Astoria Theatre

The architect was Thomas Lamb

The shell of this Theater still sits on the west side of Steinway Street just north of 30th Avenue in Astoria. The facade is recognizable with the lobby area (at least) housing a chain drug store. The large hulk of the auditorium can be seen rising behind the two story street level structure and I presume may still feature some original elements in the upper level balcony area?

Designed by Thomas Lamb with 2,900 seats, it first opened in 1920 and was the largest theatre in Queens until the building of the Keith-Albee, Flushing, and Loew's Valencia, Jamaica, near the end of the decade. Originally owned by the vaudeville chain of Ward & Glynne, the Astoria Theatre was purchased by Loew's in 1923. In 1931, when Loew's opened the larger and more spectacular Triboro Theatre only a block away on Steinway Street, it continued to operate the Astoria to stem competition. Unfortunately, Loew's had to reduce the Astoria to move-over status, playing the same movies as the Triboro but two weeks later. That continued until 1940, when Loew's entered into a secret "pooling" arrangement with Skouras Theatres, which took over the ownership of the Astoria and returned it to first-run status with films that normally played the RKO circuit (which had no outlet in Astoria). The boxoffice takings of the Triboro and Astoria were combined and shared equally by Loew's and Skouras. This continued into the early 1950s, when, as a result of the federal anti-trust action against most of the major movie companies, the Astoria Theatre landed under the sole ownership of Skouras Theatres (a name eventually phased out in favor of United Artists Theatre Circuit)...I recently visited the Astoria Theatre site and seriously doubt that anything of the original interior remains. Even the backstage area has been converted to stores or offices.

This was the theatre that my mom would take me to every Saturday afternoon back in the early 1980's, we would smuggle in our own potato chips, pretzels and soda...the red-vested clad ushers would never search my moms Associated shopping bag...we would take the subway a few stops to the Steinway Street station and then walk down Steinway Street to 30th Avenue the theatre...as a little kid it seemed like a long walk.The four blocks were very long. There was a chinese restaurant (now a gothic cabinet craft) across the way and sometimes we would go in for some lunch before beginning our personal film festival. We would buy one adult and one child ticket and sneak from movie theatre to movie theatre, at that time it was 4 theatres, 2 on the top floor and 2 on the ground floor.We would get there at 1pm and leave at around 10pm and then head back to Greenpoint on the G train.The last movies... I've ever seen there were End of Days and American Beauty....coincidentally they were both in the ground floor- left theatre closer to 30th avenue, when seen.R.I.P UA Astoria Sixplex.

I don't recall the URL under which I found the photos (which were taken this past spring), but the entire former UA Astoria Sixplex site has been gutted and renovated for retail/office use; the marquee, however, had yet to be removed.

If I'm not mistaken, the Marx Brothers used to try out their comedy bits here when they were filming at the Kaufman-Astoria studios. My wife and I used to frequent this the first year we lived in Astoria. My Dad used to come here as a kid and see the Flash Gordon serials (he loves those things).

Duane Reade and Raggazine Children's Shoes are among the tenants in the building which formerly housed the UA Astoria.

I live a few blocks from the cinema and caught many films here shortly after I moved to Astoria from the Village back in '87. The last film I caught here was "The Sidewalks of New York" by Edward Burns back on Nov. 21, 2001.

What happened to this 'plex is that Regal Cinemas opened a massive 'plex further down Steinway Street. And then all the exhibitors ran into financial trouble because they overbuilt and UA, which ran the 6-plex, and Regal merged. It wasn't long before the 6-plex closed.

The 6-plex was a bit of pit but when the Regal Cinemas was being built the UA folks started to spruce the place up and the employees seemed a bit more friendly.

Just out of curiousity I heard there were other theatres in Astoria? I don't know the names of them, but there was a cinema on the north side of Broadway, just east of Crescent Street. My landlord told me it closed in '63. And on the northwest corner of Broadway and 31st Street there also must have been a cinema long ago. It is now a bank, but I can tell from the building that it was once a cinema. And I think there must have been a cinema on Ditmars and 31st Street, judging from the building type.

I understand there were also cinemas on 30th Avenue and on Steinway, which must be the aforementioned Triboro Theatre mentioned by Warren.

Loew's Triboro was one long block north of the Astoria Theatre, on the NW corner of Steinway & 28th Avenue. The other "major" theatre buildings in Astoria still exist in some form or another. I believe they are all listed here: the Astoria, Broadway, Steinway, Grand, Crescent, and Strand.

Warren,
Then there wasn't a theatre on the corner of 32nd Street & Broadway? That building, which still stands, surely looks like it was a theatre.

The Broadway Theatre was on the north side of Broadway between 31st and 32nd Streets. It's now a catering hall, but I think that some of the attached stores on Broadway were converted into a bank.

On May 15, 1986, the Astoria's six screens were presenting:
#1-"The Money Pit"
#2-"In the Shadow of Kilimanjaro"
#3-"Jo Jo Dancer"
#4-"Short Circuit"
#5-"Dangerously Close"
#6-"Cut & Run"
Each movie had five showings per day, with staggered starting times. The first was at 1:00 PM and the last at 9:50 PM.

A small photo of the Astoria Sixplex taken before its closing in 2001 can be seen here.

