Fair Theatre

This theater is still alive. They are running porn. They play 'regular' movies on the main screen. They have booths where men can go into and engage in whatever it is they want with other men.

The Fair is far from dilapidated. While it is true that it is showing porn, the management has maintained this theater quite well. It is clean.

I think this is a very large house that used to play second run. It has a great old marquee.

Fair Theatre is the name, not The Fair. Situated at 90-18 Astoria Boulevard, the Fair first opened in 1939, and was named in honor of that year's New York World's Fair, which was held not far away in Flushing Meadows. For many years, it was under the same management as the Drake Theatre in Rego Park and the Arion in Middle Village. With only 599 seats, it was hardly "a very large house," but an attractive one in art-deco style.

There is no way this house has only 600 seats it has a large balcony in addition to the orchestra. I think the marquee does say The Fair

The Fair has stores attached to it, making the overall building look larger than it really is. I don't recall a balcony, and I attended many times in the 1940s and 50s. Perhaps the theatre was later altered or twinned.

No it definately has a balcony I would place the amont of seats close to 1000.

All Film Daily Year Books from 1940, when the Fair was first listed, through 1957, after which they stopped listing capacities, claim 599 seats. That seems consistent with the neighborhood, which was sparsely populated, with mostly one and two family houses, when the Fair was built. At that time, it had competition from five theatres in Corona, which was actually closer to it than Jackson Heights, where there were another four theatres...I recall seeing, maybe 10 or fifteen years ago, ads in The Village Voice for a newly renovated Fair. The theatre started out with "adult" movies, then switched to action and horror, apparently due to pressure from the community about the XXX programs. It seems possible that during the renovation, more seats were added. But the only solution to the quandry seems for someone to go to the Fair tomorrow to count the number of seats.

The switch in programming Warren alludes to, I'm pretty sure, might have been a panic move on behalf of the owner of the Fair, after the Giuliani-advocated restrictions on adult businesses in the city became law in the mid- to late-1990s. The audiences for what were literally made-for-TV movies from the 1970s and straight-to-video, 3am USA Network-type programming must have been, to absolutely no surprise whatsoever, sparse, so the return to a porn booking policy must have been a logical one from a business perspective. Whatever 'renovations' the Fair may have underwent I'm frankly not bold enough to explore...

The Fair never really changed away from being a porno cruise theatre. Although they advertised regular films for awhile they still had the lounges and booths they have now.

The Fair was designed by Charles Sandblom, who also did the similar Drake Theatre in Rego Park, Queens.

I was talking to the manager of the theater. He said that there is a lot of pressure from the church that is on the corner to have the theater stop playing porn. However, the theater has gotten some support from people who say the theater is kept clean, the patrons don't bother anyone. Let's see. It might become a church yet.

Great theater. Plays porn, mainly in booths that are kept clean and are private. Admission to the theater is standard price, no tokens have to purchased for viewing as in regular porn peephole-style venues. Of course the religious cretins want to close it down and impose their religious theocracy on those of us who like porn and don't give a damn about their silly fairy tale bible. THESE are the people who must be defeated, not the porn business.

Am I getting this right: regular movies on the screen, porn in booths? Or just the booths now, and nothing on the big screen? Or porn on both? I am curious to know if this is the last remaining porn theater in New York City limits.

Like the Cinema Kings Highway they run a combination of porno and regular movies on video. The main screen runs video projection of regular movies that are on tape and the smaller mini cinemas located through the place run porn. Queens also has the Polk which is still a XXX house.

Those the only three? Assumed there were none until I drove by the Fair a year or two back on my way to a Mets game.

I walked by the Fair Theater this weekend, on my way to visiting with some friends who were in town, and saw a vintage one-sheet in an exterior case for the 1974 Lee Marvin-O.J. Simpson flick 'The Klansman'. It looks as if it's been on display since that time; can anyone confirm this?

NYC gives a build date of 1927 for this building. The address range is 90-08 to 90-28 Astoria Boulevard.

9018 Astoria Boulevard, East Elmhurst, New York 11369

Block & Lot #: 01364 - 0016
Building Class: Theatre In Mixed-Use Building (J5)
School District: 30 map/schools
City Council District: 21
Police Precinct: 115 (Crime Statistics)
Political Contributions: search
BUILDING CHARACTERISTICS
Zoning R4
Building Size (F x D): 170.00ft x 84.00ft
Lot Size (F x D): 170.00ft x 84.30ft
Building Height: -
Total Gross Area of Building:
Year Built: 1937
Historic District?: No
Corner Lot?: No
Has Garage?: No
Number of Floors: 2
# Units: 2
FAR as built: 1.06
Allowable FAR: 1.00

MARKET VALUE1 HISTORY
Jun 01, 2005 $851,000
May 01, 2004 $850,000
Apr 01, 2003 $990,000
Mar 01, 2002 $962,000
Feb 01, 2001 $921,000
1 Market value obtain from the NYC Department of Finance

"Running regular movies on video" - what? This is scary that "porn" theatres show regular films on tape, I read that as whats running on the screen doesn't really matter. I'm no prude, but, man, this is one creepy thought I still can't wrap my head around. I'm no relgiious freak, but I have no intention of exploring these types of cinemas, but I've noted in reading comments this is a simi-frequent occurence (where regular movies, or even pay TV are shown in cinemas that also house adult entertainment).

Correction to my post two messages above. It should read "NYC gives a build date of 1937 for this building" and not 1927.

These cinemas probably project tapes because they own them and don't have to pay film rentals. Few people go to see what's on the screen anyway.

Thinking further about the Fair, it occurred to me that perhaps if it was programmed and marketed well, it could thrive (or, perhaps at its worst, hold its own) as a second-run cinema. It's pretty obvious why there aren't any such theaters in Manhattan (the former policy at the Loews State notwithstanding), but does anyone have any theories or first-hand knowledge as to why the same is true in the outer boroughs (perhaps, if I'm neglecting to consider them, one or two here and there) as well?

I don't think that distributors are much interested in "second run" theatrical bookings. There's not enough money to be made. Ticket prices would have to be considerably less than first-run. And in the case of the Fair, I don't think that many people would go there after dark, or even in the daytime. The area seems threatening, even though it might be perfectly safe.

OK to bring a ladyfriend here who likes to "watch"?

It now costs $15 to see a porn movie at the Fair.

does anyone know of any other actual porn theaters in the NYC area?

Hi

We are an English couple visiting New York in October and are looking to find an adult cinema where we can “play” and be watched. Would this be possible in this movie theater and is it clean and safe?

Can anyone recommend any adult movie theaters in Manhattan?

Our email is nytrip69@hotmail.com

There really are no porn theaters left in Manhattan. Just adult DVD stores/video booths where people "play." (Most of those are not for couples, just for gay men.) In Brooklyn, there's cinema kings highway. I don't know how safe it is. Other commenters say the clientele is kind of creepy. In queens, there's this one, and one more in queens, I believe, whose name escapes me. Oh, there's the cameo in NJ and one other one I can't think of in NJ. Shirley and Mark, you're probably better off going to a party where you can be watched. There's a lot of those in the city.

I took some exterior snapshots of the Fair a couple of weekends ago with my digital camera. I started with a few long shots and then moved in to focus on the marquee and entrance. As I was about to snap a photo of the 1970's vintage poster for "The Klansman" that is still displayed in the outer foyer (as br91975 mentioned in his post in June) , an employee of the theater came to the door and advised that I should stop taking any further photos of the building. I tried to explain that I was merely a movie-theater enthusiast who was snapping some shots of theaters in Queens for my own personal use and was very careful not to intrude on the privacy of their patrons. I then showed the man (and the "security" guard who by this time had joined him) all of the photos I had taken during the day of this and other theaters in the borough.

Unfortunately, he was having none of it and insisted that I leave. I asked if I could just take one last shot - the "Klansman" poster. He refused. I certainly didn't want to rankle him any further so I asked if I could speak with the manager and obtain his permission. He advised the manager was not there at the time (it was Sunday, after all) but that I could return during the week to seek him out.

I plan on returning to the Fair as soon as my schedule permits. Perhaps one evening after work so I can get a shot of the marquee all lit up (that is, if they bother to light the signs at all). Naturally, I'll look for the manager's permission to do so, but in the meanwhile... here are the photos I took before the order to cease and desist.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0654.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0655.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0656.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_0658.jpg

The other porn theater in Queens that is still active is the Polk Theater, also in Jackson Heights. There may be another, but if so I can't think of it. The Earle and the Mayfair went Bollywood, the Austin went semi-artsy and the Haven is no longer in theatrical operation.

"OK to bring a ladyfriend here who likes to 'watch'?"
[posted by Furburger on Jun 19, 2005 at 7:41pm]

"does anyone know of any other actual porn theaters in the NYC area?"
[posted by "E" on Jul 20, 2005 at 12:32am]

I'm curious also (blue, not yellow).

faberfranz@yahoo.com

I'm really confused, especially after viewing the photos above. I remember seeing some movies at the Fair back in the late 60s-early 70s, when I still lived in Queens. But for some reason I've gotten it confused with a theater that was on Northern Blvd. I've been through there a few times over the last couple of years and thought the Fair had been converted to other uses; now I realize the Fair is on Astoria Blvd. and I was on Northern Blvd. So what was the theater on Northern that had a similar art deco marquee?

I've looked through the list here for every theater in Queens, Jackson Heights, and Astoria, and cannot find anything that sounds like what I remember. Anybody aware of a theater on the south side of Northern Blvd., west of Junction Blvd. but east of Woodside?

The Haven was never a porn theatre. They ran X a few times and the neighborhood fought it.

The Boulevard was/is on the south side of Northern Boulevard around 82nd Street. It's now a Hispanic restaurant. See its listing here for more information. To the best of my memory, the Boulevard was the only theatre on Northern Boulevard between Junction Boulevard and Long Island City. There was a small theatre on the south side of Northern Boulevard EAST of Junction Boulevard called the Palace, which is now a church. The Palace also has a listing here.

Thanks, Warren, but this is still bugging me. In fact, it had me up last night! I was trying to think of what the name of the theater I'm thinking of could possibly be, because my mind is convinced it was a short name -- like Fair -- not a long name, like Boulevard. I just looked at EdSolero's photos of the current incarnation of the Boulevard, and the problem is it shows a theater on the corner with a marquee at the end of the block. I'm convinced the theater I'm thinking of was in the middle of the block. And it seems to me that the old Food Fair supermarket, with its tall tan brick tower sign, was a block or two away. The only explanation I can come up with is that I've somehow combined my memories of the Fair and the Boulevard, and convinced myself that the Fair was the theater on Northern. Short of taking a trip down there to check it out for myself, I'm not likely to resolve this anytime soon!

Jeffrey... any shot you're confusing 37th Avenue with Northern Blvd? If so, you might be thinking of the Polk Theater. I have some photos of that mid-block theater posted on its page here: http://cinematreasures.com/theater/4489/

I spent most of my earliest childhood years (to age 7 or 8) living in Elmhurst and don't really remember ever going to either the Polk or the Fair... but my mom says she definitely took me to movies at the Fair when I was a child in the late '60's & very early '70's. I do remember going to the Boulevard frequently, where my biggest memory was that you could glimpse the Manhattan skyline while crossing Northern Blvd.

Jeffrey, you must be thinking of the Polk, which is on the north side of 37th Avenue (formerly known as Polk Avenue). The Boulevard and the Palace were the only theatres on Northern Boulevard between its beginning in Long Island City until Flushing.

No, I am familiar with the Polk...I had already looked at the photos that were posted (yes, the ticket-seller with tank top was intriguing!) and that's not the theater I was thinking of. (I do remember going to the Fair...I'm curious as to whether the Polk was showing adult films even back in the late 60s-early 70s, because I have a vague memory of it being a kind of "forbidden" theater.) Anyway, I really think it truly is a case of combining the Fair and the Boulevard in my memory. (Heck, until I started browsing this site, I had completely forgotten there was ever such a thing as the Jerry Lewis Cinemas! Possibly proof of the mind's ability to protect itself...)

Here are a few shots I took of the Fair's illuminated marquee the other night:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_1081.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_1083.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_1085.jpg

I love the spacing of letters on the marquee (and the two R's in "THURR"). I'm also curious as to how long the advertising has read "First Run in Queens"??? Is this a legitimate claim? I supposed if the Fair and the Polk are the only two adult cinemas left in Queens it should be relatively easy to verify. Aren't they both just projecting DVD's or Video on to their screens anyhow?!? That these "theaters" are still in operation is fascinating to me.

I also grabbed some pics of the Polk Theater this same night.

The marquee letters there appear to be slotted letters: there is just a notch in the plastic on the back and the rail on the sign just slips into the letter. A good wind tends to re-arrange them, which is why a lot of theatres in the 1960 started to use snap-lock letters, they have metal clips that grip the rails and holds them in place.

Thanks for lending a likely explanation, dave-bronx... I'm sure no one has been up there to fix-up whatever the winds have done to those letters in ages!

I've finally solved the mystery of remembering the Fair being on Northern Blvd. It's not the Fair I'm thinking of, AND it's not Northern Blvd. It's the Earle, now called the Eagle, on 37th Avenue, which runs parallel to Northern Blvd. The Earle didn't turn up in my earlier search, probably because it hadn't occurred to me it was now called the Eagle. The sign is very similar to the Fair's art deco style.

Ah, now I can sleep.

Hope you had a great sleep, Jeffrey. Actually, the Earle/Eagle is not on 37th Avenue but the parallel 37th Road (or Drive?) which runs into Roosevelt Ave near the the IRT's station at 74th and Broadway. You can clearly see the theater from Roosevelt, where there is only a small triangular block that sits between it and the theater.

This is kind of weird but there is a display ad in this week's "Village Voice" for the "Fair Theatre" @ 90th Street & Astoria Blvd. in Jackson Heights. The ad announceds a "new policy" of "2 new actions films at all times."

Thursday through Saturday they are screening a film called "Street Crime" and it is paired with a film called "Pay or Die." Sunday through Wednesday they are screening "Killer Force" and "Fist Full of Yen."

I don't know anything about these films. There is film called "Pay or Die" from 1960 or so.

Anyone have any info on these films? Are they new or are they repertory films?

Very interesting. I wonder if pressure from the church on the corner has resulted in a new policy? There may still be porn in those private booths (wherever they are located within the theater) with the legit films showing on the old screen. Isn't "Fist Full of Yen" the name of the faux kung-fu feature in "The Kentucky Fried Movie" that spoofs Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon"? I'll try to pass by there in the next few days, unless someone else gets to it before I can.

IMDB.COM lists a "Pay or Die" from 1979 that appears to be an American made Kung-fu actioner featuring a herione named Cleopatra Wong(!) who had appeared in at least 2 previous '70's low budget pics. Also found a "Killer Force" from 1976 directed by Val Guest and featuring Telly Savalas, Christopher Lee, OJ Simpson, Peter Fonda, Hugh O'Brian and Maud Adams! Sounds like the kind of fare I'd see on 42nd Street back in the day - a fact which brings a smile to my face. Could find no details on "Street Crime" or "Fist Full of Yen" but I imagine they could be of similar vintage - perhaps U.S. titles of foreign titles? They'd have to be pretty obscure not to be found on IMDB.

I called the theatre to get the starting times of the "movies" and they turn out to be projecting video. No prints, which means no interest from me.

I know the rules regarding porn have changed and only a certain percentage of a building can be porn-related and I suspect this new policy reflects the cinema trying to comply with the law. I think one of the porn emporiums on Eighth Avenue adopted a similar policy for a short while right after Giuliano instituted the new porn policy.

