Jackson Heights Airdrome

I posted information about the Jackson Airdome last week at the listing for the Jackson Triplex, which probably inspired Lost Memory to register it before I got around to it and neglected to include Queens in the address. Since the Jackson Theatre is very near to the intersection of 82nd Street & Roosevelt Avenue, it seems possible that it was built as a replacement for the airdome and occupies some (if not all) of the same ground plot. Does anyone know?

What inspired me to submit this theater was a friend of mine emailed me a website link. He used to live in Jackson Heights. I haven't seen your comment about this theater until just now Warren. Had I seen your comment, I would have used the opening date of July 5, 1919 that you posted in the Jackson Triplex.
This website mentions the Jackson Heights Airdrome. In case you don't want to search through that site, it reads "The first motion picture theater, the Jackson Heights Airdrome, opened in 1919, at the corner of 82nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue".

If you want to make sarcastic coimments, I hope that you can take them as much as you can give them out. We will see!

The intersection of Roosevelt Avenue & 82nd Street (previously known as 25th Street) has four corners, so a more precise address is needed to figure out the site's proximity to that of the Jackson Theatre's.

I'm not sure how accurate these Google maps are, but Google shows the Jackson Triplex as being located on 82nd Street about midway on the block between Roosevelt Avenue and Ithaca Street. If that is its actual location, I doubt that the Jackson Triplex was built on the same property as the Jackson Heights Airdrome since the location of the Airdrome is supposed to be a corner property. It is possible that the Jackson Triplex replaced the Airdrome as a theater, but at a different location.

I have the book "Jackson Heights - A Garden in the City" by Daniel Karatzas. It does indeed mention the Airdome, albeit just one paragraph...
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"In July 1919, a resident only identified as Mr. McQuade opened the first motion picture theater in Jackson Heights. It was an open-air theater located in a vacant lot at the corner of 82nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue, and called the Jackson Heights Airdome. Two shows were offered each evening, at 8:15 and 9:30. Unfortunately, the opening performance proved to be a disaster: A 'combination of continued bad weather, disappointment in securing the class of assistants he desired, and lack of opportunity to test out the screen and projecting machines prior to the opening performance were some disappointments'."
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As far as the location is concerned, it has to be either the NE or NW corner of Roosevelt and 82nd, as the south side of Roosevelt is Elmhurst. Having read the entire book previously, it concerns itself only with the development of the area north of Roosevelt. The Jackson Theatre is not mentioned (it's in Elmhurst). A plot map dated 1919 in the book shows vacant lots on the NE and NW corners, with row houses further into the block.

I believe that the name of this outdoor theatre is registered here incorrectly. It was "Airdome," NOT "Airdrome."

The website that this theater came from called it an "Airdrome". That is another indication that the submission of this theater was not "inspired" by your comment in the Jackson Triplex listing.
When you write "inspired", your insinuating that this theater was "stolen" from you. To start with, I doubt that you would have ever submitted this theater. An Airdome, a nickelodeon, a drive-in theater, a dinner theater, a multiplex and a porn theater do not earn the Warren seal of excellence and wouldn't be considered a Cinema Treasure by you. Besides, I have no trouble finding theaters to submit. I have submitted at least five times the number of theaters that you have and thats a low estimate. Your first comment in here was just another of your nasty attacks because you couldn't have your way in your objection to adding the name Queens to the address of Queens theaters. Your true colors are showing and the few people that still admire you on this site are starting to jump ship. Keep up the good work.

As far as this theater is concerned, if you write a new description for it, I will ask that my name be replaced with yours. I don't need this theater, I've submitted my share of theaters to this site. I was only doing this as a favor for a friend.

"Lost Memory," I have no problem with your listing this theatre. But I do think that the name should be spelled correctly if Cinema Treasures expects to be taken seriously as a source of historical information.