I was in Queens at the end of July 2005 and took this exterior shot of the former Astoria Theater. Looks like everything has been converted into retail space.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a292/zathros/Astoria_July2005.jpg

The following is from the Daily Star newspaper:

June 1921-ward & Glynne’s Astoria Theater, at Steinway and Grand avenues, was screening "Through the Back Door," starring Mary Pickford. The theater experience was enhance by a symphony orchestra and "excellent vaudeville."

At Proctor’s Theatre, "Peck’s Bad Boy," starring Jackie Coogan was playing, along with the usual big vaudeville bill.

Sept 1922-Ward and Glynnes Astoria Theater on Steinway Avenue presents Schubert Vaudeville. See Lew Field's 'The Girls of 19 and 22' with Harry Cooper and a cast of 50 people. Also the Empire City Quartet and Fred Blondel with his Sax Sextet. See James Cagney and an adorable chorus of fascinating beauties. Matinees at 2 o'clock and 8 in the evening. The following week, see Jack Singer in 'Hello New York' a massive aggregation of very talented acts and novelties. See Cissy Hayd and 16 English damsels in their first American appearance".

Ever since they converted the Astoria Theater into a multiplex during the late 1970s, it became just like any other multiplex theater. By the late 1980s it had already become run down and even seedy inside. Only if they were to return it to it's original one-screen glory, would the theater have been worth saving. Just like most movie theaters, it became a victim of it's time.

Re posting of 8/19/05, Proctor's Theatre of June, 1921, was the original Proctor's in Manhattan on 58th Street between Lexington & Third Avenues. There was never a Proctor's in Astoria or anywhere else in Queens. But the original Proctor's on East 58th Street in Manhattan and the one that replaced it in December, 1928, always advertised in Queens newspapers because they were so close to that borough via the Queensborough (59th Street) Bridge and public transportation.

I didn't say the Proctor was in Queens. You should write a letter to the Daily Star and demand that a correction be printed. Good Luck. :)

Here is another photo of the Astoria Theater. First photo on the page.

The photo of the ex-Astoria with New York Sports Club on the top floor suggests that some of the original domed ceiling of the theatre's auditorium might be visible in the sports club. Does anyone know for sure? Would one have to become a member to find out?

I believe the only movie I ever saw here was the dreadful remake of "King Kong" that Dino DeLaurentiis foisted upon us in 1976. I saw the film with my friend Matthew and his Dad and I seem to recall that we drove into Astoria to see the movie and remember it being a very big theater.

A 1/8/06 view of the magnificent facility that has been created from the Astoria Theatre. The entrance to the NYSC is in the white section at the rear of the building:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/astplaza.jpg

Hi Warren! Thanks for sharing the recent photo. I don't think that you would have to become a member of the sports club to find out if the original domed ceiling is still visible.

This is a 2002 article about the closing of the Astoria Theater. There is a photo in the article that you can click on to expand slightly.

According to NYC, seating for the Astoria theater as a sixplex was as follows:

Theater #1-461
Theater #2-360
Theater #3-531
Theater #4-525
Theater #5-201
Theater #6-181

Total Seats-2259

It must have been a pricey and exhaustive task for the management of the Astoria Theater to spill enough soda so that all 2,259 seats will have sticky floors under them. To me that was the most lasting impression of the Astoria, eternally sticky floors. LOL

Saw "Blazing Saddles," "Dawn of the Dead," and "Jaws" here back in the 1970s. The last thing I saw here was "The Cable Guy" in 1996 or 97. From the 80s, I remember rowdy audiences and stuff being thrown through the projection beam to create shadows on the screen.

Once a grand theater, loaded with history, it kind of hurts to see how it ended and what's there now, with a complimentary nod to Bobs for the current photo he posted back in '05.

Was there only once with my movie-addicted fiancee. We'd never been to a midnight triple bill, so off we went to Archie Bunker country and to the Astoria Theater to see:

"Earthquake" (dumb!)

"The Towering Inferno" (dumber!)

"Invasion of the Blood Farmers" (more dumberer of 'em all, Goober!)

I kid you not about that last one. Made in '72 by rank kindegartners with a couple of bucks, it must go down into history as one of the all-time stink-o wretched bombs. Victims were hooked up to blood-transfer machines and faked the violent throes of orgasm as they were drained. So laughable it was sad! We're halfway through it when the vampire character is asked if he wanted a drink at this guy's house. Before he answers, I say loudly in a Pottsylvanian-type accent, "I would like a Bloody Mary." Immediately the actor on screen sez the EXACT same line in the EXACT same accent! Then a guy midway down the aisle turns around and asks me menacingly, "You have something to do with this P.O.S.? You write this crap?"

I was totally stunned. I stopped laughing long enough to counter, "Not me, pal. Just a wild and lucky guess."

That shut him up for the moment, but not wanting any trouble over one of the world's worst flicks, I decided not to be my usual wisecracking self and to keep my lip zipped. And we never got to see how it ended. Didn't wanna know, it was that bad.

Although we eventually divorced in '91, we had to keep in touch for the sake of the kids. A year ago, I spotted a DVD of "Blood Farmers" and considered getting it for my ex for Christmas or her birthday. But then, I decided I didn't really hate her all THAT much.

No, BklynJim, I have NEVER ... repeat, NEVER ... heard of "Invasion of the Blood Farmers". The closest I have come to it is the original and vastly superior "Not Of This Earth", directed by Roger Corman, and starring Paul Birch as the primo interstellar vampire from the planet Davanna.

