Alhambra Theatre

"bushwickbuddy" has commented, on the page for the RKO Madison Theater in Ridgewood, Queens, that the Alhambra was made into an A & P or Bohack. I do not know if the building still exists.

The building does still exist.

Here's a current view of the Alhambra Theater taken yesterday.

Click Here for Link

I don't know what, if anything is in the building today.

Thanks, Bway. What is the direction of the photo ? I would think, looking north on Halsey, past Knickerbocker, with the eastern corner of Irving Square Park past the left edge of the photo. Odd that Knickerbocker is a one-way street there.

I grew up at 800 Kniockerbocker Ave in the 50's & 60's - I remember the changeover from a vacant theater to a "Safeway" supermarket in the late 50's and then a name change to "Finest" in the early 60's.
I worked in the store while going to school - and the store closed in 1964 - it remained vacant until my family moved in 1965 and I don't know what happened to it after that.
The picture from Bway taken from the Halsey Street side brings back many memories - and I would love to see a shot of the facade on the Kniockerbcoker Ave side -

groundstar, are you a member of the "Brooklyn Friends" website, administered by Eleanor Phillips Coody ? Eleanor is the "bushwickbuddy" I refer to in my comment, four above this one.

Groundstar, here's the angle from the Knickerbocker side:

Click here

It's sort of a crappy shot, (why I didn't post it originally). I didn't even get out of my car to take that (took it at the stop sign at Eldert), like I did for the Halsey St side.
They cut windows into the entire theater. I am going to assume there is not much left of the interior, what with the windows, and the supermarket conversion decades ago. I have no idea what the building is now.

Peter K. Hi! No I'm not a memeber of the-

"Brooklyn Friends" website but I will look in to it.

Bway - I can't thank you enough for your great pictures - not only of the Alhambra but of the Madison and Ridgewood theaters as well.


Again

Bway - the picture is quite a shock!
The vacant lot in your photo was apartment building with store on the street level - a candy store - tv repair - pizza parlour - cleaners - and my friends lived in the apartments above - Tom, Louie, Freddie -
I lived across the street to the left of your photo in the first buildings with stoops - there were two building closer to eldert st. but where we lived was ONLY apartments - three stories - damn I miss that place - I lived there from when I was 5 till I was 16 in 1965
Thanks again for the pictures they are wonderful!!!!!!!!

Back to the theater - or the supermarket I should say- it was single floor with a dropped ceiling and the shopping part of the store went 3/4 of the way back from Knickerbocker Ave with storage in the reamining 1/4 rear. The door on the cornor of Halsey and Knickerbocker was on an angle - where I think the original ticket booth to the theater stood - and on windy days the door would be tore off it hinges- quite funny now that I think about it - there was no "Upstairs" to the store that I know of - so there must have been a complete redesign of the building based on the pictures that are posted

Groundstar, you are very welcome....se if I knew 24 hours ago when I took those photos, I would have panned more to the left! I don't remember what was on the left, but the buildings on the left (across Knickerbocker) were still there.
Yes, it must be a shock to see your friends building gone! The lot was large. It's hard to tell in the photo because it's zoomed, but there must have been at least 3 buildings on that site (or one large building, since it was a corner). It's probably strange, because you probably have a vision of the indside of your friend's apartment, and now it doesn't exist!
Of course the neighborhood fell on hard times, and a lot was abandoned or burned in the 70s and 80's. In the 90's a lot of the vacant or burnt buildings were razed. The neighborhood is getting better, there is so much new construction going on. Entire blocks around Cornelia and Central have been razed, and replaced with brand new 2 family homes. It's getting much better. The vacant lot where your friend's old apartment is one of the few. It's only a matter of time till they build on it again, as this is happeneing everywhere in the neighborhood. I hadn't been on Knickerbocker since I was a teenager, until yesterday.

The drop ceiling in the "supermarket" must have been a "fake" ceiling covering up the high ceiling of the theater. It appears that the current "doorway" at the corner is in the same spot as it was when it was a supermarket. Obviously, the entire building was refaced on the exterior, at least on the Knickerbocker side. The Halsey St side looks to have the original bricks of the theater. They must have built a floor through the whole building giving it two stories, and cut windows into it. I assume the Knickerbocker side was resurfaced when they converted it from supermarket to whatever it became when they built a floor for the second level in the building.

