Bayside Theatre

On the corner of Bell Blvd and 39th Avenue in the heart of a thriving commercial strip -- plenty of pubs, bars and restaurants that fairly hop on a Friday or Saturday night. But, RobertR is correct in saying that this one-time single screen first-run neighborhood theater was allowed to fall into a shameless state of shabbiness. The sound was lousy, the floors sticky and the movies were grossly under-projected. The last time I saw a movie there, I swore the place off. The attractive stucco facade is being nicely renovated as the site is prepped for impending retail usage.

Forgot to add that when it re-opened as a 4-plex in the '70's, it was known as the Bayside Quad. In its last years it was known as The Movies At Bayside.

Does anyone remember another Bayside theatre called the Victory, which had 1,274 seats and was located at 199-03 32nd Avenue (near Francis Lewis Boulevard)? Like the Bayside, it was operated by Skouras Theatres, but ran the movies after they'd played the Bayside. It closed around 1950, one of the first victims of home TV. Someone told me that the Victory is still standing and used as a flea market, but I haven't been able to check it out.

No knowledge of that but I am in the area so I will try to check it out.

i heard of the victory ,i think its a bingo hall at that location

Situated at 39-01 Bell Boulevard, the theatre first opened in 1927 as the Capitol, an independently-owned vaudeville-movie house that was soon acquired by William Fox and re-named the Bayside. The architect was Thomas W. Lamb, who just happened to be a resident of Bayside at the time. The northeastern Queens community had a large showbiz population due to a fast LIRR connection to Manhattan.

According to records of the Queensboro Chamber of Commerce, there was an earlier Bayside Theatre on Bell Boulevard, but not on the same site as this one. The first Bayside Theatre opened in 1913 and had 450 seats. When the second Bayside Theatre was being built, it was known as the Bellburton Theatre, to denote its location at the intersection of Bell Boulevard and Ashburton Avenue (now known as 39th Avenue). However, the name was changed to Capitol by opening and then to Bayside when the original Bayside closed from the competition.

Yes! The other theater mentioned here was called "The Victory" I had grow up right down the street from the location but I am not sure to when it closed down. My guess is in the 60's. I only remember it when bottom was a bowling alley for a little time then closed and turned into a bingo hall through out the 70's to early 90's. The top floor was always vacant to my knowledge, but I remember seeing it once filled with theater seats in the 70's.

Now it's an Asian church.

As for the good old Bayside on Bell, I used to go there a lot and remember it when it was a one screen theater, which was in need of a lot of work. It always seemed very old and dirty. The screen had this non working ugly whitish color that stayed open on the side of the screen. I remember also that the lighting was very low during intermissions and a weird dusty smell.
Then in the early 80’s became a twin with a theater on the top and bottom then a quad a little later, which I never really liked too much.
The screens were too small.

I preferred the Lowes Bay Terrace that wasn’t too far from this one off Bell.

I had the pleasure of working at The Bayside Theatre in the late 70's early 80's. At 15 I was approached by the manager. A tough lady with a big beehive hairdo named Rosie who lived upstairs from the theatre. This certainly was a growing up experience for me. The place was creepy and in bad need of repair. I lived up the street and could be there in less than 5 minutes. I remember when we showed movies in what they called "sensaround" paint chips from the ceiling would fall down. There was also a fire during this time. We were showing "Guyana Cult of the Dammed" I remember being called to come in and help clean up. It smelled awfull. If I had to go turn the heat on it was a horrifying experience. It was down in the basement. It was an erie place. I always thought it was a bit haunted. I remember going to the back and seeing a calendar hanging on the wall from 1951. I would for sure say that there were spirits still lingering in that place.

I lived in Bay Terrace from 1955. My friends and I would take the Q13 bus to the Bayside theater on Sat. afternoons for many hours of entertainment and fun. One Saturday the manager/owner came over to my friend and me and asked if we would like to get in free. Of course we said yes. He had us lug the film cases from the loby area to the projection room. Up behind the balcony, up metal stairs, into the secret parts of the theater. We loved it even if it was hard work.
Popcorn, Sandwichs from home and grape soda. What a time.

