the day before at 9:50 PM. They appeared at 21 theaters in 3 days!

True, Bway.

Thanks, Bob Furmanek ! That's an average of seven theaters a day !

Nyuk nyuk nyuk !

They weren't young kids either: Moe was 64; Larry was 59 and Joe was 52.

Check this site for some RKO photographs

http://www.topix.net/city/brooklyn-ny

Thanks, Bob F.

Thanks, Jayar1, and welcome.

Jayar1...Thanks for that photo link. That is the most beautiful photo of the RKO Bushwick that seen so far. Truly spectacular!

Outstanding photo!

These are wonderful pictures - and not just the first shot of the Bushwick. There are actually two other vintage Bushwick pictures in this set as well as one of the Gates movie house. Beyond that, there are a number of great photos of local churches and schools. I particularly liked the vintage shot of St. John the Baptist on a very rural looking Lewis Ave.

Thanks so much, Jayar1!

It's also a picture of the Bushwick before it was the RKO Bushwick.

Yes, the St John's photo is one I haven't seen yet. I think it's an absolute shame that they don't use the whole building of St Johns anymore, they only use a small part of the cathedral, and the upper part is boarded up to protect the windows.
It's also quite a shame that they allowed homes to be built in I guess the 80's, which butt right up to the original front door of the church, now making the church's front doors (which they don't use) open up into an alley.

Im any event, yes, I enjoyed the historic photos of the Bushwick Theater, one of which I have never seen. About four or five of the current photos of the RKO Bushwick ones are ones that I have taken, and posted here. But that's okay, it's nice to have them all together in this set.

Is St. Johns a catholic church? Is it the huge church that can be seen in the distance while you are riding on the J train looking south? I've often wondered about this building. It looks ginormous! I thought it was totally abandoned. Is this building a shambles? um....I should just google this info. This is Cinema Treasures after all! :-)

Yes, LuisV, it's a Catholic church. There's lots about it on the Bushwick Buddies website.

Bway

I have collected many of your photographs over the years on this web page. If you go to the Brooklyn page please credit yourself to your work in the comments. I lived on Kosciusko Street and attended all the schools posted and have been to many of the theaters in the area. You have been the inspiration for my gathering as many photographs as possible and putting them on a site all can enjoy.

Jayar, it's nice that they are all together. As for the RKO Bushwick, it has to be one of the most photographed buildings in the area, it's one of the few buildings that it's quite easy to find historic photos of.

Luis, St John's is a Catholic Church, and it is still an operating parish. The place is HUGE. it's also the church where St John's University began (yup, "that" St Johns).
In the 70's when the neighborhood there went to hell, to save money, they closed a huge part of the church up to save money, and made a small church area within the old church, and closed that part off. This I guess saved money on maintenance, heating, etc. But that leaves much of the Cathedral unused right now.
Perhaps as the neighborhood continues to imporove as it has been, they will one day be able to reopen closed parts of the church. The building is not in shambles, even though the windows are boarded up. The covered them to protect them when they closed the upper part of the church.

Thanks for the update Bway. So, am I correct to assume that the stained glass is still there? This fascinates me. From a distance, it truly looks like an abandoned cathedral; emblematic of the Bushwick of the 70's. Was this ever truly a cathedral? I know that the current Cathedral is St. James in downtown Brooklyn. A reopening of this building would be a wonderful symbol of the rebirth of Bushwick. I know there is still a ways to go, but I know that the neighborhood has progressed dramatically from those days when Bushwick (along with the South Bronx) was known mainly for burning.

Alas, I really don't see the need for a larger church since they seem to be alienating more and more people by the day. The only time I set foot in a church is as an architectural fan and nothing else. That said, I also believe the best examples of church architecture, like those of theater architecture, need to be preserved for the same basic reason: They are beautiful, they don't build 'em like this anymore, and they never will again.

Luis, here's a link to a little about St John the Baptist Church. Click this link, and about half way down it has an exterior photo of the church, as well as an interior view of a closed part of the church.
It's a shame that only a small corner of the church is used, but it's all still there.
I have read elsewhere that it's priceless stained glass windows dipict the life of St John the Baptist, although unfortunately, most are covered.
Perhaps one day....

http://www.keelysociety.com/churches.htm#church4

Actually, our friend "jayar" has added a great many photos of St Johns on his site. There's a wonderful historic photo taken inside the church in happier days. Sorry for the "off topic" post, but there seems to be enough people interested:

http://www.topix.com/album/detail/brooklyn-ny/265SOGTH78595FJA

This church reminds me of St Fancis Xavier in Manhattan; except it appears so much larger! New York is filled with hidden treasures.