But, now that you've mentioned "Blood Farmers", I must go check it out on the IMDb and post about it on my beloved Angelique board.

I actually saw "Invasion of the Blood Farmers" when it was - if you can believe it - re-released around 1980 or so. I think I saw it at the RKO Keith's in Flushing on a double bill. I had actually heard about the film before, but would have been too young to have seen it when it first came out. It was pretty horrific. There are scenes where you can see the boom mic bobbing into the top of the frame! I remember at one point I just stopped paying attention to the story and just started scanning the frame line for other intrusions by the film crew! Ed Wood would have been proud to have been a part of it!

But I gotta say... I've seen quite a number of films on 42nd Street that would rival "Blood Farmers" on the list of "world's worst films".

Thanks, EdSolero ! Tell me about them !

You can get "Blood Farmers" on DVD for Christmas, guys.

Couldn't agree more with EdSolero as to its ranking in history. LMAO!

"Not of This Earth" - a diamond in the rough, Peter. Paul Birch and Beverly Garland, later to be re-made with former porn star Tracy Lords. I saw it originally at the Peerless in Brooklyn, never dreaming that one day I would actually own a marketed (*gasp!*) bootleg VHS copy of it.

So, an open question to all those entrepreneurs of schlockdom out there in CT Land:

When will we peasants ever get to purchase studio-issued DVD copies of...

"GOG" ('54) co-starring his twin brother Magog, Richard Egan, Constance ("Fatass") Dowling, Herbert Marshall, the spin test machine, the mirror in the desert, the frozen monkey, NOVAC and all this in blazing EastmanColor!)

"Dr. Cyclops" ('40) - also in color

"The Neanderthal Man" ('53) - with Robert Shayne (TV Superman's Inspector Henderson)

"The Beast With 1,000,000 Eyes" ('53) - One of Roger Corman's early cheapies, again with Paul Birch acting opposite the alien invader, played by none other than a coffee percolator!

"The Incredible Shrinking Man" ('57 or '58)- Richard Matheson's thoughtful script about "Short People," predating Randy Newman's song by 2 whole decades!

"The Black Sleep" ('55) - with everyone from John Carradine to Tor Johnson (but Whit Bissell never managed to make the cut on this one!)

"The Mole People" ('56) - with another ubiquitous guy, John Agar

"Half Human" ('57) - Carradine takes on the Japanese stars of "Godzilla"

????????

And with your help, many more titles to follow...

"The Incredible Shrinking Man" is one of my favorite all-time films, and Richard Matheson, one of my favorite authors.

I think "The Black Sleep" had John Carradine as a resurrected Crusader fanatic, shouting something about "The Holy Land" and "Kill !"

For me, the scariest part of "The Neanderthal Man" were those photos of the Neanderthal WOMAN happened on in the dark room. I think the film also contained a rape, expressed in carefully chosen words due to censorship.

I remember Robert Shayne well. He also played a scientist in the 1953 cult classic "Invaders From Mars", ducking in his lab to avoid a gunshot from a Martian-possessed assassin.

"Colonel Fielding ! Colonel Fielding !"

Shayne was also a doctor-up-to-no-good in "The Indestructible Man" (1956) who brought Butcher Benson (Lon Chaney, Jr.) back from the dead after he'd been executed. Met him once at the San Diego ComiCon back in the early '80s, perhaps 1984 or '85. He was wheelchair-bound, a former shell of the man we remember, and accompanied by his devoted wife. She told me privately that he spent his days at home signing as many 8x10 photos as he was able, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to do it for fans once he crossed over to that Big Box Office in the Sky. Class guy.

As for the aforementioned female neanderthal, I thought my daughter (then age 11) would pass out from laughing so hard when she saw my bootleg tape. It was hysterical!

Holy land, indeed!

NON-DVD BOMBS, Part 2 A.D. (After Dinner)

At some point or another, I think all of these played at the Astoria.

If you are ever brave enough to survive one additional viewing of "The Neanderthal Man," pay close attention to the interior of Shayne's house. Set high up in the beautiful Sierra, the exterior looks exactly as it should. The wall outside the basement lab, however, is made of brick. (BRICK!?!) Yep, brick. And I suspect it was borrowed from the Universal set for "Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde." The dates of the two movies also indicate it may be one and the same brick wall.

Now if we could only be sure of who was responsible for finding that awful stock footage of the sabre-toothed tiger. (Gad, even "The Killer Shrews" had better fangs. Dogs playing 100-lb. rodents. Hmmmm. Could catch on. TV sitcom.)

Here's an additional pair of duds which never reached DVD. Yet.

"How To Make a Monster" ('58) - Featured another guy who was everywhere, Morris Ankrum, especially as an army general. (He's the one who was tossed out of the hovering Harryhausen disc in "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers.")

"The Giant Claw" ('57) - starring a hapless and lackluster Jeff Morrow. I told my daughter Kris after we watched the VHS version that the Claw was later painted a bright yellow and renamed Big Bird. She was young and gullible enough to buy it.

A final postscript (for now): Finally jotted down the director's name for "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" and "Half Human" - Inoshiro Honda, forever immortalized as the name of one of their best-selling import cars...

Ah, yes, the ubiquitous Morris Ankrum. Up there with Maxie "Slapsy" Rosenbloom ...