I created a listing for the Victory Theater based on the description Warren provided above plus some digging around I did through the City's online records (yes, I know how incomplete and misleading those 'records' can be). Anyway, I also posted some current photos of that former theater's exterior for anyone who is interested. I'm surprised Warren didn't go ahead and create the listing himself some time back. Anyway... if anyone has more info on that theater's history, please visit the page and add your comments!

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/13793/

okay, first of all... i go to that church. Yes, it still stands.It's called The Cham Presbyterian Church I heard that a girl commited suicide in the movie theater,is that true?? does anybody have a picture of the victory theater? or the bowling alley. im soo interested.

To: Nick13059@aol.com

you saw spirits??!?! i don't get that. i want to go down to the basement but it is banned. It is haunted, i think..it gives my the creeps.

To: Moviemike13

how'd you know it's an asian church?-korean, i would say- lol

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/13793/

the owner of the theater was Rosie?? what was it right before it was a church? there was a fire!?! lol. sry im asking too much questions.

Shouldn't the last few postings be under the listing for the Victory Theatre? They don't refer to the Bayside Theatre.

Here's a post that belongs on this page... I took a number of photographs of the restored Spanish-influenced exterior facade of the former Bayside Theater a few mornings ago. As noted previously on this page, the interior (from lobby to stage house) has been completely gutted and converted to retail and office space. The exterior was cleaned and repaired, though certain modifications, naturally, had to be made as part of the building's conversion:

View from north on Bell Blvd
New entrance and canopy (where original theater entrance & marquee were)
Corner view 39th Ave and Bell Blvd
Bell Blvd facade detail
Close-up window ornamentation
Detail of shield ornamentation
Alternate angle Bell Blvd ornamentation
39th Avenue facade detail 1
39th Ave facade detail 2
Ornamentaton over windows
39th Ave office entrance (this was a gated archway that led to fire escape alleys
39th Ave shield ornamentation detail
39th Ave facade towards rear of building
Rear view down 39th Ave showing stage fly loft
New corner entrance for bank 39th Ave at Bell
Ornamentation detail at corner of 39th and Bell
Corner tower Bell and 39th (this served as latter day theater entrance after quad work)
View down 39th Ave from Bell
Front facade from corner of Bell & 39th Ave
Fire escape from Stage Loft

At first, I thought that fire escape in the last photo was the original balcony exit... then I realized that it led from the top of the stage loft area. I'm guessing it was added with the conversion of the interior space to offices. The main entrance under the canopy on Bell (where the Love My Shoes outlet is located) was, obviously, where the orignal theater entrance and marquee were located. About the time the theater was divided into a quartet, those doors were shut (and kept for exiting only) and the retail space leading to the corner where the Washington Mutual Bank is now located was converted to a ticket-lobby. A corner entrance (with doors that opened onto both Bell Blvd and 39th Ave) was utilized until the theater was permanently shuttered. As shown in the photos, the current bank entrance features a catty-corner double doorway.

The office entrance with the high glass archway shown down the block on 39th Ave was originally an open archway that led to the alley where the theater's fire escapes and auditorium exit doors deposited patrons. This space has now been enclosed to form the street entrance to the office space in the old theater building (which sits behind the retail space on 39th Ave.

The history of the Bayside Theatre is hard to research, especially during the Depression era where it appears to have been closed more often than open. By the end of the 1930s, it was being booked and managed by Brandt Theatres for a private owner. On November 7, 1941, it had a gala re-opening as the Skouras Bayside. Here's a report from the Bayside Times: "Stars of stage, screen and radio attended the gala opening of the new Skouras Bayside Theatre, 28-39 Bell Boulevard, Friday night, Nov.7. Among those who participated were Patti Pickens and Bob Simmons of radio and stage fame; Bob Douglas, NBC's new singing star; Erik Rhodes, film comedian featured in many Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire pictures, and others...The theatre has been completely rebuilt and decorated, with only the walls of the old structure retained. The lobby, auditorium and lounges have been furnished in keeping with present-day standards to create the most modern theatre on the North Shore...The new theatre will have complete changes of program twice each week, with special selected programs for children at 10 o'clock every Saturday morning." This is the first actual ad published in the Bayside Times. The bookings were first-run for Bayside, but at least third-run for Queens overall: www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/skobayside.jpg