Bway - hi again - there were four builds with a small alley seperating them from the theate/supermarket - there were two stores to each building with the entrance to the apartments between the stores - and each building had two apartments on each of its three floors (total 6 apartments) they had very large apartments with very large hallways and on rainy and snowy days these were our play areas. I'm so very very happy the neighborhood is making a resurgence - and after reading about the other theaters in the area I want so badly to make a pilgramidge to my old stomping ground...

Thanks, Bway, for the second shot, looking north at the northern corner of Knickerbocker and Eldert St. It shows that Knickerbocker is now one way northwest, which confirms my understanding of the orientation of your first shot.

The school just beyond the former Alhambra was the original East New York Vocational High School. My dad attended it at its later location in the Bway Junction - East New York area. The school beyond it was St. Martin of Tours Catholic School. My oldest first cousin, born Sept. 3, 1955, was baptized at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church, at Knickerbocker and Jefferson Avenues.

groundstar, here is the e-mail contact for Brooklyn Friends :

Eleanorctr@aol.com

Pete - Thanks for the e-mail address
The school in the picture was a Junior High School for troubled youths when I lived there (and no I didn't attend, lol) and then a grammer school sometime in 1964 until ? I attended PS 106 on Putnam St and Wilson Ave. and JHS 296 on Central AVe between Covert and Eldert Sts before moving to attend Grover Cleveland HS in Queens - but still went to the RKO Madison and Ridgewood theaters, thank-you.

Bway - I keep going back to look at that second photo you the took. That fire hydrant in the picture was my summer swimming pool - the wall to the very right of the photo was the side of apartment buildings on Eldert Street - but between that wall and the back of the now gone house was a court yard with the cloths lines from all of the knickerboker Ave apartments streatched across - and many a scaped knee or elbow was had my playing some type of ball in that courtyard - and just a quick note - in the Halsey street picture - the building on the extreme right was a Pharmacy on the bottom with entrance on Knickerbocker and that window was my dentist - entrance on JHalsey Street.

groundstar, you're welcome. I see PS 106 on the northeast side of Wilson Ave. between Putnam Avenue and Cornelia Street, and JHS 296 on Central between Eldert and Covert Sts. on my USGS Brooklyn wuad sheet.

My father lived at many addresses in Bushwick as a boy and young man.

As for me, I was born in Evangelical Deaconess Hospital, at the north corner of Bway and Chauncey, mid-November 1955. I lived at 1668 Cornelia Street (between Wyckoff and Cypress Avenues) from then until my marriage in September 1991. I still visit Ridgewood once a month, and hope to visit and photograph my dad's Bushwick addresses and haunts before the bitter cold weather starts this year.

Pete - Practcally neighbors - except that I'm a bit older then you
Those address sound right to me.
I was born in 1948 at Brookly Maternaty - or so I'm told - I walked your block many times as a kid - coming and going to the "Avenue" - Myrtle that is - my friends and I would walk up Halsey street to Wyckoff and then turn left (Halsey ended at Wykoff) and then take any number of the next rights - Cornelia included to get Myrtle always a different route to avoid boredom you know. By the way - my name is Pete also - and I now live in Pennsylvania and haven't been "home" since about 1971.

Wow Pete, your old neighborhood "fell" and is now rising from the ashes in all that time you were gone. That sure is a long time. My life in Ridgewood was only just beginning just as you were leaving in 1971! I left around 10 years ago.

There's still work to be done, but there is so much construction and reconstruction going on in Bushwick right now. Amazing how it's turning around.

Bway - I think that the neighborhod is coming back is wonderful - I'm not THAT old, but I can't remeber a day that doesn't bring a thought of all the good friends and good times I had on those streets - the smells the excitement the thrills of a whole community withing walking distance - here in Lansdale, Pa you use your car to go the the food store about a block away - and everything is gotten at the "Mall" - My current neighbors could never understand Myrtle Ave and corner Deli's - I'm so glad that "Neighborhood" is returning.
The comments here want me to "come back" all the more - Thanks

Groundstar Pete, where in Ridgewood did you move to, and live, after you moved out of 800 Knickerbocker Avenue in 1965 ?

