Loew's Gates Theatre

The Loews Gates Theatre is located 1340 Broadway and it seated 2925 people.

It says status open- but it's not open- I live next to it. Who changes the status?

Loew's Gates was one of Thomas Lamb's most beautiful designs for the Loew's circuit. It was built at the same time as two other Lamb-Loew's theatres in Manhattan, the flagship State in Times Square and the 83rd Street on Upper Broadway. The Gates first opened on November 21, 1921 with vaudeville and a feature movie. Its chief rival was the Keith's Bushwick, which also presented vaudeville and movies, but both thrived due to the area's dense population at the time.

The theatre is now the home of the Pilcgrim Baptist Church from looking inside from the door on the Broadway entrance it looks like some of the interior elements were spared. i'll soon go inside investigate and post my findings.

Back in the eighties a friend of mine was involved with putting a concert on here. She took alot of pictures and at that time it was pretty much the way Loews left it. I would love to hear an update on its present condition.

The roofline of the Loews Gates is visible above the el platform canopy in this image :

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?26229

Peter, thanks for providing links to photos for so many theaters on the site, like the Ambassador, Valencia, etc. Of course I know the photo in the above link quite well....

Bway, you're welcome, and it's good reading you again. I was glad to finally post those links, and test them, and find that they work !
Next stop, Borough Park and Bensonhurst !

You also may have noticed that my posting the links has provoked comments by Warren providing more info on these theaters.

1943 image of Gates frim Ralph Avenue click for photo.

Wow, thanks JF!
Here's a current photo of the building I took a few weeks ago, which is now a church. They have really kept the exterior in good shape, so hopefully they have done the same on the interior.
If anyone ever finds any interior photos, either current or past, please post them.

The link should work for a few weeks:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v93/GP36Chris/Old%20Theaters/LoewsGatesTheater.jpg

J.F. & Broadway... thank you both for the photos!

Judging by these photos, It looks like you would enter the theatre and then have to turn left to be in the auditorim, I wonder if this theatre has a big lobby. The sunburst style Loew's marquee was shared by the Alpine in Brooklyn and the Delancy in NYC.

The entrance shown of the Pilgrim church is around the corner from the original one of Loew's Gates, which was on Broadway. The original lobby was quite impressive, with a magnificent marble staircase leading to the upstairs seating. I hope that portion of the building was not demolished.

The theatre and lobby are 100% in tact. It's totally worth the trip, if you can make it.

Interesting, it didn't look like the building fronted on Broadway (although obviously it does or did seeing that it's address is on Broadway). Isn't the marquee in JF Lundy's link in the same spot as the entrance to the Pilgrim Church is now? Was that an additional entrance, or was it already moved at that early date already?

Here's a link to a "companion" image to the 1943 image of Loew's Gates from Ralph Avenue that J.F. Lundy posted a link to, six comments above :

http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?31100

The view is also at the intersection of Ralph and Gates Avenues, in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, but looks north on Ralph Avenue rather than east on Gates Avenue. The old theater above and to the left of the trolley car in the center of the picture is the Empire, which used to stand at the intersection of Broadway, and Ralph and Lexington Avenues. In this image, Loew's Gates would be out of view to the right.

If I recall correctly, the Loew's Gates originally had a second but plain marquee over side exit doors on Gates or Ralph Avenues. It was mainly weather protection for exiting crowds, similar to one that still stands on the ex-Loew's Willard in Woodhaven, Queens.

Warren, thanks for the details !

My first movie experience at the Loew's Gates was a James Bond double feature in the 60s. The entrance was on Broadway with movie posters and several photo stills behind glass. I remember being very impressed with the lighting , color and feel of the interior.

I grew up going to the Loew's gates and have been in there recently. I remember many a day in that Theatre. It is still very well maintained, but to be honest I liked the RKO Bushwick a little more, as nice as the Loew's Gates is the Bushwick was a little more elegant.
There was a marquee on the gates Avenue side also and a entrance. I remember always entering on the Broadway side though, possibly exiting on Gates Avenue a few times. The first movie I remember seeing in my life was Forbidden Planet at the Loew's Gates, I was about four. Till this day, that is my favorite movie.
Once again the south side of Broadway is Brooklyn, Bedford section and not Bushwick. Broadway was originally named Division street, because it seperated Bedford or Brooklyn from Bushwick. Williamsburg later seperated from Bushwick.
In the eighties there was an attempt to make ago of it as a Theatre and I do remember James Brown performing there in the early eighties.