This isn't so much off topic as St John's was a vital part of the fabric of Bushwick, as were its major theaters. They certainly were the major historic markers and by preserving them you keep a vital link to the past while at the same time creating a new neighborhood for a new generation who don't remember the days when whole blocks went up in flames, the subways were a disaster and crime was rampant.

Here's to hoping that St. John's and its illustrious stained glass windows can one day be restored to Bushwick!

Thanks Bway for the links to this fine old church. I am actually - albeit barely - old enough to remember when St. John's Prep HS was still located here. I remember traveling there from Most Holy Trinity, where I was a student, to participate in a debate match and cheer on our basketball team. (The high school would move to Queens by the mid-1970's.)

I guess churches and synagogues constitute the least "off topic" off topic items on these pages. Both these religious institutions and the great movie palaces were profoundly public architectural creations that had a most significant impact upon their host communities. While the great churches of NYC were largely constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the most memorable movie palaces came into existence during the following four decades. It was as if the same grand architectural tradition embodied by the former was passed on, in a more secular guise, to the latter. And, of course, we have those wonderful instances were old movie houses like the Woodside and Bliss, to give only two examples, were transformed into churches after their cinematic careers had come to an end.

So I guess this discussion isn't that off topic after all.

What synagogues were turned into theatres, or theatres turned into synagogues? I don't know of any, anywhere, but I suppose it's possible.

Good question Warren. I also cannot think of any movie theater to synagogue conversions. However, I would not at all be surprised if a moorish influenced theater was converted somewhere in the USA. This would be an almost made to order architectural opportunity. So this is probably the place to look.

Luis, while St. John's is situated near Bushwick, it is actually located in northern Bedford Stuyvesant and has, to the best of my knowledge, always been considered to be a part of that neighborhood. Both communities did, however, suffer greatly in the 1970's and the revival of this wonderous ediface would be a boon to all of North Brooklyn.

Let's not forget the third type of profound arhitecture most often found in vibrant important communities: Banks! One need look no further than downtown Williamsburg for a very impressive collection of early 20th Century Banking Halls full of Greek Columns, Chandeliers, Marble, wood panelling and brass rails. Churches/Synagogues, Banks and Theaters are what defined neighborhoods n the early 20th Century. While many churches remain, there are but a precious few Banks from that era and we all know that there are too few remaining movie palaces.

I often wonder, "What are we building today, that people 75 years from now will be mourning the loss of?" I have to admit that I really can't think of anything significant. That makes the preservation of the Theaters/Banks and some churches of our past all the more important.

By the way, I say "some churches" because there is a wide abundance of architecturally significant churches today. If they can no longer serve as churches it will be hard to find alternate uses for all of them; just as the process has be difficult for obsolete movie palaces. The goal should be to save the most significant among them.

As for old movie theaters, they convert into churches pretty well, probably one of the best after theater uses a theater can find, as much of the theater is preserved. Just think of the Valencia in Jamaica (Tabernacle of Prayer), the 175th St Theater (United Palace Church/Theater), the colonial, Empire, Gates, Rivoli, etc in Bushwick are all churches and preserved.
The RKO Bushwick had the Pilgrim Church move into it when it closed, but when the Loews Gates became available, they for some reason moved there instead, where they are to this day, probably setting the fate of the Bushwick, as it began it's 30 years into deterioration at that point, while the Gates is preserved and in great shape.

As for banks, they comvert to retail too often, and there are a lot of them. Some became churches, others stores. One of the interesting ones is the old Hanover Bank at the Flushing Ave el station and Broadway....it's now 'Fat Albert Discount" store, but inside, even the beautiful marble floor remains, although it's quite sad to look at such a beautiful building now just having merchandise strewn through it. Even the old draperies hang on the windows!

Speaking of Churches converted into other things, while theaters convert well into churches, the opposite is not true, a church is a pretty specific building, and hard to comvert.......although there's always the Limelight in Greenwhich Village, it became a club...even the stained glass remained. Something odd and almost sacrelidge over people clubbing in an old church and drinking, etc....it's odd to see.

Indeed Broadway..maybe that can fall into the "Only in New York" category.

The Bonstelle Theatre is one example of a synagogue being converted into a theater. And as far as a former theater being used as a synagogue, the Colony Theatre was later used as a synagogue.