I saw "How To Make a Monster" on either the ABC or WOR 4:30 movie in the spring or summer of 1965. Here's how "Famous Monsters Of Filmland" magazine put it :

"What's up, ugly ?" (Teenage Frankenstein)

"Your life, Wolfie !" (Teenage Werewolf)

Typical teenage conversation.

Michael Landon once sang this on the Tonight Show :

"My girl's real neat, she eats raw meat
"She's got big claws on the end of her feet
"She's my baby, whoo, she's my werewolf baby ..."

What impressed me most about "The Giant Claw" when I first saw it at age eight was its size. The legend of the Roc taken to the extreme of a huge extraterrestrial plucked turkey.

Thanks for the info on Robert Shayne.

I remember Lon Chaney Jr. as "The Indestructible Man" (1956) and how
Robert Shayne was the scientist who brought him back to "life". Chaney played a similar role in "The Electric Man" (not the Con Ed guy who reads your meter !)

You've heard the shaggy dog story, the punch line of which is :

Abscess make the fart go Honda ?

Ever see the original Japanese release of "Godzilla" (Gojira) ?

I also recall a scene in "The Indestructible Man" in which Chaney grabs a guy named Hymie, who walked on crutches, and threw him down some steep street in Frisco.

"Squeamy" Ellis, portrayed uncredited and on crutches by Marvin Ellis, was the one you remember getting tossed to his death from on high by "Butcher Benson" after his return from S.F. to L.A. It was right behind the old Hillcrest Hotel downtown and Angel's Flight. Try this link for some great pix of the world's shortest railway:

www.usc.edu/isd/archives/la/historic/angels_flight html

Thanks for the correction, BklynJim, and for the link. Zacherle even said the character's name out loud, when he hosted the film. "Uncredited" explains why he didn't show up in the credits on the IMDb.

Thanks for the link.

Folks, could we please restrict discussions to theatres? I would guess that some of the recent technical problems were due to an overload of postings, many of which are irrelevant to the topic at hand. I'm sure that there are many Internet forums for discussions of movies, past and present. I don't think that this should be one of them.

Not much has been mentioned here about the Astoria's affiliation with the Loew's circuit, which lasted nearly 18 years. From 1923 into January, 1929, the Astoria was considered the largest and most important Loew's in Queens. But the January 12th opening of the Valenica in Jamaica reduced the Astoria to the #2 spot, with the #3 spot shared by the Prospect, Plaza, Woodside, Hillside and Willard. By this time, the Astoria had followed the example of the Strand in NYC by dropping stage shows in favor of "talkie" shorts and newsreels. The feature movies opened at the Valencia, then moved to the Astoria, and finally to the Plaza, Prospect, Woodside, Hillside, and Willard. Two years, later, when Loew's opened the Triboro in Astoria, the Astoria dropped into the #3 spot with the Plaza, Prospect, Woodside, Hillside, and Willard. These ads are from the Daily Star and don't show the Valencia, Hillside and Willard, which were beyond the Star's area of distribution:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/loews4.jpg

Thanks for the ad, Warren. With the recent closing of the Plaza, all 4 of these theaters are no more. At least the Woodside survives more or less intact both within and without and open to the public as St. Sebastian's RC church. The Astoria is just a shell, having been completely gutted; the Plaza's orchestra and most of the lobby converted to a chain drug store with the chopped up balcony vacantly awaiting its fate; and the Prospect long since pounded to dust.

Per release info on IMDB.COM that ad of Warren's would date to 1928.

The Astoria became a Skouras theatre on November 21, 1940, taking over the first-run status of the Grand and Broadway, which were shifted to subsequent-run and a "new low price policy." The Astoria's programs were first-run for Queens, but not exclusive for the borough, and could also be seen at the RKOs in Flushing and Richmond Hill and either the RKO Alden or Skouras Merrick in Jamaica. In 1942, they would be joined by the new RKO Midway in Forest Hills:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bettyastoria.jpg

The ads that I posted on 8/26/06 were from January 12, 1929, the same day that Loew's Valencia opened in Jamaica. The Valencia had a separate ad that I posted last year and can still be seen here:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/132-3238_IMG.jpg

My error. In January of 1929, I suppose the boroughs would still be getting releases from late in the previous year.

From time to time, the Astoria presented "live" concerts aimed at the area's large Italian-American population. Here's one from 1949 that must have packed them in:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fburco.jpg

An exterior view of the Astoria in November, 1944. The vertical sign is a different one from that in the color postcard in the introduction above...In the distant background, one can also see Loew's Triboro, which still had its original vertical sign with the full name spelled out. It was later shortened to just Loew's:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/astoria44.jpg

Wow, where do you come up with these classic images Warren? Except for the cars and people's outfits, it was how I remembered Steinway & 30th Avenue intersection in the 1960s.

I don't know if this was posted already, but this is a 1920 photo of the Astoria Theater.

This is the text that goes with the above photo. For some reason the link to that page doesn't work.

CAPTION: ASTORIA THEATER, STEINWAY AVENUE (NOW 30 AVENUE), ASTORIA, QUEENS, 1920S.
CATEGORY: STREETS - LEISURE - RETAIL - -
PLACE: ASTORIA THEATER /STEINWAY AVENUE/ASTORIA/QUEENS/NY
YEAR: 1920

"Lost Memory," that's a B&W version of the hand-tinted postcard view shown in the introduction to this listing.