My family's doctor moved in 1965 or 1966 from Palmetto between Bushwick and Bway to 70th Avenue between Forest and Fresh Pond : he went from a parlor floor (sidewalk level) in a Bushwick brownstone to one in one of those beautiful, three story bay window front brick houses with the high brownstone stoops, that are so numerous in upper Ridgewood !

My family and I shopped most often at the German deli a few doors east of the Ridgewood Theater. I remember the fancy German Tobler candy bars and the Dr. Oetker pudding and pastry glaze mixes. Ja Wohl ! Gemutlichet ! Prost ! Half my ancestry is German, the other half, Polish.

Please e-mail me privately if you want to indulge in some more Bushwick and Ritch Woot (Ridgewood) nostalgia.

I have a friend at work about your age who graduated Grover Cleveland High School in 1965.

I live in a near north suburb of NYC where I can still walk to the store in ten minutes.

"A whole community within walking distance" : well-put ! It gives a new meaning to one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, "Walking Distance", whose bittersweet nostalgic music I can hear in my mind as I write this !

Yes, "Neighborhood" is returning : have you noticed it in the subtitle of the suburban Applebee's ? "Eatin' good in the neighborhood" ?

Speaking of malls : Jay Leno once quipped that a movie theater's not a movie theater any more. It's a concrete bunker at the end of the shopping mall !!!

Pete - I moved to Rene Court about a block - west of Grover Cleveland HS between Meropolitan Ave. and Grandview then when I went in the army in 1968 - my sister had gotten married and my Mom had passed a few years earlier, so my Dad moved to a small apartment above a bar on the cornor of Metropolitan and Nurdge about one block up from Rene Court.( When I got out of the army I lived there for about a year and then got married - moved first to Philadelphia then to Lansdale, Pa. and there you have the story of my life in capsulated form.

Pete (Continued) - I sort of kind of remember that geman deli - but on Knickerbocker Ave probably around the 850 block we had a FANTASTIC German Deli - and there Potaoto Salad was to kill for!
PLEASE NOTE: All of you still living in NYC - If you grew up on "City" food - you can not find anything close anyware west of of the Hudson - I think (no kidding) it the water - Just try to kfind a "Hard Roll" and a good cup of coffee - Forget it! and a few years ago a guy opened a bagel shop in Lansdale, and he was from New York - they tasted just like all of the other local's bagels.

Thanks, groundstar. Did you serve in Vietnam in the army ? I saw "The Green Berets" at the RKO Madison with my dad on August 2, 1968. I had wanted to attend a Doors concert at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadow Park but in retrospect it's better that I missed it.
It was more a riot than a concert.

I know what you mean about NYC food west of the Hudson. When my aunt and uncle moved from Bethpage, L.I. to Burlington, N.C. in 1976, my parents regularly mailed them packages of NYC food : veal cutlets, kosher dill pickles.

A college classmate of mine went into a bagel business with his brother down South, rather than engineering, because of how rare good bagels were there.

German potato salad "to kill for" at 850 Knickerbocker ! I can't urge you strongly enough to e-mail Eleanor and get into "Brooklyn friends" !

I have an e-pal, about a dozen years older than you, who grew up in Cypress Hills, Bklyn, but who, like yourself, ended up relocated to Pennsylvania due to military service.

Pete - It was during the Viet Nam era that I served and I went over for some specific work (I was in communications) I never "SERVED" in Viet Nam or did a tour of duty I guess would be the proper terminology.
I did send an e-mail to Eleanor yesterday (Thursday) after you gave me here address but have not heard back yet.

Groundstar.....I remember a bar on the corner of Metropolitan and Nurge ave. You lived near the cemetary that was behind Cleveland Park. Do you remember a used car dealer that was on Metropolitan ave near the coner where Grandview ends at Metropolitan? I can't remember the name of the dealership and none of my friends remember either. I bought my first used car there.

BTW....The year that I bought the car from that dealer was in 1966.