The Limelight's transformation into a disco was truly amazing and incredibly well done. The Stained Glass windows were lit from the outside and so they were clearly visible to the dancers as they shimied where the pews once were.

There is nothing sacriligious about is. This church was deconsecrated before it became a disco and the church, now known as the Limelight and Avalon was able to be enjoyed by many more people over the decades then when it was a church. It is beautiful architecture that was adaptively reused when it was no longer able to serve its original purpose; much as many a theater.

The list of theaters that were spared the wrecking ball for many years in New York is significant: The Academy of Music (Palladium), Loews Commodore (The Saint), The Forum (Club USA), Henry Miller (Xenon), Gallo Opera House (Studio 54). Alas, the ball eventually came for all but Studio 54. But their use as clubs extended their lives, in some cases by at least a decade.

In today's NY Times, there is a great photo of the ruined Bushwick in the bad old 70's. The burnt out storefront is where the shiny new McDonald's is today.

Luis, I wasn't seriously saying it was "sacrelige", I meant that more as a joke, but it is an odd site to say the least. I think there was a club in Southern California also that was once a church. I totally agree, I actually am highly interested in buildings that got converted from one use to another, and a church is particularly interesting when converted, even more so than a theater.
There's a historic church in Jamaica by the Jamaica Center building on Jamaica Ave that was preserved and converted into a theater, after sitting abandoned for decades.

As for the NY Times photo mentioned, yes, there is a 1992 photo in the NY Times, and in the background is the in shambles RKO Bushwick Theater. Bushwick has sure come a long way since that photo was taken. Now the RKO Bushwick is restored (exterior), a McDonalds stands on the vacant lot, and a Walgreens where that horrible abandoned building is:

Ooops, sorry, forgot to put the link to that photo near the RKO Bushwick:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/16/nyregion/16york.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Chance%20of%20Change%20100%%20&st=cse

Thanks Bway, I knew that you were kidding, but there are a lot of people who really did consider this sacriligious. We're lucky we live in New York where religion doesn't hold much sway. You probably wouldn't have been able to do this in any other major city in the US with the exception of of our country's other greatest city: San Francisco.

Back to the photo of the Bushwick: it's funny that I said that the photo was from 70's Bushwick, but in fact, it was the early 90's! New York in general, and Bushwick in particular, has seen incredible strides in the last 15 - 20 years.

Also, Bway, since you're interested in adaptive reuses, I remember going to a club in downtown Los Angeles in the late 80's called "The Exchange" which was a disco created from the old Los Angeles Stock Exchange Bldg. All I really remember was that there were really high ceilings and a lot of interior greek columns (I think Corinthian). Oh, and that I had a lot of fun!

Speaking of sacrilege, the RKO Bushwick became a fictional "church" of the Santeria cult when "The Believers" was filmed there in 1986-87.

There was also the church turned disco in the 1992 film "Basic Instinct".

The only other church turned disco in real life that I can think of was the Limelight in London, which I believe might still be open almost 30 years after it opened.

Thanks, LuisV. From Sunday morning fervor and faith to Saturday Night Fever.

Another church turned disco: remember the 'Electric Circus' in Greenwich Village (St. Marks Pl.) during the sixties. If I remember right it was previously a Greek Orthdox church.

Wow! I'm happy to say that that was before my time, but I already feel old when I talk about Studio 54, Palladium, Red Parrot, Saint, Roxy, Sound Factory, Limelight, Copacabana, Danceteria, Tunnel, Area, Regines, Visage, 2001 Odyssey, Underground, Xenon, Webster Hall, etc, etc. It was the golden age of Discos and much like the theater palaces they will never be built like this again. I doubt that New York will ever see a return of the spectacular clubs that defined New York in the 80's and early 90's. They simply will never build them like that ever again. Manhattan has become too expensive. There are no more abandoned theaters and warehouses to be converted into clubs. I feel fortunate that I was able to enjoy them when they were in their prime which is something that I can't say about the old movie palaces. By the time I started going to theaters in the 70's, the vast majority of the theaters were already on their last legs, grimy and suffering from decades of neglect as they struggled to hold on. Ironically, I only got to see theaters like the Commodore, Forum, Gallo Opera House, Henry Miller, Academy of Music once they were converted to discoteques. I'm grateful to have seen them as they were all beautiful theaters that were adaptively resused and keep open for many more years than they otherwise would have been. Today, only the old Studio 54 (which actually never showed films) is still with us today; restored to a formal Broadway house.