Well "Warren" the Queens History site has it listed under photos. Its also larger than the postcard at the top of the page so enjoy it.

Thanks for posting that image, Lost. I prefer the black & white image, plus it's not cropped.

Very cool photo. Much better then the postcard above. Thanx for posting it.

I thought it was a nice photo. And remember, 'Tis the season to be jolly... :)

Hi I woke from a dream was lying in my bed recalling the time my brother and his friends broke in the back of theater i couldnt recall what I saw.I was very young so I found this site now I remember thank you.I was born in Astoria in 1973 I am the youngest of 7 5 girls 2 boys Astoria was a great place to be in my time alot has change since.I miss it all by the way ive been on the roof of the theater it was quite amazing but then again ive been on many roofs in astoria lol.I grew up at 30-17 34st.Astoria what a town.I was also and underage employee at the theater back when labamba was playing.The most recent picture doesnt show it but there used to be a huge fire scape leading to the roof on the side of the building.

Here's yet another image of the exterior, which was little changed over the decades. In this view from February, 1975, the Astoria was still a single auditorium and presenting a double bill of "Earthquake" and "Airport '75." Midnight shows were presented on Fridays and Saturdays:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/astoriaagain-1.jpg

I drove by the Astoria yesterday, and instantly recognized it as a theater because of it's distinctive traingle marquee, judging by photos here of the theater in it's final days as a theater. The marquee has NY Sports Club on it, and Duane Reade. They punched windows into the side of the building, and the entire front has been transformed into glass, at least three stories of glass. The theater's distinctive arched front no longer has windows, but is readily noticable.
Since I have never been in the Astoria, how were the 6 theaters cut up? 3 in the balcony and 3 downstairs? I am assuming it only had one balcony, but since it had just under 3000 seats perhaps it had two?
Also, does anyone know of any vintage photos of the interior? I didn't see any linked here, unless I missed it.
Finally, I didn't have time to stop inside the drug store, and I assume not...but are there any theater ornamentation or hints of the theater inside the drug store or the sports club upstairs?

Those are all good questions, Bway, and I hope you get answers to them, whether here or elsewhere, but unfortunately I know the answers to none of them.

Just to correct "Lost Memories" post of Dec. 16 2006. Steinway Ave. is now Steinway Street, which is the street the marque is on, and 30th Ave is the cross street, which was previously known as Grand Ave. The subway stop on the elevated line is still referred to as Grand Ave. By the way, when I graduated junior high school in 1968 the commencement exercises were held at the Astoria Theater.

The Astoria was your typical Thomas Lamb vadueville house of 1920, with a slightly domed ceiling and boxes of seats at both sides of the stage. The upstairs was a single balcony, with a loge section at the front, divided by a crosswalk from the balcony seats. I don't think that the Astoria ever had more than 2,900 seats. When it first opened, it was advertised as the largest theatre in Queens...After Loew's built and opened the Triboro in 1931, the Astoria fell into a gradual decline, and even after 1940, when Skouras took over, it had a shady, second-rate aura about it. It did not get an air-conditioning plant until well after World War II. When Loew's was running both the Astoria and the air-cooled Triboro, it used to close the Astoria during the summer months.

And to answer Bway's final question, it appears the building was completely gutted to its brick outer walls before being converted to retail & office space (also the fate of Lamb's Bayside Theater on Bell Boulevard).

Here's a full-page ad that Loew's ran in the LI Daily Star when it took over the Astoria Theatre in January, 1923, making it the first Loew's outlet in the borough of Queens. The spaces in the links surrounding the page list most of the other Loew's theatres in the New York City area, as well as elsewhere. Loew's Astoria switched to films only in 1926. When Loew's opened the larger and more sumptuous Triboro in 1931, it reduced the Astoria to a subsequent-run house, with four changes of programs per week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. A few years later, the Astoria started showing the same programs as Loew's Prospect, Plaza, Woodside, Willard and Hillside, which was a week after they'd been shown at the Triboro and two weeks after Loew's Valencia:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/loastoria23.jpg

Thanks, Warren. Was the LI Daily Star a predecessor of the Long Island Press ? How was the Astoria related (if at all) to the Queensboro / Elmwood once it had switched to films only in 1926 ?

No, Peter, the Astoria Theatre and the Queensboro/Elmwood were never connected. In its final years, the Elmwood was operated by Loews/Sony, which was a distant relation of the Loew's that had once run the Astoria...The Daily Star (later Star-Journal) and the Press were originally separate newspapers but eventually came under the control of the Newhouse chain, which continued to operate them separately. The Star-Journal had its HQ in Long Island City and the Press in Jamaica. The cost of running two newspapers eventually became too much and Newhouse closed the Star-Journal, with the Press taking over its distribution territory. The Press, however, could not overcome competition from Newsday, and Newhouse finally closed it and sold its assets to Newsday.

The Star-Journal and the Press had most of their circulation through home delivery by "paper boys." While that was a coveted job in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, kids of the post-WWII era got more pocket money from their parents and didn't want to work for a pittance. I think the papers paid them 7 cents per week for each home that took a 25 cents per week subscription. The subscriber usually also tipped them a nickel per week...The two papers had different movie advertising, with the Star-Journal carrying theatres in western Queens and the Press eastern Queens. Only the Press had a Sunday edition, but Star-Journal subscribers could get it for an additional 5 cents per week.
The Sunday Press had two pages of theatre advertising, one for the theatres that advertised the rest of the week in the Press, and one for the theatres that would have advertised in a Sunday Star-Journal if there had been one.