As I said before, the information for this theater, including the name comes from the website posted in the second comment above. That website calls it an Airdrome. If you believe that it should be called Airdome, contact Bryan and ask him to change the spelling. Now, dave-bronx narrowed down the location of this former theater to two corners. Without a specific address it would be difficult for me to locate this property. It would be time consuming but not impossible. Since my involvement with this theater has just come to an end, its all yours. Happy researching.

It's news to me that the Jackson Theatre is in Elmhurst. Are you certain? From the time it first opened, it was always advertised and promoted as being in Jackson Heights, from which the theatre took its name. I lived in Elmhurst from 1941-52, and I never heard of Roosevelt Avenue being the southern border of Jackson Heights. There are parts of Jackson Heights south of Roosevelt Avenue. I think that the dividing line might be the Port Washington line of the LIRR. JH is on the north side, and Elmhurst on the south.

Please stop the controversy - upon reviewing my comment (now that I have had sleep), I find that I mis-spelled the name when copying from the book: 'Airdrome' is the way it is spelled in the book. I apologize to CT readers for my poor typing and proof reading skills that have fueled further disagreement among members here. I will try to be more careful.

Dave....Your comment did not cause or contribute to the controversy in this thread. This is just a spillover from another theater listing. Normally I walk away from this petty nonsense because it isn't worth the aggravation. This time its different. No matter how it was worded, I was accused of stealing this theater, which is a lie. I don't take accusations like that lightly. Some people are quick to accuse and slow to apologize. I plan to go the distance on this one no matter what the cost.

Addresses on the south side and south of Roosevelt are Elmhurst NY 11373. On the north side and north of Roosevelt are Jackson Heights NY 11372.

According to the previously mentioned book, development the area south of Roosevelt was called Newtown, and re-named Elmhurst in 1906 at the request of the developer of that area. In 1909 The Queensboro Corporation, headed by a man named Edward MacDougall, bought up all the property btwn todays Roosevelt Ave. and Northern Blvd, 70th to 92nd Streets, which then was a collection of small farms and fields called Trains Meadow, and renamed the area Jackson Heights.

The zip code given for the Jackson Triplex here at Cinema Treasures, at MovieTickets.com, Citysearch.com, and in several Queens business directories in my possession, is 11372, which is the zip code for Jackson Heights, not Elmhurst (11373). I don't know why Mr. K failed to mention the Jackson Theatre in his book about Jackson Heights.
Perhaps for the same reason that Vincent Seyfried neglected to mention the Queensboro (later Elmwood) in his history of Elmhurst.
Inadequate research, or a feeling that cinemas are too trivial to mention?

The zipcode doesn't necessarily tell you which neighborhood or town that a building is actually located in. Movie theaters in Ridgewood, Queens have a zipcode of 11385. That is a Flushing zipcode even though the buildings are located in Ridgewood. The zipcode is usually the post office that serves that community. These are the borders given for Jackson Heights. "The community is bounded by Northern Boulevard to the north, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the west, Roosevelt Avenue to the south, and Junction Boulevard to the east". Talk about inadequate research!

The Verizon Yellow Pages online returns 4031 82nd st. Elmhurst 11373 in response to the search terms 'Jackson Theatre Queens NY'.
They may use Jackson Heights in the advertising because that #7 train station there is called '82nd St-Jackson Heights'.

"Lost Memory," am I supposed to take that signature literally? You seem at times to be losing your marbles. Ridgewood does not have a "Flushing zipcode." The zipcode for the Ridgewood of the Ridgewood Theatre is 11385. The zipcode for the now demolished Prospect Theatre in Flushing would be 11355. The only similarity is the 113, which means that all mail for those areas goes through the Flushing post office, which then dispatches it to the various local post offices. The same is true for Queens addresses that start with 114, which go through the Jamaica post office.

I think the merchants on that stretch of 82nd Street just south of Roosevelt probably unofficially made reference to the block as being "Jackson Heights" in an effort to associate it with the comercial strip on 82nd Street that runs north of Roosevelt to 37th Ave. When my family lived on 41st Ave off Junction Blvd in the early '70's, we always referred to area right around the Jackson Theater as being Jackson Heights, even though it was on the Elmhurst side of Roosevelt.