Incidentally, "Street Crime" is listed in the IMDB. If you enter "SC" it comes up as a movie with another name. It was a programmer with a black cast I think from the early 1940s. It has a B movie running time of a little over an hour.

I figured as much, hardbop. If you read back to the top of this page, it seems they've been running straight movies on the main screen (probably by projection of video tape) for some time, while running porn in video booths elsewhere in the theater. So much for a "new policy!"

Nuts I was all set to go on Sunday to see the classic KILLER FORCE. ARE YOU SURE THEIR PROJECTED ON VIDEO?

I'D EVEN SEE A RED PRINT OF THIS JUST TO SEE IT ON THE BIG SCREEN.

Guys you're right. It is a video format. Just called the Manager, and he confirmed VIDEO.

That staff must really enjoy getting all the calls from us.

WHICH BRINGS ME TO MY OTHER QUESTIONS: WHY THE F--K did they close THE DOUBLE FEATURED, 2 THEATRE PLAZA!!!!!!!!!!

Funny thing, grew up in Bayside, took the 7 train practically everyday into Manhattan from Flushing--all throughout the 70's. One day I decided to stand, and that was in Christmas 1983, and first noticed the marquee. At the time PLAZA was showing 1990: Bronx Warrior. The other theatre had Spanish film. Also, when Die Hard 2 opened, they had it on a double bill with Die Hard 1. Thought you would like to know.

Why all of a sudden did they run a display ad in the "Voice."?

I'm wondering if that VV ad was run by mistake? I remember seeing such ads in the VV a few years ago. Perhaps this was one of them.

Curious that they would run such an ad by mistake. It's not a listing but a small little block ad that lists each movie titles in its own font and style ("Pay or Die", for instance, with each letter in an alternately angled square - like the old Cinerama logo). I drove past the theater Monday night and didn't notice any alteration in the advertising on the marquee or display cases. It looks the same as in the photos I posted back on December 12th.

I stopped by the theater with camera in tow the other morning and snapped these photos of the entrance and display cases. I had to poke my arm through security gates to snap the cases in the outer vestibule, but this is preferable to being chased off the premises by the manager and his security guard (see my post of September 6th). Anyway, looks like business as usual at the Fair:

Canopy and entrance
Canopy detail
Outer display case
Vestibule display
Coming Soon: 1974!

The Klansman is the film Richard Burton admitted to having no memory what so ever of making. He was drinking a quart and a half of vodka a day and there was only a 3 hour window a day where he was able to be photographed closeup, too early his shakes were too bad and too late his intoxication was too noticeable. The Fair is doing the same thing as the Cinema Kings Highway, CKH shortened the orchestra, they run regular features on the big screen and in the rest of the orchestra constructed private sex booths. The balcony theatre shows porn on it's large video screen.

Here's an image of the Village Voice add that started this most recent thread:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters%202005/IMG_1461.jpg

I wonder if they'll continue advertising each week in the Voice, or if this was a one shot deal. Warren suggested this might have gone to print in error, but perhaps there is some Giuliani-era regulation that requires such establishments to advertise their "straight" fare once a year (or at some other prescribed interval).

I doubt that ad could have run in error, considering it not only lists the days of the week, but the actual February dates. More likely, they are prohibited from advertising their main business, and this constitutes a kind of "code" for those in the know. (Not being one of those in the know, I don't really know.)

So Richard Burton was drinking a quart and a half of vodka a day -- but what excuse did Lee Marvin, Cameron Mitchell, Lola Falana, Luciana Paluzzi, David Huddleston, Linda Evans, and -- OMG! "O.J. Simpson as Garth" have?

The thing I'm wondering is... Did "The Klansman" ever arrive at the Fair?!? Or did the owner just tack this in there for "atmosphere"? This particular display case is usually found behind the heavy iron gate that is seen in that first photo securing the outer vestibule during off hours. I like to imagine that this was the last legit feature to be advertised before the place went XXX and that no one had the inclination to rip it out. There are similarly ancient posters in the sidewalk display cases of the XXX Polk Theater as well, but those actually advertise vintage 1970's porno flicks and have been bleached from decades of exposure to the sun. If "The Klansman" has survived without as much tell-tale bleaching, perhaps that can be attributed to its shady little spot within the Fair's vestibule.

I'm guessing that we'll never know for sure.

The display ad appeared in the Voice last week for the second consecutive week so it was no mistake. This week's Voice comes out tomorrow so we'll see if there is another ad in there.

"The Klansman" is available from a very cheap label on DVD as of last fall along with other like films from that era. The theatre might of found a poster in their files and put it up. Alot of theatres that ran second and third run features had alot of posters in their files left over from years ago. The Cameo Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles had file cabinets full of posters and lobbies from over the years. The theatre ran Grind and played 4 features a day from 9am to 5am.

Which movies did that last display advertise, hardbop? More grind-house fodder? If only there were a theater like the Fair in NYC playing these kinds of lurid entertainments in 35mm prints. Some of the titles I remember from the 42nd Street days include: "Invasion of the Blood Farmers", "Killer Driller", "Tool-Box Murders", "Count Dracula and His Vampire Brides", "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula", "The Five Deadly Venoms", "Magnificent Ruffians", "Fists of the White Lotus", "Motel Hell", "Humanoids from the Deep", "Up From the Depths", "Deathstalker", "Without Warning", "Along in the Dark", "The Dark"... Oh the list goes on forever. Those were the days. I love bad grind-house movies, but they just aren't the same at home on DVD. You need the smell of stale popcorn, the sticky floors and the slap reverb of a nearly empty crumbling 42nd Street movie house to truly enjoy it!

Gosh, such romantic memories you guys have. Perhaps somebody could put together a feature-length retrospective of clips: "That's Grindertainment!" Time to call Jack Haley, Jr. Oh, wait -- he's dead. Okay, time to go with Plan B.

It would be more appropriate to go with Plan 9, Jeffrey... (har har). But that is actually an excellent idea. I'd watch a movie like that. Maybe an IFC or TMC special like the excellent "Baadasssss Cinema" (about the so-called blaxploitation flicks of the '70's), except the newer film would have to deal with the experiences of sitting in those faded downtown or 3rd run nabe's as much as with the actual movies themselves. A healthy dose of film excerpts from some of the wackier fare would be in order, however.

Finally -- an appropriate use for Smell-o-Vision!

Absolutely, Jeffrey!

Working the Grind houses was very interesting job.

Another Voice Ad that says "New Policy: 2 New Action Films at All Times"

This week: Accident & Fish of Fear, Touch of Death

Champions & Bruce Lee Back From the Grave

For what it's worth, just watched THE KLANSMAN at home on a cheap DVD bought for like a buck at the discount store. There seems to be a lot of them floating around. While THE KLANSMAN is, I hate to admit, outstanding exploitation sleeze and Lee Marvin is the man, the version making the DVD rounds is heavily, heavily edited. The only version of this film in tact is the Paramount VHS version released in 1990. So, even if our curiosity prompted us to go to the FAIR when and if THE KLANSMAN finally played, they would might show the EDITED dvd version on their video projection.

I'm not sure my curiosity is sufficient for me to brave a visit inside the Fair, wobbly! If there was a genuine change in policy and actual 35mm programming, that might be another story.

There are a number of titles listed on imdb.com as "Accident" but none of them make much sense as the movie on the Fair's double bill. "Fist of Fear, Touch of Death" is a cheapie 1980 documentary about Bruce Lee; "Champions" might be a low budget no-name actioner from 1998 that smells of "direct-to-video"; and "Bruce Lee Back From the Grave" seems fairly self explanatory. Actually, the imdb entry for that one is quite amusing... listed as "Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave" (1976), it is a fictional action film (not a documentary) that opens with a bolt of lightning striking Lee's grave whereupon he is resurrected and ready to open up a king-sized can of whup-ass! Sounds like one of the ways Hammer Films would revive Dracula at the beginning of each new installment in the series!

The problem with those types of grind movies are the prints would have to be all beatup to hell and faded. Having worked grind houses before the prints played many worn out theatres. There is a very small percent chance that they are running 35mm, is if they found the print or prints leftover in the theatre from years ago. This has happened many times before and the releasing company is no longer in business.

Makes sense, William. Those films aren't exactly in high demand these days for freshly struck 35mm prints! Yes, I suppose the grind house days are gone for good. Best we can do is flip in a DVD and try to re-create the ambience in our minds.

That Village Voice advert concerns me on two fronts.

First, from a customer standpoint, the advert’s seemingly intentional ambiguity (lack of exact show times which, of course, don't exist anyway) and promotion of "R-rated" fare disguises the theatre’s true mission, which is to draw an "adult" audience to the XXX attractions. This is, in my opinion, misleading. For those "uninitiated" customers that do venture over, there will be quite a few raised eyebrows and a quick realization of where they are once they see the crowd that frequents this place (at least management banned the drag queens, who used to stomp about like mastodons in heals). Also, the movies and the “policy” are anything but “new” - they have been playing martial arts and other “clean” films on the main screen for years. The only difference is now they are limiting to one film genre.

Additionally, the theatre is actually located in East Elmhurst, on the northern outskirts of Jackson Heights (the comparatively-remote Astoria Boulevard location is actually closer to LaGuardia Airport than to the more “familiar” or "convenient" Northern Boulevard or Roosevelt Avenue locales).

Second, from a managerial perspective, I suppose the objective is to generate curiosity and steer queries to the theatre's phone number, which IS prominently displayed. This could be used as a means of measuring response to the advert as well as answering questions about the theatre itself. Still, I can’t imagine what kind of response they expect to get for showing the same old martial arts flicks 13-16 hours per day (especially once they disclose the 15 dollar admission fee). Besides, as anyone in the porn business knows nowadays, the Internet is a great outlet for explicit advertising - maximum reach & frequency, and little regulation or censorship.

Bottom line: what is the point of spending money on advertising if you never bother mentioning the actual product or service that you want people to buy?

If there is some “unwritten” or “secret “ code in operation here, I must be missing it.

I thought about that very thing you mention, Alto: folks unwittingly attracted by the advert showing up at the Fair for a grindhouse double feature. Assuming you are familiar with the layout of the theater, I'll pose the same question here as I did in response to your comments about the Polk Theater... what is the configuration of the theater with respect to the "main screen" and the video booths? Is this theater more or less intact from its days as a nabe? While I have no recollections of it, my Mom tells me she took me to a number of films here when I was a very young child living in Elmhurst.

The Fair’s original single-screen main auditorium is basically intact, including its balcony (which, by all appearances, has been declared “off-limits” for quite some time), with only minor aesthetic modifications. Expansion of the facilities to include additional smaller XXX theatres and private viewing booths was achieved by acquiring space from adjoining box stores on the west side of the building (if you look carefully, you can figure out where the walls used to exist).

The two Greek brothers who manage the theatre also run the adjacent Stella D’Argento Italian Restaurant located on the east side of the theatre (a convenient “walk-through” entry provides direct access to its “bar lounge” by theatre customers). The lounge menu offering “specials for theatre customers only” has proven popular and provides additional income for the restaurant.

The owners have provided amenities and reasonable levels of comfort and cleanliness that are unexpected in an establishment of this type. The décor, although somewhat tacky, sets a pleasant and inviting tone. The fish tanks bubbling away in the lobby are particularly unique. The relaxed, non-intimidating (even social) atmosphere will surprise adult theatre “veterans” and “novices” alike.

Ironically, the same block-long building housing the theatre and restaurant also provides storefront space to a black “church” (I use the term loosely) on its northwest corner! These are same wonderful people who have repeatedly tried (thankfully without success) to curtail or close down the theatre’s operations.

Two Greek brothers, running an Italian restaurant and a connected XXX/grind theater adjacent to a black church.
It doesn't get much more New York than this!

The fare at the Fair this week, at least according the the Voice ad, is "Kiss Daddy Goodbye" paired with "Death of a Ninja." Then "Messenger of Death" and "Bruce Lee's Greatest Revenge."

Kind of reminds me of the type of fare seen on the marquees on the old 42nd Street between Seventh & Eighth Avenues.

That's exactly what I've been saying, hardbop, since we first picked up on these Village Voice ads. "Kiss Daddy" is a 1981 horror film that probably did play on 42nd Street. The closest imdb.com match I can find for that second title is something called "9 Deaths of the Ninja" from 1985 starring 42nd Street stalwart Sho Kosugi. "Messenger of Death" is likely the Charles Bronson flick from 1988 that might have played the tail end of the Duece's grind house existence. It was directed by veteran J. Lee Thompson who in his hey day helmed "Guns of Navarone", the original "Cape Fear" and "Taras Bulba" before turning to low budget genre fare in the '70's and '80's (the last two "Planet of the Apes" installments and numerous Bronson flicks). That final title is actually "Bruce LE's Greatest Revenge" from 1978 featuring one of the decade's many Lee impersonators.

With the Polk closed as of Feb. 20th (Presidents Day), this is now the only remaining "adult theatre" in Queens, and one of only two (that I know of) still operating within NYC limits (Kings Highway Cinema is the other).

Hard to believe for a city of this status, size and population!
Consider: Newark, NJ has the same number of XXX theatres (on the same street, only blocks apart, in an undesirable locale...yet both are doing "respectable" business).

Looks like the person who owns this theater also has a couple of other XXX theaters outside of NYC that are involved in a bit of controversy. Apparently, there is a decade old battle being waged in Pittsburgh, PA, over the Garden Theater, which the City is now fighting to condemn via eminent domain in the name of urban redevelopment. More recent is the Montauk Theater in Newark, NJ, which has been getting similar attention due to the City's plans to build a grade school on an adjacent block. While the theater's owner (George Androtsakis) hasn't commented on the situation just developing in Newark, he has been making a First Amendment argument to defend his Pittsburgh theater's right to exist as a porn house.

Here is the article that Ross linked to from today's Newsreel item on the CT home page.

The Montauk Theatre is located in Passaic, not Newark.
The Little Theatre and Cameo Twin are in Newark.

My mistake Alto. Yes. Passaic.

Many of the movies recently shown at the Fair are owned by Aquarius Releasing, a company that has been in operation since the late 1960s and was for many years the major "exchange office" in the N.Y.C./tri-state area for most of the exploitation movie distributors, including Roger Corman. Most notoriously, Aquarius handled the controversial N.Y.C. release of DEEP THROAT.

Terry Levene, the president of Aquarius, specialized in acquiring foreign films, dubbing them, and then releasing them to drive-ins and grindhouses around the U.S. Some of his biggest hits were THE BODYGUARD (with Sonny Chiba), MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY, FACES OF DEATH, THE SEVEN DOORS OF DEATH (a re-titling of Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND), BURIED ALIVE, and THE TONGFATHER. Aquarius originally had its offices in the heart of 42nd Street, in the Selwyn Theater building, but moved further west (9th Avenue, I think) in the late '80s.

"NOW SHOWING AT THESE AQUARIUS SHOWCASE THEATERS!" would appear under the newspaper ads for the movies Levene released -- and as the old movie houses in Manhattan and the outer boroughs (and Westchester County and New Jersey) closed down one by one, Aquarius' films would mysteriously be advertised as playing in theaters that were no longer open for business! Or, in the case of Corman's SATURDAY THE 14TH STRIKES BACK, the movie was advertised as playing in several theaters -- but phone calls to those theaters revealed that it was actually playing in NONE of the theaters! Another common practice was to open a film at the Roxy III, a triplex video theater adjacent to the New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street. So a 35mm print of LORDS OF THE DEEP or TRANSYLVANIA TWIST would play around the corner at the Criterion Center on Broadway (in one of their basement theaters, dubbed "The Dungeon" by anyone who ever ventured down there) while a videotape of the same movie would show at the Roxy III in 24-hour rotation with stuff like THE HUMAN TORNADO and SUPERFLY, and both of these theaters would be listed in the newspaper as "AQUARIUS SHOWCASE THEATERS." These shady practices nonetheless would help the indie distributors who needed to claim a certain number of theatrical playdates to satisfy their video deals.