Thanks again, Apollo, for posting your movie memories above. "Forbidden Planet" is one of my favorite movies also. It must have been awesome seeing it at Loew's Gates at age four ! Next time I watch it on home video, I will imagine it playing at Loew's Gates forty seven years ago !

What does Loew's Gates look like on the inside now, as the Pilgrim Baptist Church ? Does any trace of the theater's former splendor remain within ?

Thanks also for the info on Broadway formerly named Division Street,separating Bedford from Bushwick. I've always thought of Broadway as the dividing line between Bushwick and Bed-Stuy.

When Williamsburg first separated from Bushwick, what was the boundary ?

The Loews Gates is well maintained. I was in the building two years ago and it looked almost the same as I remembered it from my childhood. On hot summer days I have seen the fire doors to the Theater left open (Gates Avenue side). The Pilgrim church apparently has the resources to maintain the Theater, it seems to be a fairly large congregation. The same can not be said for the Empire (I was in the Lobby of the Empire yesterday)!
I will see what I can find out about the Williamsburg Bushwick border.

Thank you, Apollo.

What is the Empire Theater, at Ralph and Lexington Avenues and Broadway, used for nowadays ? Please describe what the lobby looks like now, and the exterior and interior, if you can.

Regarding the Williamsburg-Bushwick border, if it's any help, I just looked in my Hagstrom NYC 5 boro pocket atlas, and the Brooklyn postal zone 6 (Metropolitan) sits between postal zone 11 (Williamsburg) and postal zone 21 (Bushwick).

You probably know that "Brooklyn" was originally limited to what we would nowadays call "downtown Brooklyn", and only later came to include the "eight towns" (or however many there were. They were named, and shown on a map, at the beginning of the excellent PBS documentary, "A Walk Through Brooklyn Part I, with Dick Hartman and Barry Lewis"). Brooklyn was a city in its own right before it was incorporated as one of the five boros of NYC in 1898. That is why the Brooklyn-Queens border is referred to this day as "city line" by some older New Yorkers.

Thanks for your attention.

Was the Empire known by a different name? I can't find it on the site. I can't believe that there were so many theaters in both the Myrtle corridor and the Broadway corridor! Any information on the Empire would be appreciated. If it's not on the site, maybe one of us can add it. Originally, the only theaters I know about on Broadway were the Commodore, the Broadway, and the RKO Bushwick. I eventually discovered the Gates, and now all these little theaters. I had no idea the Monroe and the Empire buildings still stood. I think I need to have a walking tour of Broadway one day when I am in the area!

Bway, the Empire has a page on this site. Maybe it's time for us to team up for some Broadway-Jamaica walkin' !(as opposed to riding) : "A Walk Through Brooklyn Part II, With Bway and Peter.K"

Peter K: The Empire is a church. The exterior is stucco, which my father always pointed was prone to develop cracks. The exterior shows signs of multiple patched cracks (no recent paint). The interior is hard to describe. It is appearent they dont have the resources of other larger church congregations It's not in horrible shape, but certainly not the best either. Walking in the Empire will not make your mind conjer up memories of grand old movie palaces'.
I still have not got to your question on Bushwick, but I will.
Brooklyn absorbed all of the other towns in Kings county. It first absorbed Bedford which was probably larger than Brooklyn. Bedford was only a town for a short period. It was given the status of township under the Charter of Liberties and Privileges (Which some refer to as Americas first constitution). When that charter was recinded it later became a hamlet in the village of Brooklyn and village in the Town of Brooklyn. There was talk of making it a town again, but it never happened and finally it was absorbed mainly in the Eastern District of Brooklyn. Bedford was large and retained its identity into the 1930's. It had a community newspaper which merged with the Flatbush paper. I have a copy somewhere. Bedford’s eastern border was where Easern Parkway turns. It's southern border was Empire Boulevard and during the first U.S. census, the census taker said he entered Bedford when he crossed Flatbush road (which was mainly west of present day Flatbush Avenue, an old Lenape Indian trail). Stiles, Kings county 1800 historian, said it included Wallabout bay (Brooklyn Navy Yard). There is a famous engraving in Stiles book called Bedford corners. Bedford Corners was located about where the Loews Brevoort was. That area was called Bedford Green and was developed after the turn of the century.
I spent the last year before learning about the local native people who were miss named by a amateur historian name Silas Wood, he created the myth of the thirteen tribes. He took those names from deeds and they don’t reflect reality, a great deal of Native people history is just lost! We do know the native people in the Metropolitan area were Lenape’s. The Lenape people were also in parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The Delaware were actually Lenapes’. The name Delaware came from I believe an English Gentlemen who was Governor of Delaware for one year (De La War was his name).
It is late, I hope this legible?