Lost - YES! I do remember that car dealership - BUT (Sorry) can't remember the name either - The bar was an "Old Mans Bar" when my dad lived above it - smae people day in, day out. My dads apartment was right above the bar with the front windows facing Metropolitan. I think that this was the only place in the city where the tenants who lived above a bar where told to keep the noise down because we where bothering the patrons of the bar.

lostmemory and groundstar :

I remember a bar called the Eagle's Nest at the corner of Woodward and Stanhope, across the street from the south corner of the cemetery. A sign over the bar read :

COME IN HERE AND TAKE A SEAT. IT'S BETTER HERE THAN ACROSS THE STREET !

The sign over the back room entrance read : CREEDMOOR ANNEX and summer 1970 they had a poster of a pregnant Lucy yelling, "Goddamn you, Charlie Brown !"

The bar was, as my friends at that time put it "an old geezer bar" and I believe that I only went in there once.

The Eagles Nest made GREAT hamburgers!

I remember those hamburgers well, and greatly enjoyed them, piled high with fried onions, on a Kaiser roll, with a big dill pickle spear on the side !

Has anyone ever heard of the Knickerbocker Airdrome which was supposedly was at Halsey St and Knickerbocker Ave? Lostmemory has suggested that the Alhambra probably replaced the Knickerbocker Airdrome, since the Alhambra was also at the corner of Knickerbocker and Halsey.

Bway - Nope Thats a new name for me -
but in my limited knowledge - the "Alhambra" building is the only
one ever at that location - so if the Knickerbovker Airdrome was
anyplace - I'm gonna guess it was the precurser to the Alhambra

I think it was before your time Groundstar. CJDV says the Airdome is only listed for the year of 1914. Does anyone know when the Alhambra was built or opened? The only date that I can find for the Alhambra is the date that a Moller organ was installed and that was in 1925.

Peter K was surprised that Knickerbocker was one way at that point. As long as I remember(early 40s) it was one way down to Myrtle Ave/Knickerbocker Ave

the deli on Eldert and Knickerbocker was Siegel's during the 40;s and early 50's
Hamm's was the candy store then
The school across from the park was once Franklin K Lane and later ps85(where it got the name Halsey Junior High)and the East New York Vocational Annex a continuation school.(you had to go there if you quit school art 16)

the deli on Eldert and Knickerbocker was Siegel's during the 40;s and early 50's
Hamm's was the candy store then
The school across from the park was once Franklin K Lane and later ps85(where it got the name Halsey Junior High)and the East New York Vocational Annex a continuation school.(you had to go there if you quit school art 16)

Eleanor has been away on a Bushwick reunion
I'm sure she will be glad to give you information on the web site.
If you don't hear from her in about a week, email her again

YES - The candy store was "Hamms" - when I was small there were two
grocery stores on Kniockerbocker and Eldert - Across the street on the corner was "Costa's" so I guess "Siegel's" was the one on my side of the street (805 Knickerbocker?) - Coster's closed and Paul's cleanears who had been located in the middle of the blcok (799 Knick) moved into the corner store - Siegel's became a butcher shop.
Sorry I don't remember the dates - but somewhere there is a picture of me in front of Pauls Cleaners before it moved and I look like I'm around 10 years old, which would put the year at 1958. I didn't remember the name of the school - we were just told to stay away from the kids tahat attened it.

Pete, I lived on Central Ave. between Cornelia and Jefferson, attended PS 106, JHS 85, BHS and then moved to L.I. where I worked for Grumman. Moved to VA in '79 and have a son that lives in Burlington, NC, where you say your Aunt & Uncle moved to. About the food here, you can't get a hard roll anyplace unless you take what they consider a roll and overheat it in a microwave until it turns hard. Miss a lot of the food from Brooklyn. We are having a discussion about the year the Alhambra closed and wondered if anyone with reliable information really knows when as the dates in this site seem to be in conflict with what others have told me.