The listing for this theatre gives an address of 39-01 Bell Boulevard. The Bayside Times story that I quoted says 28-39 Bell Boulevard. The ad that I posted shows 3839 Bell Boulevard. Which address, if any, is correct?

According to NYC, a four screen movie theater was located at 38-39 Bell Boulevard. Seating is given as:

Theater#1-296
Theater#2-298
Theater#3-210
Theater#4-211

As I think about it, I believe 39-01 is incorrect. In fact, it has to be. Currently, addresses in Queens run as follows: For north-south streets such as Bell Blvd, the digits before the hyphen representing the cross street at the northern end of the block and the digits after the hyphen representing the house or building #. The scheme for the house numbers is routinely odd numbers on the eastern side of the block and even numbers on the western side. Thus, 39-01 would be the first address on the south-east corner of the block. Proceed south towards 40th and the numbers would theoretically progress 39-03, 39-05 and so forth and then re-setting once you cross 40th to 40-01, 40-03, etc. West-east addresses follow the same format with the pre-hyphen digits representing the cross street at the western end of the block and the house numbers running odd on the north side of the block and even on the south.

The Bayside theater is on the north east corner of Bell and 39th Ave, so the number for the building would have been at the end of the 38-xx series of addresses. I'd say that 38-39 makes the most sense and would offer that the reference to "28-39" in the article was merely a typo.

Lost, you beat me to the punch... and as usual, delivered it with more speed and efficiency!

I'm wondering what the decor was after the Skouras renovations to the the theater. The exterior walls would hint at a Spanish-Missionary flavor, not unsimilar to that of the Lynbrook Theater on Long Island, though a bit more ornate. Did the original interior reflect that motif as well? And how different were the Skouras designs? Attending this theater as the Bayside Quad and, later, The Movies at Bayside, I recall no detail about the its interior appointments. As best I can recall, the rooms were dark and unadorned. I assume the Skouras decor was concealed under false plasterboard walls and ceilings.

I'm glad that you didn't see my post Ed, otherwise you wouldn't have written that great explanation of street addresses in Bayside. Very educational.

NYC issued a c/o for a theater with a stage and balcony in January of 1928. That means this theater most likely opened in 1927. The owner is listed as Bell Amusement Co.

Yes, Lost, I love to work set up to your punch lines!

Warren... you posted the 39-01 address wayyyyy back in August, 2004. Where did that information come from? Could it have been an address of the older Bayside Theater you reference in your follow up post in November of 2004? Today, 39-01 Bell would be the Citibank branch across the street from the Bayside Theater building.

39-01 Bell Boulevard was the address given for the Bayside Theatre in the Film Daily Year Book for 1957, which was the last year that FDYBs gave specific addresses for theatres. I believe it is correct because the Bayside Theatre building occupied a corner of Bell Boulevard, even though the entrance was a few doors up, and 01 is always the first number in a block. Somewhere along the line, Bell Boulevard numbers must have been changed. I believe that the 1941 38-39 was correct for its time, as it also ends in an odd number. Are you sure that the Citibank presently across from the Bayside site is numbered 39-01? I believe that the west side of Bell Boulevard is even numbers. I have a friend who lives in Bayside at 58-40 219th Street, which is on the west side of the street and also parallel to Bell Boulevard.