I heard a while ago that Levene had retired and was living in New Jersey, but last year another veteran distributor told me that Aquarius was still very much in business and Levene was operating out of his home in Jersey. Since Aquarius provided the video grindhouses with product in the past -- and many of the movies shown at the Fair recently are Aquarius releases (BRUCE LEE FIGHTS BACK FROM THE GRAVE, FIST OF FEAR - TOUCH OF DEATH, GOODBYE BRUCE LEE, PAY OR DIE, QUEEN BOXER), I'm 99% certain that Levene is behind these recent bookings.

I met Terry Levene and dealt with him in December 1979 and January 1980 at his office in the building that housed the SELWYN theatre. I was introduced to him by the manager of the theatre I worked at THE LOEW'S ASTOR PLAZA. I was a college freshman at Iona College, and I was working at writing. Terry came to see a film and my manager introduced me to him and I told him I was studying writing, and he gave me a business card to show him some scripts.

On Xmas vacro of 1979 I dropped off a few treatments and pitched Terry some ideas. He was a nice, middle-aged subtle, soft spoking man. He was a portly version of Roger Corman, but you get the idea. Also, Terry had a foreign accent, which lead me to believe it was either British, Australian or South African. At, barely, 18, I couldn't decipher.

In January 1980, I met him to pick up the scripts. Needless to say, Terry didn't of course take them, but he gave me some advice and suggestions, and he couldn't have been nicer.

Two years later, around the time he released DR. M BUTCHER or whatever the hell it was called, I read in Variety that he was sponsoring a contest by people to write treatments.

Anyway, it wouldn't surprise me if the resourceful Levene was still at it. It was interesting reading about him here. I cannot find out much about him in Books or IMDB.

The Times Square area grindhouse distributors operated in a definite sub-culture environment. It's not surprising that available information about Levene and his colleagues is sketchy.

I reorganized my photobucket account and all the links to the various photos I posted previously no longer work. Follow this link to my new Fair Theater photo album where all of those images are now collected.

The marquee just received an "upgrade" of sorts - workers recently repaired and replaced cracked frost glass and missing letters. The biggest change though is the new multi-color neon lighting installed around the face (it matches the pastel-colored tubes underneath that lead to the entry doors). Although not historically "true" to the original, it does add a bit of "punch" to the somewhat spartan and tired-looking old signage.

The owner’s "zest" for color lately has also resulted in some rather tacky interior redecoration of the lobby area as well (a god-awful amateurish hand-painted "rainbow" mural whose theme or concept eludes me, along with the existing hodge-podge of both modern and traditional furnishings, lamps, fake palms, Egyptian statuary, fish tanks, Christmas lights and fiber-optic “objets d’art”). Before, the walls were painted a relaxed, low-key basic black and dotted with small black & white framed photos of Hollywood stars (such as Laurel & Hardy, The Marx Brothers, Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and Lana Turner) - this made sense given the theatre's "old-time" style and history and lent the place a bit of "vintage" charm and aesthetic as well.

Incidentally, the programming has also changed a little - in the main auditorium, they are breaking up the non-stop horror, action/adventure and martial arts films with the occassional latest home video new release - they were not getting the response to these films that they wanted, and quite frankly the regular patrons (who literally spend hours at a time in this place) were probably getting bored with it all (I know I was).

So have they switched from porno films?

Took some photos earlier this month of the freshly painted marquee:

Marquee and entrance
Profile marquee
Marquee close-up
Fair Scarecrow?
Freshly coated canopy

Compare that last shot with the following close-up view at the peeling paint under the canopy from just a few months ago:

Feb. 2006 under canopy

I'll have to run by there one evening to see what the new neon looks like when fired up! And they certainly haven't switched from porn, Mikeoaklandpark... In the main auditorium (the original theater) they had been running '70's and '80's grind house fare via video projection, while maintaining porn in the smaller separate screening rooms that had been carved from adjacent retail space. According to Alto, they have been mixing in the latest home video releases with the grind house fodder in the main auditorium.

I'm not sure what the deal is with that. Why bother? Was it in response to the Guiliani zoning laws that restricted businesses from operating 100% porn within a certain distance from schools, churches and residential areas? I can't imagine any other reason. Who'd shell out the $15 admission just to sit in a musty old theater watching kung fu flicks on a video projector? No insult intended if that's your gig!

The underside looks a bit better (though it appears the paint that was peeling was similar to what was just added) but overall it looks really bad. Wrong paint, wrong colors.

Ed, that's no scarecrow - that's one of the drag queens from inside coming up for a bit of air LOL...

Did you notice that they also installed reflectors at the apex of the canopy's projection over the sidewalk? They face in either direction down the block so that trucks pulling in or backing in to park can navigate around the projection and avoid smashing into the structure. There does appear to be a few dings around that big cursive "F" that graces the marquee.

What's the best way to get here by subway (from Manhattan)? Is a bus a better bet? Sad - I lived in Astoria for 6 years (just making it in time to enjoy the last couple of years of the old Steinway street Astoria Theater that is now a Duane Reade) - and I could have been riding my bike to the Fair all the time.. I didn't know...

The closest subway stop would be for the #7 train (actually an elevated line) on Roosevelt Ave and 90th Street. I think the stop is called 90th Street/Elmhurst Ave and leaves you about 8 or 9 blocks south of Astoria Blvd. You can catch the #7 from either Times Square, 5th Ave and 42nd or Grand Central Station. Once you get off the train, head up 90th Street until you come to Astoria Blvd and then hang a right. The theater will be just down the block on your right.

They haven't allowed drag queens inside for well over a year (they were "peddling their wares" inside, and as a result the place was eventually raided by undercover cops). Signs went up everywhere saying "prostitution and public lewdness prohibited". They used to stomp about like mastodons in heels looking for "business".

If they needed the money that badly, the manager could have banished them to the roof and paid them to walk around like the human scarecrows that they were, because they would have been just as good at scaring away pidgeons as they did customers!

Interesting that signs saying "prostitution and public lewdness prohibited" were needed, because as far as I know, prostitution and public lewdness are prohibited EVERYWHERE in the city. What's next, a sign saying "murder and assault not allowed on premises"? Did these folks think the Fair Theater was located outside the coastal waters of the U.S.?

The nearest #7 stop to the Fair is Junction Boulevard/94th Street, which at certain times is an express as well as local stop. You could walk to the Fair from there, or take a northbound bus heading to LaGuardia Airprot and get off at Astoria Boulevard. Don't go after dark, especially if you don't speak Spanish.

JCX... my suggestion of using the 90th Street/Elmhurst Ave station would put you physically closer to the Fair by about 4 blocks, however, Warren is wise to refer you to the Junction Blvd stop because you would be able to get there via an express train. The local stops on the 7 line are quite numerous in Queens, spaced as they are only every 5 blocks or so. You would certainly save considerable time by taking an express train from the city, even with the additional 4 block walk. However, if for some reason you find yourelf on a local, definitely use the 90th Street station as the Fair is right off 90th street once you get to Astoria Blvd.

Another advantage of the Junction Blvd stop would be your option to hop a bus up to Astoria Blvd. You would have to hoof it down 90th Street. But, I assume that as a Manhattan resident, you're probably not that intimidated by the idea an 8-block walk.

Come now, gentlemen. He's going to the Fair, after all. This is a classy establishment. I would not travel there in anything less than a chaffeured limo. Eight-block walk, indeed!

Of course, Jeffrey! We must have lost our heads.

wow

Here's a route that involves almost no walking: take the E,F,G or R train to Roosevelt Ave-Jackson Hts; or the #7 to 74th St-Bway - then go to the street and get Jeffrey's chauffeured limo (aka the Q32 bus) - it will dump you out right in front of the fashionable Fair Theatre.

There is no express service on the #7 line on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. During the week, express service is limited to the "rush hours." You can get a schedule at the MTA website. Queens bus schedules are very undependable. You can sometimes wait 30 minutes or more. It is best to take the #7 to whatever station you want and then walk the rest of the way to the Fair...To the best of my memory, the Q-32 runs between Penn Station, Manhattan, and 82nd Street and Northern Bouleverd. It does not stop in front of the Fair Theatre, or anywhere near it. Perhaps you have it confused with the former Boulevard Theatre (now an Hispanic restaurant and entertainment venue) at Northern & 82nd.

Hmmm, I guess I got the wrong bus number - Warren is correct - disregard the Q32. After further research, the CORRECT bus number is Q19B - Runs from 74th-Roosevelt to 102nd & Astoria Blvd. It's been a while since I lived in Jackson Hts.

How about helicopter? Perhaps there is a heli-pad on the Fair's roof. Or, you can just drop down on a line from the hovering copter right in front of the theater's marquee. Now, THERE'S an entrance!

You certainly wouldn't want to land a helicopter on the roof -- there's a drag queen up there!

Of course! Perhaps a one-man submarine voyage through the NYC sewer system. That would certainly be an adventure. OK... enough frivolity!

It is a ridiculously long walk from Roosevelt Ave. all the way up to Astoria Blvd. It takes me almost 10 minutes just to drive that distance, so imagine the time it would take on foot. It is eight VERY LONG blocks - I do not consider this walking distance!

I STRONGLY advise against walking that route at night – you will be passing through parts of Corona and Jackson Heights that have little activity and are questionable in safety. I have occasionally seen some "shady" characters roaming about, and it is eerily quiet late at night, which means if something happens to you, chances are that nobody will hear or see anything. It can be rather intimidating, and I for one would not do it.

I knew someone who used to walk home at night from work at a restaurant on Queens Blvd. in Elmhurst, all the way up to and past Roosevelt Avenue to 37th Ave. in Jackson Heights (he did not want to spend his wages on a taxi ). It was about the same distance. On one occasion he was followed but was far enough along to finish the trip; another time he was attacked and slashed in the face by a knife-wielding mugger (he fought and escaped).

The #19B runs to and from the Roosevelt Ave.-74th St. bus terminal and subway station in Jackson Heights/Elmhurst - it stops directly in front of the theater. For the return trip, it stops one short block east by the Burger King restaurant on 92nd St. (a schedule is posted in the theater lobby for customer convenience).

The #72 runs up along Junction Blvd. from Queens Blvd. in Rego Park – it stops at 94th St. and Astoria Blvd.

The #19 bus runs the length of Astoria Blvd. - it does not, however, stop near the theater, and runs only during daytime hours.

At least two of these buses are convenient – use them! The trip is worth the $2 fare.

Whenever I visit there, I always try to get a parking space in front of [or next to] the theater, since I sometimes leave late and do not like walking around the corner alone.

In the early 70s, I used to walk home at night from my girlfriend's near Northern Blvd. in Jackson Heights, all the way up Junction Blvd. to 57th Ave. in Elmhurst. I guess that's about 20 blocks. I usually intended to take the Junction Blvd. bus, but I would start walking and usually, the bus either never passed me, or did so only after I was practically home! Of course, I was a LOT younger then... (I never had a problem -- although I was once mugged in broad daylight on my way to Newtown High School!)

Thanks all for clearing up the mystery of the Fair's VV ads. For years I'd been tempted to check out a "2 action hits" show there but suspected they were actually videos and used as a "beard" to mask a porn venue. I also remember when at least one Times Square porn emporium advertised genre film showings, which I did check out--the audience consisted of one dude dozing to a Jackie Chan flick video-projected in a small screening room. Extremely depressing tease for one who'd spent decades catching all manner of real movies on the Duece and in Times Square. When I collected obscure VHS a while back, I remember sighting some genre and horror rarities in an adult video store window in Florida and must have been the first putz to actually inquire about them; turned out they were empty boxes, there
for the same non-porn "quota" reason.
JKane

Here are some photos of the Fair theater.

Here are some vintage ads from the Fair's pre-porn days in the early 1960's:
Thrill of it All - LI Star Journal 11/23/63
L-Shaped Room - LI Star Journal 11/25/63
The Prize - LI Star Journal 5/18/64

I'll have to pass by and see if that Gulf Station is still there on the corner of 92nd.

Forgot to add that each of the main features in those ads was obviously on a late run - a good 6 months or so from initial release.

This is a recent photo of the Fair theater and here is another.

Have they really fixed up the marquee more since the last photos you linked to, or were these simply taken in brighter daylight?

I don't know the date of the photos in the link that I posted on Jul 21, 2006. The photos in the link that I just posted on Sep 10 are from May of 2006. It could be better lighting, but I think the photos in the July 21 link are older. Compare the May 2006 photos with the photos posted by EdSolero on Jun 14, 2006 at 2:38pm. The condition of the marquee looks very similar. Maybe the marquee was fixed up a little.

The Fair Theatre first opened on Christmas night, December 25, 1937, with a late-run double bill of "Dead End" & "Double Or Nothing." Like some of the other small theatres designed by Charles Sandblom, the Fair had a stadium section of seats at the rear of the auditorium:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair1.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair2.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair3.jpg

Thanks, Warren, for those beautiful photos of old Fair articles about the opening.

I looked at the different recent photos, and think it may be a matter of good light. I don't think they care, really, and anyway, there's some of the same water stain even on the brighter one. Anyway, the 'text' is the same, or little differ

(should be 'little different')

I live in Brooklyn and like to once in a while hang out at the Fair. I don`t drive so I use mass transit. I take the "N" train to Astoria Blvd station. Then the M60 which goes down Astoria Blvd. The first stop, as the bus turns left to head into La Guardia airport, you get off and walk approximately 5 short blocks and you`re there. It costs $15.00 to get in. A bit steep. The owners have practicaly acquired the entire block. The restaurant next door now belongs to them,, which is great, because you don`t have to leave the theater to get a bite. Amazing thing is, that with the restrictions in NYC about porn theaters, there is a Baptist church (predominantly black parrishoners) right on the corner. I guess the theater owner has that one too. They probably exist rent free, so they`re not complaining. Inside, there is plenty action, but no public touching allowed. At one point, there were too many tranny`s and some were caught "hustling" for money. the place was raided. Now, you don`t see any tranny`s. There are six venues for video. The main theater orchestra shows legitamate movies. Unfortunately, the balcony has been closed for several years now. There are 5 other smaller areas, ranging in size showing everything from "sub-titled" kung-fu klunkers to old Tv shows. And, of course, the ever popular porn venue, straight and gay. In the rear, there are about 30 to 40 private viewing booths for the "fun" seekers. Also a large area after the main lobby with couches and video games, free coffee and tea and cookies. A good place to socialize, if that`s your thing. All in all, a pretty decent place by todays standards. Lockers available also, to leave coats or shoulder bags. As of three months ago (my last visit) they were allowing people to smoke. I guess they know how to take care of the right "pay-offs". They don`t make waves and keep a low profile.

I simply have to ask this: why in the world would anyone who has a computer need (or want) to go to a theater to watch porn, when there is an almost infinite amount available online? Is it for the "atmosphere"?

Well, jeffrey, going there, in my opinion, is a lot better than just sitting at home in front of a computer screen watching porn. There is the aspect of interacting with other men. It`s not just about the "porn". Sure, that plays a big role there, but it doesn`t have to be the "only" reason for attending. Maybe that`s one of the big problems in our society these days. We`re loseing our ability to communicate face to face. Everybody want`s to just sit and experience life thru a screen or other tech device. The "atmosphere" is a bit seedy, but it`s not that terrible. It`s actually a place where you can actually let your hair down and be yourself, without having others around you passing judgement or staring. What it really boils down to, it`s just another thing "to do" instead of spending the day like a zombie, in front of a computer!