It certainly is. Thanks for the history lesson. Brooklyn really fascinates me, and I am always hearing information on the history. I will have to drive by the Empire when I get a chance one day. It is amazing how many of these theaters survive as churches. Riding through the neighborhood shows many "real" church buildings, but apparently there are so many churches added to the neighborhood too, both with storefront churches, and all these theaters that are churches now.
One church that always interested me, not too far from the Loew's Gates is a large abandoned church that can be seen from the el platform at Myrtle-Bway. It looks like it was a Catholic church but is all boarded up now.

The large church you speak of is actually St. Johns. I believe it is still in use. That is where St. Johns University started. They built some houses around the old football field and it is some what run down. I am sure it has a following (Probably hispanics from Bushwick, like our Lady of Good Council on Putnam Avenue has).

Thanks, Apollo and Bway, for all this information. I know of the Lenape people from historic plaques in Thomas Paine Park at Foley Square near Federal Plaza in downtown Manhattan. The African American Burial Ground is near there also.

A hand-colored postcard view of the original auditorium of Loew's Gates can be seen at http://pages.zdnet.com/kinema/id128.html

Thanks so much Warren! What a beautiful place! From what it sounds like, the church has kept good care of it. (They keep the exterior in great shape, so I assume they have done the same on the interior. A real shame it can't be a theater right now, but it faired much betteer than it's neighbor, the Bushwick. A church is probably the next best use if it can't be a theater or concert hall. And who knows, maybe one day in the future it has the hope of being a theater again, in the meantime it is being maintained. Some of these churches even rent the space out for movies, etc for extra money.
The all too rare interior shot. Keep them coming for any theater you may find them for, they are always welcome.

I spoke to one of the care takers a week ago, he invited me to the service on Sunday morning (perhaps in the future I will attend). From what I could see of the Gates Avenue Lobby, they have recently painted the interior and highlighted the details. From what I saw it appears to well maintained!

A recent exterior view of the Gates can be seen here:
http://www.disassociate.com/pilgrim.jpg

Again, Bryan Krefft, thank you.

Does anyone know of a telephone number for the current church, or have the schedule of services that are open to the public? I need to know as soon as possible. Many thanks.

Is this really called the Pilgrim Church (or Pilgrim Baptist Church)? If so, I've been unable to find a listing for it in Brooklyn telephone directories or on the Internet. There seem to be several churches in Brooklyn with "Pilgrim" in their names, but none are remotely near this site. The church may have also shifted the address of the site from Broadway to Ralph Avenue. Can anyone give an educated guess of what the building # would be?...If you examine the photo posted here on 9/16/04, you'll notice that under Pilgrim Church it says "Renaissance Convention Center." I have a feeling that this refers to the Gates audtiorium, and that it is used only for special events. The church may have built a smaller chapel with entrance on Ralph Avenue for their regular services.

Wow! I hadn't looked at this site yet and am glad I did. We used to go to the Gates quite a bit in the mid 1950's and early 1960's. Although I lived on Eldert and Central I usually walked at least one way to the theater. That was quite a trek, but we also used to walk to Highland Park which was also a good distance. I love this site and have recommended to multiple friends who also grew up in the Bushwick section during the 1940's 1950's and 1960's. I have a website set up for our friends that has some interesting pictures - more people than places. If anyone would like an invitation please contact me at eleanorctr@aol.com
BushwickBuddy

Did the Gates have a smaller auditorium in addition to the main auditorium?