Thanks, Warren. I used to have an e-mail acquaintance, who posted on this site as "Karl B" about several Cypress Hills, Bklyn theaters, such as the Adelphi, near Fulton and Crescent Sts., who delivered the Long Island Press as a boy in his home neighborhood of Cypress Hills in the latter 1940's and early 1950's. He remarked that, when the stores in Jamaica had sales, and ran ads in the Sunday press, it was as thick and heavy as the Sunday New York Times, and expressed wonder that he didn't get a hernia delivering them !

According to a report in today's New York Times (page C5), "A developer has purchased this 51,000-square-foot former movie theater in Astoria built in 1920" for $22.5 million. "It is occupied by a Duane Reade drug-store, a branch of Washington Mutual Bank and New York Sports Clubs." The buyer was Skyline Developers, the seller C&K Steinway L.L.C. No doubt the building will be demolished for residential/retail purpsoses.

NYC Property Search gives an estimated market value of $5.36 million for this property. I must say that the seller made an extremely handsome profit. Perhaps there was spirited bidding for the site.

UA Theatres, previously known in Queens as Skouras Theatres, was never renowned for its showmanship, as this ad from March 18, 1977 demonstrates. Why couldn't UA have waited another month to open all four theatres simultaneously? The films that opened the first two theatres were hardly likely to prove blockbusters-- "Thieves" (Marlo Thomas & Charles Grodin) and "The Jaws of Death" (Richard Jaeckel & Jenifer Bishop): www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/qday77.jpg

A slice of the Astoria's marquee can be seen in this July, 1981 photo. Stripes, Escape from New York, For Your Eyes Only, and Superman II were playing.

Thanks, mp775. That salmon-pink GM Fishbowl bus looks like it's seen better days !

I was by the Astoria yesterday, and the marque is still there, and has the Duane Reade name and the gym name on it. I think the name of the "center" is called "Astoria Plaza" on the top of the Marquee. What's interesting is that there's no doors under the marquee, just windows for the drug store.

Thanks, Bway. Where's the entrance to the drug store, if not under the marquee ?

Anything left of the theater inside ?

Interesting that the Astoria, slightly larger than the RKO Madison, was multiplexed, but, even so, could not survive as such, and ended up being a store, anyway. Perhaps that also would have happened to the Madison had it been multiplexed. As it was, the Madison avoided the "intermediate" state of being multiplexed, and, for better or worse (I would think most of us would say the latter)went "directly" to becoming a store.

I believe it was at the corner.

Thanks, Bway.

An Austin theater organ opus 901 size 3/14 was installed in the Astoria Theater in 1920. Note: Moved to Strand Theatre, Port Jervis, NY.

Crain's New York reports that the Astoria Theatre was purchased by Skyline Developers. Manhattan-based Skyline, which typically acquires sites for big-box retailers, has no immediate plans to redevlop the site evict the current tenants, but Crain's predicts there are some plans for the future.

The former theatre space was completely gutted; nothing of it remains. I passed by one afternoon during the summer of 2002 and, peering in through an open door on 30th Avenue, could see the trace of the removed balcony on the right interior wall.

Thanks, mp775 and br91975.

br91975, that is sad news indeed about the complete gutting of the Astoria's former theatre space.

The link I posted on 9/19/07 no longer works; use this instead:

Stripes, Escape from New York, For Your Eyes Only, and Superman II on the marquee, 7/22/81

Here's a great ad from June, 1949, that includes most of the Skouras theatres in Queens at that time. Missing are the Skouras Merrick and Skouras Jamaica, which were not marketed in western Queens. The Astoria Theatre is presenting a one-day Italian stage-and-screen show. The Astoria, Midway, Boulevard, and Jackson are boasting of new air-conditioning systems. I doubt if the others had anything more than fans to keep patrons cool:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/skouras49.jpg

This was my local childhood theatre that after a while got me interested in the arcitecture and the whole "mystic" of movie houses.I remember the Triboro a block over but more so this theatre. The Triboro was atmospheric.. while the Astoria was a coat of flat black paint!..but it was huge inside and always packed (in the 70's) I remember going to a show as a kid and having to line up around the block(30th ave) sometimes on 38st.(behind the theatre.) while I remember this theatre as a single screen.. my memory is clearer as a "quad." If you were viewing a film downstairs (theatres 1 +2) you would look up and see plaster details (you were below the former balcony) that would end-a change in the ceiling kinda close to the screen. (where the original balcony ended) If you were seeing a film in # 3 or 4 you were in the balcony. More plaster details to be seen in the ceiling (but hard- like I said everything flat black) I remember when they made this into a "sixplex" what they did was use the stage/back stage areas. (would love to have gone back tehre before this!!)This is what they did.. made a new hallway (wall off the right side aisle if you are looking toward the screen. (making downstairs theatre 2 a little smaller.) You would be in the lobby and go to your right and walk down a very long hallway painted mauve? (spelled correctly? ugly 80's color) till you were in back of the building. now you had 3 choices. continue sraight which would be the original fire door to 38 st. or go left into theatre "5" or go up a flight of stairs to theatre "6". This whole area of course was the original "backstage" area of the building. It waspretty interesting the way they did the conversion. when you entered you entered close to the screen and had to walk back to your seat. (this would be sideways..screen was facing north. The original theatre the screeen was west projection booth east(steinway street side.)What is very interesting is.. one time I was seeing a movie at the end of the night and the ushers opened the back "emergency"exits of these theatres.. (which faced SOUTH 30th ave) When I went out the door of this modern screening room i was faced with a very old green painted halllway with cast iron stairs that brought you to the 30 ave outdoor fire escapes. Apparently when they gutted the back stage dressing rooms they left the old back stage hallways intact to use again. Does anyone out there have any interior photos of the once "grand" Astoria? I think I would die happy if I could see those!(just kidding)