To each his own!

I fully agree with flip-flops philosophy, even though I can't say I care that much for the Fair. I hope it lasts, though, as all this slippage into Virtual Reality is very depressing. Glad he mentioned the restaurant, the Stella d'Argento, which has excellent old-fashioned Southern Italian fare in the dining room which can be entered either from the theater or the street, and the smaller adjacent room, where there is a simpler menu which opens directly from the theater. Very cozy and relaxing.

The owners continue to make improvements and freshen up the theater's appearance. About three weeks ago, new carpeting was installed in all of the major public areas: the entry hall, lobby, auditorium aisles and two small video lounges - it is done up in a rather busy (if somewhat flamboyant) "swirly wreath" pattern featuring a rich contrasting color scheme of deep plum, dusty rose and ivory that complements the interior's red, black and gold trim accents. Overall, the appearance and effect is surprisingly tasteful, dare I say even luxurious, and gives the place a vintage feel that compliments the theater's style and heritage.

Even the outside received "the royal treatment": permanent, all-weather red carpeting was laid in front of the entry doors, filling the large, recessed vestibule up to where the building’s facade meets the sidewalk. An employee goes outside and vacuums it every day!

However, with all of the illegal smoking going on about the place, how long will it maintain its appearance? Carpets and cigarettes are not a good match - lack of ashtrays will have indifferent patrons snuffing out lit butts and flicking ashes everywhere. It almost begs the question: why bother to make improvements if you’re going to allow them to be ruined?

Hey! I've been asleep at the switch. Saw notices of comments but thought they'd be "archival" or depressing "post mortems".

Did not close?!? still open, still showing porn?

Belatedly: what was the consensus on travel logistics (from Manhattan)?

They are still very much open and in business. Want to know how to get there from manhattan? You can take the M60 bus from Manhattan or the N train to Astoria Blvd station and then the M60 bus down Astoria blvd. As the bus starts to turn left off the blvd. get off, continue walking down Astoria Blvd. It`s on the right side of the street. Can`t possibly miss it.

"As the bus starts to turn left off the blvd. get off"
I assume flip-flops meant to say get off at the next stop -- otherwise this could be pretty dangerous.
(And yes, I DO always have to be a smartass.)

The M60 bus should not be confused with the Q60 bus, which also starts in Manhattan but runs across the 59th Street bridge onto Queens Boulevard and terminates in Jamaica. Theatres along that route include the Center in Sunnyside, Elmwood in Elmhurst, and Trylon and Midway in Forest Hills. The Q60 may also pass the Hillside Theatre in Jamaica, but I'm not sure.

Would appreciate any suggestions for stopping the smoking at this place (without getting it shut down). We'd be doing the place and everyone in it a huge favor.

Well, with all due respect, NYFoggdawg. I am a patron there, not weekly, but maybe once a month. I am also a smoker. There are enough places in this city where smoking is prohibited. I agree, in some cases. If you`re in a very confined area, or public transportation or even the work place. Or anywhere, where you are subjected to continous exposure to cigarette smoke, but this is a public theater. I don`t know about you, but most people there don`t spend the entire day and night there. One of the reasons there is a good crowd there, even with rate hike, is the relaxeed and casual atmosphere. Regardless of any city ordinance, smokers also have rights. Cigarettes are legal, are sold everywhere and the same city government that passes those ordinances, is the same city government that puts plenty of cash in their coffers from the exhorbitant taxes on tobacco products. All the "health" rhetoric, true or not proven, is just a lame excuse to tap a healthy cash source. With so many places now prohibiting smoking, then I`m very,very sure that you, and others like you are rarely subjected to "second" hand smoke. I sincerely doubt if you will develope any health issues from spending a few hours, at most at the Fair. You say, you want to stop the smoking, without it shut down. Well, think about this, if they enforce people not smoking, then more people will begin to go outside to smoke, attracting uneeded attention to the theater. Then you`ll hear from the complainers that there are too many "men" congregating outside. People will then hog the privacy booths even more, in order to sneak a smoke. I, ,myself, live in Brooklyn. I travel there by public transportation. It`s a good hour and a half each way, but I enjoy the atmosphere and ambience and socializing in an all male setting. I also enjoy having a cup of coffee and enjoying a cigarette. As long as I`m not blowing the smoke directly in your face, what`s the problem? Maybe you should be more concerned by the patrons that bring in beer, and I`ve seen some quite inibreated. I`ve seen arguments and tempers flair because of the alcohol. They also serve alcoholic drinks in the attached restaurant.We live in a time where there are too many "control" freaks that want to take away every little personal freedom available. What to eat, drink, and yes smoke. Obviously, the "staff" isn`t complaining. in fact, some of them also smoke. We both know what kind of atmosphere prevails at the Fair, there are very few, in fact, I believe only two places like this in the 5 boroughs. The other place being here in Brooklyn. What worries me, is your statement, and I quote, "We`d be doing the place and everyone in it a huge favor"! That sounds to me like a bit of a "control" freak issue on your part. I, for one, and many others, resent when one individual decides he knows better what is and isn`t good for us. I, personally cannot stand the constant use of cell phones, and the individuals having loud, obnoxious conversations right next to me when I watch a film or am trying to hold a conversation with someone, yet I`m not seeking to "create" a movement to ban the phones (or the talkers). Wouldn`t it be better to just adopt a "live and let live" attitude. Like I said bfore, I doubt seriously that you, or anyome else there will develop any serious medical issues. I happen to know some of those patrons personally, that do not smoke, but are not so disturbed as to seek "suggestions" to stop the smoking. I seriously believe that the Fair theater is a "dinosaur" and it`s days are numbered, why speed up the process. If this response seems a little long winded, I apologize, but I also have strong feelings about loseing the few personal freedoms left out there. We have become a too "politically" correct society. The Fair is a theater from a long past era. It`s a small treasure, why not let it fade away naturally, rather than hastening it`s demise. That`s one of the great things about the Fair, a place were a guy can still go to, let his hair down, without a lot of "anal" retentive regulations and regulators. I could have easily answered your posting by stating, "if you don`t like the smoke" then don`t go there, but, I understand you have the same rights as I do to attend the theater, without being given "conditions", don`t I have those same rights? Thank You, and enjoy the movies!!!

I believe that smoking is prohibited by law in theatres in New York City, which includes the borough of Queens. If smoking is being permitted at the Fair, it should be reported immediately to the Fire Department, which will take appropriate action. Smoking has been proven to be not only damaging to health, but could also cause a disaster if people are careless with their lighted cigarettes. This is not a matter of "denying personal freedom." It's just plain good sense.

I`m quite familiar with the "law" about smoking in NYC, including "the borough of Queens". Let me ask you, how many times do you attend the Fair theater? Judging from your statement, not at all, because you were obviously not aware of people being allowed to smoke there. I`d also like to ask you, when was the latest "disaster" at a movie theater in recent memory". No one stated that cigareete smoking could not be damaging to health, but as I said before, unless you are subjected for long periods of time, with smoke in your face constantly, you`re not very likely to contract some medical problem. The people that would likely have a medical issue, would be the smokers themselves, but for whatever reason, addiction or simple enjoyment, they choose to smoke. I, personally, have been attending the Fair theater for at least 10 years, if not more, and have yet to see any "disaster" or even monor mishap, because someone was smoking. Just because you object to smokers, does not give you the "right" to interfere with others "rights". If the management of the theater has chosen to allow smoking, then they know well the consequences if a fire dept. inspector gives them a surprise visit. I`m also positive, that there have been others in the past that HAVE reported this so called "problem" to the fire department. And, as you can see, the theater still chooses to allow smoking. In todays society, we have more and mopre "control" issues by some people. Are you acquanted with the fact that the Fair shows predominantly X rated films? maybe we should also report that? After all it might make people "crazy" or cause them to go out and commit all kinds of "sex" related crimes. Aren`t those "disasters" also? I really get a kick out of the hysteria some people get into, because someone smokes. Who knows. I might run into you there and not care for your cologne. It might make me sick to my stomach. That`s also a "health" issue. Maybe I should go into a tizzy and call the health department and report it, so they can take the proper "control" actions. This is not just about smoking, it`s about making more and more useless regulations and "laws" to stop people from enjoying some personal freedom. Do you call the 'authorities" about the crap they put in McDonalds hamburgers? Do you call the government to complain about all the porn sites, that small children could see? Do you make calls to report all the motor vehicle emmisions? That`s stuff is worse, and WE ARE ALL exposed. Then there is the simplest solution to your "concern". Don`t go there, and let the rest of us "vulnerable" "unprotected" peasants worry about the horrific disasters, yet to happen!!!

It's always something around here.

I went to a porn theater, and a debate on smoking broke out.
(This isn't really a variation on "I went to a boxing match, and a hockey game broke out" but ... well, I guess you had to be there. Carry on.)

One of my close relatives died from smoke inhalation from a fire started by a careless cigarette addict, so I'm perhaps more sensitive to the dangers than others. I just phoned 311 and filed a complaint against the Fair Theatre. The agent told me to allow 30 days for an investigation, and gave me a case number to use when I call back for a report. Those who feel similarly about smoking going on at the Fair or any other theatre in New York City can do the same.

Perhap's your just a troublemaker. You have exposed your nasty nature many times here fella. This is a new low for you. How often do you attend this theatre fella. Should the Fair Theatre have to close everyone can point fingers at you.

Ed....The latest c/o that I can find for this address is from 1999. The seating given at that time is:

Theater#1-128
Theater#2-90
Theater#3-72
Theater#4-72
Theater#5-56
Theater#6-74

Ed, I did not post the above. What's going on?

That was my comment for the Main Street Cinemas page. It belongs in the no smoking section. :)

I agree with mikemovies, that is truly one of the jerkiest things I've heard, interfering with somebody else's club. The place is not my favourite thing, but I've had some good times there, and it's ridiculous to interfere with someone else's club. Have you really the energy to now go out and try to get all cigarette smoking policed in all private housing--because that is the only way you are going to make sure that a 'cigarette addict' does not get careless. I hope you get nowhere with your infantile 311 complaint.

"mm," I doubt that the closing of the Fair Theatre would be a loss to anyone but the owners, who are rumored to have underworld connections. That might explain why illegal activities such as smoking and soliciting for prostitution go "unnoticed" by the police and/or fire departments. It wouldn't be the first time that local law enforcers accepted bribes. That area of Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst/Corona has been notorious for it for many decades now.

Perhap's the Fair Theatre is not the type of movie theatre that you prefer fella. It is still a movie theatre that some people enjoy attending. Why would you say that it doesn't matter if the Fair Theatre closes. Any movie theatre that closes is a loss no matter the type of movies that are shown. Should the owner actually have 'underworld connections' as you claim; I would not want to be in your shoes if the owner finds out your true identity. Why do you persist in causing trouble for other's. This was not one of your typical nasty acts fella. This was a vicious act. Perhap's someone should alert theatre management that an inspector could be visiting them at anytime.

I can see now that "Warren" is on a mission. A mission to show everyone what a total ass-hole he is. Sounds like the poster child for "anger management". This guy has some serious mental issues. Now, he not only wants to take "down" the theater, but the police department, fire department and local residents. This guy is probably already well known by the above mentioned agencies. He probably calls them several times a day, with inane complaints. It would be nice, if the owner does have "underworld" connections. Would be nice hearing they found "Warren" somewhere out on a runway at La Guardia airport.Maybe what "Warren" actually would like to state is that he resents the fact that the areas he mentions, Jackson Heights/East Elmhurst/Corona, are predominantely hispanic and asian, and let`s not forget the "homos" at the Fair. This is most likely the thing that makes our little "Warren" ticked off. Seems he suffers from a common malady these days. It`s called "Anal retentivitus" also called " Control freakness syndrome" and the more common name " wet noodle". "Warren" please. get a life. Take a deep breath, clear your brain cell, and then move on, and quit trying to control the rest of the world, especially since it doesn`t recognize you, or care that you actually exist.

Warren, while I treasure your breadth and scope of cinema knowledge and resources, I do think it was a bit much to call 311 on a place that you haven't even been to. On the other hand, I do think flip-flops is a bit over-the-top, as well.

'"mm," I doubt that the closing of the Fair Theatre would be a loss to anyone but the owners'

This is what is so tiresome, since several people have said they enjoy the place. Now someone comes and tells them that it won't be a loss to them, because they should prefer something else, or whatever else this arbiter of taste thinks they should do. It's insulting that he should say that to people who, for example, travel all the way from Brooklyn for the relaxing feel they get at this theater. I agree with mikemovies that the management should be alerted that an inspector may show up about the smoking.

saw my first and only porno film there back in 1977 - 9th grade - me n my friends thought it would be cool to get into a porno movie...little did we know. the lady at the ticket window didn't even ask our ages - just $7.25 please. it was dark n dank with alot of guys just walking around. went to take a pee in the bathroom n a perverted old man stood next to me staring down at my wiener!!! got outta there real fast n promised myself never to go to a porno theater again! never have!

$7.25 in _1977_ ?!? Whew! Seems to me there was a (small) porn theater on 8th avenue with an admission of just $2.00 or so, just a few years later. Maybe more? Maybe $4.00? (East side of 8th Ave.; c. 45th st, + or - a block?)

the fair is in queens. it was the only porno theater around. maybe that's why.

LittleParkwiththeTrees: I find your statement a little suspect. If you were in the 9th garde, back in 1977, then that would make you about 14 years old. Even as lax as things were back then, I seriously doubt no one asked for ID. As for $7.25 admission? Well, in all the years I`ve been attending movie theaters, porn or legit, I`ve always been charged a round figure. These places don`t want to deal with loose change. I attended the fair in the early 90`s, and the admission then was $7.00. Oh, and by the way, the fair was not the only porn theater in Queens. There was the Earl in Jackson Heights, The Lefferts in Kew Gardens (legit now) and another one, can`t recall the name, on jewel Avenue. Sorry, but you`re story sounds more like an adolescent fantasy!!!

I arlier mentioned the Lefferts in Kew Gardens. My bad. It was the Austin. The show artsy movies now, lots of yuppies in that area.

Don't believe a word about the 'wiener adventure.' SNL had a skit with a phone sex girl who forfeited the money when the client said 'wiener.' Go put some mustard on your own and see if you can find a bun for it. All porno movies in Manhattan were $5 in the 70's and I don't think anything kin Queens was doing 'old pervert' porno yet.

Gol darn it, what is this world coming to? It's getting so you can't even believe stories told by anonymous posters hiding behind screen pseudonyms about their first porn theater experience in the 70s anymore.

Why in my day, we'd keelhaul the poor feller, but now they'll probably pin a medal on 'im and put him on the tee vee.

I obviously need some sleep.

listen cretins, i just thought i would engage this forum with a story of my past. it is a true story and if u don't believe it, well, f-u, basically. and it WAS $7.25 that the lady charged us...each. if this is the kind of unfriendly and cynical "know-it-all" stupidity this forum deals out, then i'm outta here.

NOW look what you've done! You've driven him away! First he was overcharged in 1977, and now this...

Sorry, LittleParkwiththeTrees. (Are you Native American, by the way?) Porn theater afficianados are apparently very protective of their turf. I think you stepped over the line when you implied there was a pervert in the men's room 30 years ago. Next time, just say you had a warm, comfortable, lovely experience at a reasonable price, and you'll be welcome.

I'm sure that "perverts" were hanging out in public toilets from the time when such conveniences were first introduced centuries ago. What else is new?