No. But the church might have built a chapel in adjoining space to use for services for small groups. There's one of that type at the ex-Fox Savoy, where the chapel occupies a former store next to the lobby. They only use the main auditorium when a crowd is expected, such as at Easter and Christmas, or for weddings, religious conventions, etcetera.

The only time I went to this theatre was in 1974 to
see Bruce Lee's " Enter the Dragon".
By that time Bushwick was beginning its descent into
urban neglect.
It was a huge, ornately decorated with an upper balcony.
It was abandoned during the 80's and it is now a church

The building has a current market value of $1.93 million, according to NYC records. It is apparently owned by the NYC Housing Authority and only leased to Pilgrim Baptist Church, which has its executive office at 135 Schaffer Street, Brooklyn 11207-1112.

That is good news. The building is well maintained from what people have told us here, so this could mean that it is being maintained for the church, and could potentially one day become a theater again, if the neighborhood's fortunes continue to reverse for the better. I wonder how the Housing Authority wound up with it, unless Loews just walked away from the building when the neighborhood went to hell in the 70's.

I don't recall any theatre that was ever converted into a church and then back into a theatre again, but I guess that miracles do happen.

Well, at least as a church, many of the theater elements do remain, because out of all the possible after-theater uses a theater can get, a church is probably the most kind, and least destructive to the integrity of the theater.

A friend of mine at work once wrote a poem about church services as entertainment, titled, "Praise The Lord ! It's Showtime !"

To:All,
Thank you so very much for your comments about the Loews Gates theatre in Bushwich, which is now The Pilgrim Church, my home church. Was very glad to finally see pictures of it (have heard many things good and bad, about it.), although it was mainly of the outside. Am now searching for pictures of the 'old' interior. The church was renovated by our Pastor Roy E. Brown, who also does interior designing.
For those of you who wish to see the interior of the 'new' building, as well as the exterior, please contact Pastor DeBora Crow at (718) 452-5180 Monday-Friday 9:00a.m.-5:00 p.m. Also, feel free to attend sunday services with us at 1338-44 Broadway, the location of the 'old' Loews Gates, at 11:00 a.m. We'll be glad to see you. God be with you all. Jeanne M.

Dear Warren,
Yes, our church is really called, 'Pilgrim Church'. When the building was originally bought, it was only going to be used for conventions, meetings, and special occasions. We still use it for those things except now, it's mainly used as our "Father" church. The other churches that you saw listed are our affiliated churches (Pilgrim Church of New Lots Avenue and Rockaway Avenue). The building that you saw on Broadway, the one with the Renaissance Convention Center wording, is our "Father" church building (1338-44 Building). You'd be surprised at just how much the progress has been made on the inside. The renovations are fantastic. If you wish to 'take a look', please contact Pastor DeBora Crow at (718) 452-5180 Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., or feel free to pay us a visit at our 11:00 a.m. sunday services. Jeanne M.

Back in the late 1930s, or maybe 1940, my father and his band played at the Loew's Gates between movie showings. Does anyone know if the Loew's corporation, or the theater, kept a log of who played there and when? My father is deceased and all we have is an old photo in which he is conducting his group. There are no dates on the photo but they are using music stands with the "LG" Loew's Gates logo. Any suggestions?

By "the late 1930s, or maybe 1940," some of the Loew's neighborhood theatres ran vaudeville on certain midweek nights to boost attendance. Unfortunately, the names of the performers were rarely advertised or publicized, so it would be very difficult to find them at this late date. It's possible that the bills were listed in a weekly trade paper like Variety or Billboard. If you're in the Greater New York area, you should go to the research sections for theater and music at the Library of the Performing Arts in Lincoln Center. They have Variety, Billboard, and many other trade publications. They also have many news clippings scrapbooks that were donated by the publicity department of the original Loew's Theatres. The library might even have clipping files for your father.
I would check both the music and theater divisions, since they have separate collections.