I wonder where that church disco in Basic Instict was, it had to be a real disco made out of a church.
Luis, I have also been in many theaters post-theater too. The Hammerstein Ballroom being one, I saw a few concerts there. I think that was the Manhattan Opera House. It's not on this site because it never showed film unfortunately.
Also, was Roseland which has concerts ever a theater? I have been there a few times, and think it was a theater.

Roseland was not a theater! I too have danced here many a time and had an amazing time. Webster Hall looks like a theater, it even has a stage, but it was more of a meeting hall and so it is not on CT either. Webster Hall was used as the theater in "To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" I have yet to attend an event at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I hear its beautiful.

Yes, there are beautiful murals on the ceiling of the Hammerstein Ballroom. I think the procenium was messed up, and all the opera boxes are gone, but a lot of the theater is intact too.

I have recently realized that more banking halls have been reused than I thought. Besides the banks that have been turned into catering halls (Citibank Wall Street, Greenwich Savings Broadway, Bowery Savings on 42nd Street and on the Bowery) I have come across the following other uses.

Trader Joe's in downtown Brooklyn is inside an old Independence Savings Bank Bldg. Balducci's market is inside an old NY Bank for Savings branch on 8th Ave and 14th St and right across the Street there is a day spa "Nickel" with condo residences above in another old banking hall. The old Williamsburgh Savings Bank headquarters on Flatbush Avenue is still for rent and awaiting its new retail life.

I don't believe that any old theaters have been successfully turned into supermarkets and by successfully I mean that the architecture has been preserved and integrated into its new use as a food hall. Usually, when a supermarket takes over it is a gut renovation.

The Ridgewood Savings Bank main office building at 71-02 Forest Avenue in Ridgewood is still Ridgewood Savings Bank.

LuisV in reply to supermarkets usually doing total guts upon renovation, the Acme on Myrtle ave.,which is now a supermarket, still has some of its theater features intact.

Panzer65...How does it look? Which theater was it?

Peter K....Yes, there are still several of the old Banking Halls still serving their original purpose. Ridgewood is one, but the most prominent one for me is the Apple Bank main branch on Broadway and 74th Street. It is truly spectacular.

LuisV
The theater was called the Acme,located on Myrtle ave. in Queens. The building is in very good shape,its a small neighborhood type venue that had a renovation and it looks quite well for its age, especially considering it received an exterior paint job of yellow.
The remnants include the marquee,the columns and a very intricate molding that runs along the edge of the ceiling.Finally, some of the sloped floor still exists at the checkout counters. One day while doing some shopping and exploring, my cart rolled away as I was checking out!

This is a very interesting discussion. With regards to "good" movie conversions, you can add the Meserole in Greenpoint. While it now functions as a drug store - and before that a roller sksting rink -the main elements of the theater, including the screen and stage area and part of the theater's "slant" are still very much in evidence. Also, the balcony is fully intact. All of these items are discussed at length on the Meserole's page.

A very interesting bank transfer occurred many years ago on the Wiliamsburg Bridge Plaza, where the white circular bank situated just north of the enterence was converted into a Russian Orthodox Basilica". I've never been able to get inside, since it is almost always closed, but it must present a fascinating mix of classical marble and Russian icons!

Before returning to topic, I need to mention a wonderdul conversion that I saw in Quebec. Specifically, an old Anglican Church was most successfully converted into the local library. All of the liturgical objects - including the altar, stained glass windows and memorial plaques were retained, with the book cases and computer terminals replacing the pews. The building is also surrounded by the old burial grounds.

Getting back to the Bushwick, while it is unfortunate that the exterior has been lost, at least it is being put to a highly valuable use - and we still have the wonderful exterior. It could have been a lot worse.

Indeed, some conversions do work out for the better of the building's life, especially the ones you mentioned John. Regarding the Bushwick, it is a shame that such a unique asymmetrical building was left to decay after the church decided to leave. At least someone recognized this fact and turned it into the beautiful school that stands tall and proud today.

Hello, sorry I'm coming to this party a little late. Been hanging out over at the Colonial Theater farther down Broadway. Peter K. knows me from over there. I was an old habitue of the Bushwick when I was a kid, saw "Phantom of the Opera" with Herbert Lom, on a double bill with "Night Creatures" with Peter Cushing, both scared the hell out of me. I also remember the lobby display for "Day of the Triffids," a box about 9 feet tall with a rhythmic pounding inside, supposedly a Triffid trying to get out. Anyway, I noticed the discussion about churches converted to nightclubs/discos. Here's another one: The Sanctuary, a deconsecrated Lutheran church on West 43rd Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. I partied there many times in my wanton youth, and a wanton place it was, way, way wicked long before anyone dreamed of Studio 54. Had a mural up where the choir loft would be, of the devil with his arm around a naked nymph, his hand on her breast. The pews were moved to the sides of the church to make room for the dance floor. The DJ booth was up where the altar would be. A couple of brief scenes in the movie "Klute" were filmed there. Today I think it's an off-Bway theater.