There is nothing new under the sun. And by the way, just where are some of these public conveniences located?

Yes, that's good about the littleParkwiththeTrees, except I think parks were not among the sacred sites of Navaho, Comanches, etc., more like Japanese, as with 'Noshitsu andtheThousandCherryTrees'. Also, LittlePark, I'm devastated if you leave us, because we can't see your wiener in here anyway, too many damn screens. You are now in your late 30s, though, and should realizing that 'engaging in forums' is not necessarily considered one and the same as noblesse oblige.

ooh not perverts at all my good man. The Fair is a fun place and life should include some fun. This is my fav theatre.

If the gentleman was staring down at your wiener LittleParkwiththeTrees, you should have politely declined any offers. Only consensual activities take place there.

LittleParkwiththeTress: I, originally stated that your story sounded like an "adolescent" fantasy. With you`re uncalled for and rather rude response, you have comfirmed my original statement, and I see that you are still an "adolescent", in mind, anyway. None of the responders to your "fantasy" were disrespectful or "unfriendly" to you. You choose to be "outta" here, so, on behalf of all us unfriendly, cynical, stupid, know it all "pervs", allow me to show you the "door".

P.S: Maybe you should stop by a "public" restroom sometime, and let an "old pervert" interact with you. It might help you release some of your pent up "issues"!!!

Ahh, how restful. There's nothing quite like discussing the preservation of old movie theaters.

Knock it off, guys. You've gotten pretty far off-topic here.

Maybe the extra 25 cents was for a packet of tissues or wet-naps.

Knock it off, guys. You've gotten pretty far off-topic here.
posted by Patrick Crowley on Feb 27, 2007 at 12:14pm

You finally noticed!

Early in this thread, someone said #7 express doesn't run on weekends. But this needs to be updated: these days, neither express NOR the local runs on weekends. Alternative routes = ??

I'd appreciate hearing (e.g. via email) from fairytail and others familiar with current operations for updates on social milieu, popular days and hours, that sort of thing. Do women ("non-working" women) or couples visit?

My ISP is "humanoid encountered by Gulliver in his travels" (human-sized, neither Lilliputian nor Brobdingnagian).

The #7 disruption on weekends is only through the end of March, due to track repairs. On those weekends, shuttle buses cover all the #7 stops between Queens Plaza and 61st Street/Woodside. At Queens Plaza, you can transfer to the "N" for service to and from Manhattan.

I've gone to the Fair off and on for the past 12 years. I've seen "true" females there maybe once or twice. It's an older crowd during the day; slightly younger later at night.

After reading these accounts of the Fair, and since I'm a sporting and adventurous young man, I decided to do some research and check it out myself. The poster of The Klansmen is indeed still displayed in the front lobby, and when one walks through the door, there is another poster for Enter the Dragon inside. There are also some smaller photos of Hollywood legends like Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, etc. and one I couldn't readily identify, it looked like Linda Darnell to me. I also noticed a flyer that announced the double features that the Fair was playing for the next several weeks. The only 2 movies I had even vaguely heard of were Sweet Justice & Mark of the Beast, 2 direct-to-video epics. I laughed to myself because they had cut-and-pasted an image of Janet Leigh from Psycho screaming, and there was no mention of a Hitchcock film. I paid $15 to walk through a turnstile and passed a small dirty-looking concession stand that sold mostly candy bars.
To my left, I saw an entrance to some sort of food establishment and walked into the rather dark main lobby. It immediately looked surreal to me, as I was greeted with the sight of several colorful fish tanks, and several older gentlemen just standing idly and watching me enter rather intently. I strolled on over to the main theatre screen area and was delighted to find a nice, well-preserved theater with about maybe 300 or so seats, a closed-off balcony, but a rather small screen. The empty small screen was playing Interview with the Vampire. There was a stage at the foot of the screen with lightbulbs around it, and there was also a set of lockers, which I found odd at the time. I walked around more and noticed more older gentlemen watching and following me. I felt a little better when I also noticed several guys with t-shirts that read "Security" walking around as well, though I noticed one was asleep. I stumbled upon a small projection screen showing an explicit gay porn film, and an adjacent room playing an explicit straight porn film. These rooms were fairly packed, but I didn't observe any overt sexual activity going on, but more older guys sleeping. I noticed there were booths ahead with a lot of guys standing around, but I retreated to find 2 more very small screening rooms. To my left, a video projection screen was showing "Gang Related" with Jim Belushi to an empty set of abput 10 chairs, and the room on the right, also empty, was playing some Western with the actor Miguel Sandoval. I should note that there were a couple of randomly placed 3 foot Christmas trees and some funky lights randomly placed on the walls here and there. The scene was at once creepy and fascinating, but it was fun to check out the old main theater. Perhaps I'll go back, stoned, and watch a direct-to-video movie by myself!

Hey! That's a terrific description. I'll remember to check out the posters up front, which I've never done somehow. The 'food establishment' has been closed the last few times I've been, but it has a good smaller cafe that connects from the theater itself, and the Stella d'Argento you also can walk into from the Fair as well as from the street. Food is excellent in either case, but I fear they are closed--maybe just some renovation, but I went several months back and then again last week, and it was closed both times. Their big screen is good, but I never have wanted to see anything they've had showing there, because you don't know beforehand, and have probably already seen it, etc.,

What time of day (or night) did you visit?

I took this sociological excursion on a late Friday afternoon. I'd take another look but the parking isn't too great around there, and $15 for a few laughs is a little pricey if you aren't hanging out w/ the guys in the back booths.

This has got to be one of the more entertaining threads. It has sex, drugs, violence, comedy, transvestites, the KKK, religion, a scarecrow, Italian cuisine, bus routes and finally, an act of treachery from the in-house villain. Most current FILMS aren’t anywhere nearly as entertaining!

This from the NY Times Oct. 18, 1998 confirms the suspicions raised about the programming. The ads must be intended as proof.

“And last week Judge Arthur W. Lonschein of Queens ruled that the formerly all-adult Fair Theatre in East Elmhurst, Queens, could remain open because it was now showing adult films in less than 40 percent of its theatres.“

I will now step outside for a smoke.

Very astute observation regarding the intrigue and aura surrounding the Fair. As crazy and sleazy as the Fair may be, I'd rather hang out there and watch one of their direct-to-video forgotten epics than a showing of "300".

Kind of amazing article in today's New York Post

Here's the link and here's the article, copyright NY POST:

SCHLOCK AROUND THE CLOCK

INSIDE N.Y.'S LAST MOVIE GRINDHOUSE

By LOU LUMENICK

Rose McGowan stars in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's ode to grindhouses.
Rose McGowan stars in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's ode to grindhouses.
PrintEmailDigg ItStory Bottom

March 28, 2007 -- IF you want to sample Times Square moviegoing in all of its raffish glory from the 1970s and early 1980s, you don't need a time machine - just take the M60 bus out to East Elmhurst, Queens, and be prepared to watch your back.

On a shabby stretch of Astoria Boulevard near La Guardia Airport, the Fair Theatre is the city's last grindhouse - a successor to the tradition of the crumbling, grimy showplaces that used to line both sides of 42nd Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.

They were called grindhouses because they grinded out often-battered prints of movies practically around the clock. Mainstream movies shared double and triple features with violence- and sex-drenched, low-budget exploitation films you could see nowhere else in the pre-VCR era.

Today these films - with lurid titles that invariably promised more than they delivered, like "Jail Bait Baby,'' "Blood Spattered Bride'' and "Revenge of the Cheerleaders'' - have found a cult following on DVD, where new schlockfests continue to thrive.

These original flicks also inspired "Grindhouse" - a new faux double feature paying homage to cheesy exploitation films of the era from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez that opens April 6.

But to experience an actual grindhouse requires a trip to the 70-year-old Fair Theatre - named in anticipation of the 1939-40 World's Fair in nearby Flushing Meadows - which sits in the middle of a blocklong two-story building between 90th and 91st streets.

The curved, art-deco marquee is coy about its offerings:

FIRST RUN IN QUEENS

2 TOP HITS R

NEWSHO W SUNDAY & THUR

Inside, a vintage sign proclaims "Fair Theatre Proudly Presents New Show Every Sunday & Thur 2 Big Features" - and, below that, an ominous warning that the premises are being watched by surveillance cameras.

A dusty board lists titles on six screens - among them "Legs Between," "The Last Hunter" and "Mark of the Beast" - that look like they haven't been changed in months. A printed flier on the wall lists the current attractions as "Daisy Chain" and "Eastern Heroes."

Admission is $15, strictly cash, and the first thing you pass is a refreshment stand selling candy, cookies, soft drinks and coffee right behind the ticket booth.

The lobby is incredibly dim, but it's hard not to make out the large signs that say "Prostitution and Lewdness are Prohibited" - or the three even larger security guards, one of whom follows me when I inadvertently wander toward the men's room.

Suddenly I had visions of Jon Voight's Joe Buck and his balcony scene with a teenager played by Bob Balaban in "Midnight Cowboy," which took place in one of the 42nd Street grindhouses - known as much for their action off the screen as on.

It's around 11 on a Friday morning - the Fair opens at 10:45 and stays open until 3 a.m. - and there are perhaps a dozen middle-age male patrons inside. Most of them are huddled in a vast, dark lounge decorated with enormous fish tanks, floor-to-ceiling lava lamps, and Christmas lights.

It's totally empty in the main theater, which is even darker, but which appears to be a totally intact auditorium from 1937, complete with a small stage and a large closed-off balcony - and, more incongruously, rental lockers at the back of the room.

Feeling my way into a seat, I watch a few digitally projected minutes of the Hugh Jackman magician drama "The Prestige" before checking out the other attractions.

To my surprise, the floors aren't sticky - whatever is going on at the Fair, it appears to be notably cleaner than the 42nd Street houses I visited in the early '80s, and odor-free.

In a pair of alcoves that appear to have been carved from a closed adjoining store, no one is watching either of a couple of "Star Wars" movies.

There appears to be more activity in neighboring rooms; one was showing straight porno, the other gay porno. The latter, I am told, is equipped with private booths for patrons' use.

When I begin asking the ticket-taker questions, he summons an assistant manager who said he needed to check with his lawyer. He later told me he was advised not to talk about the theater "because of the lawsuit."

The Post could find no record of a suit involving the theater, but an employee at a nearby business said an African-American church that also occupies the building - an Italian restaurant adjoining the Fair recently closed - had been trying for years to get the place closed down. (The church did not return messages.)

Under laws enacted during the Giuliani administration, businesses within 500 feet of churches or schools cannot offer more than 40 percent adult wares. A Queens judge ruled in 1998 that the Fair complied and allowed it to remain open.

The Fair's history and current activities have been extensively chronicled in dozens of posts on Cinema Treasures, a Web site run by theater buffs, who marvel the Fair hasn't been carved up into multiple screens, converted to retail use or torn down like most of its contemporaries.

What was originally a 599-seat theater opened on Christmas Day 1937 with a double bill of "Dead End" with Humphrey Bogart and the Bing Crosby musical "Double or Nothing." It was one of perhaps 500 neighborhood theaters in the city that showed movies at greatly reduced prices, weeks after they played in Manhattan and Queens movie palaces.

Some of those theaters, like the Fair, turned to XXX-rated fare as moviegoing declined by the early 1970s. The Polk, in nearby Jackson Heights, designed by the same architect as the Fair, closed last year as a porn house and will reportedly be torn down.

Another Jackson Heights theater, the Earle, switched after decades of porn to show Indian films under a slightly different name, the Eagle (as did a Fresh Meadows theater, now known as the Bombay).

The Fair's practically nonexistent public profile was raised in early 2006 when it begin placing ads in the Village Voice announcing a "new policy" of "2 action films at all times" and listed obscure '70s titles like "Street Crimes" and "Pay or Die."

The marquee was refurbished and new carpeting installed, but the ads stopped after a few months - and more contemporary mainstream fare was brought in to apparently legitimize the porn.

Still, the action films continue to be listed on the board outside the oddly cosy Fair. "Grindhouse" may evoke the movies of that era, but the Fair is the closest thing around here to those 42nd Street grindhouses of yore. At least until gentrification hits East Elmhurst.

Additional reporting by Ikimulisa Livingston.

lou.lumenick@nypost.com

Damn! The restaurant really did close, and it was so first-rate. But thanks for printing and linking to this, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. I love it that they mentioned Cinema Treasures, and it's really a good article anyway--better than I usually associate with the Post.

As if their programming and screening policy wasn’t confusing (or schizophrenic) enough…

I walked in last week and was taken by surprise - the interior was plastered with huge “coming attraction”-style posters for, of all things, Indian films - it looks like the main screen at the Fair will be going “Bollywood”.

There was barely a square inch of wall space in the entry hall and lobby that wasn’t covered, and employees were still busy putting them up everywhere as I walked in. Looking around, I wondered if they were legitimate in their offerings or if they were hanging them there purely for decoration - the screen was still showing martial arts and slasher flicks, just as it has been for months, to an empty auditorium.

Which begs the question – why even bother? (I guess the manager must have gotten a good deal on free movie posters) The only South Asian audience that I can imagine wanting to see these films at this theatre are the Indian, Bengali and Sri Lankan staff that already work there.

Perhaps the Italian restaurant will be converting to Indian fare?

This sounds bad, alto. Like it may be the same thing happening to the Fair as happened to the Earle and the Fresh Meadows place to me. If the Post article came out today, how long was it since the author visited? There was no mention of the Bollywood posters. But it could be that, since the main auditorium has very few viewers that they indeed are going to use Indian films there, possibly for the staff and also neighborhood people, but I don't know. I'm sure they wouldn't be putting them up for decoration, and now I remember that, even though not many sat down in the theater, some watched it standing up or even from the lobby. I don't like the sound of it, and hope this doesn't signal the end.

I am confused. Is tis theater showing porn and first run movies?

It apparently shows mainstream recent releases, porn and exploitation genre films.

One of the advantages of Bollywood in the US is that the DVD is often available at the same time as the 35mm release. The wholesome audiences these musicals attract could drive out the porn if it actually works here.

Exactly, if they are not already planning to drive the wholesome audiences in hook, line and sinker. How ordinary. Right after such a good article about the Last Grindhouse. Nothing is sacred any more.

How is Bollywood a bad thing? Their current business plan of porn, camp, and third-run mainstream films doesn't seem like it's drawing many customers, while the nearby Eagle, at least when I passed by the place regularly a few years ago, is packed.

It's not bad if you don't care about the Fair, and only are worried about whether its owners turn a profit, mp775.

Have you even read this thread? For those who like to go there, why should we be interested in changing it? Anyway, they do have a lot of customers as it is, just not for the big screen. On the weekends, it IS packed. Anyway, if you want to know about it, read the thread and the article saps posts above.

Now that that's out of the way, the only thing I know that's wrong with Bollywood is that I hate it, but that's neither here nor there. I suppose I really ought to forget about the Fair as it was and decide to adopt a somewhat more Sri Lankan mindset, one must learn to like one's friends these days and adjust, what with outsourcing to places like Elmhurst, so I shall now change my focus from the customers to the South Asian staff. I'm sure they can't wait to visit me at home and invite me to theirs...

'one must learn to like one's friends' should have read 'one must learn to like anyone one is thrown into the presence of as if they were exactly like one's own friends'

There's more to what's going on inside the Fair than meets the eye. Try photographing the theater even from the outside.

I called the Fair last night and they are, indeed, switching to Bollywood fare next Thursday, April 6. Perhaps that's why they didn't want to talk with me when I visited a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to all of the contributors on this page and related pages who helped make my article possible. http://blogs.nypost.com/movies

Thank you, Lou! Now please head over to the RKO Keith's in Flushing and find out what the heck is going on over there!