Hello Audrey - Sorry I don't know when the theater closed - We moved onto Knickerbocker when I was about 5 years old (1952) and the building was "Old" and Dilipated then (Or so my brohter and sister tell me) - Do you remember "Morello's Grocery" that I think was on the corner of Central and Cornelia? My best friends grand parents and then parents owned that store - and I spent many a summer painting (and re-painting) the walls - which they felt had to be done everyear - and my pay for this job was the best ham and swiss sandwhichs on Italian bread and a large (bottled) creame soda - and I thought that was just about the best pay yuou could get (lol)

The Brooklyn Eagle, for Sunday, Feb. 10th 1918, has an ad in the theatre section for the opening of the Alhambra and an article in Real Estate for "Ridgewood's new $250,000 theatre". The architects are listed as Carlson & Wiseman. A frieze along the exterior illustrated "discovery" and "war" (this is 1918). While the interior was decorated in "red, ivory & gold". Designed for motion pictures and vaudeville, the stage was "fully capable of large dramatic and musical attractions". According to The Eagle, Marcus Loew presented his Brooklyn stock company, the Alhambra Players at the theatre beginning in 1921. The company was suddenly pulled in 1925 "due to lack of community support". At first the theatre was announced closed but it did continue on as a movie house. The actual closing date is usually given as 1951.
In April 1923 there was an open call for the chorus of "Linger Longer Letty" at the Alhambra. The impression given by the Brooklyn Eagle is that the women who tried out and those who were chosen were local people. If there is any interest I will post the names of the women selected(in case your grandmother once talked of playing the Alhambra).

Thanks cjdv for the great information. Do you know of any historic photos online somewhere of the theater?

Bushwick Audrey, on a similar note, I was at Central and Cornelia a few weeks ago, and the entire blocks there at that intersection have been completely razed and brand new homes are being built.

I also liked to go across the street for a banana split in the ice cream parlor

wdhvnjhn - What year did you go for your banana split? I was the "Soda Jerk" there - not for the orginal owners who lived upstairs but for the people who took it over and ran in in the '60. I work their from 1960 til 1964 - usually every night and most saturday afternoons and I opened the place every Sunday morning - big coffee, roll and newspaper crown on Sundays after church my name is "Pete" and I lived at 800 Knickerbocker.

earlier than that groundstar. My older sister took me there in late 40s and I used to go there with friends in mid 50s
My Aunt lived at 810 Knickerbocker till the mid or late 60s
Across the street from what was then Dinnt Cronins bar

This theater was also known as the Ward & Glynne Alhambra Theater. It was one of their Vaudeville houses.
See the Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts and the Bay Shore (incorrectly listed as Bayshore here) for more information on Ward & Glynne.

Loew's acquired the Alhambra at the same time as it purchased W&G's Astoria Theatre. Perhaps W&G demanded a package deal because it wasn't doing well with the Alhambra, which had too much competiton from other theatres in the area. The Astoria was a plum because it had slight competiton and was also the largest theatre in Queens at that time.

Hi all - I've seen my name mentioned several times during this post and would like to invite anyone interested to the website I created for my Brooklyn/Bushwick friends. There are lots of pictures and most of us went to PS 106, PS 113, PS 85, Bushwick HS, FK Lane, 14 Holy Martys, St Martin of Tours and St Barbara's. We also went to Irving Square Presbyterian Church for scouts and youth activities as well as church and also to Bushwick Methodist, and the above named catholic churches. If you'd like an invitation please e-mail me at eleanorctr@aol.com with your e-mail address and I will send an invitation.
BushwickBuddy

I was at the former Alhambra Theatre last Sunday. When photographing the exterior, a car approached and two "foriegners" jumped out of the car and asked what I was doing. I told them that I was a theatre historian and photograph former theatres as a hobby. They said no more, hopped in the car and drove away. I wonder what occupies this building at this time, there are no signs on the facade or any indications of what goes on within. I'm under the suspicion that very little remains within but am curious as to what remains and goes on in this building. On this same Sunday, I came across the following theatre buildings... the former 1920's IDEAL Theatre on Knickerbocker Avenue, both IMPERIAL Theatres (one on Halsey, one on Irving Ave.), RIVOLI on Myrtle (still with theatre seats), the TOMPKINS and AMUSU on Gates Ave. The STARR's auditorium walls are still visible from across the street behind the Associated Food Stores redo of the demolished storefronts and theatre entrance. There were many theatres in this area. P.S. The CENTRAL Theatre building is still standing at 431 Central Ave. This became the Luxor and another name. The three theatres on Wilson Avenue have bit the dust.