Oh One more thing I forgot to add... the marquee you see today is NOT the original. the original came crashing to the ground in the early 80's If you look in the photo posted above you will see a typical sqaure marquee.. this fell and was replaced with the triangular one that exists to today. One more thing the Astoria had a SECOND marquee on 30 ave. (flat like paradise in the bronx) THis was not original but was added sometime in my life time. (70's/80's)R.I.P astoria - 1920 - 2001

5 million people grew up in ridgewood to talk about the ridgewood and madision.. but no one remembers the Astoria?

I don't think it's 5 million, GerardC, but why do you think that is ?
Someone besides Warren and yourself MUST remember the Astoria ?

Gerard, consider it lucky that the Astoria's listing hasn't been corrupted with tons of off-topic bilge like those for the Ridgewood and Madison. There's a Ridgewood (the community) clique responsible for that, including "Peter K," who seems to be its equivalent of Grover Whalen.

Ahhhh, time to pull out the popcorn and watch the show!

Thanks, Bway !

And thanks for the compliment, Warren ! It's no clique. You're welcome to join us any time. In the words of Tropicana's Jim Dooley :

"Come on in ! The bilge is fine !"

And please don't continue to discriminate against Lost Memory, Bway, once upon a time, zitch, and Panzer65 by failing to indict them as well !

Link to wikipedia page for Grover Whalen :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Whalen

As Grover Whalen was known as "Mr. New York", however much I might like to think of myself as "Mr. Ridgewood", or "Mr. Ridgewood Theatre", I don't think I would ever be granted, nor could I accept, such an honor.

The Astoria (#2557) was well ahead of the Ridgewood (#4021) in getting listed at Cinema Treasures, which suggests that experts consider it a more important and significant theatre. Though they had the same architect, the Astoria was considerably larger and more exquisitely decorated.

Yes, but the Ridgewood opened 3 years and 11 months earlier, and lasted six years, two months and two weeks longer than the Astoria did.

Grover Whalen was president of the first New York Worlds Fair in 1939-40

Thanks, RobertR. I've done a little reading about him on the Internet.

The ONLY REASON Astoria closed was that Regal; which opened a multiplex on 38st and 35aves.(AFEW YEARS BEFORE.) folded- and then UA bought it. Before this the old girl was fighting the competion quite well. Just because UA now owned a multiplex and an old theatre, they gave Astoria the boot. I live in Astoria, couple of blocks away from the movie house.. I can say up till the last it drew crouds / made money. It was just (another) example of corporates making a decision.

Hey Peter K I have been a member here since 2003 and have contributed to this site ..colony, astoria grand, ditmars and the cameo/olimpia.But have been silent... but recently wanted to speak up about MY childhood love the ASTORIA>.. Dont like your sarcasm..
"SOMEONE BESIDES YOURSELF AND WARREN MUST REMEMBER THE ASTORIA" nope dont like your sarcasm one bit. I dont know "Warren" same as I dont know you. I just grew up in astoria and loved the Astoria Theatre. thats it. Do not group me with ANY individual. If you do not like him.. Like I said I dont care. but I can say for certain.. I have been to the astoria one thousand times and there were OTHER people there as well ... If "Warren" was one of them I would not know.If YOU never went there that is your loss.

I didn't think there was "competition" between the pages of two theaters. Both closed by the way. The Astoria now in no chance of ever being used as a theater again, and the Ridgewood recently closed and awaiting it's fate.
So, no, there's no rivalry, and wasn't between the two until Gerard brought it up.
The last few comments are ludicrous here to even suggest there is some rivalry between the two theaters, as the two have really little if anything to do with eachother, other than it's architect.

The Astoria and Ridgewood Theatres shared more than an architect. For at least four decades, both were under the same ownership -- as the Skouras Astoria and Randforce Ridgewood before those circuit names were discarded and re-branded as UATC. Up until the introduction of "showcase" saturations in the 1960s, the Skouras Astoria was first-run for Queens, though not exlusively, and ran programs simultaneously with the RKO circuit. The Randforce Ridgewood was booked and treated like a Brooklyn theatre, and was first-run only for Ridgewood and played programs that originated on the Loew's circuit. In those days, the films playing at the Skouras Astoria were simultaneous with the RKO Madison in Ridgewood.

I agree, and you are right....but....they were never really in competition for the same customers, so I don't really see a rivalry between the two theaters. And of course now it would be moot anyway, as the Astoria is all but gone, as it's gutted, and could never be used for a theater again. The Ridgewood may find the same fate, unless it is somehow saved in the final hours. The Ridgewood WAS still showing movies as recently as this past March. That's only 4 months ago, and to my knowledge nothing has changed inside....yet...but it certainly is at a dangerous crossroads as we speak.

My apologies to you, GerardC : I never meant to be sarcastic.