Citibank N.A.
39-01 Bell Boulevard
Bayside, NY 11361

I've just looked at some photos posted by Ed Solero on July 2nd, 2006 which show a Washington Mutual branch on the Bayside Theatre corner. According to an Internet search, the address of that Washington Mutual branch is 38-39 Bell Boulevard, which is the same address given for the Bayside Theatre in the 1941 ad I posted. If there is a Citibank branch at 39-01 Bell Boulevard, it must be a block north of 38-39 and on the same side of the street unless Bell Boulevard goes back and forth between odd and even numbers...So, I'm concluding that FDYBs were incorrect and 38-39 was always the Bayside Theatre's address.

These are just a few search results for a Citibank in Bayside, NY. All return an address of 39-01 Bell Boulevard. Yes, 38-39 Bell Boulevard is the correct address.

http://www.itcleta.com/city-NY/financial_consultants/Bayside.htm

http://www.motleydirectory.com/mortgage_lenders/new_york.html

http://ny.allpages.com/bayside/finance/financial-institutions/

http://go.mappoint.net/citibank/(wzl4l345ljqei555lhpdrm45)/index.aspx?FC=&cbna=true&city=&state=&street=&zip=11364

As you proceed north, the numbered avenues go down... So, a block north of the Bayside theater would be numbered 37-01, 37-03, etc. Actually, the numbers would be running backwards from high to low (37-39, 37-37, 37-35, etc) were you to travel north, but I hang myself up on a technicality. The Citibank in question is directly opposite the Washington Mutual branch you see in my photos, Warren, just across 39th Ave on the same (east) side of Bell.

As I posted above, the address scheme in Queens has all odd numbered buildings on the east or north sides of their block with even numbers on the south or west sides (depending on the direction the block runs). And they always run low-to-high from either the north or the west. This is because the numbering scheme in Queens has the lowest numbered Avenues, Drives and Roads (which run east-west) starting at the north end of the borough and the lowest numbered Streets, Places and Lanes (which run north-south) staring at the west end. That's what makes Astoria and LIC so damn confusing... Since they are in the north west corner of Queens where the cross streets and avenues are all in the same sequential neighborhood. Thus, due to the intersection of identically numbered thoroughfares, you can have an address of 30-30 30th Ave and another of 30-30 30th Street roughly right around the corner from each other!

Here endeth the lesson.... again! Isn't this fun?

Most importantly... Bryan, please correct the address above to 38-39 Bell Blvd. Thanks.

I came across an interesting article in the Times' archives regarding a 1999 proposal to raze the Bayside Theater and replace it with an 8-screen multiplex and chain store mini-mall. I'm not sure if this link will work at all, or for very long if it does, but give it a try.

To summarize, the plan was hatched by a developer by the name of Heskel Elias who thought that the area would be well served by a quality theater and deserved "better than a theater where you have a poor sound system, no elevators and your legs stick to the floor." Fair point, but a tasteful re-modeling might have been more agreeable. Even though Elias' plan would have resulted in roughly the same number of seats, many residents did not want the additional traffic a sparkling new multiplex and shopping center might have attracted and small business owners feared that the project might lead to higher rents forcing the mom-and-pop stores on Bell off the boulevard. I presume that the owners of the nearby Bay Terrace Shopping Center and the Loew's Sixplex threw their weight behind the plan's opponents.

Residents also took a stab at trying to have the Bayside declared a landmark, but those efforts went for naught. According to the president of the Bayside Historical Society, Geraldine Spinella, many of the theater's historic elements remained including the original stage and theater flooring "under that awful carpeting".