Orlando, where were the Tompkins and Amusu on Gates, and the Ideal on Knickerbocker?
I did a similar "cinematreasure hunt" a few weeks ago, and posted the photos in the individual theater's sections on this site.
See Luxor, Imperial, Rivoli, Starr, and most of the other theater sections.
Was the Ideal known as a different name? Because I did a few on Knickerbocker.

Orlando - it was quite interesting reading about the Alhambra as it is today. I haven't been back to the neighborhood since 1965 when my parents moved to Glendale. In 1964 when we returned from Germany it was already on the downslope and we decided to keep the good menories. I spent many a day in the Alhambra in the 1940's with my mother who went to get her give-away of china or silverware. It turned into a grocery store and as far as I know stayed that until it closed forever. Where on Halsey was the Imperial - I lived on Central between Eldert and Covert and don't remember it unless it was on the otherside of Broadway which was Bed Sty and we never went there. It's funny my address was 565 Central Ave but I don't remember a theater on Central at all. I do remember the Grove on Wilson and remember when it became a grocery store. I'm so glad there are people interested in the history of my old stomping grounds.
BushwickBuddy

The Tompkins and Amusu are on the same block (Gates Avenue)diagonally from each other near Tompkins Avenue. (Neither building sits on a corner.) The Ideal at 151 Knickerbocker Avenue was a silent film house in a three story building. It is next door to a two story warehouse (same address) Between the first and second floor, there is some Hebrew inscription in the facade brickwork from its' use as a Yeshiva (I think) after its' silent movie days came to an end in 1928. Its' hard to believe a small space served as a nickelodeon.

BushwickBuddy :

The Imperial was on the northwest corner of Halsey Street and Saratoga Avenue, on the "Bed Sty" or southwest side of Broadway. It is now the Metropolitan Baptist Church. I think Bway posted a link to a recent photo of it on the Imperial's page on this site.

The Luxor was on the northeast side of Central Avenue about 5/8 of the way from Woodbine to Madison Street. Again, Bway has posted a link to a recent photo of it on the Luxor's page on this site.

My dad remembers it as being across Central Avenue from his Uncle "Doc" Atsert's (sp ?) optical shop at Central and Putnam Avenues.

Sorry I haven't posted yet at Brooklyn Friends, but I appreciate the frequent e-mail reminders, and so I know it's there.

The Grove and Luxor are future incarnations of the Wilson Theatre which had three names. The Woodrow and Tip Top were early film houses that were out of business by the early 1940's.

Unfortunately, the Grove has been demolished, and new homes now sit on the sitee.

Reading your comments makes me feel 'negelected' as far as moving going is concerned. I was born in 1966 and lived briefly on Wythe Avenue then moved to 297 Maujer Street, between Waterbury and Morgan. When we moved to the neighborhood they were just starting to raze many of the buildings, including St. Catherine's Hospital (sttod at the corner of Bushwick and Grand Street). There were about 4 theaters in the neighborhood. There was one on Grand Street, btwn Graham and Humbolt which became a porn theater in the 1970's. There was the Rainbow on Graham Avenue, btwn Messerole and Montrose. And there was a larger theater up Grand Street that is now a gas station. The only movie theaters I remember going to were the Williamsburg (now a 99 cent store) and the recently shuttered Commodore.

The Alhambra closed about 1954. The reason cited for its demise on a sign in the box office was the televison. I saw a movie there before it closed - Steel Helmet staring Gene Evans. That was a long time ago, but as I recall it was a grand old theater.

I know Gene Evans from the 1957 or so monster movie, "The Giant Behemoth", directed by Eugene Lourie. He also directed "Beast From 20,000 Fathoms" and "Gorgo".

I has surmised that it was TV that did in many of these smaller neighborhood type movie theaters.

Hi, I remember going to daycare in that building in the late 80's and last time I checked, about 3 years ago, it still was operating as a daycare center.

A C/O was issued for an altered building at this address on March 31, 1927. Purpose of building: a 1660 seat motion picture theater. Owner listed as Loew's Inc. Architects name given for alterations is T.W. Lamb.

The 1945 edition of the Motion Picture Theatre Directory published by the New York Film Board of Trade lists the Alhambra as being operated by the Randforce circuit, which apparently took over from Loew's at some point. The Alhambra is also listed as Randforce in the 1945 Film Daily Year Book. By the 1954 FDYB, the Alhambra is no longer listed under Brooklyn theatres, and has also been dropped from the roster of Randforce theatres.