No, I never attended the Astoria, but, fortunately, I can read your childhood recollections of it here. Thanks for posting them here on this page.

It looks like Greenpoint, hardbop, Lost Memory and BrooklynJim remember the Astoria as well.

Peter. K.- No apologies needed (but thanks) When I made my statement "5 million people remember.." I was not directing my (little bit ) of sarcasm to any body who grew up in Ridgewood ..just on the lack of attention of what I thought was a once great place.
But.. I think I was right in my thoughts that nobody here remembers this movie house. I mentioned that the Marquee fell to steinway street and got no responce. not bad or good but I guess Iam the only guy here who was born/grew up in astoria, and remembers that. It made the local papers (queens gazette / tribune) with photos.!! But myself like a dumb ass threw away a lot I had saved as a child. If I still had those headlines i would show them here (of course!)

Well I guess the Ridgewood and Astoria do have something else in common...the Ridgewood's marquee fell to the street too back in the 60's during a snowstorm. Luckily no one was under it at the time....

GerardC, I'm glad there are no hard feelings on your part.

I recommend you not be too hard on yourself about throwing out those old newspaper clippings. Unfortunately, hindsight through the "retrospectroscope", such as we are now prone to in our later (and hopefully) wiser years is always 20 / 20.

I wonder if the Astoria's marquee fell in the same snowstorm as the Ridgewood's : the blizzard of Beatles Day, February 9, 1969.

February 8 or 9, 1964 was the Beatles' landmark performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

I, too, have wondered, why the Ridgewood and RKO Madison Theatre pages, and not, say, the Astoria's or Valencia's pages, became such "wailing walls" and meeting places for people from the neighborhoods that these theaters were located in.

I think the Meserole Theatre page did also, but to a lesser extent than the Ridgewood's and Madison's.

The Valencia has a healthy page too.

Thanks, Bway. "Healthy" as Warren would define it, or as we would ?

Peter K. The Astoria's Marquee did not fall in that snow storm in the 60's. (I wasnt born yet in the 60's and I remember it!! lol)To the best of my memory; the marquee fell between - 1982-1984. I remember my mom talking about it after I came home from school and my friend from next doors' mom talking about it (apparently- she was shopping on Steinway at the time. My mom told me (i guess through the extensive network of mom / busy bodies) that she "heard" that there were workers doing some type of work / repairs obove the Marquee at the time of the collape and they probably did something to undermine the supports. Ihave tried online to locate the story using the web pages of the "tribune" and "gazette" but as of yet have had no luck. On another note.. I had always thought I was the only "nerd" (nothing against the worldwide group of this page) that like old movie houses. I used that term because that was what my ex called me and friends as well in the 80's and 90's (before the internet became a popular thing) I always thought i was alone in my "hobby"! Iam very glad I had stumbled across this site soon after i purchased my first home computer! lol IF anyone cares go to the Loews Oriental page and you will hear about a young 20 somthing nerd going to the movies with a camera in hand!! lol

Thanks for the info, GerardC. There were blizzards on April 6, 1982 and in late February 1983, if that's any help.

1981 Photo

1978 Photo

Lost memory, thank you very much for those photos. they brought me back in time for a moment.

I live 2 blocks from the Astoria Theatre. The original entrance with it's ornate carvings and such are preserved and it is stupid that the drug store didn't use the grand arch entrance as the entrance. I go to the NY Sports Club gym located on the second floor of the building and take a certain pride that I am inhabiting the theater. I saw movies in that theater up until the time it closed and although it was a dump by then, I was sad that a theater built in 1920, which had survived for so long, was dead. I always thought 9/11 was the final blow for that theater. Too bad.

On second thought, 9/11 probably had little to do with the closing when you consider the Kaufman cineplex down the street, but a lot of business dissolved after 9/11 and the Astoria seemed to be one of them.

What remains of the theatre on the gym floor? Are there decorative moldings, the proscenium arch, etc.?

I saw Moulin Rouge in this theater in 2001. It was probably one of the last films shown there. The theater was pretty empty, the floors were sticky and it was certainly very old. I thought it was a beautiful place, nonetheless. I live about 10 blocks from it and, every time I walk past it now, I get sad. I'm glad they didn't tear it down and the facade is still there.

What ornamentation remains of the old Astoria inside?
ANd it's nice that the marquee is still there, but it's sort of ludicrous that the drug store moved the entrance to the corner instead of using the entrance with the arch and marquee. Here's a street view of the theater:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=2860+Steinway+Street,+Astoria,+Queens,+NY+11103+United+States&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.764064,-73.914857&spn=0.007931,0.01914&z=16&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=40.763981,-73.914927&panoid=FHQIRpWFZT5q664QRLxWOA&cbp=12,336.42,,0,-7.31

To answer davebazooka, there is nothing left of the theatre on the gym floors. Nothing. It's all gone. Although, the large glass windows of the second floor, which are evident in old photos of the theatre are still there and all the treadmills are lined up there so you can look out on Steinway as you run. I think all the original interior ornamentation was gone when the theatre was split into 6 screens, because I don't remember any when I saw movies there in 2000-2001.

Thanks, MichaelDJ!

The last couple of years I went to the Astoria, it turned into a real dive. Ripped up screens, a sticky floor, and usually an odd scent for your "viewing pleasure". It was funny that the Drake, another Queens theater that was only a dollar actually was in better condition.