The Jackson Theatre has always been considered one of the anchors of the Jackson Heights business district. In its heyday, stores and restaurants depended on it to draw customers from surrounding neighborhoods, and it was also regarded as the showplace of Jackson Heights by residents. Its central location made it much more popular than the Boulevard Theatre, which was on Northern Boulevard and too far from the main drags that converge at 82nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue.

More double talk. Watch him tap dance his way out of this one.

I'm going show you something and I'm going to do it slowly so there is no confusion. This is the C.T. link to the Jackson Triplex.

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/4022/

Go ahead and click it, I'll wait. Now, click on the map at the top of the page. Google will show you the address and return a zipcode of 11373. That is an Elmhurst zipcode.

BTW Dave, I doubt that you will get a Christmas card from Warren this year since you are now on his hit list. You committed the cardinal sin of disagreeing with him.


Am I losing my marbles? Since I'm replying to you, I must be losing them. By the same token, are you losing your marbles when you tell people that the 11373 zipcode is in Jackson Heights? We have discussed the Ridgewood-Brooklyn-Flushing zipcodes a number of times in the various Ridgewood theaters. At one time the Ridgewood theater had a zipcode of 11227. That was changed to 11385 which is serviced out of the Flushing post office. Go back and read the comments in the Ridgewood and Madison theaters again. Maybe you will be enlightened.

I used to live in Ridgewood, and my mail often came addressed to "Flushing, NY 11385". I hated that, but it was all the time. Of course, it also came to "Ridgewood, NY 11385" too, but it definitely wasn't rare for "Flushing, NY". That was especially true for junk mail.
Even the city's public records are sometimes searched by "Town=Flushing, Section=Ridgewood" for Ridgewood addresses. That could be because all the mail is sorted through the Flushing post office (and as mentioned Jamaica, etc).

This brings up another strange anormalty that QUeens has. Unlike all the other boroughs, like Brooklyn, etc, in QUeens, you usually still do address by "Section" name as opposed to the county or boroguh name. I don't know why this is.

For example, for Queens, you would do:
John Smith
123 Any Street
Ridgewood, NY 11385 (or Flushing, NY 11385)

instead of
John Smith
123 Any Street
Queens, NY 11385

However, you would never see:
John Smith
123 Any Street
Park Slope, NY 112XX

as opposed to:
John Smith
123 Any Street
Brooklyn, NY 112XX which is the customary way to do it

or you would never see:
John Smith
123 Any Street
Chelsea, NY 100XX

as opposed to the customary way of:
John Smith
123 Any Street
New York, NY 100XX

I don't know why in Queens it's still done by town or section as opposed to County/borough like it's done in t he rest of the city. I personally like the Queens way better, but it's strange that it's done like that there, and no where else in the city.

Thats exactly right Bway. I used to use that zipcode on my return address just before I left Ridgewood. Even though we lived in Ridgewood we are probably wrong because Warren, the "Theater God of the Universe" is never wrong about anything. Or is he? Should I change that to Galaxy or is Universe okay?

Bway, Queens was the last of the 4 boros to develop (Staten Island was always considered "over there" by some, even today, and not part of NYC). Prior to the consolidation of 1898 New York City was only Manhattan and part of The Bronx. Brooklyn was a city unto itself, and Queens was considered Long Island and had its own little towns and villages, i.e. Long Island City, Newtown, Flushing, Jamaica. After the consolidation and despite the best efforts of the City of New York and the U.S.Postal Service everyone sticks to the old time names. When I lived in Jackson Heights around 1997 everyone in my neighborhood received a notice from the Post Office declaring that everyone with a 113XX zip code were to use Flushing NY as their address and no more Jackson Hts, Elmhurst, Rego Park, Forest Hills or whatever. Predictably, everyone threw those notices in the wastebasket and ignored them. Old habits die hard.