It seems to me it closed before 1954, because we spent a lot of time at the Madison, the Ridgewood, the Bushwick and the Gates. Since I lived on Central and Eldert it sure would have been closer to get to the Alhambra at 14 than those others. But sometimes my memory fails me.

You could be right about the closing date. I just picked the 1954 FDYB at random off my book shelf. I did not look in the ones between 1945 and 1954, which I will try to do when I have the time.

A Moller organ Opus 4376 Size 3/32 was installed in the Alhambra Theater in 1925. Cost of organ was $18390.00.

The Alhambra was converted to a safeway Supermarket in 1966.
The Alhambra building shines at the top of this photo overlooking Irving Square Park. The building has had windows punched into it's sides at some point. I don't know what it is currently used as, but the exterior is well maintained. It's vaudeville days origins are apparant as it's large stage area is evident at the back end of the building:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qsfz3w8v6wfy&style=o&lvl=2&scene=1957859

Thanks, Bway !

An ad from 1918, and about three months after the Alhambra first opened. I wonder why William Fox's "The Soul of Buddha" had its "first Ridgewood showing" here instead of at Fox's own Ridgewood Theatre?
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/alham22.jpg

Thanks, Warren. I wonder why, too, especially when the Alhambra was not really in Ridgewood.

The Ridgewood-Bushwick border was original a straight line cutting right through the streets there, as opposed to the zig-zag pattern they have now. I don't know exactly when they zig-zagged the border as opposed the straight line though. Even so, the Alahmbra is only about two blocks out of Ridgewood now, perhaps when it was a straight line, the border was even closer to Halsey and Knickerbocker.
Ward and Glynne ran the Alhambra if I am not mistaken, the same circuit that ran the ornate Patchogue Theater in Patchogue.
I wish there were some available interior historic photos of the Alhambra available online somewhere.

By the way, the ad says that the Alhambra had 2200 seats, however, the opening stats says it only had 1660. Perhaps it should be changed?

Bway, perhaps the original Bushwick - Ridgewood border, which may have also been the Brooklyn-Queens border (it is now) was a straight line from the days before streets had been built or even laid out there. Yes, the present border is close to the Alhambra, diagonally a block away, to the northeast, at Irving Avenue and Eldert Street.

Owners often (or usually) exaggerated the seating capacities of their theatres. If you look at the ads for the Fox Ridgewood when it first opened in 1916, they all said 3,000 seats, yet the true number was considerably less than that. I've never seen the Ridgewood reported in trade directories as having more than 2,200 seats.

What was the point of such exaggeration ? Wouldn't business suffer at such theaters if excessive crowds "called the bluff" of such ads, so to speak, leading to what you once referred to re : the Valencia as "lobby lock-outs" ?

I am a historic preservation student working on a report on 783 Knickerbocker Avenue. I have an old picture of the Alhambra if anyone is interested - I haven't had any luck finding interior shots.

As for its current use: The building has been used as a day care center since 1971. The City Council voted in April to approve the purchase of the building to continue its use as a day care center. The empty lot next door is also owned by the city and it looks like it might be an affordable housing development. There were discussions about turning it into a park for the day care kids but most of them use the renovated Irving Park across the street.

I would be happy to send photos around or discuss the history timeline. I've enjoyed reading your posts - a lot of great information.

Correct me if I am wrong...but wasn't Alhambra also the name of the theatre in Jackson's King Kong? Did that theatre ever exist in NY in the 30's??? Given that Peter Jackson does his homework, I would say that this would be a resounding "Yes". But thusfar this is the only Alhambra theatre I came up with in NY. So the question remains, did it, or didn't it exist.

Geo

To the best of my knowledge, the only theatre called Alhambra in Manhattan was in Harlem and operated by RKO. I believe that the theatre seen in the most recent "King Kong" was inspired by the Mayfair Theatre on the NE corner of 47th Street where Seventh Avenue merges with Broadway.