The theatre opened under its original name of Capitol on the evening of October 11th, 1927. "Long before the doors opened, the sidewalks of the vicinity became a seething mass of humanity," the Flushing Evening Journal reported. "Bayside came into its own and wrote a delightful chapter in its history last night with Irving M. Lesser's new $1,000,000 showplace." Lesser, who was a brother of film producer Sol Lesser, ran a small circuit of suburban theatres that also included the Playhouse in Great Neck, the Strand in Rockville Centre, and the Capitol in Haverstraw, NY. Among the celebrities attending that night were Buster Keaton and his actress-wife Natalie Talmadge, producer John Golden, and Bayside's very own resident, the great prizefighter James J. Corbett. Also present was the new theatre's architect, Thomas Lamb, reported as living on Fifth Street in Bayside. Lamb's design, no doubt, borrowed from his huge Capitol Theatre in Manhattan, but on a smaller scale. "Patrons inspected the house, its beautiful mezzanine and salon sectionss, admired its luxurious furnishings, a replica of rooms in private homes with an artful English influence. Attractive to the eye and aesthetic sense is the color psychology of the auditorium dome's lighting system, altering in aurora borealis effects in changing harmony with the music and in keeping with the spirit of the program," the newspaper said. Paul Sternberg conducted the Capitol Orchestra throughout the evening, with occasional breaks while Travis Sampson played the Wilte-Mignon organ. In addition to the silent photoplay, "Adam and Evil," the show included five acts of vaudeville:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/baycapitol.jpg

And I'm sure that delightful evening transpired at 38-39 Bell Blvd, not 39-01. Bryan, if you're out there, please check the thread above of September 10th. I believe we have a more accurate address for this theater.

No, that delightful evening took place on Bell Avenue, which was then the name for what's now called Bell Boulevard.

Yes. In Bayside, Long Island, as it was then commonly called. Interestingly, one of the stated reasons for the community effort to block the retail-multiplex project that had been proposed for the old Capitol/Bayside site was because the East Bayside Homeowners Association liked to think of the area as "Small Town, Long Island, not Bayside, New York City", according to the 1999 Times article posted above.

In any event, we know there is an ad for the theater which cites an address at 38-39 Bell and a C of O for the conversion to 4-plex at the same address, so this Cub Scout thinks it's safe to go with that. The only thing we cannot know for sure is what the 1920's address numbering might have been for this theater when it first opened - back when 39th Ave was known as Ashburton Ave and before the Queens street grid was reorganized into sequentially numbered streets intersecting with sequentially numbered avenues.

Another incorrect address given fella? Perhaps in the future you should give the street name only. Allow more knowledgeable people to find the correct address for you.

The theatre was built by a realty development company called Bayside Amusement Corporation, owned by local residents George Martin, a county court judge, and Thomas Buckley, whose engineering company would do the construction work. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 7, 1925, at which time it was announced that the theatre would be called the Bellburton to reflect its location at the junction of Bell Avenue and Ashburton Avenue. The building, with a frontage of 100 feet on Bell and 178 feet on Ashburton, was to include a 1,500-seat theatre, eleven stores, eight rental apartments, a restaurant, and a bowling alley, according to a report in Queens Borough, the monthly publication of the Queens Chamber of Commerce. Construction was completed in August, 1926, but the owners could not find a tenant for the theatre, which sat vacant for another year until Irving Lesser came along and offered to make it part of his circuit of suburban houses.

The 1940 telephone directories for Queens (both white and yellow pages) give an address for the Bayside Theatre of 38-39 Bell Boulevard.

I'm glad that's settled. Again.

The Capitol Theatre closed "permanently" just before Christmas, 1934, with a double-feature of "The Richest Girl in the World" & "Wake Up and Dream" as its final program. Manager George Baladon told the press that the theatre "is too expensive to operate in a community the size of Bayside. The Capitol is years ahead of its time." Irving Lesser, who ran the Capitol orginally, left after a year with vaudeville and movies, when management was taken over by the Springer-Cocalis circuit with movies only. Though the Capitol was being closed, Springer-Cocalis had taken over the shuttered Victory Theatre in West Bayside and would begin operating it on January 5th, 1935, with the same "high-grade" movies that would have played at the Capitol:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/capshut.jpg

In January, 1935, the owners of the shuttered Capitol made a new management deal with Brandt Theatres and re-opened the house on January 30th with a double bill of "Our Daily Bread" & "The Captain Hates The Sea." Due to the Capitol's unsuccessful history, the name was changed to Bayside, which appeared in advertising as "The Beautiful Bayside" until the name became established on its own. Meanwhile, Springer-Cocalis continued to operate the Victory in competition with the Bayside:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/beaubay.jpg

In the late 1950s, the Skouras circuit started advertising its Long Island drive-in theatres in Queens newspapers, apparently because Queens had no drive-ins of its own:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/skouras57.jpg

This theatre appears to be an indoor multiplex theatre. What does a drive-in ad have to do with this theatre fella? You posted the same comment in the Westbury Drive-In listing. More duplicate comments. Perhaps you should take your own advice and stay on topic. The Bayside Theatre is Not a drive-in theatre fella.