Here in the Beautiful Bronx is a similar situation, people who live near the Hudson River use Riverdale NY and not Bronx NY as their address.

LoMem, can't you get it through your thick skull that Ridgewood and Flushing do not (and never did) have the same zipcode? And until you come up with an exact address for the Jackson Heights Airdome, how do you know that it was actually in Jackson Heights? If it was on the south side of Roosevelt Avenue, wouldn't that have been Elmhurst (according to your loony address system)?

Thats cute Warren. Did you make that up yourself or did someone help you? I'm not getting into the Ridgewood debate since we have covered that many times before. You seem to have the ability to read but your reading comprehension is very low. As Dave-Bronx has already posted "it has to be either the NE or NW corner of Roosevelt and 82nd". Where are you getting the idea that this theater was located on the south side of Roosevelt Ave? Show me where I wrote that. Everytime you make a mistake, you try to make it look like the other person is wrong. Your smoke and mirror tricks won't work this time. There is a song by Kenny Rogers called The Gambler. This portion of the song applies to you:

You got to know when to hold 'em

Know when to fold 'em

Know when to walk away

You should take that advice before you make yourself look more foolish than you already have.

I believe it was only Dave's supposition that it was on the north side of Roosevelt Avenue. It could very well have been on the south side, where land was cheaper. 82nd Street between Roosevelt and 37th Avenue was already well developed commercially by 1919. I doubt that a north corner would have even been available for a paltry airdome, which was equivalent to someone showing movies in their backyard with seating on wooden benches.

Geez, your like a bad dream that never ends. I offered you a chance to end this gracefully, but I can see that your arrogance won't allow that. Since I can't read Dave's mind, I will have to let him reply to your comment above. I would like to get back on topic for a minute. You made a comment that you believe the correct name for this theater should be Airdome and NOT Airdrome. The website that I linked to above has it spelled as Airdrome. That is source number one. In the book that Dave quoted from, it is also spelled Airdrome. That is source number two. What is your source for changing the name to Airdome? I believe that is a fair question to ask.

Airdome is correct, according to newspaper reports at the time.The name was spelled incorrectly in the book, and the website, using that book as its source, merely repeated that error. And use your common sense, LoMem. "Airdrome" is a synonym for "airport." Look it up in any dictionary. Outdoor cinemas were often called airdomes because the skies above were the equivalent of a ceiling dome in conventional theatres.

Common sense, Arrogant One? You probably stayed up all night looking up the meaning of airdrome. Were all open air theaters of this type called airdome? Then why were the Evergreen and Van Cortland theaters in Ridgewood called Airdrome? There is also a former theater listed on C.T. called the Airdrome Theater in Anderson, SC. I guess that those are all spelled wrong also. Only the all knowing Theater God knows the correct names for these theaters. How about you show us some of those "newspaper reports" that call this theater an airdome.

When I can find time to travel to the Long Island Collection at the Queens Public Library in Jamaica, I will have copies made of the clippings and post them here. And if you can't wait that long, LoMem, you are welcome to do it yourself. You will find them in the folder for Jackson Heights theatres.

Just to make sure that I'm clear on this subject. Your telling me that Airdome is the correct term for an open air theater and Airdrome is a synonym for "airport". Thats what you posted above, correct?

Did you know that there was an Airdrome theater located in Lynbrook, Long Island in 1915? Yes, Airdrome with an "R". This is a link to a Newsday article about this Airdrome theater. Before you tell me that the reporter spelled the name wrong, the article includes an ad for the theater. The name in the ad is "Lynbrook Airdrome". Was this Airdrome a theater for airplanes? You must enjoy the taste of shoe leather since you continue to put your foot in your mouth every chance that you get. Theater God of the Universe, what a joke!

Haha, this Jackson Heights Theater is a hostile theater!
Speaking of airplanes.....how about THESE theaters!!

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/16682/
http://cinematreasures.org/theater/8593/

Here are two more examples of theaters using the name Airdrome.