Yes, Geo 1, Alhambra was the name of the theatre in Jackson's King Kong. I noticed it right away, and so did my dad, when he saw it, for he remembers going to the Alhambra at Knickerbocker and Halsey as a boy and young man. He also attended the school across Halsey St. from it when it was "Halsey Junior High" circa 1931-33.

I would love to see any photos of the Alhambra as it once looked. It took a little effort to find out just which theatre I was looking for as I wasn't sure of the exact location. I used to pass it regularly on the trolley back in the 40s and remember it as a nice looking theatre though I was never inside. Is the posting signed Prattpreservation from a present Pratt student? I'm curious since I attended Pratt 1953-7 with a major in Advertising Design.

Good to see you on this page, oodygdin. I thought the Alhambra was the theater that you remembered passing on the 26 trolley in the 1940's. I posted in detail, earlier today, on the RKO Madison Theater page, how and why there was never a theater at Wyckoff Avenue and Weirfield or Centre Sts.

So you attended Pratt, 1953-57 ? I applied to Pratt, but instead attended Cooper Union, 1973-74 (architecture)then 1975-1979, graduating 28 years ago today (30 May 1979) in civil engineering.

I'll have to ask my dad about attending the Alhambra. He passed it all the time, on the way home from Halsey Junior High.

I commented on the Alhambra theater and someone mentioning my family's grocery store (Joe Costa) was my father. I sent it to my memories section - so I will try this again. I remember the theater (in the 50's) and when it closed and eventually turned into a supermarket. My fathers store and grandfather's building was torn down and sadly I did get to see it a few years ago (I have the photo) now that was published on here. I loved my days in Ridgewood, St Martin's Church and school, Halsey Park, playing handball against the building, great food! I hope someone else remembers my dad's store and "The Costa's". Those were the days!!

Thanks, LindaF. I will ask my dad about the Alhambra as a grocery store. He and my mom lived on Weirfield two doors towards Wilson Avenue from St. Martin Of Tours R.C. Church, across the street from Halsey (Irving Square) Park. Their landlady there was Ann Delaney, and her brother Tom. That was summer 1955, before they moved to the Ridgewood home they had just bought, on Cornelia Street.

On December 7th, 1959, The New York Times reported that the Alhambra would be converted to a supermarket by Stanley J. Harte, a realty investor and builder, who had just purchased the theatre from Astoria Realty Corporation, a subsidiary of Loew's Theatres. That company had been formed when Loew's acquired the Alhambra as part of a deal with Ward & Glynne for the Astoria Theatre in Queens. "Closed and boarded for several years," the Alhambra would start reconstruction at once, with completion set for the summer of 1960. The entire interior was to be removed, according to Harte, who said he was considering constructing a second floor for offices above the food market. "Plans drawn by Wechsler & Schimenti, architects, call for a new facade on the Knickerbocker Avenue side," the NYT reported. "This and other changes will leave almost no trace of the original Moorish styling of the building with its circular tower. The structure, 100 by 126 feet, will have a supermarket with 11,000 square feet of space. Harte said he was leasing the supermarket to Safeway Stores, Inc., for a long term."

Thanks for this information, Warren.

I wonder when the Alhambra showed its last film.

"Movies Are BETTER Than Ever!" (1950):
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/movies50.jpg

The Ideal Theater at 151 Knickerbocker is mentioned above as a silent film house. In the 1939 edition of the Brooklyn Street Guide it is listed as the "New Ideal Theater" and apparently open.

Thanks, J.F.Lundy. Does the "New Ideal Theater" have a page on CT yet ?

I can't locate one using Google.

Then perhaps you'd like to start a page for the Ideal Theater.

Peter, here's a page for the New Ideal:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/25326/

Just passed by the old building today. The day care center is now sponsored by the estimable Grand Street Settlement House, which probably replaced a local group that couldn't cut it. The building is in fine shape, though only some brick work on the Halsey Street facade provides a faint echo that something theatrical once held sway here.

The old theater is situated across the street from Irving Square Park. In my District Manager days in the 1970's this place was an absolute horror that could not safely be entered during any part of the day or night. I am now extremely happy to report that the park has been brilliantly renovated and is now serving a large and active community. If the Alhambra were still in business, it would have a terrific neighbor. In any event, the park does a great job in serving the day care center's kids.