"mikemovies," your galvanic jealousy of my superior knowledge of theatres has apparently affected your brain. I urge you to seek help immediately, before you waste away from self-inflicted verbal diarrhea.

Jealous of a trouble making twerp like you fella. Get a grip on yourself. I asked a question. 'What does a drive-in ad have to do with this theatre fella?'. As usual you avoid posting an answer. You are the most disliked person on this website. I hope you enjoy that title. Try to stay on topic from here now on.

"mikemovies," if you can't understand the connection, than you obviously belong at another website. Frankly, I would rather be known as the "most disliked person on this website" than the person whose sole contribution to the listings is Theatair X, which was converted retail space (not even a theatre!) that polluted its neighborhood with pornography and disease before being shut down by the law.

You are a sick individual fella as others have noticed. There are members on this website that have never added a theatre. Perhaps you would like them all to leave. There is no connection for the ad you posted. It was a bogus post just to inflate your comment counter as are many of your recent comments. You lack honesty and intergrity. How sad.

Okay, getting back on topic. The address above needs to be updated to 38-39 Bell Boulevard.

I was a contractor at this theater in the 90's, and I sent my invoices to 38-39 Bell Blvd. And yes, they got paid; so the address does seem to need an update.
The old "back stage" area was a blast. You had to cut thru one of the downstairs theaters, and it had an old creeky "weighted" steel fire door on the left side, near the screen that led to this area. The lighting was poor, and the ceiling was incredibly high. You had to watch where you walked, because the roof leaked back there forever, and hence the floor boards were rotting in certain sections. The old vaudeville dressing rooms were still back there, though they were in total shambles, and were at this point, just used for storage (light bulbs, seat parts and the like). Just looking around back there, you could almost imagine how great that place had to be back in it's glory days. Unfortunately, I only had an opportunity to see the theater after many years of disrepair.

My sister lived around the corner, but the only movie we saw here together was the horrible JADE.

The theater was in bad shape by that time. RIP Bayside.

The address for this theatre is overdue for a correction to 38-39 Bell Blvd - per discussion in various posts above from September of 2006. The address given above as 39-01 would place the theatre on the wrong corner of the 39th Ave/Bell Blvd intersection (where a Citibank branch is now situated).

This theater closed Sunday October 14, 2001 the week before I got married. On Columbus Day October 7 I went to see the film Tortilla Soup at an afternoon showing. The theater was closed but they said they would reopen at night. They said they would be open the next weekend but were closed Tuesday thru Thursday, I don 't know about Friday. Last films there were Zoolander (3rd), Don't Say a Word (3rd), Tortilla Soup (2nd) and Rush Hour 2 which was there 2 weeks but had previously played Loews Bay Terrace nearby.

First film I ever saw at this theater was "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" Memorial Day weekend 1998.

That should be Columbus Day October 8.

Some recent photos of the building can be seen in this article: http://www.forgotten-ny.com/NEIGHBORHOODS/bayside1/bayside.html

Look at that... More than two years after hashing out the address of this theatre with Warren and Lost Memory, the info up top still needs to be updated! Bryan... If you're out there... We should change the address for this one to 38-39 Bell Boulevard.

Another photo is here.

A capsule history and early photo as the Capitol Theatre can be found here: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20303488&BRD=2731&PAG=461&dept_id=575602&rfi=6

Here's a closer view of the original Capitol signage. Note the "capitol dome" symbols at the top of the vertical and on the marquee, which were later junked when the theatre was re-named: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/capbayside.jpg