Thanks for your reply Warren. I do live in Manhattan; that's the easy part. Unfortunately he used 3 different names and Im not 100%positive which was the one he used professionally! This should keep me busy for quite a while.
joyz

jseven, since you appear to be a member of the Pilgrim Church (the former Loew's Gates Theater), do you have any photos of the interior of the building? Or even historic ones, I (and I am sure many others) would love to see them.
I have walked around the theater (church) some months ago, and it seems so well maintained on the exterior. I would love to see the interior. I only know of one photo (drawing actually) of the interior available on the web, and that is the one that is linked above:
http://pages.zdnet.com/kinema/id128.html

I also posted a link to the theater above (recent exterior shot from the sidestreet).
I believe that when your church first organized, they originally used the RKO Bushwick Theater when it first closed to movies, but then moved into the Loew's Gates when it became available.
I would really love to see recent interior photos if you have any or know of any.

My Mother at age 15, in 1930, met Kate Smith & William (Hopalong Cassidy) Boyd at the Gates.......She never forgot how kind they were to her, may she rest in piece....I saw Red River with John Wayne there as a kid.....Joe From Florida

I was born in 1941 and raised on Putnam Avenue, between Ralph and Howard.

As a kid, my favorite theater was the Monroe Theater. I used to walk there early Saturday afternoon and for 9 cents see 3 features, 21 cartoons, a few serials and a bunch of trailers. There was always a matron, dressed in a white dress to oversee us.

One of my fondest memories was either in 1949 or 1950, when my father took me to the Loew's Gates and we saw Al Jolson, in person. He was making a personal appearance promoting the movie "Jolson Sings Again."

One of my fondest

August 1972 Cinerama Releasing had a huge run all over town of "Ben" and "Krakatoa East of Java". In Brooklyn it was playing at Loews Gates, RKO Albee, Canarsie, Fortway, Graham, Loews Georgetown 2, RKO Madison and Midwood.

Here is a vintage photo showing the Loew's Gates theater.

A Moller organ Opus 2876 Size 3/17 was installed in the Loew's Gates Theater in 1921. Cost of organ was $6450.00.

Does anyone have any current interior photos of the Gates, or know of any online?

Thanks, Lost Memory. I've seen that vintage photo. It looks east on Gates Avenue from Ralph Avenue to Broadway.

It goes hand in hand with another old photo I've seen looking north on Ralph Avenue, from Gates Avenue to Broadway, showing the Empire Theater on the left, near the intersection of Ralph and Lexington Avenues and Broadway. That photo also shows the Lexington Avenue el turning out from the Bway el.

Bway, good question, as you have taken and posted some excellent photos of the exterior of Loews Gates as it is now.

Three photographs I took of the Loew's Gates Theatre in June 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/199766285/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/199766678/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/199767025/

Thanks, Ken. I rode by Loew's Gates on the B-52 bus this past Saturday, July 15th.

In January, 1924, Loew's Gates's vaudeville headliners included Rose's Royal Midgets, 25 entertainers ranging in height from eighteen to thirty-three inches. I believe that some of them later portrayed Munchkins in MGM's "The Wizard of Oz," which had several engagements over the years at Loew's Gates:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/lobk24.jpg

I remember having seen Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff in personal appearances on stage at the Loew's Gates Theatre for the 1963 movie, "The Raven." When we had left the theatre, my father said that Peter Lorre was "as drunk as a son-of-bitch" that night!

The last sentence of the first paragraph of the introduction needs to be changed. No supposition is needed. Loew's Gates was purpose-built for movies and stage presentations.

Here's an auditorium view from the 1960s. The ceiling mural above the stage is seen better in the B&W version:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/gatescolor.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/bwgates.jpg

Local photographs and map

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

Thanks, Joe Bush Jr. That's a great story !

I know it was a long time ago, and I scanned thru all the above posts, perhaps I missed it, but isn't this theatre one the few that Loew's walked away from after the great blackout of 1977? As I remember reading, they just never showed up again after the power returned.

Probably, movie534. Bway would know more. Given the looting and fires on Bway after the July 13 1977 blackout, I don't blame Loew's for walking away, and never returning.