Oh my, this is terrible news. What are we to do now? I suppose we could all travel to the Cinema Kings in Brooklyn. I am curious how much pressure was used by government agencies to force the change to Indian language films?

Lou--but does that mean the WHOLE theater is therefore being changed into a family place? Enquiring minds, I think, want especially to know that. Will the X-rated areas still be considered, in other words, profitable enough to be kept, or have they decided to bring in Indian families in the area--which would have to mean the rest was shut down, those 2 things do not survive together. Or would the Fair not tell you this part even on the new phone call?

That's an excellent question, pmullins. No, management at the Fair is still not talking to The Post. But I expect our interpid correspondents here will be visiting next weekend to let us know exactly what's going on. And The Post is going to be doing a piece on the Bollywood circuit one of these days. Jeffrey, what do you THINK is going on at the RKO Keith's?

Thanks, Lou, I'll look here and at the Post.

Lou, take a look over at http://cinematreasures.org/theater/834/ and you'll see there's been a huge amount of speculation over whether there's still any chance the theater could be preserved. Nobody seems to know what's going on right now. (But let's not discuss this here!)

After my recent excursion to the Fair myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the well-written and entertaining Post article. It was fun to read something that pretty much mirrored my experience! I'm glad I was able to get a look at the place before it changes. Now I'll have to trek all the way down to the Cinema Kings Highway if I ever need another heaping helping of genuine sleaze. In a perfect world, someone could have been able to take advantage of the decor & change the Fair's booking policy to classic or art films, like Film Forum, Anthology Film Archives, etc. Well, at least the Fair will still be open, and not torn down. Does this mean the famous "Klansmen" poster will be coming down too?

Perhaps President Guliani can find some moral loophole that will limit Bollywood to 40% of any NY venue where it does not represent community's standards.

I am happy to see people attend the cinema to see the movie, for a change, but that many screens ALL showing Bollywood would be rare even in India.

I went there last week and I was puzzled by all the posters advertising Bollywood movies. I must return next week before they change over to Bollywood films. At least they're not tearing down the theater. Perhaps now they'll open up the balconey.

Reminds me of an ambiguous message on a marquee on a theater in what used to be a Greek neighborhood, just east of the GW bridge or maybe up near 181st street (not the theater at 181st & Broadway). It had begun to show porn movies, but still catered to remnants of the ethnic community, so the sign said:

"Only on Sundays, Greek movies"

Knowing the way different populations might interpret "Greek", I imagined disparate people lining up at the box office, eyeing each other suspiciously. A wholesome, conservative family group alongside a furtive guy in a raincoat, each wondering what the other was doing there.

Maybe the Fair will show Indian porn. Men and women kissing each other openly, on the mouth?

I have to go back one more time and let some old fart have his way with me.

Old Indian farts are spicy, I hear.

Hondo59... I know what you mean about trying to photograph the outside of the theater. I was doing just that back in 2005 when a manager came out and warned me to cease and desist. Just to punctuate his comments, a burly "security" guy poked his head out of the front door to offer a menacing scowl. I wound up going back some months later and snapping additional photos through the security gates BEFORE the theater opened - otherwise I'd have never gotten a shot of that "Klansman" poster.

I've posted these photos individually before, but [url=http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b110/GuanoReturns/Queens%20Movie%20Theaters/Fair%20Theater%20Jackson%20Heights/]here's a link to my photo album for the Fair[url] in case anyone wants to revisit.

Yikes! Sorry.

This link should work better. Amazing what havoc a missing back-slash can wreak!

Great pics Ed.
To the best of my knowlege that leave the King in Brooklyn showing porno. Is it the end of an era?

pmullins, I have nothing against the Fair's current patrons or porn itself, and from the thread and articles I've read, I was under the impression that patronage was pretty sparse. Porn kept a lot of our theaters going because there was no demand for anything else. Now it's a dwindling niche market. I'm happy that the management is keeping the theater going and adjusting to the demand rather than eeking it out with porn for a couple more years and then selling out to a developer.

Once management hiked the price from $9.00 to $15.00 it drove many away. On weekends the Fair was packed. But now even on a weekend the crowds aren't what they used to be.

'I'm happy that the management is keeping the theater going and adjusting to the demand rather than eeking it out with porn for a couple more years and then selling out to a developer.'

Well, you needn't worry about that, I am not sure I've ever heard of owners of any kind of movie theaters who wanted to 'eke it out' even if it was High Cult-cha...and if it's then selling to a developer, I couldn't care less. The Fair is nowhere if it's just some piece of Curry Hill diaspora. The place actually had an identity, and, in fact, the last examples in 'dwindling niche markets' are always very precious, but so what? I'm about as interested in the management's well-being as they are in mine, so just preserving the old building doesn't mean as much to me as something parallel in Manhattan would (and those were usually razed.)

Cypress is right about the way the price hike drove people away, though.

It's a shame that the owners thought the porn niche was strong enough that they could jack up the price so much. I guess they thought that none of their audience would be content just watching at home. I still think they'll do better with Bollywood at any price than they did with porn at $9.

I'm not sure what you mean by "The Fair is nowhere." The Fair will actually still be there. I'm not interested in the management's well being, either, but theaters are businesses, not social service organizations. It's a shame that you would rather see the building torn down than stop showing porn and kung fu.

Too late for expeditions to the Fair "as it was"? Last chance for expeditions to Cinema Kings Highway?

Tour guides?

faberfranz@yahoo.com

'It's a shame that you would rather see the building torn down than stop showing porn and kung fu.'

You're being a bore. I did not say I'd rather it be torn down. You don't know whether it would be torn down if it continued to show porn or not, and you know nothing about whether Bollywood would have caused prosperity at higher prices. I just don't care about it that much. The Fair was a scene to me. I'm interested in old theaters too, but not a purist like some of the ones here. Don't exaggerate and say things like 'it's a shame' what I think about something that I have absolutely no power over. I hate Bollywood, so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it. Point is, with the restaurant shut down, and a different kind of theater, I'll never see the place again, because I don't live out there. It might as well be an old movie palace in Milwaukee, but it won't mean anything to me if it shows a bunch of Hindu movies. I saw what was suppposed to be one of their best ones 'Lagaan' and hated it.

faberfranz--I think nobody has said anything about Cinema Kings turning to Bollywood yet, although the phone answerer there did have the Hindi accent too. They have a lot of porn stores in Manhattan, there are several XXX stores in the West Village. Oh well, no way to turn those into Bollywood.

I got good dildoes at two of them...

Nah. XXX stores with their teeny tiny booths just don't do it for me. I like the wider exposures of full-sized theaters, or at least a "projection room".

faberfranz@yahoo.com

Oops - now look what I started [with my previous comments] – I'm even being quoted in a New York Post article!

I drove by the theatre early Sunday morning (4/1) and saw no alterations made to the marquee or any other exterior clues indicating this latest programming change. It would be hasty of them to abandon showing adult movies altogether - I can’t believe that management would be foolish enough to desert a loyal following of customers (many of whom have been coming here for years). Still, given the ultimate fate of other nearby theatres that have gone this route, it does not bode well for adult theatre enthusiasts.

Suppose the switch to Indian films fails as a means of attracting a new and loyal audience – if there are no adult films showing, what will they have to fall back on? After all, there are other theatres nearby that already show Indian films, and the area can only support so many before the market becomes over-saturated (besides, how many first-run or new release movies could possibly be available in a specialty genre such as this - could they be shown simultaneously in several local theatres AND still attract and share a large-enough audience?). When the nearby Polk closed over a year ago, the Fair had a “lock” on the adult XXX theater-going audience in this area (and indeed in all of Queens).

I do believe that the increase in the admission price from $10 to $15 almost two years ago is a major reason why business has declined (although there are other factors that have collectively affected adult theatre establishments everywhere). Still, they do seem to get a decent crowd on weekends (although appearances can be deceiving). Perhaps the closure of the adjacent Italian restaurant (located there for many years) is an indicator that the financial situation is worse than it seems (during my occasional visits, it usually had few, if any, customers despite the decent food). The neighborhood and its population have changed – with this in mind, perhaps the programming switch is the theatre’s last-ditch effort to adapt to changing times and recognize (rather than operate in isolation from) its surrounding community.

I shall have to visit again to determine exactly what the Fair’s status is regarding its adult XXX offerings.

"...I hall have to visit again to determine exactly what the Fair’s status is regarding its adult XXX offerings." posted by Alto on Apr 1, 2007 at 10:18pm

Do! and let us know!

faberfranz@yahoo.com

The remaining upstairs at the Corona Plaza sounds like it would make a great XXX theatre.

faberfranz, I don't like those little places for anything heavy either, they've always been unsatisfying, but just think how even they are barely there by now. I like to go into one occasionally, even though they are pretty much nothing, because at least they are connected to some sort of past, and most of current urban development is moving much faster to get rid of all of that.

Indian movies or porn? Love them or hate them…Why not both?

In my humble opinion, I feel that management could and should attempt to promote and operate this theatre as an Indian cinema in a last ditch effort to save it (after all, it IS a business) AND at the same time continue offering adult movies for a mature audience. How so, you ask?

The Fair is very coy about revealing its true identity as an adult establishment because it does not wish to be classified or perceived as such due to zoning laws and its proximity to a church. Therefore, it does not openly promote or present this fact to the public and relies on an “underground” following and word-of-mouth for business. This practice has actually worked quite well for it over the years and is probably the reason why the theatre still survives and is able to avoid more legal problems than it already has.

On the other hand, you don’t want the XXX cinema customers showing up when Indian movie audiences are in attendance –like oil and water, they would not mix well, resulting in some rather uncomfortable and tense situations for both, not to mention presenting the logistical problem of keeping them separate while at the same time sharing a common facility (box office, rest rooms, etc.). So how do you allow two disparate audiences into the same theatre, without one knowing that the other obviously exists?

My solution would be two-fold: openly promote and show Indian films, restricting them to clearly specified days and times, THEN at all other times continue to operate the theater as-is, anonymously as an venue for adult-only audiences. For example, posters, newspaper ads and the marquee could boldly advertise the Indian movies in such a way that the XXX customers could easily figure out which days are (or are not) open to them…for example:

*******************************************
ALL BOLLYWOOD CINEMA
ALL DAY - THU THRU SAT ONLY
NEW SHOWS EVERY WEEK

*******************************************
Indian movies would occupy the prime weekend time period, while a mix of adult and other movies could be shown the remainder of the week (including Sundays – one of their busiest days). This way, the theatre could draw income seven days per week, with the stronger business days “subsidizing” or compensating for the slower days. Depending upon which format excels (or flops), the option remains for expanding or terminating one or the other.

That doesn't sound bad at all, if the management would just read this site. When I told them about something, and referred to this site, they didn't know what I was talking about, although there must be some primitive way they could hook up to the internet.

Sure, they could do this, and after a while, the XXX customers would know anyway, or could call in. They'd give the info if you asked discreetly enough. These elegant solutions like this don't always work as well as one would like, though. Maybe you should talk to them if you go out there soon. I have never found them particularly desirous of any kind of chat with the customers.

i just called the theatre , the person who answered stated that they are now only showing Indian cinema.

That may not tell us what they are doing with the several small screens and the rest of the theater, though. They might not say everything on the phone, which could mean that the other screens are still as they were--after all, the big one never showed anything XXX. But it's hard to imagine that all the little screens are now filled with Bollywood musicals.

Okay, now I called them, they said they've got Bollywood on the main screen, but everything else is the same. I asked for specifics and nothing described in the old 2006 posts and since then has changed. How long I don't know, but that's the latest. Not bad.

Are they projecting film or video for their Bollywood presentations? Anyone know? I believe the Mayfair (now Bombay) in Fresh Meadows is strictly video projection.

I think they are showing those bollywood films to appease the church next door. But the Fair is no longer the place to go to have some fun. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays the place was packed. Now it is limp.

The switch to East Asian films is wonderful news for anyone who loves and reveres theatre buildings. After decades of defilement by smut peddlers and their deviant clientele. the Fair has been returned to the community-at-large and may even be restored to something of its original glory. The Fair Theatre is one of the architectural gems of Queens and deserves to be Landmarked. I am shocked that some Cinema Treasures members fail to recognize that. They seem only interested in finding another place where they can fulfill their sexual desires.

That is hilarious, Warren!

"They seem only interested in finding another place to fulfill their sexual desires."

Did you get that from a 42nd Street marquee?

By the way, Bollywood is mostly run by mobsters in India and the Fair was apparently kept open, not "defiled" by the porn fans who have kept this place open this long.

Deviant behaviour is in the eye of the beholder. Have you ever sat through a three and a half hour Bollywood war musical?

This Cinema Treasures member respects his fellow member's rights to enjoy cinemas on their own terms without imposing false moral judgement. As any true showman will tell you, you play the film your audience will buy tickets for and leave personal feelings aside.

Warren, this Easter why not try recognising tolerance, for one day, as an alternative lifestyle. You may find it oddly rewarding.

'That is hilarious, Warren!'

The best part is 'possibly restoring it to some of its original glory' by merely changing the main screen, which will, of course, return it to the 'community-at-large'. I suppose we will have to wait and found out if the community is still at large, held hostage by smut peddlers without enough interest in Queens architectural gems. I mean, this theater is okay, but it's not like it was the Virginia or the Winter Garden...

Rudy Guiliani had enough time to 'clean' up Times Square and f**** around with a woman who wasn't his wife. How's that for morals?

Al--love the idea of 'tolerance as an alternative life-style' instead of 'to' one. Clever thought, and I may see if I can work it.

pmullins and cypress, as two CT members who have actually paid your $15 to help keep this place open in the past, I think you do undeniably hold the moral high ground.

And it was worth every last dollar I paid.
I won't go into details but I had some GREAT times there.
Good to the last drop.

Oh well, I didn't go that often, maybe 3 times a year, but I have always been glad it's there, and did have a good time too.

But cypress, like I said, my phone call yesterday indicated that the Puritans have in no way prevailed: There's the new Bollywood on the main screen, but nothing else has been changed, at least not yet. So go on back if you like it.

I don't many people will go out there for the bollywood movies. I am sure that the 'new' policy is just to throw off the blood hounds.

Thankfully, this theatre still exists, regardless of what is going on inside.

Bravo to each and every contributor responding to Warren - your comments are all spot-on!

No offense intended to Warren, but he sounds positively pre-historic - he really needs to step down from his pulpit..."smut peddlers"..."deviant clientele"...well, I am one of those "deviants" to whom he is referring - he sounds like the poster child for the Moral Majority (which is neither). Frequenting an adult establishment does not make me a sexually depraved sociopath, and I resent the inference. Warren, I am an educated (two masters degrees), well-adjusted, sexually responsible individual who respects those who respect themselves and others. I currently work for a public entity that serves children and teens, and will soon be working as an educator in the public schools - does that terrify you?

I am sick and tired of this narrow-minded, ignorant, name-calling @$&# - it has no place here (or anywhere). In a free society, people are entitled to their viewpoints (regardless of how archaic they are) but there is no legitimate place for intolerance. My philosophy is "DNH" (Do No Harm) - do whatever turns you on, so long as it does not harm or inconvenience anyone (and respect the right of others to do so). As long as people are doing their “business” behind closed doors and out of public view, why should anyone even care? Worry about more important issues.

Visit any sexually repressed society (example: an Islamic country with strict anti-porn/sex laws) and see how they treat their women - now THAT'S disgusting!

OK, now I feel better.