Sounds like you had lots of fun back in your youth, Joe G.

Joe G.......That sounds AWESOME!!!!!!

Thanks Joe G, that is very interesting.

Here is Bushwick in 1967.

Beauitful ! Thanks, Lost Memory !

Actually, the old girl looked pretty good, even near the end of its cinematic run! I would have envisioned a more seedy appearance by the mid 1960's.

So would have I, John D.

I remember taking my first date to the RKO around 1952 35cents That was big time in those days because the other movie theaters like the rodgers on Broadway was 14 cents That was a time when you could walk with your date late at night and take her back to her home and get a kiss in the vestibule.And her family would ring the buzzer to let you know they new you where there with her.Wow good times.

Thanks for joining us here on BB, joe zizzo. Welcome ! And thanks for sharing your treasured memories with us. I hope to read more from you !

Here are some photos from 1986.

Photo1

Photo2

Photo3

Photo4

Photo5

joe zizzo, I meant CT, not BB (Bushwick Buddies) although you'd probably enjoy being there, too. Freudian slip :

http://www.bushwickbuddies.com/

Thanks for the 1986 photos, LM. Beautiful still, but what a waste of all those years that the RKO Bushwick sat derelict and unused. The closeups of the window details are majestic, though, like the Palace of Green Porcelain, a vast future museum in H.G. Wells' classic novel "The Time Machine".

A shot of the southwest corner of the RKO Bushwick, at the northeast corner of Howard Avenue and Madison Street, would well convey its impressive bulk. There's a shot of the Bushwick like that in Matthew Melnick, "Lost Brooklyn Trips" :

http://www.lostbrooklyn.org

Melnick's shots of derelict buildings in Brooklyn make it look (to me) like an abandoned city of the dead.

Thanks Lost. I have to agree. The place really looked beautiful near it's cinema end in the late 60's, with it's marquee all lit up. A sharp comparisan to 15-20 years later when it began it's fall into shambles. In the mid 80's, the place still didn't look "that bad", at least not as bad as I remember it 10 years later in the mid 90's when it was in complete and utter shambles.
Today it looks good again, although sad it was gutted inside.

A friend who visited the abandoned theatre in the 1980s sent me this B&W snapshot of the right front side of the auditorium, adjacent to the stage. At top right, one can see a box of seats with a decaying banner draped on it. At the edge of the proscenium, there's a vacant spot at the bottom where an annunciator had been removed:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushruin.jpg

Thanks, Warren. Something has changed on my pc so that I can now view your Photobucket images.

It looks like a b & w still from inside the RKO Bushwick Theatre from the 1987 film "The Believers".

My friend, Jack Robinson, has sent me another snapshot showing a larger portion of the right front wall of the auditorium. There were actually two tiers of box seats. The other photo shows only a portion of the lower left box: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushboxes.jpg

Thanks, Warren. It's great to be able to see the additional detail. It's simultaneously sad, majestic, and decrepit.

My dad remembers the RKO Bushwick Theatre as having two balconies. Is this correct ?

Thanks so much Warren! Those are very interesting. There is a photo linked up above, I think by JF Lundy a long time ago, of when the theater was new, and those boxes look just like them....of course, deteriorated. I would love to see any other photos there may be of the interior.

This is a new link to an auditorium image posted above on 7/7/2005. The photo was taken around 1946-47, well before the wide-screen era:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bushwickaud.jpg

That is beautiful, Warren. Thanks. I think I have seen it, but it's always good to see it again. It's a good, positive companion piece to the 1980's images of abandonment and decay.

It would be interesting to see what the interior of the building looks like now, as the School For Social Justice.

I think it has mostly been cut up into various floors, and classrooms. I don't think any of the interior survives, but I am not sure.

Thanks, Bway, it would be interesting to see some photos, just the same, to have a comparison such as you did for the RKO Madison Theatre.

Some interesting pictures at this website...
http://www.michaelminn.net/newyork/theatres/movie_theatres/rko_bushwick/

Good pix ! Thanks, Jayar1 !

Those are great!