I don't know. Loews may have walked away from it. All I do know is that the Pilgrim Church that now occupies the Loews Gates originally was housed in the RKO Bushwick Theater after the Bushwick Theater closed. I don't know when the Bushwick Theater closed though, but it was in the 70's. For whatever reason, in a twist of fate, the Pilgrim Church moved out of the RKO Bushwick and into the Loews Gates when it became available. Perhaps the reason for this is the missing piece to the puzzle of why they did that, which you may have unearthed. Perhaps they were paying rent in the RKO Bushwick, but if Loews jsut waled away from the Gates, perhaps the Pilgrim Church had an easy way to obtain actual ownership of the Gates, instead of paying rent at the RKO Bushwick.
In any event, that move left the RKO Bushwick at the beginning of it's almost 30 year fall into total shambles, as nothing ever occupied it again after the church, and was finally gutted and made into a school in 2004. At the same time, the Gates theater is now completely preserved and intact inside.

Thanks, Bway, for the speculation and facts.

Here's a google street view of the Gates:


Click Here for Link

Here are two 1968 photos of the Loew's Gates:

Photo1

Photo2

Hello just found this sight. Great to go back in time.I lived on Stockton Street about two miles away.I did not go to the Lowe's till about 1958 most of the times I went to my local movie The Rodgers as a kid being 14 cents back in the late 50s the gate was a buck that's when I would take my dates there we would walk up Broadway both ways and some times late at night never had a problem.Times where simple then.Thank you Joe zizzo

My goodness, I never realized that the Gates went to porn before closing!! Thanks so much for posting that photo. AT the time, the Pilgrim Church was about to move into the RKO Bushwick Theater, and then when the Gates became available some time afterwords, moved into the Gates.
Some change that was....from porn to a church.
Today the Gates is beautifully restored, and used for the Pilgrim Church.

Wow, I wasn't aware that Loew's (as a corporation) allowed their theaters to show porn. This is actually shocking to me and very sad.

In comments above, someone asked if Loews walked away from the Gates after the blackout of 1977. While I can't comment on the Gates, I do recall comments made on the Madison's page about RKO nver reopening after the blackout. They just walked away. Perhaps this was the theater he was thinking about.

Loew's did not run porno at the Gates. By that time, the theatre had been leased to an "indie" that was too cheap to delete the name from the marquee...This previously linked photo shows the side entrance that was used only for display: http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=gates&catpagesize=25&ProductID=30588

Warren, I guess that means that the rumor that "Loew's walked away from the Gates Theater after the 1977 riots" is untrue, as apparently it wasn't operating the Gates by 1977, if it's final years as a cinema were spent as porn. But then again, it may be a half truth, as if the operator that ran the porn there was a tenant, Loew's could have still owned the place at the time of the 1977 blackout.
The Pilgrim Church that took over the Loews Gates (and is still there today) originally used the RKO Bushwick as their sanctuary but when the Loews Gates became available, they moved out of the Bushwick and into the Gates. The reason being that they may have been able to take ownership to the Gates if Loews walked away from it, wheras at the Bushwick they may have been a tenant.

Warren, hate to whine considering your incredible contributions to this site, but most of the pics of interiors of this and other theaters seem to have expired on photobucket....anychance of an updated link??? thanks
-Josh

While, as clearly demonstrated by the previous picture, the Gates did show porn movies - at least in the late 1960's - I do not believe it ever became an exclusively adult theater for any extended period of time. In fact, at least two of the previous comments reference viewing mainstream films during the 1970's. My guess is that porn was shown here on occasional dates but was never the dominant genre presented - if you call porn a genre.

While the movie theater's "desertion" of the community in 1977 was certainly regrettable, having experienced first hand the dreadful looting and fires that followed the July 13 blackout, I can certainly understand why this occurred.

The Pilgrim Chuech - and its charismatic principal pastor, Roy Brown, has become a very substantial presence in Bushwick. One of their satellite churches, in fact, is situated in the former home of 14 Holy Martyr's Catholic Church. It is also maintained beautifully.

I have seen current photos of the old 14 Holy Martyrs Church, and it is restored beautifully.
Any current photos of the interior of the Gates would be appreciated....I heard it too was restored inside. It would be great to see it.

Good photos and history.