RUMORS OF ADULT SECTION CLOSING NOT TRUE

It’s horrible how ugly rumors and speculation can quickly spread and perpetuate. There has been talk on several websites that the Fair Theatre was converting to an Indian movie house and would cease operation as an adult venue – I am pleased to report that this is NOT TRUE. They began showing Bollywood films only on the main screen last Thursday – this change in programming does NOT affect any other part of the theatre.

I confirmed this by visiting in-person and speaking directly with the manager (George) and the box office cashier (they are reluctant about disclosing information about the theatre and its screening policies over the telephone, and will give evasive answers). Since I am a familiar customer, they were open to answering my questions.

They now fancy themselves as a foreign film house, and are promoting the theatre as such. They are trying to “clean up their act” and enhance their image. From the outside you would not know this (the marquee’s message still reads the same). Inside, they have removed signage from the lobby stating “prostitution and public lewdness prohibited” - in its place, a large 4’X2’ banner proclaims:

***************************************************************
The Fair Theatre Proudly Presents:
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

This Month:
BOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL

COMING SOON: Italian--French--German--Spanish and many more…action films.

****************************************************************

This is just another in a long line of programming changes. These films are being shown in part to comply with NYC’s “60/40 law” regarding adult establishments.

Easter Sunday was packed with XXX theatre customers in the afternoon (I arrived there at 3 p.m.). Although the main auditorium was mostly empty, I did see one Indian couple (male-female) snuggling up and enjoying the show. I overheard some South Asian customers (long-time “regulars”) discussing the movies with the manager – they seemed pleased with his choices and the variety of titles. All movies are shown on DVD with digital projection.

Whether you enjoy "Bollywood" or adult fare, now is a great time to explore this theatre and check it all out…

DISCOUNT TICKETS RETURN

Bargain ticket books went on sale last week ($50 each – 10 admissions @ $5 per visit - a total savings of $100). Admission for all movies without the tickets is still $15 at all times. This is a “limited time offer” (they are usually on sale for a couple of months). Buy as many as you wish, as the tickets have no expiration date and can be used indefinitely.

Make sure you ask for the tickets BEFORE you enter, or you will be charged the full $15 admission price! (When you do this, they will apply one ticket towards your entry.)

Bravo to Alto!!! You have written most eloquently what many of us have tried to say before. Our enjoyment at the Fair Theatre does not make us deviant. Who really knows what a so called normal lifestyle is? Please do not put us in a category of sexual deviants. We are all Gods children. Let us all understand one another and learn tolerance for each other. I will continue to pray for you my dear Warren.

I just cannot see Bollywood & XXX co-existing with one another. Most Bollywood goers don't even like anything more sexually suggestive than a one-piece bathing suit, let alone any sort of nudity. (But reading the last post sounds like it would be temporary at best.)

The closest thing I recall like this is one three screen movie house in suburban Washington DC which had one screen showing arthouse films (like Landmark theaters does) and two screens of XXX fare (video projected)--I think this theater may have closed within the last year. (This would be the theater that was called the Shirley Duke twins in the 1970's that ran The Opening of Misty Beethoven for an over two year continuous run. It did have a name change later & it became a three screener, but the current name escapes me at the moment.)

Your probably thinking of the Foxchase Cinemas at 4621 Duke St., Alexandria, VA. Two screens are used for adult movies and one screen for art and independent movies.

Alto: "... I did see one Indian couple (male-female) snuggling up and enjoying the show..."

Sounds good!

Oh.

Maybe you mean the Bollywood show.

Ticket booklets: a gamble? What if I end up having to watch 8 or 9 Bollywood shows? I guess I could watch MF Indian couples snuggling up, but...

I am confident enough in this theatre’s survival as an adult entertainment venue that I purchased a booklet of tickets for myself. They are an absolute bargain and your purchase will help support the theatre.

They are valid at all times and for all movies – stay as long as you wish and see as many different movies as you feel like – make an entire day of it! (On the main screen, they usually show the same three or four movies in rotation from opening until closing – so if you walk in on the middle of one, you can always catch it again later.)

I had a good time there during my last visit. ;-)

Warren, thanks for posting those porn ads on the Cinemart page. I guess you were being funny after all!

Yet another positive mention about CT and this theatre page on the New York Post blog site:
http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2007/04/hooray_for_boll.html
Let’s all keep up the good work! Our contributions are getting noticed.

And speaking of “grindhouse” theatres, just below that item is another regarding the new movie of the same name and its distinct box office success in the NYC area: http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2007/04/new_york_hearts.html
Let others say what they may about us dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers…deep down we are all “softies” - true sentimentalists at heart.

Regarding my earlier reference (March 31) to "only on Sunday: Greek movies": happened to pass by that area and think I spotted that long-lost theater. Anybody know its name and history (it's a low-scale women's clothing store now).

Visible if one knows what to look for on Live Search:

2nd building south of SW corner, Wadsworth Avenue and 181st
street. One bus parallel to it, the other almost aimed at
its front entrance.

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qt7fjc8v4tg1&style=o&lvl=2&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=1561192&encType=1

Identifiable by a frieze of Tragedy & Comedy masques near
top, a mask at each side of wall beneath, and what appear
to be supports for now-missing marquee.

faberfranz....There was a Heights Theater located at 150 Wadsworth Avenue (near West 181st St.) That might be the building that you saw. The Heights Theater is listed on Cinema Treasures here.

Yeah, that's it! Just the way it looks today. Or three days ago, anyway.

From Lost Memory's link (http://cinematreasures.org/theater/11135/),
posted by KenRoe on Jul 18, 2006 at 12:39pm:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/192797148/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/192797605/

Has anyone dropped by the Fair recently? I was just wondering what the current status of the theater is and if they are still showing Bollywood films.

They are still showing Bollywood movies - to an empty auditorium (posters and flyers in the lobby proclaim "Held over - by popular demand...Bollywood Film Festival - third big month"). Great, if that's your thing - although they're not attracting more customers. I find them unbearable to sit through.

They show no signs of dropping their adult XXX offerings, as that part of the theater continues doing strong business.

Discount ticket books are still on sale ("bargain admission" of $5 per visit). I suggest buying them now - they will probably not be available for much longer.

I still like the concept of there being one theater in Queens still showing adult films in 2007.

I'd like to see if the Fair is showing direct-to-video action movies on the 2 smaller screens adjacent to the XXX rooms....I'll have to make another sociological expedition there soon.

I'm glad it's managed to stay open and flourishing, although I haven't been in months. Someone who goes there occasionally said he thought they'd reopen the Stella d'Argento restaurant too, but I have a hard time believing that. I might go then, though--good Carmella Soprano type food.

Curiously, the Fair Theatre turns up at the very top of the Queens cinema listings in the "Movie Clock" in today's NY Daily News. Perhaps due to the Fair's address on Astoria Blvd., the newspaper has the Fair incorrectly listed for Astoria. "Lucky" (2002, rated R) is being shown at 1:55 and 7PM, and "Koyla" (no further details given) at 11 AM, 4:05 PM, and 9:10 PM. The telephone number reported is 718-429-0040.

Very interesting...I haven't had the chance to make another pilgrimage to the Fair lately, perhaps I'll finally make a trip there next week.

If today's two movies are shown continuously, a complete show lasts about five hours. And if the first show starts at 11AM, the Fair must have the earliest opening time of any cinema in Queens. I would imagine that doors open even earlier than that to handle the crowds.

Wonder of wonders! The Fair actually has a small ad on page 37 of today's NY Daily News. The ad is headlined "BOLLYWOOD FILM FESTIVAL," and below that says that "Dev" and "Paheli" are being shown from today through Saturday, and "Dau" and "Humrazz" from Sunday through Wednesday. Below that the Fair Theatre is identified as being at 90th St. & Astoria Blvd., Jackson Heights, Queens. The bottom lines read: "NEW POLICY 4 Bollywood Films Every Week...Two Films For The Price of One/English Subtitles"...Meanwhile, the Daily News "Movie Clock" continues to list the Fair's location as Astoria. Apparently, the editorial and advertising departments of the Daily News don't communicate with each other.

The Fair isn't in Jackson Heights, either. It's in East Elmhurst. A Gay City News article I recently linked to in my blog suggests the Bollywood thing is just a 60/40 ploy.


http://blogs.nypost.com/movies/archives/2007/07/alls_fair_in_lo.html

It's nice to know that the Post's best reporter is also a regular reader of Cinema Treasures!

Incidentally, as of Sunday, July 29th, the discount ticket books ($5 per admission) were no longer available, and probably won't be for quite some time. Those without them will have to fork over $15 per visit - not exactly a bargain.

Regarding Warren's comment on Aug. 1:

WHAT crowds? The auditorium (showing Indian films) could pass for a morgue.

Meanwhile, last Sunday (a rainy day), the XXX areas were VERY busy.

I think Warren was being facetious. But you knew that.

That article on the Fair Theatre in the Gay City News
was great stuff...an accurate account of the ambience of
the Fair, though not significantly different than what
others (myself, included) have described in this forum.

I can only hope the Fair achieves the landmark status
it deserves...or at least, continues to operate in
its present incarnation.

I go to the Fair about twice a month. I used to think that the younger guys that go there were hustlers, but it turns out most of them have father(or in some cases grandfather)fixations. As a 48 year old man, I always manage to score a hottie. That alone makes it worth the 15 bucks. I mean come on, in a bar you'd pay that for two drinks, and probably would just get attitude!

I'm 38 years old, and I intend to go back there soon.

Hey, maybe I've seen you there!

Does the Fair also charge $15 per ticket for the Bollywood films? That seems excessive for a couple out on a date. Also, do the Bollywood patrons have to share the same restrooms with those who frequent the Fair seeking sexual gratification?

"Share the same restrooms"? Such unnecessary paranoia.
I think if Warren was to actually visit the Fair, he'd
be disappointed to see that even though some pornography
is exhibited there, it's a pretty benign place and not
very scary. Warren wouldn't even have to worry
about catching an illness, not even a cold.
On another note, I picked up a friend over at LaGuardia,
and passed by the Fair on Astoria Blvd. My friend knew
nothing of the Fair and was marveling at the old-style
marquee. I hope the Fair and its marquee stay in business
for a long time, no matter what they're showing.

Surely male genitalia are exhibited there.

Are Indian MF couples actually attending Bollywood shows now? If there is a price differential, are there separate entrances to low-price and high-price sections? No movement allowed between them? (Or perhaps only from high-priced to low-priced?)

Are Indian couples "curious" about the "forbidden" (high-priced) areas?

Maybe I need to go and find out for myself. Or ask McGinty or MarkieS or Alto or somebody, some "old hand" [sic] to escort me there and "show me".

faberfranz: It would be my pleasure to show you around the fair!

Show "me" around? Or just show me the theater?

faberfranz, I have looked through IMdB, but cannot find anything with the title "Male Genitalia." Your certainty that it would be exhibited at this theater therefore seems unfounded.

Jeff, your a card! Thanks for the larf!

Maybe just a preview of Coming Attractions?

It had to happen sooner or later…as of September 26th, 2007, the theatre FINALLY has an “official” Web site: www.fairtheatre.com

Even more surprising, it actually looks attractive and PROFESSIONALLY DONE! Not so surprising…some awkward vocabulary, along with spelling and grammatical errors. Some parts are still under construction (“online store” - denoted by “comming soon”) or unexplainably left blank (the “contact us” page). There is also no indication of who authored the site or when it was last updated. Nevertheless, it is more comprehensive and elaborate than I expected, and a much better means of reaching and attracting an audience than those lousy Village Voice ads.

It is being used to promote their Indian movies. Signs and flyers are posted throughout the lobby and hallways, encouraging customers to visit the new site, touting “Click on ‘website promotion’ and you can receive a bonus gift” (obviously an incentive to create site traffic and measure response). What you get is a printable page of four discount coupons (each good for $5 off regular admission), each valid for a seven-day period beginning October 10th and ending November 7th, 2007.

Of course, there is absolutely NO mention of their adult XXX movie business ANYWHERE – under “theatre info” they even include ticket prices for children - in effect, they are promoting the place as a family entertainment venue!!! :-o

But MOST disappointing to me: no theatre history page – next visit, I’ll suggest it to management. They could have AT LEAST linked to Cinema Treasures! (On the other hand, given some of the comments posted here, maybe not.) ;-)

They still need to inform the compilers of the NY Daily News "Movie Clock" that the Fair Theatre is located in Jackson Heights, and NOT Astoria. Also, is the price scale consistent with other Queens cinemas with "Bollywood" bookings? Do the Eagle and Bombay (ex-Mayfair) also charge $15 for adults? That seems a bit steep. I don't think that even mainstream cinemas in Queens have passed the $10 barrier yet.

Warren, it isn't in Jackson Heights, either. City officials confirmed to me that is a few block outside that community, in East Elmhurst. That's also the location specified in the opening-night story somebody linked to here.

Lou, I agree, but the current Fair owners use Jackson Heights as the address at their new website, probably because Jackson Heights is considered a posher and safer district than East Elmhurst.

They also specify "United States" in the address... just in case you were wondering.

Jackson Heights "posher and safer" compared to East Elmhurst - are you joking? I wouldn't walk alone in EITHER place late at night. Just go to the Polk Theatre page (and read my "Feb 26, 2006" comment regarding its demise) for my opinion of Jackson Heights. If Yogi Bera were ever to visit these two neighborhoods, he would say… “They are the same thing, only different.”

The CT profile's address info should not have been altered to match the theatre's Web site - it should be changed back to "East Elmhurst". If you want to prove the veracity of this location, just look north across the street from the theatre and you can see the "East Elmhurst" postal station, or walk just four short blocks east to the "East Elmhurst" branch of Queens Library. Furthermore, the East Elmhurst zip code is "11369", whereas Jackson Heights is "11372", and if you try using the USPS official "Zip Code Lookup" Webpage form, it will reject "Jackson Heights" but accept "East Elmhurst" as the city data input for the address "90-18 Astoria Blvd".

The theatre uses "Jackson Heights" because, quite frankly, more people know where it is!
(I had never heard of East Elmhurst before visiting this theatre, and I grew up in Queens!)
LaGuardia Airport (a FAMOUS, well-known landmark) is also located in this area, but I always thought of it as in Flushing, due to its proximity to Shea Stadium, World Fair Marina and Flushing Meadows.

Many people see East Elmhurst as an ambiguous, obscure (or unknown), out-of-the-way place, whereas Jackson Heights, a heavily-trafficked business and public transport hub, is considered more "central" and “convenient” for visiting. Apparently, theatre management has also taken this view, hence the reference. Their decision was strategic - to them, it made good “business sense”.

Consider this: the Fair’s main (and closest) competition is now the Eagle, and that theatre is located (guess where?)…in Jackson Heights! From a movie listings (as well as image) standpoint, this designation also makes sense – an Indian family seeking out local movie entertainment will now have two “nearby” venues to consider.

Correction: my Polk Theater page comments were posted on "Feb 25, 2006" (typo).

Regarding Jeffrey1955's comment above:

"They also specify "United States" in the address... just in case you were wondering."

Well, they HAVE to specify...take a walk through this neighborhood, and you would WONDER too.

I'm a white male who has lived in Jackson Heights for the past 20 years. My mother who owned a condo in Sarasota Fl, recently sold it and bought a condo here on a 88th and 35th ave., one of many beautiful blocks with apartment buildings dating back to the 1920's. She much prefers it here as Florida was way too boring for her. I've been laughing my head off for two decades now, at people who don't live here, but insist what a "bad" neighborhood it is. Why? Because it's a mixed race neighborhood? I don't know about posh, but the block of 80th street between 37th and 35th ave. was recently picked by New York Magazine as one of the 50 best blocks in NYC. Also many houses here are selling for a million apiece. So please, don't knock the neighborhood. I've never had a problem here, love the people, and intend to stay here.