"The Airdrome, Grand Prairie, Texas first movie theater, opened about 1920. Since it had no roof, it resembled a "drive-in" theater with seats. The Theater was in operation three nights a week with serial movies being shown on Thursday nights. The shows were advertised by the owner walking the streets blowing a horn to attract the attention of potential customers".

From a History in Lincoln, Illinois:
"With the arrival of moving pictures in Lincoln, about 1910, several theaters were built, including the X-Ray, Family Theater, Star, Empire, Nickelodeon, and Airdrome, which was built by Steve Bennis just east of the present Arcade Building".

I'm going to end this debate or conversation because I made my point. That point being that you are fallible Warren, just like the rest of us. Your feet do not float above the ground. You are the same as everyone else on this site. You make mistakes like the rest of us but are unable to admit them. At first I found humor in these comments. After reading them again, I realized how sad they actually had become. You have ruined your own credibility and tarnished your reputation on this site just to get "even" with me for adding the name Queens to the addresses of Queens theaters. Its not only childish, its pathetic. This was not a contest and there were no winners. I don't dislike you Warren, I dislike the superior attitude that you bring to this site. You need to work on that. I'm going to remove the email notification from this theater. If you choose to continue commenting here, you will be replying to yourself. As far as I'm concerned, this is a dead theater and so are the topics contained here.

So is your memory. Perhaps you should change your signature to "Brain Dead." "Lost Memory" has never made any sense to me. Why would anyone sign themselves thusly unless they were suffering from amnesia, Alzheimer's, or whatever.

I love the comment by "Bway". This is just getting TOO funny!

If I may DARE to add my two cents regarding the previous "Jackson Heights vs. Elmhurst" debate...

I was born and lived in Elmhurst until I was six years old.
I continue to visit Jackson Heights frequently as an adult (as I have for the last 13 years).

I know of a bar (“Music Box”) located just off the SOUTHwest corner of Roosevelt Ave. and Broadway. It uses Jackson Heights as its location in all of its advertising. If you "search engine" it online, you will find websites listing it in both locations. If you search official NYS corporation records under its former name ("Montana Saloon"), it will be listed as Elmhurst. To save time: here is the link to that entry:
http://appsext5.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=1665594&p_corpid=1587275&p_entity_name=%6D%6F%6E%74%61%6E%61%20%73%61%6C%6F%6F%6E&p_name_type=%25&p_search_type=%43%4F%4E%54%41%49%4E%53&p_srch_results_page=0

Unless the official boundaries have changed, it could perhaps be argued that Broadway is the dividing line.

However, located just three blocks away (south-east direction) on the NORTH side of Broadway is Elmhurst General Hospital.

Also, a now-defunct nightclub that used to be located a few steps SOUTH of Roosevelt Ave. and four blocks NORTH of Broadway at 82-20 Baxter Ave. (“Llamarada” - now a laundromat) can be found by Internet search engine listed as either a Jackson Heights or Elmhurst location (incidentally, this address is located immediately east of 82nd St.).

Bottom line: many businesses south of Roosevelt Ave. (along or adjacent to) collectively use Jackson Heights because it is a popular, well-known shopping & business district. This is especially true of the bars, nightclubs and restaurants, which comprise the majority of businesses there. For many customers, Jackson Heights is considered a “destination” - Elmhurst is not.

The debate continues…

I definitely think that commercial interests along the 82nd Street corridor (whether north or sout of Roosevelt) will always refer to themselves as being in Jackson Heights. Everything along that little wedge of blocks between Broadway and Baxter down to 41st Ave is probably fair game for that affiliation (whether technically correct or not). I don't think I'd go all the way down to the Port Washington LIRR line as Warren suggests (which runs through Elmhurst and Corona below 43rd Ave), but I think the area where the Jackson Theater sits is fair game.

During the time period these theatres were built airdrome was the correct word to describe them. Airdrome is the european version of airdome. Similar to airplane versus aeroplane. Another example would be theater versus theatre. Since these early theatres were for the most part designed and constructed by european immigrants the term airdrome is correct.