I agree that Jackson Heights & East Elmhurst are vibrant, important neighborhoods that are still improving all the time and should be celebrated, not disparaged.
I was quite amused at the Fair Theatre website. When I saw tabs for the "online store" and prices listed for children, it made me wonder if the site is indeed affiliated with the theatre, or if it was someone's esoteric joke. Although the prospect of an official Fair Theatre sweatshirt, coffee mug or snow globe is intriguing....

I tried phoning the rival Eagle to learn the current price of admission, but couldn't get past a pre-recorded message that the theatre is closed until Friday, when a new movie opens. However, a news article about the Eagle on the internet says $8. Even if the price has increased since the article was written, I doubt that it would be to the $15 charged at the Fair. And the movies at the Eagle are in their American premieres. Those at the Fair are apparently not.

Let's face it, the $15 admission gets you access into the entire theatre - which is to say that it allows you access to the pornographic entertainment that is the raison d'etre for the Fair. The Bollywood attractions being advertised on the website are little more than a means to allow the Fair to continue operating and serving its core constituency of porn enthusiasts. Not only does it render it compliant with the 60/40 rule but the added touch of the website is probably a ploy to give the appearance of innocuity and appease neighbors - like the church at the end of the block.

I'm sure the next step (to be taken reluctantly by management I'm sure and only as last resort) will be to adopt a split-price policy in the event there are complaints from folks who are actually interested in attending the Bollywood films (or should I say videos) at the Fair.

During my visits to the Fair, I have never seen a single person
sitting in the main screen to view the Bollywood fare, so I don't think complaints will be a problem.

McGinty: "During my visits to the Fair, I have never seen a single person sitting in the main screen to view the Bollywood fare, so I don't think complaints will be a problem."

Pity. I had hoped there might be a few MF couples curious about what's going on in other parts of the theater.

I was just recently there with my hubs. I have to say that there was NO ACTION at all going on. Just a lot of older men creeping around and security following us like white on rice. We ventured into the straight porn theater and found men just sitting around... doing NOTHING. We decided to get a little frisky and was told that only one person to a chair. Ok, so we tried to carry on in other ways when we were again scolded by security. We're a bit confused. What exactly is allowed there? We asked about the booths and were told only one person in a booth. WTF?! What exactly is the policy there? To walk around and be followed or just sit around and do nothing? What a waste of money.

Things have apparently changed at the movies. This gives a whole new meaning to "Down in Front!"...

That's very discouraging to hear. An actual real live MF couple there and nobody can do ANYTHING?

Bummer!

Is security that strict when only men are there?

And how do we know that post was actually from an MF couple...?

I was thinking the same thing, McGinty. And Jeffrey1955, you missed your calling - or, are you a comedy writer? As usual, thanks for the laugh!

That comment is bull! I was at the fair 2 days ago and had a great time.

I can assure you that we are a real MF couple. Nothing bull about my comment at all. We were there and nothing was going on. I couldn't sit on my hubs lap and get frisky nor could I give him a hand job. The security guard was on us like white on rice and telling us that we weren't allowed to do anything we tried. When we asked about the booths, we were told that we couldn't go in together. The only room we didn't explore was the gay porn room. Maybe there was no action because we were there early in the week opposed to a weekend? I don't know. We also noticed that I was the only female in the theater... did they think I was a prostitute? I did notice a sign before entering the straight porn theater that said "No prostitution or lewd behavior" (I found that amusing considering it was a porn theater). Do couples even frequent there? This was our first time there so we didn't know what to expect, maybe our expectations were too high? Anyone know where we could go or perhaps a different night would be better? *MarkieS - if you were there 2 days before your post, then we were there on the same night... we didn't even see anyone jerking themselves off in the straight porn theater... just sitting around doing nothing...maybe the theater is geared more towards gay men?

two people can go into a booth. You're not allowed to do anything in the public areas. And yes, the theater is geared toward gay men.

Thanks for that info MarkieS. What a waste of time and money. Had we known that was the policy, we would not have gone at all... although we asked about the booths, the security guard insisted that there was only one to a booth and like I stated earlier, security followed us EVERYWHERE! Do you know if this is the same for Cinema Kings Highway in Brooklyn?

I've personally never been there, but from what I've heard, it's the same as the fair.

It sounds to me like a woman sends off alarm bells to the security. Either that or there's a big difference between gay & straight sections.

I doubt it. I suspect stuff would really have hit the fan if a MF couple ventured into the gay section.

Personally, I find an all-male gay porn cinema not so interesting as all that, audience participation or no. A woman adds a lot, for my tastes.

What if she were to impersonate a trannie? a little facial-stubble make-up, etc.? Might get them both into the gay section, eh?
.

Well, I have to say that we weren't interested in going into the gay section and I'm certainly not interested in impersonating a trannie. Going to the straight section to be watched and possible have some participation (depending on the sleeze factor) was what we were looking for. I know of an adult theater on Long Island, I believe that it's in Copaigue or Bay Shore but can't think of the name for the life of me. Can anyone help me out?

Teasers in Bay Shore. It's a bookstore with a theater section and I have seen sex-discordant couples there.

This is not the place for your hook-ups to be talked about!

"This is not the place for your hook-ups to be talked about!" True, but I have to say it is most educational. This is the first time I've heard the term "sex-discordant couples." Sounds like they're having an argument.

The address listing needs to be changed. The area is East Elmhurst, not Jackson Heights. If you hit the "map" link at the end of the line, the map proves that East Elmhurst, and not Jackson Heights, is correct. Also, this newspaper clipping about the Fair's gramd opening in 1937 confirms East Elmhurst:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair2.jpg

The "movie clock" in the NY Daily News has finally corrected its listing for the Fair Theatre, with an address of East Elmhurst instead of Astoria. Since the Daily News prides itself on being a "family" newspaper, I wonder if its editors are aware that the "Bollywood" movies shown at the Fair are only a front for a meeting place for sexual adventurers and predators?

"Sexual adventurers and predators"....you need to calm down and get hold of yourself! I doubt the editors of the daily newspapers, or most of New York City for that matter, care about the daily activities at the Fair theatre. I just wonder why it seems to get under your skin so much.....

I think the term "sexual adventurers" is fair, but I agree that there is no evidence of anything predatory going on at the Fair. By most accounts, the clandestine activity at the theatre would seem to be entirely consensual - at least as far as the participants (or would-be participants as the case may be) are concerned. On the other hand, one cannot blame Fair Theatre management for trying to police the situation so that their establishment remains within the bounds of legality - and performing a sex act in a public place (whatever your thoughts on the morality of the situation) remains an illegal activity in the City of New York. I'm just not entirely clear on whether this effort to police things is sincere. It is possible that security at the theatre thought the M-F couple mentioned above might have been undercover cops and, therefore, they were merely putting on a show for their benefit.

I agree with what you're saying, but I just believe that even the Fair theatre management would be amused by the amount of discussion generated in this forum. For the most part, the Fair serves as a low-key meeting place for older guys to meet & maybe engage in a little sexual activity in private booths. No one seems to care much about what goes on there, from the management to the patrons to the neighborhoods to the city at large, and that's just fine.
I also suspect that if indeed a particularly frisky M-F couple wandered into the straight porn screening room at the Fair (which is still a dubious account, in my opinion), it was most likely the first time in 20 years that such an occurrence took place.

Ha! You are probably quite correct on that count, McGinty!

Ed Solero: "they were merely putting on a show for their benefit."
In a theater! What a concept...

p.s. Here's my latest stupid question: Does an M-F couple get weekends off?

p.p.s. I apologize if I have detracted from the seriousness of this discussion. Carry on.

Does an M-F couple get weekends off?

That would depend on the type of "union" they are in. Benefits may vary. :)

Or do they get off on weekends?

Thanks for laughs, guys!

I'd like to comment on the remark above concerning "predators" at the Fair. Get the hell over your narrow minded self. I'm sure you're very well informed about the history of all these old theaters and you have posted some fascinating pictures. But you insist on making judgmental remarks about the people who patronize the Fair. Why? What do you know about it? Have you visited recently? If not, shut up! I am a 49 year old intelligent, professional man who goes to the Fair about twice a month. For the most part,everyone I've encountered there has been very nice, just looking for some discreet fun. Nary a predator in sight; so you are sadly misinformed. If you don't agree with these mens' lifestyles or choices, that's your right. But please don't sermonize and spew your prejudice in here where it doesn't belong, especially since you have no idea whereof you speak.

Let's take this discussion offline, guys.

You're drifting away from the purpose of this website.

exactly, that's why I felt I had to comment on such rudeness.

Yeah, offline is fine with me! Just click on my name, I guess.

"You're drifting away from the purpose of this website."
Drifting away? We jumped off a cliff a long time ago!

I went to the Cinema Kings Highway in Brooklyn for the first time today, and I much prefer it to the Fair in every way. Very courteous management, not surly like at the Fair, and cleaner too. Even has some charm. I like the Fair pretty well, but people had always told me Cinema Kings Highway wasn't nearly as much fun--it's a lot more so,much less out-of-control, and people should go there. Trouble is, it's pretty far out, but its Brooklyn neighborhood is not nearly so depressing as the Elmhurst Heights location of the Fair, which looks like something out of 'The Sopranos', especially with that gross-looking 'Kozy Kabin' topless club across Astoria Blvd.

Yeah. Group "Cinema Treasures' trip to Kings Highway might be fun.

[username + yahoo]

The idea of a group trip to Kings Highway would be a fascinating sociological expedition!
I was wondering what the "much less out-of-control" remark above meant. Care to elaborate?

Has the Fair dropped "Bollywood" movies? Today's time clock in the NY Daily News lists a double bill for the Fair of "Mission Impossible" and "Speed." I wonder if the distributors of those movies are aware of the booking?

Maybe the Fair is showing the Bollywood versions of Mission Impossible & Speed! I'm joking here, but the Indian film industry has been making blatant rip-offs of Hollywood hits for years. I saw a hilarious version of Reservoir Dogs that was called Kaante. It had some of the same dialogue, camera shots, some scenes filmed in English with a Los Angeles location and of course, many intervals of singing & dancing! I had to fast-forward a great deal, since it was a 3-hour movie.
Anyway, maybe Warren would like to visit with us to see what's going on in the Fair these days. Heh heh...

Comments have now been reopened for this page. Let's keep it civil please. :)

any body knows any new news

Yes, Someone told me that it was reported in Newsday this past weekend that two men were arrested in the Fair for solicitation. There may now be undercover cops baiting guys in the booths. So if you go there, be careful, I certainly into!

A full year since the last comments regarding the Fair!
Hope all is well with my fellow intrepid theatre enthusiasts.
I couldn't find any news online about solicitation arrests at the Fair, but I remember seeing several stories in the NY Times recently
about undercover officers targeting men exiting adult shops in Manhattan. The only one I remember specifically mentioned was the Blue Door in the East Village, which I understand isn't even a theatre in the traditional sense.
So it's wise for all to be alert and use common sense when visiting any theatre, adult or otherwise. I've driven past there recently & the place certainly looked the same from outside. Perhaps a 2009 trip is in order.....

Oh yeah, the place is still hopping on weekends!

iv called and i was told the no longer show adult films,but still have grindhouse fair like kung fu films just whanting to know

They show adult films in the back; that's also where the "buddy" booths are.

In other words, there is an actual adult-film "theater" in the back, meaning at least 5 or 6 seats and a shared screen?

dose the fair seem to be still stuck in the 70s or has it bin changed.has any body bin thear latly and care to share thear story.

Really!

My question is getting separated from the item that prompted the question!
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They show adult films in the back; that's also where the "buddy" booths are.
posted by MarkieS on Mar 20, 2009 at 4:28pm
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In other words, there is an actual adult-film "theater" in the back, meaning at least 5 or 6 seats and a shared screen?
posted by faberfranz on Mar 20, 2009 at 9:33pm
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Yes, there is an adult "theater" in the back with plenty of seats, plus a couple of dozen booths behind the screen. I was just there two days ago.

MarkieS: "Yes, there is an adult "theater" in the back with plenty of seats, plus a couple of dozen booths behind the screen. I was just there two days ago."

Ah, good. Not just a figleaf for a videostore type of operation! Is it populated? If so, exclusively male or might MF couples wander in from other parts of the theater?

Please. Enough already. Discuss this off-site. (Check profiles for email contacts.) Thanks.

There are no m/f couples at the Fir. Strictly males.

The introduction needs to be updated. Shea Stadium has been demolished and replaced by the soon-to-open Citi Field.

Here are new links to vintage images about the 12/25/37 grand opening of the Fair Theatre with the late-run "Dead End" & "Double or Nothing" on screen. Like many of Charles Sandblom's small theatres, the Fair's auditorium had a stadium section at the rear, instead of a conventional balcony.
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair1.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair2.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fair3.jpg

It has been awhile since anyone discussed how to get here via public transport.

For several months now, the # Q19B bus route that runs to-and-from Jackson Heights has ceased to exist, replaced by/renamed the "Q49".

It essentially follows the same route between Roosevelt Avenue/Broadway-74th Street and Astoria Boulevard, stopping directly in front of the theatre, just as before.
---
Also, theatre admission is still $15, but there is an ongoing "sale" where discount ticket books can be had, for $100 (10 visits @$10 each), thereby "saving" $50.

The discount books are 75 dollars, making it 7.50 per admission.

Loved cross-dressing at the Fair, 6" heels, tight skirt, blond wig. Would sit on the stools against the wall in the straight porno room, hike my skirt up, well you know the rest.

This discussion has to take the prize for the most amusing on cinematreasures.

The Fair was one of my favorite theaters growing up in East Elmhurst. I think the first film I saw there was "From Here to Eternity." Then they started showing 3D movies. Wow! My regret was not seeing "I, The Jury" when it played at the Fair in 3D. Happily, I got to see it at the Egyptian in Hollywood in 2006.

i would like to hear more about the croos dressing from jilljeff

allso has anybody catch the kung fu flicks yet

Thanks Ziggy-jilljeff, you may email me at:
sheerguy@mac.com

Question to anyone that may help. i found these red tickets for this theatre in my night stand. they don't belong to me. therefore it's my boyfriends. do i have to be concerned? is this a club where men go to have sex? would someone clear this up. thanks for any help.

Hi, What do the tix look like? What theatre? Thanks, Jeff

red and there are about 9 and they are stapled. i went to the fair wed site and those are the ones they have on the site. red and they coast $75 for 10. 1 is missing. thxs.

Would be concerned,can fill you in. jeff
sherrguy@mac.com

this is my friends email, mikehenry9999@aol.com i am scared to release mine. please understand.

Understood.

well what happened? I'm waiting with baited breath! lol

27 Indian Crossdresser here guy looken to meet a older guy to go to fair and so he can show me around

I'm in California now, but wanted to check in on my intrepid Queens friends to find out what the latest reports on the Fair are.
Any new dispatches or photos, anyone?

coupon book prices have dropped to 50 dollars again, possibly just for the holidays. I was there last Saturday and the place is going strong! I don't have any photos, but the theater looks the same.

Glad to hear the mighty Fair is still in operation..thanks for the update! I'll miss New York, but I've been visiting some incredible theaters here in San Francisco, such as the legendary Castro.
Viva la Fair!

The introduction should reflect the fact that Shea Stadium has been replaced by Citi Field, which opened last year on adjacent ground as the new home of the New York Mets. Neither are really that close to the Fair Theatre, and certainly not within batting or throwing distance. Even on foot it would be quite a long walk.